Video Game Piano Solos

Just wanted to share the music. These are videos of me performing some of my favorite music from video games. I’m running through more video game pieces than what’s listed here, but this is a good chunk of them so far. Hope you enjoy ^^

From Upcoming MMO, Aion: Tower of Eternity, "Forgotten Sorrow": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz-10JOk3lc&feature=channel_page

FFXII ~ Eruyt Village: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egHgjpkcCfs&feature=channel_page

FFXII ~ Royal City Of Rabanastre: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP6xnx0es68&feature=channel_page

FFXII ~ Sochen Cave Palace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvMnrVAJz28&feature=channel_page

FFVI ~ Coin Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuwXAxqp2iM&feature=channel_page

Chrono Cross ~ Garden of Gods/Arni Village/Girl Who Stole Stars ~ Medley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_El77RW9P4&feature=channel_page

Chrono Cross ~ Dead Sea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AogIzm-bqac&feature=channel_page

FFVII ~ Main Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW3obhA_Btg&feature=channel_page

Very nice. Please post more.

Very nice. Please post more.

/bow ^^ thanks for listening.

I’ve got tons more planned I just have to get it together. it’s my last quarter of college so I’m finishing things up with that. here’s to hoping there’s more time in the future! 😉

This is very cool. I love piano arrangements, and your arrangements (of the couple I’ve listened to so far) are quite nice. Thanks for sharing.

Is there any chance that you could share just a good copy of the audio tracks in addition to the videos? I personally am not a fan of the low quality videos provided by youtube, but I’d love to add the audio tracks to my collection if they were available.

Either way, thanks again for sharing.

This is very cool. I love piano arrangements, and your arrangements (of the couple I’ve listened to so far) are quite nice. Thanks for sharing.

Is there any chance that you could share just a good copy of the audio tracks in addition to the videos? I personally am not a fan of the low quality videos provided by youtube, but I’d love to add the audio tracks to my collection if they were available.

Either way, thanks again for sharing.

^^

sure. when I make my recordings I record the audio and video separately though at the same time. when I get back to my apt. I’ll send you some. Which ones would you like?

Saw a few, You are really good, man.
Keep up the good work! 🙂

Sign me up for the audio. Unfortunate that you say on YouTube that you don’t like very much FFXII because I’d really like to hear even more piano arranges of that stuff. Come on, you didn’t like "Dalmasca Eastersand"?

Sign me up for the audio. Unfortunate that you say on YouTube that you don’t like very much FFXII because I’d really like to hear even more piano arranges of that stuff. Come on, you didn’t like "Dalmasca Eastersand"?

I wanted to like them! lol

so many felt too atonal. though, I like Ozmone Plains and Cerobi Steppe as well. But, I just couldn’t get into many of the others as much ;_;

It takes an effort, and you might have to be unpicky and unable to be bored like I am. I enjoy all of the tunes, but I know they aren’t as inviting as most of the other Final Fantasy musics or Sakimoto’s own work on Tactics. How about "Near the Water" though? That one’s pretty and accessible. It’d be cool to hear that on piano.

It takes an effort, and you might have to be unpicky and unable to be bored like I am. I enjoy all of the tunes, but I know they aren’t as inviting as most of the other Final Fantasy musics or Sakimoto’s own work on Tactics. How about "Near the Water" though? That one’s pretty and accessible. It’d be cool to hear that on piano.

yeah I hear ya on that. sometimes I get in my own way with these things.

that song is pretty cool. very akin to film theme, but more fantastical of course ;). the one great thing about the entire FFXII OST is that it makes diverse use of chord function–makes the harmonies always interesting.

Yeah, I’m a lowly guitarist so my ears aren’t as attuned to orchestral harmony, but thanks to this videogame music I’ve been listening to lately I’ve learned to play piano some from the well documented sheet music. I’m getting better at recognizing these technical things, but my ability in all things music is still dwarfed by just about anyone who’s had a year or two of music lessons. I know that "The Dalmasca Eastersand" goes all over the place, especially that part about twenty seconds in. In my opinion, a brilliant song combining all three big themes of the game in one way or another and sounding natural and sweepingly epic throughout.

Great stuff!

hey sorry for the delay. I was out of town for the weekend ^^;

MP3: http://preview.tinyurl.com/p9j6lk

Thank you sir, very nice to have. I hate to trouble you, but I’m one of those lossless geeks and it’d be great to have these in FLAC. I’m gonna be burning a DVD of the whole FFXII soundtrack so I don’t have to change discs and I’d love to include your interpretations, so it’d be even cooler to have them at full CD quality.

Regardless of anything else, thanks.

would you like fries with that!? 😉

I’m OCD about quality too 😛

FLAC: http://preview.tinyurl.com/qwywlk

OCD is exactly the word. If it’s something I like, I must have it in the highest quality I can. I notice "Rabanastre" is much longer than on your YouTube video, nice. And the other stuff is good too. I’d never heard "Forgotten Sorrow", it may be the best song in there, although "Coin Song" is such a great composition too. Fuck it, I don’t even wanna compare them all, I’ll just listen. Thanks again!

OCD is exactly the word. If it’s something I like, I must have it in the highest quality I can. I notice "Rabanastre" is much longer than on your YouTube video, nice. And the other stuff is good too. I’d never heard "Forgotten Sorrow", it may be the best song in there, although "Coin Song" is such a great composition too. Fuck it, I don’t even wanna compare them all, I’ll just listen. Thanks again!

crap I forgot to cut out the false starts lol!

