Gario Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 Link Contact Information Your ReMixer name - Jer Roque Your real name - Jer Roque Your email address - jer@jeremiahroque.com Your website - http://www.jeremiahroque.com Your userid (number, not name) on our forums, found by viewing your forum profile - 31938 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged - Undertale Name of arrangement - Once Upon a Piano Sonata No. 0 in F Major Name of individual song(s) arranged - Once Upon a Time Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc. I was bored one day, and decided to play “Once Upon a Time” in minor, and it eventually turned into this. I submitted this to the Pixel Mixers album “The Great Tale of the Little Ones: A Tribute to Indie Games” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted April 27, 2017 Author Share Posted April 27, 2017 Great concept, solid performances and just the right amount of production shine, this is a solid piano arrangement for the opening of Undertale. It does a lot to expand what is a shorter arrangement, yet it's very easy to connect it to the source throughout, so it'd be easy to pass this without any further comment (it's pretty good, is what I'm saying). However, the title intrigues me, as rather than giving it an emotive title, it gives a descriptive one like older music tended to do (actually naming pieces was uncommon, save for sung music, back in the day). It's not common knowledge, but a "Sonata" is actually referring to a specific layout of an arrangement, and it was an informative way to let the listeners know what they were in for. Absolutely for fun, I'll identify how that applies to this piece, since Jer Roque applies it just as it should (with a bit of a modern flair, to keep it relevant). A sonata is structurally a piece with three sections: the Exposition, the Development, and the Recapitulation. The Exposition is broken into two distinct parts, and traditionally the exposition was repeated with variation (though most modern performances normally skip the repeat). The Development was a distinct divergence from the exposition, meant to develop a new idea entirely in order to contrast the exposition. Eventually, this leads to the Recapitulation, which is a recap of the Exposition. This can either be a variation or a direct statement of the Exposition, but one way or another it's a return to the original idea. Over time, composers added introductions and codas to their sonatas in order to give them the option of making the opening and close of the songs sound more definitive, but the basic structure is always the same: AB(A'B')CA"B". I will say here that if Jer Roque titled the arrangement a 'Sonata' and didn't actually create a sonata I'd have been disappointed, but I'll give full credit and say that this is, indeed, a Sonata... well, almost (the Exposition A and B section are double the length of the Recapitulation section), but I can overlook some basic differences as the overall effect is the same. Intro: 0:00 - 0:22 EXPOSITION A: 0:22 - 2:17 B: 2:17 -3:13 DEVELOPMENT C: 3:13 - 4:17 RECAPITULATION A': 4:17 - 4:46 B': 4:46 - 5:18 Coda: 5:18 - 5:48 Sometimes compositional tricks and techniques go unrecognized by the listeners, so I figure why not point out something really cool that the arranger did and give credit where it's due? He used the Sonata form properly, and it helps shape his piece in a way that evokes late Romanticism, and that's really, really cool. Props to that, and full props for giving us a kickass Undertale piano arrangement. One doesn't need to go into this depth to appreciate a track like this, but it can certainly be interesting! YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 While it's all above my pay grade, awesome breakdown of Jer's genuine sonata approach here by Gario. Arrangement-wise, it's all good, and the variations throughout were creative. I've had issues in the past with Jer's material not sounding fluid enough in the performance, and I got that vibe again here; there are a lot of areas that just sound stilted, which -- coupled with the thin piano tone -- don't sound great. I don't really have to timestamp anything, because it's pretty pervasive; it reminds me of the timing of Rexy's earliest piano material, i.e. limited and dehumanized by the piano patch and not your actual performance. That said, what's here was serviceable and the arrangement carries it. I'd really love to hear the piano tone sound richer and your timing sound less rigid for your future work; don't let these issues constantly undermine the emotiveness of your performances. If you had cleaner mic-ing of your stuff on the actual piano, like your older version of this arrangement, and you also had a fluid performance, it'd be the best of both worlds with the performance and the production quality.YES (borderline) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted April 28, 2017 Share Posted April 28, 2017 Not much for me to add except a rubber stamp. I thought the piano sound and performance were perfectly adequate, and the arrangement is beautifully emotive. Started off quite conservative but expanded the source in some lovely and engaging ways. Well worth a post. YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonAvenger Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Easy last vote here, very enjoyable listen. Keep working on broadening that piano sound a little more in the future, but this is good to go YES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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