Yoshi's Island intro for the piano

[Iggy Koopa]

Okay, so I originally started this a few months back when I was in a Yoshi's Island arranging frenzy and I had the idea of taking the structure of Franz Liszt's Consolation №1 in E major and mixing it with the Yoshi's Island intro, which came out pretty nicely but the piece ended up being ridiculously short.

Jump to today when I find this piece again and I decide to expand it, the result being what you're about to hear. This is sort of rough because I haven't had the chance to humanize it or master it or anything so at the time of this writing some of it is going to sound like a robot slamming keys. But I think it's listenable enough to post. In regards to the composition, I'm more or less finished depending on whether I feel like trimming the opening—I just don't know yet.

But for now, you can hear what I have here.

Give me feedback or ask questions, if you'd like.

And yes, that's 7/8.

[Spakku]

If Yoshi's Island was a late-80s/early-90s sitcom, this would be the piano reprisal they play at the end of the main theme's melody.

I don't mean to offend but you're trying to make a lullaby sound upbeat, it just sounds forced. I don't think its possible to make this tune work in that style.

[Iggy Koopa]

I don't mean to offend but you're trying to make a lullaby sound upbeat, it just sounds forced. I don't think its possible to make this tune work in that style.

I find this pretty offensive, actually, since you're telling me my artistic interpretation of the piece is invalid without saying much else. It sounds like you just didn't like what I did with it.

[Spakku]

I didn't say much else because there isn't much else to say. The issue is simple and requires few words to describe.

I'm saying it doesn't work because the melody doesn't fit with the style you want it to.

It's not that I personally dislike the style; I've heard plenty that I can dislike and still acknowledge as a good fit. And this just isn't a good fit.

If you want to change the feel of this melody you need a lot more backing it than solo piano is going to offer in this case.

[Iggy Koopa]

Well, again, it seems to me you're simply dissatisfied with how I interpreted the source. I never said you disliked the style—just the arrangement.

This feedback you're giving me, regarding the melody and how it "isn't a good fit", this isn't very constructive at all.

[ella guro]

hey Iggy! It's nice to see that you're still around!

Your playing has some nice touches but it still ended up feeling pretty mechanical in that first section. I think you could make it more expressive without changing the simple feel of the arrangement. A new piano sample might help also - this one has kind of a claustrophobic electronic piano sound which makes things come off as more robotic.

The same goes for the second section. There are some nice parts, but you still need to be more expressive, and you do need a new piano sample with some reverb if you want to bring some space into it. Right now the arrangement sounds too reigned in, it should feel looser if you really want to bring out the emotions in the piece.

Keep at it, Iggy!

[Iggy Koopa]

Hi, Liz! Yeah, I just started hanging out around here again. It's nice to see all the old people still come here. Anyway, I plan on doing a live recording of this eventually since I've become more confident with my playing, so when I do, it should definitely sound more natural and not sound like a robot slamming the keys. I'm really glad you took the time to listen to this piece of mine.

[Gario]

Mmm... tasty piano music. The beginning section (aka the first half) was quite repetitive, so I'd vary up some of the melodies & harmonies so we listeners don't become bored. I love the harmonic direction of it, but it can't repeat like it does, there.

The second section is amazing. You really took the music in a whole new direction, and I loved it. The playing is quite dry, though, like Liz said. I'd also bring out the melody more in the middle section, there, since it often gets lost in the texture (and not in a good way, either). You need to perform this on a real piano and touch up the intro a bit. Hell, if you make a dry performance of this (as long as it's live and on a real piano) I could spruce it up with some studio magic to make it sound rich.

'Course, if you could find a hall to record it in that'd be even better, but I'm offering that to ya, if you want it . Great music, there.

Spakku, you're actually telling him he's wrong on a purely subjective opinion. Opinions are fine, but saying it's objectively 'wrong' because it didn't work for you isn't very helpful .

[panzi]

Great, I love it!

[TMF128]

Your arrangement was great, but you need to let the notes "ring" a little bit more.

A lot of them just suddenly "stop," which takes away from the feeling. Try to hold the notes longer.

[Iggy Koopa]

Your arrangement was great, but you need to let the notes "ring" a little bit more.

A lot of them just suddenly "stop," which takes away from the feeling. Try to hold the notes longer.

If you're talking about the intro, the detachment is actually intentional. I haven't added reverb or even damper events to the render here. And the effect will come out better when I actually record a performance of it.

Thanks for listening!

[Tydin]

Shorten the intro I'd say, and maybe jazz up the the 2ND chorus a bit, so it doesn't just repeat. I also agree with TMF, the ringing comment, some sustain would be good, and then this will straight into my play-list!

[Gario]

I'm going to say wait for the reverb + room effects before demanding sustain on the piano. It's dry, admittedly, but the effects might fill the space enough to make it acceptible. The light playing is a part of the genre so adding the sustain may be overkill to something that reverb would fix nicely enough.

[Follow James McCloud]

I'm a huge fan of the original song. I'm saving this thread to my favorites, because like so many (yourself included) agree, it's just not coming off naturally. I can't wait to hear your live recording, because I'm sure it'll be cool.