EDIT: fixed the links above 🙂

here’s another I just finished: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P56j1kkqBoI

:p

crap I forgot to cut out the false starts lol!

Haha, so that’s why. I thought that was a rather long pause. It’s all good, I don’t mind. I’m not familiar with the FFXI soundtrack (yet) but this new one sounds good to me. I have listened to the piano collection and liked it though. Here pretty soon I’m gonna sit down and listen to your original stuff on your myspace.

Haha, so that’s why. I thought that was a rather long pause. It’s all good, I don’t mind. I’m not familiar with the FFXI soundtrack (yet) but this new one sounds good to me. I have listened to the piano collection and liked it though. Here pretty soon I’m gonna sit down and listen to your original stuff on your myspace.

I fixed em and replaced the old links with the better ones. nice and clean now 😉

yeah, FFXI piano collections will be a big part of my covers too. Such great music…

my originals have been collecting dust lately, haven’t played them for a while and neither have I come up with any new…must be all this covering of viddya gaem music!

I wish I could really come up with originals in the first place. I learn from and hope I’m internalizing all this viddya game music, but I can’t imitate most of the things I hear because I’m functionally retarded at piano.

So what other covers have you got in the pipeline?

🙁 but sometimes these things take time 🙂

my list so far (for starters):

Advent Rising – Greater Lights

FFV – My Home, Sweet Home

FFVI ~ Coin Song

FFVII ~ Main Theme
FFVII – Aeris’ Theme

FFVIII – Blue Fields
FFVIII – Find Your Way
FFVIII – Oath
FFVIII – Silence & Motion

FFIX – The Place I’ll Return To Someday/Rose of May – Medley
FFIX – Bran Bal, The Soulless Village
FFIX – A Song From Her Memory/Melodies of Life – Medley
FFIX – Terra

FFX – Ending Theme
FFX – Gaudosalam
FFX – Suteki Da Ne
FFX – Besaid Island

FFX2 – Seal of the Wind
FFX2 – Eternity

FFXI – Gustaberg (Star Onions ver.)
FFXI – Sorrow
FFXI – Distant Worlds
FFXI – Faded Memories-Promyvion
FFXI – Sanctuary of Zi’tah
FFXI – Ronfaure
FFXI – A New Horizon
FFXI: The Forgotten City ~ Tavnazian Safehold

FFXII ~ Eruyt Village
FFXII ~ Sochen Cave Palace
FFXII ~ Royal City Of Rabanastre

Chrono Cross ~ Dead Sea
Chrono Cross ~ Garden Of Gods/Arni Village/Girl Who Stole the Stars ~ Medley

Aion: Tower Of Eternity ~ Forgotten Sorrow

eventually there’ll be more diversity than FF, but so much of FF has great music that it MUST be covered 😉

Indeed, I agree, Final Fantasy is still my biggest VGM thing. And I absolutely love all your picks for VIII. I even loved the in-game version of "Blue Fields" which I know some hated. Will those be more based around the Piano Collections, the original versions, or some original arranging of your own?

"Guadosalam" is one of the few Nakano things on X I really like, because it has interesting rhythm AND a good melody, when I’m usually not impressed with his rhythm and most don’t even have much in the way of melody. So I’m interested to hear what you do with it.

Indeed, I agree, Final Fantasy is still my biggest VGM thing. And I absolutely love all your picks for VIII. I even loved the in-game version of "Blue Fields" which I know some hated. Will those be more based around the Piano Collections, the original versions, or some original arranging of your own?

"Guadosalam" is one of the few Nakano things on X I really like, because it has interesting rhythm AND a good melody, when I’m usually not impressed with his rhythm and most don’t even have much in the way of melody. So I’m interested to hear what you do with it.

^^ no doubt.

I tried to pick ones that were good but not necessarily among the "perceived elite" for that particular OST. Blue Fields was the first piece of final fantasy that made me feel what fantasy is. and the others carve it in their own way.

I will use mainly the piano collections for reference since they tend to include really nice harmony. BUT, I know many versions of the songs and if I see if one of the references is omitting something in the song that I think really needs to be in there I will find a way by either mixing arrangements or synthesizing my own 😉 I like to do a little of all (piano collection, original sound version, my version) just to make sure the song is getting justice.

Gaudosalam impressed me with its modal harmonies and pentatonic melodies. The whole Eastern style of music is enchanting and when mixed with western harmony it just transforms even more.

I listened to your original stuff. Obviously I don’t know it well at this point since there’s a hell of a lot there, but I can certainly say I had a very positive first impression. And is that a quote I hear of "The Oath" from the FFVIII Piano Collections at the very end of "Evectio"?

I listened to your original stuff. Obviously I don’t know it well at this point since there’s a hell of a lot there, but I can certainly say I had a very positive first impression. And is that a quote I hear of "The Oath" from the FFVIII Piano Collections at the very end of "Evectio"?

haha yes! it was funny actually. while I was finishing that piece at the very end that part from The Oath was whispering in my ear and so I figured I should put it in there. It does sound like a whisper! Though, it wouldn’t have occurred to me if I hadn’t learned to play The Oath in the past like I did. And since it’s only a tiny ornament in the work I’m sure it’s not an injustice ;).

