"Great Fairy Fantasie Impromptu" (LoZ Piano Arrangement)

[DS394]

Basically a piano rendition of Great Fairy Fountain where I took some of the motifs and structures of Chopin and combined it with the melody of the original song.

 

[JohnStacy]

This is hot stuff right here.  The video trips me out because it isn't synced with the audio. 

Stylistically you're doing very well.  It takes the ideas of the Chopin and combines them well with the source, especially the places where you venture away from the source melody and harmony.  The little Zelda theme tidbit at the end is definitely a good closer.

Maybe, in a future attempt at the same concept, think about reharmonizing the original theme to fit the gestures of the period more sincerely.  It's not something you're doing wrong, what you have here definitely works and sounds appropriate.  It is just a thought of a different direction you could go, and see what kind of fun you find down that rabbit hole.

I will say your volume is just a little bit too low.  Up it just a tad and you'll be golden.

[Gario]

EVAL

Oh, Show-pan! How I love his work - glad to see something inspired by him.

I hear quite a bit of Chopin's Aeolian Harp Etude in this track, and the mix works well in this context. It's a solid idea to mix the style with this particular source, beefing out those background harmonies with the rolling arpeggios like that.

Be careful with your pedal work - while romantic music (especially Chopin) is known for it's judicious levels of pedal, the style still only used as much as necessary without causing dissonance due to notes bleeding over. Rolling arps are great when holding the pedal, but moments like 1:02 - 1:04 sound like a messy wash of dissonance.

While your technique is really good, I will mention there are plenty of times where themes get drown by your background elements in a way where it doesn't make too much musical sense. 2:15 - 2:25 fails on this balancing act (emphasis on the bass is powerful, but what thematic elements are being brought to the front?), as well as 2:50 with the left hand being drown by the right (though it's less of an issue than the other example). Pianist problems and all, but be aware of not only what you're bringing out, but also why you're bringing it out. In a Chopin and Rachmaninoff performance it's often either a temporary emphasis in order to clearly bridge two sections, or something is heavily emphasized in order to illuminate an otherwise less obvious motif.

My crits are nitpicky and a little more style-oriented than strictly performance oriented, but I wouldn't be helpful if I didn't try to point you in the right directions wherever I can; hopefully it's food for thought for the future. If you submit it even as is you'd probably pass the panel, my personal crits on it aside; you develop the themes well, the source is easy to point out, and the performance is excellent. Not perfect, but certainly excellent, and something that I got a kick out of regardless.