Piano & Voice Cover: Kuusou Mesorogiwi (Mirai Nikki)

Roughly this time last year, I started watching a show called Mirai Nikki (Future Diary), which is probably the best show about a motley collection of serial killers, psychopaths, terrorists, vigilantes and cult members I've ever watched. Apart from revolutionizing the world of yanderes through its character Gasai Yuno, it also had several opening/closing themes that I really enjoyed. Which is, of course, what this blog post is about.

This image is a fairly accurate representation of most of Mirai Nikki.

I've been thinking of putting together another collaborative piece for a while now, and my friend mdoppelganger and I decided to try a cover of "Kuusou Mesorogiwi," Mirai Nikki's first opening theme. Since we'd both attended Animazement 2012 not too long ago and still had our Mirai Nikki costumes, we figured why not try doing a cosplay cover? Many takes later, here's our result, starring mdoppelganger as Minene "Ninth" Uryuu and me as Takao "Third" Hiyama.

Kuusou Mesorogiwi (Mirai Nikki): Piano & Voice Cover



Artist: Yousei Teikoku
Date Completed: 2012-11-20
Software: Audacity, Movie Maker, Sony Vegas
Number of Takes: I don't remember
Instrumentation: Piano, voice

Hope you enjoyed watching us make a fool of ourselves. :P As far as technical stuff goes, I feel the need to confess that we didn't record the audio and video simultaneously. Rather, we first recorded the audio, and then filmed ourselves pretending to play and lip-syncing to our own music (which made us feel even sillier than just dressing up in costume and playing music). Pretending (convincingly) to play piano: easier said than done. Also, I don't particularly recommend trying to learn piano in leather gloves and a paintball mask.

Many thanks to the wonderful mdoppelganger for her help in this project; she's an incredibly talented vocalist, and I had a lot of fun working on this collaboration. Please show her some support by dropping by her blog or YouTube channel!

Anyway, this will probably be my last post before I sign out for the rest of 2012, so happy winter holidays! May your new year be filled with peace, love, and music. :)

Minene disapproves.

'Til next year,

xds

100k YouTube Views!

Okay, almost 100,000. I love you guys. :D

xds

Piano Cover: Tsumetai Heya, Hitori (K-Project)

First of all, let me just mention how unbelievably frustrating it is to look up anything about an anime that's just named "K." I needed to get that off of my chest.

Anyhoo, the Fall 2012 anime season started not too long ago, and I've been quite happy with the selection of shows I've chosen to follow this time around. One of these, of course, is the frustratingly-named K, whose content is just as confusing and nondescript as the title. Even four episodes in, I still can't really figure out what the hell is going on, apart from a bunch of bishonen dudes all trying to kill the main character and a catgirl who is naked as often as they can get away with it.

In any case, that may all sound like pretty harsh criticism, but I'm actually enjoying the show a lot. The art is pretty, the characters are likable enough, the show doesn't take itself too seriously, and perversely enough, the fact that I can't figure out the show is actually drawing me back. (Also, awww cute kitty. :D)

Of course, I'm not going to talk about a show without talking about its music, so I'd like to note that the K ED is one of the prettiest anime themes I've heard, ever. It might not be as gets-stuck-in-your-head-catchy as the Tari Tari or Tsuritama EDs, but in terms of sheer beauty it's definitely got 'em beat, right up there with the Dantalian no Shoka OP. If you've read this far, you probably know that I'm about to show off my piano cover of this song, so here it is!

Tsumetai, Heya Hitori (K-Project): Piano Cover



Artist: Mikako Komatsu
Date Completed: 2012-10-25
Software: Audacity, Movie Maker, Sony Vegas
Number of Takes: Urgh
Instrumentation: Piano

Oops, should have said sorry (or you're welcome?) in advance for the fanservicey anime clip; I looked for alternatives (really, I did), but this ED clip worked so well for the music that I couldn't turn it down. As for the actual arrangement, I always thought this ED would make a really pretty solo piano piece, and I think I was right. Was pretty conservative with this arrangement, and tried to keep all the low and high points as they were in the original song. I'd also like to note that the first chord progression in the song is probably my favorite chord progression ever. SO PRETTY. I, for one, can't wait to hear the full version of this ED when it's finally released.

EDIT: Due to popular demand, I've uploaded the sheet music here, and an mp3 here. Enjoy! :)

How'd I do? Let me know in the comments! And happy almost-Halloween!

Take care,

xds

Tutorial: Kokoro no Senritsu (Choir Version)

Hi again! You might notice that this is my second post about the same song: Kokoro no Senritsu from Tari Tari. It's not like me to post twice about the same song, but since the show finished up recently and the full choir version was released, I couldn't help revisiting the song. It's just so damn catchy, and the performance by the Makuhari Sogo High School Chorus Club was fantastic. Check out some more of their stuff here, by the way.

Here, have a picture of Mahiru and mini-Wakana! They're awesome.

This transcription, with full three-part voice and piano lines, was a lot of fun to work on. The harmonies were all fairly straightforward, with perhaps a few bars of exception. The voice parts were enjoyable to figure out as well, and it was cool to see myself unconsciously calling upon a lot of the rules I learned in my music theory classes. Putting together the Synthesia tutorial after the transcription, however, was less fun because uncooperative software was uncooperative. Still, what's done is done, and here's the video for your viewing/learning pleasure!



Composer: Shiro Hamaguchi
Date Completed: 2012-10-20
Software: Finale 2008, Fraps, Synthesia, SynthFont, Movie Maker
Instrumentation: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Piano

Those interested in the sheet music can find it here, and for those interested in giving the piano part a shot in Synthesia (it was pretty hard for me =X), the MIDI's here. Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy!