I try not to use parts explicitly from the music I’ve heard over the years but sometimes I can’t help but to put a little spin on them :p

a collage of art is still a work of art even the parts of the collage are not composed by the artist! only this is a musical collage 🙂

Of course it’s nothing significant, it’s not as though anyone would call you a thief for five seconds at the end of an 8 minute song. I know a song by Elvis Costello & The Brodsky Quartet that uses something quite similar to the Looney Tunes theme in its verses. Imagine that tune but with the words "And I burned the photographs that you had enclosed/God they were ugly children!"

lmao trufax.

they keep poppin’ out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXBVNP8iVAg

😀

I’ve always liked that song since the first time I heard it. Listening to the Piano Collections and not being familiar with it much I’d always look to see which song I was hearing and liking so much and it’d be "My Home, Sweet Home".

it’s such a simple piece but it has unusual beauty to it.

I think the V soundtrack is better than IV. I hear most people think it’s a weaker one in Uematsu’s classic era ouevre, but "A Presentiment" blows me away like nothing on IV does. It also seems to be more overtly emotional, or maybe just sad. I don’t know the story of the game – it’s supposedly one of the weaker ones – and apparently Uematsu was going through an "unemotional" time while writing the score. It still feels better to me.

I think the V soundtrack is better than IV. I hear most people think it’s a weaker one in Uematsu’s classic era ouevre, but "A Presentiment" blows me away like nothing on IV does. It also seems to be more overtly emotional, or maybe just sad. I don’t know the story of the game – it’s supposedly one of the weaker ones – and apparently Uematsu was going through an "unemotional" time while writing the score. It still feels better to me.

I totally agree. Although few of the tracks on the V OST appeal to me 🙁 But I still don’t think it was THAT unemotional, just a different phase.

What do you think of VII? That’s a bigger shift in phase than V was to IV and I’m surprised to see how many people on here don’t like it very much. And have you heard Front Mission: Gun Hazard?

I never actually played through FFVII (the game). But, I love the music from it and think it’s probably one of the first most definitive of Uematsu in the FF series–for me at least.

I haven’t heard Front Misson. Am I missing out? 😉

I played through VII when I was probably 9 years old or so and haven’t done it since but I do love the music very much. Not the same as the previous stuff with more tracks that are more about a sound than melody, but I like that stuff too.

I’ve listened to Gun Hazard a few times and I liked it pretty good, but I can’t say I really know it. But Yasunori Mitsuda was just floored by Uematsu’s main theme for it. He said they should have music students study the chords and they are pretty strange. And it has this superb melodic bit in the middle that just makes the whole song. I don’t think it’s his greatest thing ever, but it’s worth a listen.

It’s impossible to find on CD now, but I tracked down something like the SPC of it. I could upload the whole thing if you’re interested, but for now I’ll just do an MP3 of the theme.

http://www.mediafire.com/?mmmktjyjj4y

justamemory:

You are missing out if you haven’t heard Front Mission: Gun Hazard. Like nothingtosay said, it’s not the greatest thing ever, but it has some fine work, and several great pieces. The title theme, "Mission Complete," "Pull Out," "Secret Story," "Blue Sky," "Royce Felder," "A.R.K.," "Remains," "Uneasy," "Nature," and "Royce’s Death" are all well worth a listen. You can also have fun listening to it and guessing which pieces were written by Mitsuda and which were by Uematsu. They put their Zorro marks all over the soundtrack.

You can get a taste of it here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHRvPBP5t7M).

Yeah, and I’ve read people say in reviews that Uematsu’s stuff on it is similar to FFVII and people in the comments of that YouTube video said the same thing.

Definitely true of "Secret Story," and also "Tension," "Ominous Wind," "Silencer," "Escape," "Richard Millman," "Cenktrich," "Transaction," "Blue Sky," and "Remains."

Although "Shiver," "The President’s Deadly Fight," "Sentinel," "Atlas," and "Move" sound like FFVI to me. I guess it was a transitional piece for him.

great music!

I can tell why some might call it a proto-type for VII 😉

Son Gohan’s theme from Dragon Ball Z: Shin Butouden. Also on UB22.

Kenji Yamamoto – Dragon Ball Z – Shin Butouden _Saturn_ Game Rip – 09 – Son Gohan.mp3 – 3.25MB (http://www.zshare.net/audio/60600825f44ddcb5/)

Thankfully you can mute the voices on an SPC file so I was able to transcribe each individual note of each voice to be sure I got it right. Also because of this I could remix it to 5.1 surround sound, haha. I’m sure since your ears are better than mine at this, you can hear just how strange the harmonies in the main sections are. And the middle bit taught me the beauty of using major sevenths in melodies.

awesome. vintage VG music in 5.1 for the ultimate experience 😉

I know what you mean about the odd harmonies. sounds to me like he’s pivoting experimenting around minor 3rds and major 3rds in chord function (ex: Ami to C#mi vs. Amaj to Cmaj–this is just an example of tonality, not the notes in the piece) and to the ear it’s like recognizing the dissonance of a simple interval of 2 notes but in the context of the harmony rather than the micro-intervals. it sounds cool, yet unsettling, yet he resolves it just when you start to think he’s off in crack land 😉

It starts out with a regular enough C major chord but then the climbing notes play the flat and then sharp fifths while the bass dips down a half step to B. But on the second beat of that B, two of the voices sound a B flat and then it resolves at something like an F minor with the bass moving back to C. As if the dissonance weren’t enough, it adds to the disjointed effect by having the two lowest notes and the two highest separated by more than an octave with nothing inbetween. And that’s just the first two bars!

Wish I had some notation software so I could just make sheet music for it.

Nice but it needs more Nintendo, especially Mario, Zelda, Kirby and Pokemon.

