#barding notes

Prologue Birth of the Holy Knight

  From Fire Emblem Seisen no Keifu/ Geneology of the Holy war/ FE4

  This optimistic piece is played in the prologue chapter of FE4 player phase and represents Sigurd and his Grandbell Knights charging into battle against invaders. The composition is mostly made up of instruments that would not be uncommon in a marching band or troop and has a touch of medieval flare (well in terms of shining knight type films media not so much the period of history)

  Personally I am indifferent to this one but that’s just me.

  If you have any thoughts regarding this piece then go ahead and ask, or leave a submission.

Happy Listening!

In Action

  From Fire Emblem Mystery of the Emblem :  Monshou no Nazo (FE3)

  Again it’s another version of ‘Attack’ and ‘Initiative’ from Mystery of the emblem and New Mystery. This time we have a string version of the theme. Unlike the other versions where there is an overall motivational feeling here we have something a little more chaotic and menacing.

There are so many variations in this piece alone that its difficult to discuss without pointing at a score, but I think the take home message here is how the core theme is relatively untouched and yet there is much here that makes it unique whether its bouncing the theme to lower strings or using trills or glissando to create stylised variations.

I love this version and that’s mostly because I am a former string player and this makes me want to start a string quartet again.

  If you have any thoughts regarding this piece then go ahead and ask, or leave a submission.

Happy Listening!

Spirit of Garda

  Animation soundtrack.

  This is actually based on ‘Attack’ and ‘Initiative’ from Mystery of the emblem and New Mystery which really threw me since the anime is based on Shadow dragon story.

I absolutely love this rendition of the piece, okay I know it helps that I like the original anyway, but the way it takes the theme and extrapolates it for a TV production instead of the looping seen in videogames makes this tune much more exciting as it has a beginning middle and end.

To be honest I can’t comment on this piece any more without gushing incoherent drivel about how much I like it.

If you have any thoughts regarding this piece then go ahead and ask, or leave a submission.

Happy Listening!

Story 1- Village

The Best Vol 1

To me this is a very descriptive composition. We have long lethargic notes which is a common theme for villages, but the chord progression really give of this hint of sorrow. This accompanied by the drumming rhythm paints the story of a war torn village which was an extremely prevalent feature of Marth's games.

Sheeda

  Character themes

  From G.S.M Nintendo 3

  Another oddball piece that I can’t place but to me it sounds like something that would play in an extra menu with records and such lined up.

The piece is exceptionally cheesy with bright colourful fanfare and that tuba vamp. But for all its cartoonyish feeling there is a lot of serious in there too. For example the piece is a march which is evident from beat and again the snare gives a militant feel (you must be sick of me saying that by now but its so true) and just listen to that piccolo doing all those trills and scales. I mean I know this is likely made by a computer but just imagine a wind player puffing all those notes out. This piece even has a key change so it’s a little more than a simple repeat the same melody over and over again.

Overall I’m not overly fond of this piece it’s a little too cheesy for my taste, not that cheese is bad, but you need to be in the right mood for it I think.

  If you have any thoughts regarding this piece then go ahead and ask, or leave a submission.

Happy Listening!

Id~Beginnings

  From Fire Emblem Awakening : (FE13)

  The music here is incredibly simplistic but there is quite a bit of thought put in. The piece is dominated by airy chords which blend together. This music plays during character selection and it really does suit the process of customising your character and taking the time to think about stats and the like.

The other noticeable part would be the strings plucking out a simple melody which in fact is a theme which is revisited later in the game so it connects to the score as a whole. Finally the music is embellished with other instruments such as the snare drum and cello which gives a little more character to the piece by melding what I like to refer to as war themes and strategizing music together.

Although I think this is good strategizing music I do think it’s a little too mellow for actual gameplay and is best suited where it is. However I think it would be nice to put this on loop and have in the background as study music. Overall I really like this piece as it has nice relaxing qualities and a pleasant atmosphere.

  If you have any thoughts regarding this piece then go ahead and ask, or leave a submission.

Happy Listening!

Advance

  From Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo  Hikari to Kage no Eiyuu / New mystery of the emblem heroes of light and shadow (FE12)

  The overall theme of this theme is optimism and the flowing phrases give this idea of progression. However phrases of short staccato give this idea of conflict and aggression as if to remind the player that this is a warzone.

  Although the composition is simplistic there is plenty of lines to pick out and one just has to sit back and appreciate how they all meld together to make this deceptively simple theme.

  If you have any thoughts regarding this piece then go ahead and ask, or leave a submission.

Happy Listening!