Also, watch Tari Tari. It's a really cute little feel-good show. :)

Byebye,

xds

Thanks for 20,000 Views!

The title says it all here. When I started this blog a couple years back, I expected it just to be something that I mostly visit myself, or occasionally share with some friends at best. To say that I was pleasantly surprised when I started getting visitors from the Internet community would be an understatement. So, thank you! :D

In celebration of this momentous occasion, I decided it might be appropriate to take a trip down memory lane. Here's one of my earliest arrangements that's actually been captured on video. It's "Dream Land" from Super Smash Bros. (perhaps better known as "the Kirby level"), performed by Duke University Percussion Ensemble! Hope you enjoy :)



Thanks again to all of my friends and members of the Internet community for all of your support, and I hope to share much more with you in the years to come!

Best wishes,

xds

Piano Cover: Empty Loneliness (Valkyria Chronicles)

It's the three-year anniversary of my YouTube channel! A lot has happened in the last three years: finishing undergrad, moving to a new city. Amid all of this flux, music has remained a constant force in my life, always pushing me to improve and keeping me sane through my difficult times (and perhaps acting as a procrastination tool). I've really enjoyed sharing my music and interacting with the YouTube community over these last few years. What better way to celebrate this incredibly important milestone with another piano cover?

I chose the song "Empty Loneliness" from Valkyria Chronicles because I felt that its title perfectly captured the solitude and despair that characterize my desolate life. LOL JK. I actually chose this song because Valkyria Chronicles is my favorite video game of the recent generation (and indeed, one of my favorites ever), and I wanted to revisit to my roots in arranging video game music. "Empty Loneliness" was perhaps the most piano-heavy track in the game, and also happened to be a variation on the inspiring main theme of the game, scored by the esteemed Hitoshi Sakimoto.

I don't feel right letting a perfect opportunity to heap praises on Valkyria Chronicles slip by, so here we go. Valkyria Chronicles is a brilliant strategy-RPG released by Sega in 2008, and paints a heartwarming tale of a small militia squad and the lessons they learn from war and conflict. Everything about this game impressed me, from the creative BLiTZ gameplay elements to the unique CANVAS art style, from the memorable characters to the beautiful music. I'd also like to point out that of the numerous friends to whom I'm introduced Valkyria Chronicles, all of them have fallen in love with it (and even spread it to their roommates). It really is that good.

Anyway, let's get to the cover, shall we? (Spoiler alert: avoid the text if this concerns you.)

Empty Loneliness (Valkyria Chronicles): Piano Cover



Composer: Hitoshi Sakimoto
Date Completed: 2012-00-03
Software: Audacity, Movie Maker, Sony Vegas
Number of Takes: Conservative estimate: ~30 <_< Instrumentation: Piano Aww, Welkin & Alicia. :) This song was a lot of fun to play, but I was probably too much a perfectionist with the recording. Admittedly, some of the novelty did wear off after my twentieth or thirtieth time attempting to record this song in the wee hours of the morning. The result wasn't perfect, certainly (I really need to learn how to pedal better <_>), but in retrospect I'm glad I held myself to the high standards that I did. Also, I played around with some reverb effects in Vegas, but I'm certainly no expert with these effects; I'd appreciate any advice!

That's all for this time! To all of my YouTube visitors: thanks so much for your support over the past few years. Here's to hoping that the next few years will be filled with just as many fun piano covers (and hopefully more collaborations) as the past few have been. Cheers!

'Til next time,

xds

Piano Cover: Kokoro no Senritsu (Tari Tari)

Happy one-year anime-versary to me! The Summer 2012 airing season marks the one-year anniversary of my entry into anime, and it's certainly been a colorful year. In retrospect, it's hard for me to imagine what I was doing with all my time before this sudden infusion of Japanese weirdness into my life. More productive things, probably.

Even before the shows started airing, Tari Tari was the show I believed I would most enjoy this season, and so far I've had no reason to believe otherwise. (Might be because I'm only following one or two other shows so far, but that's beside the point.) How can you not love a show that centers around both music and cute anime girls? Oh, there are guy characters too? You'd never tell from the promo art.

The opening and main ending themes of Tari Tari are both quite cute, but the song I really fell in love with was "Kokoro no Senritsu" ("Melody of the Heart" in English), an insert song from Episode 2 that lingered as the second ending theme. I get a really nostalgic feeling from listening to that song, and I can't quite figure out why; maybe it's the "school choir" feel of the song. "Ending Theme 2" might be the simplest descriptor for Kokoro no Senritsu, but I'd argue that it's closer to a "main theme" for Tari Tari, as it's recurred on multiple occasions and was even used in the original trailer -- which is really where I first fell in love with the song. This is all leading up to my own piano cover, of course. :P Enjoy!

Kokoro no Senritsu (Tari Tari): Piano Cover



Composer: Shiro Hamaguchi
Date Completed: 2012-07-23
Software: Audacity, Movie Maker, Sony Vegas
Number of Takes: 5?
Instrumentation: Piano

Now that you've collected your jaws from the ground after seeing my amazing overlapping piano/anime loveliness, let's talk about this music. :P This is one of my less liberal arrangements; I tried to stick mostly with the original chords for this one. Still, I may have replaced a few of the boring I^6/4 chords with more interesting III chords, and maybe altered some of the chord inversions due to laziness. Hey, I still think it sounds all right. >_>

Before I make my exit here, I'd like to mention that I'll be on hiatus for the next month or so in preparation for my qualifications exam. Considering that failure here results in me getting kicked out of school, I'll need all the study time I can get. Have a great rest of July and August, and I'll see you again soon!

Jaa ne,

xds