Just caught the Chrono Cross medley (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_El77RW9P4) on YouTube. Very nice job.

Also, I’d like to humbly ask everyone to check out the Video Game Music Rumble (Thread 66118) and please vote!

Too Beautiful. I tell you.

Some new ones!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P56j1kkqBoI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbcN1opfp5s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAm_JNgO1AU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y63x15XsxSc

What can I say? More flawless renditions of beautiful songs.

Oh my God! Forgotten Sorrow from Aion… on piano! Awesome, I love it. Can I request a FLAC version of that arrangement, please? Youtube’s compression just doesn’t make it justice.

Oh my God! Forgotten Sorrow from Aion… on piano! Awesome, I love it. Can I request a FLAC version of that arrangement, please? Youtube’s compression just doesn’t make it justice.

haha tyty

I’m away from my apartment atm, but I have an HQ MP3 of it hosted. May that hold you off until I can get back and make a FLAC version? 😉

MP3: Aion ~ Forgotten Sorrow.mp3 (http://preview.tinyurl.com/p9ucyr)

haha tyty

I’m away from my apartment atm, but I have an HQ MP3 of it hosted. May that hold you off until I can get back and make a FLAC version? 😉

MP3: Aion ~ Forgotten Sorrow.mp3 (http://preview.tinyurl.com/p9ucyr)
Thank you very much! I appreciate it, really. I’ll listen to this while I wait.

Sorry for the trouble.

Thank you very much! I appreciate it, really. I’ll listen to this while I wait.

Sorry for the trouble.

no worries ^^. it’s no trouble. the intorwebz is le easy-mode 😉

I has moar 😉

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1mNIFREO3M

My arrangement/transcription of "Tower Of Eternity" (Main Theme, Track 1 from OST) from NCSoft’s Upcoming MMO Aion: Tower Of Eternity, composed by Ryu Kunihiko.

This one took me about 2-3 days to get down the harmony/melody and another 2-3 days to fine tune it for playability. Very tough for me to play. I don’t usually play such animated, dynamic pieces so it gave my fingers a workout :P. It’s especially difficult to effectively reduce orchestra to piano, so hopefully I did it justice.

Recorded on a KORG SP-300.

Hope you enjoy 😉

DL Sheet Music @ http://preview.tinyurl.com/nztu7v

DL HQ MP3 @ http://preview.tinyurl.com/lzycbb

EDIT: forgot about the forgotten sorrow FLAC I think. sorry about that.

Here it is: Aion ~ Forgotten Sorrow (piano solo) FLAC (http://preview.tinyurl.com/musvsv)

😛

Thank you. You made my day! =P

moar!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCa6UdlNqrM

😀

EDIT: Revised Version = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB8xdZbl5mY

:p

I, for one, am still here and still listening, just didn’t want to fill the thread repeating the same things the whole time. I was waiting on a few more songs being finished to request the lossless download link, haha. And I haven’t known the last few songs so I had nothing to compare them to, but this one I can say a bit more about.

Nice to hear this song done on piano, it probably should have been on the Piano Collections come to think of it to add a little mystique to the mix. And your additions to it are very nice. I assume it’s you who added that nice section starting at 2:40. That’s the revised ending you mention, not in the arrangment you based your version off of? If so it is very cool and good work indeed.

The speed sounds appropriate to me, not unnatural or anything. Listening to the original immediately before this, I didn’t feel like it was wrong. It isn’t even significantly different is it? However, I think it would sound equally natural slower. If I could play this I’d probably try to incorporate fast and slow.

I, for one, am still here and still listening, just didn’t want to fill the thread repeating the same things the whole time. I was waiting on a few more songs being finished to request the lossless download link, haha. And I haven’t known the last few songs so I had nothing to compare them to, but this one I can say a bit more about.

Nice to hear this song done on piano, it probably should have been on the Piano Collections come to think of it to add a little mystique to the mix. And your additions to it are very nice. I assume it’s you who added that nice section starting at 2:40. That’s the revised ending you mention, not in the arrangment you based your version off of? If so it is very cool and good work indeed.

The speed sounds appropriate to me, not unnatural or anything. Listening to the original immediately before this, I didn’t feel like it was wrong. It isn’t even significantly different is it? However, I think it would sound equally natural slower. If I could play this I’d probably try to incorporate fast and slow.

haha no worries 😉

I agree. I wish they had chosen this one also for the piano collections. If I were in charge I’d make those compilations like 20+ songs :p

at 2:40 I believe was still the Reborn arrangement BUT! right after the descending chromatic bass is me :p AND for more modulations earlier in the piece heh. It’s not significantly different, more like a slightly altered flavor of the same good stuff 🙂

I appreciate you guys, thanks for your input. I’m still iffy about the tempo…lol…this perfectionism disease is killing me!

Stay tuned!

Those lovely full chords that start going back up after the descent is you? Those were what stuck out in my mind but when I went back and listened I discovered the descending part was just as good. I would like to hear you put even more of your own flavor into this stuff. No offense to what you’re doing, but I’d like to hear you improvise a little or something and add more of your personal style than you already do. You’ve got a big list of influences which are certainly apart from Uematsu’s own, so your approach to ornamenting and expanding his composition is likely to be unique and interesting.

Just my humble thoughts. I’ll keep listening.

