#002

Original: Septette for the Dead Princess (TH06 - Embodiment of Scarlet Devil)
Title: Septette for the Dead Princess
Circle & Arranger: =NeutraL= & nazz-can
Album: BRIGHTNESS
Release: Touhou Kouroumu 4, 11/02/2008
Image Source: https[:]//www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/93905921

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before we get to one of my (formerly infamous?) walls of text, some organisational things. The original channel got busted when I was on a long-term project; I picked my top 20 Touhou characters at the time and uploaded (at least) one arrangement of (one of) their theme(s) per week. The order was Classic - Electronic - Metal.
Well, guess what I'll start again. Though this time 'round, it's gonna be my top 50 characters as of today. Obviously, I'll upload various other stuff in between if I find something that tickles my pickle. Still, that character-centric project is gonna be the cornerstone for this channel for the time being. To make that project more interesting, I'll try to find older (at least 5 years) arranges if possible to brush the dust off blasts from the past.

With that said, I thank all of you who have already subscribed and given me encouraging comments. It was heartwarming and surreal that Aenigma is still remembered, so... Thank you. Also, I'm already over a hundred subs. Fucking what. I can't even o_O

Well, before I become sappy, time for a trip down memory lane.
The OGs amongst you (or those who are subbed to what is technically Aenigma's backup account which has been laying dormant for 7 years or so cause I forgot my login credentials and didn't have access to the linked e-mail-address anymore lol) may remember this one.

This is NEUTRAL's arrangement of Septette for The Dead Princess. As you can hear, it's a really sweet orchestral arrangement of one of the most iconic tunes in the entire fandom. Nothing super special there.
However, it's also the first track I ever uploaded onto Aenigma66.
Aenigma, for those of you who don't know, was a project I started running with a former buddy of mine who went by Munchie.
I went by Silver cause at that time, Sakuya was my favourite character (before I saw the light and adopted Yuyuko as my GOAT) and, well, she had silver hair and threw knives n shit.
Now, Munchie and I were debating what to start the channel with. He wanted an arrangement of Native Faith as Suwako was his favourite character. I wanted an orchestral arrangement of The Knife and the Pocket Watch of Blood, but he wasn't a fan of hers. So we decided, after much deliberation, to settle on an orchestral piece of Remilia's theme.
And, well, there we were.

I had fuck all of an idea of how to write up my thoughts on music back then, being the angst-ridden (and undiagnosed) teenager, so my description boiled down to "great arrange, feels epic. Nice."

Well, let me have another crack at it.

It's a foreboding and delicately crafted piece. Septette's iconic tune is played on a violin while brass instruments accompany it. Occasionally the layering of instruments is accompanied by drums, cymbals and a faint piano, especially at the beginning (sounds a bit baroque which is a nice touch). At around 01:20, the tune is taken over by the brasses before it surges at 01:37 after a very short break. After that surge, the main tune is taken over by what could be a flute that keeps it light and breezy. Then, at 02:08, another switch. We're back to the foreboding, but kinda even more so. It takes a few seconds for light sprinklings of a harp to break up the dark atmosphere of the string instruments and the booming belly drums. Around the three-minute mark, what sounds like light vocalisation sets in, along with military-style drums (for which I'm a MASSIVE) sucker.
And then, 03:39. It's just GLORIOUS. The tempo goes down for a bit while it builds up to the climax of the piece and all of the things I mentioned flow together and... Oh god, I have tears in my eyes. So many memories. So much for not being sappy lol.

Damn it feels good to be back. Pity that Nazz-can and =NeutraL= have been inactive since 2009 according to VGMdb. Even worse, their homepage directs to some seedy bullshit.

RIP to a king.

Thanks for listening and reading,
Minulf



PSA:
All rights to the music, image and original composition belong to their respective creators.