Theory Breakdown Just like we saw in my writeup on Steel Haze (Rusted Pride), there are a lot of interesting things going on in the Armored Core VI harmonic language that all take place primarily within the Aeolean mode. This takes advantage of tried and true chord progressions found all throughout rock, pop, and metal, to elicit our emotions with confidence. However, there is something awesome about the way Kota Hoshino architects the songs to make them more vague and ambiguous harmonically. The main technique I like to call "obfuscation of the i'. This means making it so that the natural 'return to home' feeling that our ears expect is continually denied or diluted. This obscures the underlying chord progressions despite them having a common diatonic origin, and also gives a sense of continuation to the track. It makes us feel like we are floating or flying in midair and that the battle will never end because there is not as much release of the tension in the music. Here are 4 ways that 'obfuscation of the i' is manifested in this track: 1. Inversion of another chord: When the i is expected (E minor in this song), instead play the bVI in 1st inversion (C/E). The root is the same, but the chord does not feel stable as it's lacking that root-5th stability. This ends up looking like an E minor chord, but with b6 C instead of 5th B. 2. Inversion of the i: Playing the i in first or second inversion creates ambiguity and complexity in the harmony, and doesn't feel as settled or 'at home' as the i in root position. 3. Orient the chord progression around a chord other than the i but the i is included: Here Kota Hoshina takes a 'Lydian-infused' approach, starting and ending each 4 bar phrase with the bVI chord Cmaj. For example, Cmaj7 - D7 - E - C. It revolves around the bVI, not the i. In a minor key, the bVI chord has a lydian sound (E aeolean is enharmonic to C lydian) so that's why I bring that up. The #4 of C is leaned on heavily (F# in this song) to provide a yearning and hopeful sound. 4. Simply avoiding the i altogether in the progression, and doing a rotation of other chords in the key. With that in mind, let's get started taking a look at some of the chord progressions going on in this song. Many of them look kind of similar (and like familiar rock progressions) on paper but each have at least one or two important differences worth studying. Phase 1 0:54: Cmaj7 - Dadd9 - E/B - C bVI - bVII - i - bVI This chord progression starts and ends with the bVI chord, revolving around that as 'home base' rather than the i chord which we see more frequently used as home. And equally interesting is the use of the i in second inversion, obscuring its function and quality. The notes of the E minor chord are the same, but placing them over a B in the bass makes it feel really unstable and uncentered. If you don't want to be too 'obvious' about landing on the i, it can be very effective to play an inversion of the i like this. It adds a lot of depth to the harmony. On it's own, it's hard to imagine how the chord might be used since it sounds pretty weird but it sounds fantastic within this progression since our ears are expecting the i right after the bVII, only to get a distorted version of it instead. 1:18: C - D - C/E - C When we arrive at the C/E, we hear that bold and expected root note of E. However, there is a spice to it - instead of what our ears expect, there is a C note instead of the instead of the B we expected as the 5th of E minor, ringing loud and clear in the upper registers. The first inversion of C is only one note off from an E minor chord, but the difference is very noticeable to our ears. Because of this, technically this is a chord progression that doesn't actually include the i - it's obfuscated. 01:31: C - D7 - C/E - C C - D7 - Em - C A really wonderful part of obfuscating the i over and over again is that when it's finally brought in at full force with no inversions it has immense impact. The Emin in root position here has immense power when it comes in, as our ears are expecting the modified C/E but instead the dissonance/ambiguity is removed and we get a clear Emin chord. I really love the effect this has, especially when used with restraint like Kota Hoshino does in this song. Only occasionally granting the listeners' ears the i chord which they have been trained to expect is very effective in a boss/combat theme because it doesn't allow that satisfying hoem-base releasem, creating unending tension in the music. Phase 2 One thing interesting to note is that the entire phase 2 is in 7/8, which I thought was really cool for an electronic-style track like this. This adds a bit of tension and rhythmic intrigue throughout the entire second half of the song. The quiet phase 2 build has some really nice harmony going on. It's kind of hard to hear in the track because it's very soft, blended, and chaotic, but it's there. 