Those lovely full chords that start going back up after the descent is you? Those were what stuck out in my mind but when I went back and listened I discovered the descending part was just as good. I would like to hear you put even more of your own flavor into this stuff. No offense to what you’re doing, but I’d like to hear you improvise a little or something and add more of your personal style than you already do. You’ve got a big list of influences which are certainly apart from Uematsu’s own, so your approach to ornamenting and expanding his composition is likely to be unique and interesting.

Just my humble thoughts. I’ll keep listening.

iLike yer thinkin’.

Usually when I add my own stuff to the pieces it just comes in little fragments. I try to compliment the pieces rather than do too much because I like to capture the original sentiment. And, sometimes "my own flavor" just doesn’t occur to me in a plentiful way when playing through some of the pieces. The improvisational stuff that comes to me is on its own time I’m afraid 😉 Whenever I try to push it out it doesn’t quite work out. My process is kind of like a person who has psychic visions upon touching a certain object, only upon hearing a certain musical part I have psychic "hearings" lol.

Don’t put quotes around "own flavor", it makes it sound stupid. 😉

The Piano Collections versions generally compliment the originals and stay true to the sentiment, I’m sure you could do the same but with a different kind of approach that you don’t hear on those albums. Hell, I’m not here to be your record producer, and I understand about things not working when you try to force it too much. But I also think if you don’t push yourself some you won’t get very much writing done, which is the boat that I’m in.

I find the approach of these game music composers so interesting though. Of course, Uematsu had to work something like the 9 to 5 creating his music, all the composers do. They are required to force it out. But in interviews he talks about happiness and all positive things and Yasunori Mitsuda has said similar stuff. It just seems so different from the Western approach, where we tend to think great art is very often, if not most often, the product of strife and discontent and tragedy and spontaneous inspiration. These guys are like the total opposite and they make great stuff as well. I told that to a seasoned musician friend of mine and he remarked how having a couple horrible bombs dropped on them probably taught the Japanese to value all the positive things more than we do.

Don’t put quotes around "own flavor", it makes it sound stupid. 😉

The Piano Collections versions generally compliment the originals and stay true to the sentiment, I’m sure you could do the same but with a different kind of approach that you don’t hear on those albums. Hell, I’m not here to be your record producer, and I understand about things not working when you try to force it too much. But I also think if you don’t push yourself some you won’t get very much writing done, which is the boat that I’m in.

I find the approach of these game music composers so interesting though. Of course, Uematsu had to work something like the 9 to 5 creating his music, all the composers do. They are required to force it out. But in interviews he talks about happiness and all positive things and Yasunori Mitsuda has said similar stuff. It just seems so different from the Western approach, where we tend to think great art is very often, if not most often, the product of strife and discontent and tragedy and spontaneous inspiration. These guys are like the total opposite and they make great stuff as well. I told that to a seasoned musician friend of mine and he remarked how having a couple horrible bombs dropped on them probably taught the Japanese to value all the positive things more than we do.

yeah I hear that.

part of the allure of film/video game music is that it’s typically under constraints, and yet it sounds so unbound.

Strife, discontent, and tragedy…sounds like the mojo that’s responsible for any music coming out of me lol

it sure is interesting though how a genre/attitude/understanding of music is shaped by culture affected by history.

Hitoshi Sakimoto said in this interview I just read "I guess this is different for everybody — but in my case, there are times that I’ll come up with a melody while I’m relaxing, and there are times when I’ll run downstairs [to his basement studio] to write down a melody. But actually, in those cases, the melodies haven’t been all that great. I have much better results when I’m actually concentrating in my studio. That’s more of my pattern in terms of coming up with melodies."

Another one with that approach. Makes me feel like I should try it, but I’m always too busy listening to these guys’ music to make my own, haha.

So what’s the next song you’re working on?

Hitoshi Sakimoto said in this interview I just read "I guess this is different for everybody — but in my case, there are times that I’ll come up with a melody while I’m relaxing, and there are times when I’ll run downstairs [to his basement studio] to write down a melody. But actually, in those cases, the melodies haven’t been all that great. I have much better results when I’m actually concentrating in my studio. That’s more of my pattern in terms of coming up with melodies."

Another one with that approach. Makes me feel like I should try it, but I’m always too busy listening to these guys’ music to make my own, haha.

So what’s the next song you’re working on?

it’s weird how it works differently for different people. part of the intrigue that manifests in their music I suppose.

haha that’s exactly why I haven’t written any original music for a while…too busy covering all the VG greats!

Right now I’m working on Aion ~ Death Waltz and FFXI ~ Gustaberg (the version Kumi Tanioka played live at the FanFestival).

Are you working out any music (original or otherwise)?

The Aion stuff has been good so far. Still have been meaning to listen to FFXI, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Since I found this place I’ve had so much on my plate to listen to and it’s unfortunate that listening takes so much time! And then actually getting to know the stuff well…

I have my keyboard in front of me at all times, but since I suck at playing it, not much interesting tends to come. On guitar, I think I end up repeating myself most of the time and so few things when I try sound like a song. I get ideas for things I’d like to do, but substantiating them – writing the music and melody and lyrics – I so rarely have the inspiration for all of it. I might start one thing and the rest doesn’t come. Music is really a job when you don’t have the natural talent for it to just flow forth from you.

As for the otherwise, I think the last thing I really took the time to figure out thoroughly was Noriko Matsueda’s "Karen" from the first Front Mission game. Have you heard it? It might get repetitive because there’s not much variation over its length, but it has the most beautiful chords. It’s one of those things that makes me feel like "Aeris’ Theme" and "The Girl Who Stole the Stars" do, although it may be inferior to those two.

