April 29, 2009

“Midna’s Desperate Hour” Video, from Zelda: Twilight Princess

A somber piano piece from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It plays once in the game, when Link carries the wounded Midna to see Princess Zelda.

Fun fact: the entire melody is just the Hyrule Field theme with Midna’s theme interjected, over an arpeggiated reharmonization.

April 27, 2009

Same Sky Video Blog

Eddy Fattig a.k.a. D3stinySm4sher featured my work in his videogame video blog, Same Sky! He introduces his VG music spotlight and my Super Mario Galaxy arrangements at 3:14.



Eddy is currently a Reviews Editor at Zentendo.com. I believe this is his first time venturing into the world of vlogging, so head on over to his YouTube page and give him a couple stars and some feedback about what you’d like to see in his future videos.

April 25, 2009

Final Fantasy X Piano Collections, by Masashi Haumazu

I confess: the only Final Fantasy game I’ve played is FF4, but I’m pretty familiar with the music in the series. I need to spill my love for this gorgeous album that I finally got my hands on.

The Final Fantasy Piano Collections is a series of piano arrangements from the games. These arrangements sometimes adhere closely to their original inspiration, and other times they take on their own adaptations.

The tracks from the Final Fantasy X Piano Collections mostly fall into the second type. Arranged by Masashi Hamauzu and performed by Aki Kuroda, these piano pieces are beautiful, intimate, and remarkably inventive versions of the original melodies. Some tracks seem to draw influence from late romantic and early 20th century works like Debussy’s piano preludes (an era I’m in love with, I should mention!)

The “Besaid Island” theme from the game has an ambient melody that repeats itself. This imaginative piano version flips that motif inside out, transforming those few notes into a lovely musical piece.


The gentle charm of “Rikku’s Theme” is brought to the higher ranges of the piano with hints of bossa nova.

The planing chords of “Song of Prayer” are reminiscent of the mythical splendor of “The Sunken Cathedral” by Debussy.


April 11, 2009

“Waltz for Debby” by Bill Evans

Videogame music isn’t the only kind of music that inspires me, believe it or not. I wanted to share one of my favorite songs today – “Waltz for Debby” by the legendary Bill Evans, one of the sweetest melodies I know of. My boyfriend introduced me to Bill Evans a few years ago, and I quickly came to love his lyrical piano melodies. This piece is a musical portrait of Bill Evans’ niece, and originally appeared as a piano solo on his debut album, New Jazz Conceptions.
The Bill Evans Trio performs “Waltz for Debby.”

Also, in this video, Monica Zetterlund rehearses the vocal version of “Waltz for Debby” with the Bill Evans Trio. I’m not sure of the lyrics since I unfortunately don’t speak Swedish, but this is the lovely English version:
In her own sweet world
Populated by dolls and clowns
And a prince and a big purple bear
Lives my favorite girl,
Unaware of the worried frowns
We weary grown-ups all wear.
In the sun, she dances to silent music,
Songs that are spun of gold
Somewhere in her own little head.
Someday all too soon,
She'll grow up and she'll leave her dolls
And her prince and that silly old bear.
When she goes, they will cry
As she whispers “Good-bye.”
They will miss, her I fear
But then so will I.

April 2, 2009

“Good Egg Galaxy” Video and Sheet Music, from Super Mario Galaxy

I’ve been sick and holed up in my room for the last few days, but somehow I managed to find the energy to perform the “Good Egg Galaxy” theme. This is the first Super Mario Galaxy song that I transcribed to sheet music, back when the game just came out. The arrangement has gone through a lot of changes since then, as I’ve become familiar with the music and a little more confident in myself as a pianist. Hope you enjoy it!


Good Egg Galaxy
Format: PDF
Difficulty: Advanced
Info: Version 3, updated to match what I play in the video. Smash your piano appropriately. (Hear the original.)