Agniratha, Mechonis Capital - Xenoblade Chronicles (piano, harp, and string quintet arrangement)

As per my zero hour announcement yesterday night lol--this is a track off the new album with @animevivi, Xenoblade Chronicles: Interlude!!! https://songwhip.com/animevivi2/xenob.... Thank you all so much for listening and for all the kind comments so far--it truly means so much to us! ❤️ Check out the awesome trailer preview on Animevivi's channel--what he did with the color shifting Monado is SO COOL:    • Xenoblade Chronicles: Interlude (Albu...  

So usually, for me, I get attached to the music as I'm playing the game. Very rarely do I start playing a game because I heard the music first, because that overall context is very important to me. There have actually only been three times in my life where hearing the music made me want to play the game: 1) Final Fantasy Tactics, 2) NieR: Automata, and 3) Xenoblade lol. Many years ago (2013? 2014?) Animevivi played me this track, and it took my brain hostage immediately. I bought the game soon thereafter, and the rest is history (and ongoing, as far as my gaming adventures with the Xenoblade series lol)

However, a far more sordid history with my attempts to arrange Agniratha was just beginning lol. I wrote a piano + string quintet initially, which underwent many revisions and rewrites, played it through for fun with my local group a few times, but was never satisfied with it. Something was missing with the instrumentation, the writing, or both. Many attempts to record/perform it properly over the years were met with unexpected misadventure, from missing rehearsal members to unavailability of violinists to terrible venue conditions to Animevivi getting into a car accident after recording to delays in album distribution, to the point where the running joke was that this arrangement was cursed lol. I don't think I've rewritten and reworked an arrangement as many times as this one in all the piano and strings combinations I could think of--duet, trio, quartet, solo, quintet, and literally hated them all. Finally shelved it for a time until after the Definitive Edition was released in 2020 and Xenoblade had finally hit mainstream popularity--the musician community was now bigger, my circles within the community were also bigger and I was able to think outside of the box and not limit myself to just piano and strings.

OKAY AND BEFORE I GET INTO THE ARRANGING NITTY GRITTY A SHOUTOUT TO ALL MY COLLABORATORS IN THIS WHO WILLINGLY LEARNED AND RECORDED THESE PARTS IN THE MOST HEINOUS KEY FOR STRINGS OF SIX FLATS THEY ARE MY PERSONAL HEROES ❤️❤️😭😭 (especially ‪@PitTan‬ who had to learn BOTH violin parts askjfdhkgjf)

When it comes to arranging for piano, pianists tend to eliminate the inclusion of instruments that cover the same range and serve the same purpose as piano--things like guitar, vibes, and--harp. For years I thought I could cover that opening arpeggio on piano just fine, but after years of dissatisfaction I came to the conclusion piano just couldn't convey that feeling of detached, serene loneliness in a desolate machina city the way a harp could. Piano was too warm and intimate. I needed a harp!!! Luckily, I am very blessed to have befriended the most excellent and incredible ‪@SamanthaBallard‬ during the Fire Emblem Three Houses craze and thrilled she was willing to contribute to this! When I heard her stem i was like YES

Next, the inclusion of bass. Like harp, I was playing the bass parts with my left hand, but it just wasn't capturing the vibe. The part was sparse, mainly punctuating downbeats but provided rhythmic drive during the climax, and I needed the full-on resonance of a double bass pizz. Piano wasn't articulate enough to cut through all those lush strings. Eternally grateful for the amazing and wonderful ‪@MusicOnTheDLo‬ for taking the time to lay down the bass stem for me and like Samantha, i was so THRILLED to hear how he really tightened the whole thing up!! Like the rug in The Big Lebowski that tied the room together. lmao.

So finally--FINALLY--to say I'm happy with this Agniratha is a gross understatement. I am over the moon with this Agniratha. I'm so thrilled to share it with all of you, and I owe it all to these guys, as always. My piano role was minimized greatly to just a few things here and there (as it should be), the rest is ALL THEM. 😍 THANK YOU 😍

Violins: ‪@PitTan‬
Viola: ‪@animevivi‬
Cello: ‪@mmhashbrowns159‬
Bass: ‪@MusicOnTheDLo‬
Harp: ‪@SamanthaBallard‬
Piano and arrangement: little ol' me
Album art: oolongnoon (Twitter/Tumblr)

I'll be posting the XB3 stuff in due course! We hope you enjoy the album!! Thank you all again!!!!