Man, I am longwinded.

lucky for you I like wind! 😉

No, I haven’t heard of that piece, but it sounds quite impressive. I’m a huge fan for gooey harmony in general.

Here’s "Death Waltz" from Aion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNtUw0S4MSo

It’s more spooky than the rest :p

There will be times when I try to come up with music and I end up repeating myself. Whenever this happens I try to immediately take a break so as not to taint the musical waters that flow through my head that, at perhaps a different time, would not so have me wander around repetitive things. But, I just might be crazy 😉 It allows the repetition to pass through rather than characterize.

Rather than taking the time to upload it, I figure I’ll be lazy and send you to a source! http://bluelaguna.net/music/front-mission-4-ost-soundtrack/mp3s.php
Scroll down to the tracks from disc 4 and download 406 – "Kalen" (Engrish, haha), or better, 414 – "Within Living Memory…", which is an expanded version of the same song that adds extra melodies and harmonies and drama. I want to do a solo guitar arrangment of it, but I haven’t taken the time to figure it out yet.

Spooky is my kinda thing. I want to write an album of songs that tell ghost stories.

What I mean by repeating myself is that I tend to do the same things that I’ve done before instead of something new coming up when I try to write. The same kind of phrases or melodies and stuff. But not in a trademark style, calling card sort of way, just treading the same mediocre water again.

I like 414 best. It’s very mellow, yet telling. I like the flow. I could see there being soft/slow harp-like strumming of guitar chords, for the harmony, behind some kind of warm/gentle guitar lead with a little FX. Back when I started on guitar I used to always mess with Cool Edit Pro and make a rhythm track and then overdub leads and harmonies. I miss those days haha.

That sounds like an awesome concept for an album. Sometimes I forget that some cool music can come from directed conceptualization.

I wondered if I should try it with or without overdubs. It’d be tough to do without them, but that’d show off how great I am, haha. I’ll figure it out when I actually get around to figuring out the rest of the song. But those chords are really cool on guitar, I can definitely say I’ve never seen anyone play those particular chord shapes.

Noriko Matsueda did some great work on Front Mission 2, in my opinion. She co-wrote the first one with Yoko Shimomura, but she did the sequel all herself and all the songs have such a smooth, pleasing sound to them, even when they’re intense. You oughta check it out sometime. When you’re not too busy working for anyone viewing your YouTube channel’s benefit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr_b0bxojL4

😀

It’s quite lovely. Big fan of the FFXI music, huh? Guess that puts you in the minority. Still haven’t listened to it myself but this inspired me to start it. Listening to the opening theme right now.

It’s quite lovely. Big fan of the FFXI music, huh? Guess that puts you in the minority. Still haven’t listened to it myself but this inspired me to start it. Listening to the opening theme right now.

haha just a little 😉

so many great thematic pieces from FFXI.

I still haven’t even touched the piano collections for FFXI…imagine how many more that will be :p

On the strength of the original soundtrack to FFXI, I can’t say I can understand the overwhelming negative reaction people have to Mizuta’s compositions. Having only listened once now, I can’t attest to just how good it is, but my first impression is that it is far from material that constitutes "Worst VGM Composer", where his name comes up so often in that thread.

Maybe there’s something really bad on the expansions for all I know, but the original game sounds fine to me. Then again, I am really unpicky and I do like FFXII.

On the strength of the original soundtrack to FFXI, I can’t say I can understand the overwhelming negative reaction people have to Mizuta’s compositions. Having only listened once now, I can’t attest to just how good it is, but my first impression is that it is far from material that constitutes "Worst VGM Composer", where his name comes up so often in that thread.

Maybe there’s something really bad on the expansions for all I know, but the original game sounds fine to me. Then again, I am really unpicky and I do like FFXII.

If FFXI OST was the only music of Mizuta then I can’t believe that would be said of him, but I maybe he’s got lots of other weird stuff?

another! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fr4HD4B7mcQ ^^

Just check that Worst VGM Composer thread and look at all the negativity towards him. Even for the original XI game specifically.

This Aion stuff is all really good. I’ll have to check out the soundtrack for myself now. Jeez, more music to try to squeeze into my schedule. Thanks a lot!

moar Aion! 😉

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDOYV6VGEuE

:p

Good God man, I haven’t even listened to the soundtrack yet. Have to get to that in the next week while I’m on vacation. I know there’s a lot of demand for your work over on that other forum you post on, for that other game, but do something that I know already!

Curious: are you a fan of the music in Final Fantasy Tactics?

Good God man, I haven’t even listened to the soundtrack yet. Have to get to that in the next week while I’m on vacation. I know there’s a lot of demand for your work over on that other forum you post on, for that other game, but do something that I know already!

Curious: are you a fan of the music in Final Fantasy Tactics?

haha I know I’ve been cheating on you guys lately 😉

I can’t say I’m very acquainted with the music from Tactics. Am I missing out? 🙂

I should say you are missing out! Tactics’ music is brilliant, as all the reviews I’ve seen will tell you too. It’s more accessible than Sakimoto’s work on FFXII and has more hummable melodies and not so much of the tendency towards something like rambling (which I still think he does very regally). Check out "Trisection", "A Chapel", "Desert Land", "Random Waltz", "Apoplexy", "Ovelia’s Theme", and the two Ultema tracks for the obvious highlights that seem to appeal to just about everyone. I also favor "Character Making" and "Antipyretic" a lot, and the short track "Brave Story" with its simple but lush beauty. If you like that stuff you’ll find the rest of the soundtrack a mix of the things you’ll hear in those tracks, as well as mostly softer and, on the second disc, darker material. Sakimoto and Iwata did an exceptional job with this one, in my opinion. The only track I sometimes skip though is "Character Introduction", which is overly long and repetitive, but that’s because it was used for an overly long movie that shows you like every job class in the game and then some enemies too.

Thread 64743 has the whole thing in FLAC, but to sample individual tracks you should go to http://bluelaguna.net/music/fft/mp3s.php

Sorry for bogging you down with all those words and suggestions! But who knows – you might find something you’ll want to arrange for piano.

thanks for the links.

the music is very much filled with life, more than I expected. very nice. almost more so than some other more prominent FF titles. a nice blend of complexity and simplicity in theme and harmony.

"character making" is one I would arrange for piano! lol. Immediately got hooked on that one. part suspense, part tranquility. I only wish there were more sections to it 🙁 might be odd for piano if only so few ambient parts.

"Character Making" is great, and you’re exactly right: part suspense, part tranquility. Iwata did that one. That might be one you’d wanna try expanding on the original for your adaptation.

http://www.squaresound.com/arrangements/category.php?id=36
There’s two arrangements here that might be of interest, if you’ve got Finale or Finale Reader. I haven’t checked them out myself.

I could see "Ovelia’s Theme" working out really well too and with less need for adaptation. If I could play piano any good I’d do it myself just to hear more of these guys’ stuff done in that style. There haven’t been many arranged albums based on their works, and that’s very unfair I think. Sakimoto in particular has a pretty unique style and it appeals to me a lot. Like their soundtrack for A.S.H. -Archaic Sealed Heat- was received rather lukewarmly, critics calling it pretty average work for them, but to me their average work is a 7-8 out of 10.

wow what a long break 😉

how you guys doin?

almost finished moving all my crap out of my apt but still lookin’ for work.

here’s my latest, and since I’ve cleaned the abyss atop my keyboard 😉

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdOrlLRJqN0

It’s from castlevania II:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MM_Q0nfaG0

Good to have you back, Matt. Very nice performance. Now how long until that keyboard’s top is invisible again?

Sorry WinterWake I’m not more familiar with Castlevania music so I can’t say much more than "cool".

I did finally clean actually haha

but just some more FFXI and Aion for now :p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fkXjXu7EVE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdOrlLRJqN0

a change of pace!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU4LAmQSyR4

That was lovely, I hadn’t heard that before.

So how about a download link for all the stuff since that first set?

Great job on those renditions. I have to say FF7’s main theme is my fav, it just brings back so much fond memories. That game blew me away in every aspect when I first played through it. Thanks for sharing.

That was lovely, I hadn’t heard that before.

So how about a download link for all the stuff since that first set?

uploading now 😉

Great job on those renditions. I have to say FF7’s main theme is my fav, it just brings back so much fond memories. That game blew me away in every aspect when I first played through it. Thanks for sharing.

ty ^^

here’s my latest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh5gUY631cE

🙂

another eerie one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkHu7O9K4J4

mellow one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUy7uNTtWJg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ciizxoLRQw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJh0oaAQYq0

Thanks for the FLACs! And those are some unexpected choices. "Sky City of Bhujerba", hells yes! Any more FFXII you wanna do for me? Haha.

Thanks for the FLACs! And those are some unexpected choices. "Sky City of Bhujerba", hells yes! Any more FFXII you wanna do for me? Haha.

haha :p

Know of any other good ones from FFXII?

If I could pick one that I’d want to hear on piano, that isn’t too crazy and probably impossible like one of the battle tracks, I’d say "The Salikawood" (Disc 3, track 18). There’s sheet music for it, but from looking at it, it seems you’d probably want to make some minor modifications. If you choose to try it, that is.

You probably already know about the sheet music section on SquareEnixMusic.com, but here’s a direct link to download. http://www.squareenixmusic.com/scans/ff12/38%20The%20Salikawood.zip

Your stuff is awesome, is there somewhere I can download a complete album of your music? I’m trying to create a VG Piano mega collection from other wonderful artists on youtube and such, and I’d love to have yours as well.

Your stuff is awesome, is there somewhere I can download a complete album of your music? I’m trying to create a VG Piano mega collection from other wonderful artists on youtube and such, and I’d love to have yours as well.

ty.

awesome. sure, just a few posts up you’ll find the FLACs with Zip Password ^^

Hm, wouldn’t happen to have them in mp3? I can’t convert flac.

Hm, wouldn’t happen to have them in mp3? I can’t convert flac.

I don’t have them in MP3, but here’s a free tool and guide that converts them: http://www.techzilo.com/convert-flac-to-mp3-audio/

Where’d the link go?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZZ894anNIw

back to FF! 😉

Ah, at last got to "Blue Fields"! Did you perchance get to check out "The Salikawood" from FFXII?

Ah, at last got to "Blue Fields"! Did you perchance get to check out "The Salikawood" from FFXII?

I just found the sheet music. sounds perdy neet 😉

I’ll throw it in the queue ^^

That’s totally amazing.

Justamemory:

Could you do an "album" with all your songs ? (Mp3 or flac whatever)

Please =)

That’s totally amazing.

Justamemory:

Could you do an "album" with all your songs ? (Mp3 or flac whatever)

Please =)

it won’t let me PM you 🙁

;_;

;_;

do you have them turned off?

No :"(

i dont understand what the hell is happening

🙂

Thank you very much =p

Don’t know if anyone’s linked to this yet, but any fans of the second generation Pokemon games should check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_ZBI3Xf0eU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPY85__hWQ4

🙂

omfg <3

omfg <3

no I <3 you!

Sorry for my absence, my mind has been elsewhere. Nice job, man!

wow it’s been a long time 🙁

I’ve been out of practice for a while and IRL is a changin’ but here’s my latest:

a piece from FFXIV!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksbguI8C5KI

is untitled as far as I know but is from a batch of new music they’re showcasing for XIV ^^

hope you guys are doing well.

Nice! That’s a really good song too. Way to come back in style.

In the time that you’ve been gone, I happened into getting an upright piano – and for free! Of course, I can’t use it as skillfully as you could, due to my lack of skill and all.

some guy posted this stuff:

Thread 72344

Thanks for this. Seen some of your stuff on youtube and i had to post and give my appreciation as i use your music to study occasionally. I enjoy these sometimes more than the originals b/c there’s less stuff going on…just you and a solitary piano. So keep em coming!

is anyone have to zanarkand piano music sheet dowloads??

YouTube – [Piano Solo] Final Fantasy XIII ~ The Oath (Main Menu Theme) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hknmu0uQSs0)

I know this one isn’t a VGM but it’s cool nonetheless!

YouTube – [Piano Solo] Glenn Lewis/Michael Jackson ~ Fall Again (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPNMqnolGk0)

how’ve you guys been!? sorry I’m always MIA ;_;

working on another piece from FFXIV NEXT! 🙂

Hey man

I remember this FFXIV piece. Sounds nice, fits in with the Uematsu of the previous Final Fantasy games. Have you heard the battle music that’s up on the site presently?

Hey man

I remember this FFXIV piece. Sounds nice, fits in with the Uematsu of the previous Final Fantasy games. Have you heard the battle music that’s up on the site presently?

hey nice to hear from you again!

I have heard it, but I’m not sure how I could put it to piano just yet 😉

here’s one from IX I just did last night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rHQytJt4IU

^^

That one sounds particularly good on piano! Maybe it’d seem a little too like a formula to put a forest/mysterious theme on every Piano Collections CD, but I think that should have gotten an arrangement. Would have been nice to have for diversity and Hamaguchi probably could have done something great with it like he did with "Find Your Way" on FF8 PC.

That one sounds particularly good on piano! Maybe it’d seem a little too like a formula to put a forest/mysterious theme on every Piano Collections CD, but I think that should have gotten an arrangement. Would have been nice to have for diversity and Hamaguchi probably could have done something great with it like he did with "Find Your Way" on FF8 PC.

oh definitely! I wish 🙁 he so could have did it justice. but we’ll just have to settle for my mediocre arranging abilities ;P

I bring moar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAUaWwNkias

😀

oh definitely! I wish 🙁 he so could have did it justice. but we’ll just have to settle for my mediocre arranging abilities ;P

Better than my mediocre playing abilities. I can handle only the simplest of right hand things and virtually nothing in the left hand when I’m playing from sheet music. If the two have different rhythms, you can pretty much forget it. Basically, the only way I can play is doing chords without having much planning beyond that phase. I make a lot of mistakes too, haha. Although I can play "The Library in the Attic" from Odin Sphere, which is… well, I suppose it wouldn’t be hard at all to a real player.

So you’ve really been following the FFXIV stuff, eh? I suppose you’ve heard the new arrangement of the "Prologue/Final Fantasy" theme that’s on the website now. There is an amount of joy to learning to play something before it’s even actually released.

Keep up the good work.

Better than my mediocre playing abilities. I can handle only the simplest of right hand things and virtually nothing in the left hand when I’m playing from sheet music. If the two have different rhythms, you can pretty much forget it. Basically, the only way I can play is doing chords without having much planning beyond that phase. I make a lot of mistakes too, haha. Although I can play "The Library in the Attic" from Odin Sphere, which is… well, I suppose it wouldn’t be hard at all to a real player.

So you’ve really been following the FFXIV stuff, eh? I suppose you’ve heard the new arrangement of the "Prologue/Final Fantasy" theme that’s on the website now. There is an amount of joy to learning to play something before it’s even actually released.

hehe better than nothing I suppose 😛

indeed I have! so psyched for it. been waiting for something like it ever since I quit FFXI back in 2006. AoC/WAR/Aion all broke my heart :*( the new prologue variation rocks ^^ the nostalgia!

it is quite fun to record renditions before there is even an OST haha. also good for keeping hype! it’s like being a pre-release bard XD

Keep up the good work.

ty sir 🙂

I don’t know if you might have found this through other means or something, but there was a rip of all the music from the alpha version of Final Fantasy XIV just posted in this thread: Thread 75435

A whole three hours long.

I did find it! but thanks 🙂

and listened to ALL of its glory >:P

also found out a new section to the march I did so I rerecorded it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7N5Bu09wMY

^^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LtTbEmxDcI

🙂

sorry wow crazy necro LOL oh how times have changed ;P

been busy with work and things but have still been making time fer pianer.

Fresh off the press…

FFVIII ~ The Landing: YouTube – [Piano Solo] Final Fantasy VIII ~ The Landing/Dollett Mission (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBHb3pdckXI)

Hope you guys have been well ;D

Had to double check to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Welcome back!

Had to double check to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Welcome back!

heh sorry for the hiatus xD

Sounds pretty good. 😀

Sounds pretty good. 😀

gotta keep the fingers in shape ;P