02:08: Fmaj7#11(3x) - C/F Bm/E - Em9 - Cmaj7 - Cmaj7#11 3 concepts here: The upper extensions are of course wonderful, especially that maj7 and #11 over the Fmaj and the 9 over Em, a timeless classic. That move from C/F to Bm/E. An easier way to think of this is a move from Fmaj9 to Em9, but the thirds are missing. These types of thirdless slash chords are also really common in jazz and additionally in Steely Dan's music :) These chords have a totally different sound when you leave out the third. I don't want to use the word ambiguous again.. but I have to here. It also sounds more open and airy. When you are composing or jamming with with maj9 or min9 chords, consider just playing a triad starting on the 5th of the chord and leaving out the third (like C/F). The move itself is interesting because it has chromatic movement embedded within, and is non-diatonic to any key. However, it's used all the time especially in Japanese video game music. It can be viewed as the bII chord moving down to the i. The bII chord is a modal interchange chord substitution from the Phrygian mode. Yuka Kitamura especially likes to use this. 02:51: Em - D - Cmaj#11 - C Em7 - D7 - Cmaj#11 - C This is a bit more standard, nothing too spicy going on here. But it's important to see that at exactly the climax of phase 2, Kota Hoshino chose to ditch the 'i obfuscation' and start the progression right on E minor without hiding it. The reason this feels so strong is because it's happening in comparison to the more ambiguous and vague harmony present in the rest of the piece. It's a cool composition idea, to only really deliver that easy-listening and strong rock progression at the most intense part of the music. I love the addition of the seventh chords too, really adds depth to the harmony in a completely different way than was achieved before. 3:34: Esus2 - B7sus4/F# - Emaj - Fmaj7 Em - B7sus4/F# - Emin9 - Fmaj7#11 I really like the outro here, especially for the inclusion of the E major chord. It adds a brightness and finality to the track, an unexpected little twist at the end when our ears would expect something in the key of E minor. I love this type of chord substitution, it can be thought of as modal interchange with the E major mode. That B11sus4/F# chord's name sounds complicated, and there are a variety of ways to look at it, but I think this is the most apt name for it. It is functioning as an ambiguous V chord in my opinion, but with a suspended 4th and in second inversion. It's a dressed up and obscured version of the V. This follows along with the same theme we've been seeing throughout the track, where Kota Hoshino adds depth/ambivalence/obscurity to the song through use of various inversions. Thank you so much for reading this far, I hope you were able to learn something from this or simply just find it interesting/fun to read. I am always happy to discuss music theory or answer questions on these types of topics in my Discord server. Until next time!
Man, underrated is an understatement… also, would you consider looking into songs from Gen 1-5, specific examples being Remember from ACFA, Administrator from AC3, King Lear from AC2, Artificial Line from AC: silent line, and Shining from AC Nexus. Might even be fun to compare Remember to the Gen 5 version called Mechanized Memories.
@@AvgGamerGuy15 I would definitely consider it at some point, but I usually cover songs that I have a strong connection to from playing the game. I will go ahead and check out all these songs though. I wish I could try For Answer on the PS5 but I don't think it's available. Maybe emulate on PC? Idk And thanks again for the compliment 💜
Everyone calls this Balteus' theme, but to me it fits more as Ayre's theme. That ethereal tone and the constant runs really tie in with the mysticism the game builds around her, and the main melody shifted to 7/8 in phase 2 feels like Raven and Ayre finally synching up and just cutting loose on whatever's unlucky or stupid enough to end up in their way. The fact that it also plays during the first half of the 'Eliminate 'Cinder' Carla' mission only cements that even more.
I actually totally agree with you, especially given the name of the track. I think that's a great observation and probably another reason why this track had such a big impact on me. It was the first time we got a longing/melancholy track in the game OST right when we synced up with Ayre, very good music planning
The soundtrack is literally called "Contact with You". And what we clearly did was not bonding with Balteus. Unless what you call bonding is involving explosives, missiles, and flame thrower, of course.
@@DanzIndz Yeah I agree with you. I felt the need to put Balteus in the title though since some people may not realize the nuance here on their first playthrough, and I still wanted the track to be searchable. Maybe I'll change it from Balteus Theme to Balteus OST or something
@@moonlapsepianoTechnically it is, Balteus' fight theme but with the context players meeting Ayre and work for the first time. Ayre got her own fight theme at the end, so it's technically still valid lmao.
I don't know how Cries of Coral would translate to a piano piece, but if it turns out that there is any merit to it, I'd love to hear it. I imagine it would sound more beautiful and slightly heartbreaking than it already does, even without the vocals. I'm amazed at how well the section at 1:30 - 1:56 and 2:50 - 3:12 translated from the melodic synth-whine sound to a piano. I don't know music theory, but your write-up does help me appreciate the care and craft that goes into composing these soundtrack, so thank you for that. It is nice to get a window into the other world of composition that is entirely obscured from me.
@@al2156 thank you so much! 💜 glad you enjoyed the write up too. this one was definitely hard to translate to piano but i think that extra challenge ended up with a good result because I had to try so many different things. Cries of coral is a fantastic track, could happen in the future
And it's out! I love love love this one! It sounds amazing, arpeggios and arps and all :) The sheet music looks great too, can't wait to give it a try!
God bloody damn this is fantastic. It’s genuinely always such a highlight to see whenever you upload. Stunning arrangements with really insightful theory breakdowns and sharing of passions is just excellent. Love your work.
Absolutely beautiful, evokes alot of emotions of trying and failing until succeeding against pre nerf Balteus. Been waiting for this since listening to your Steel Haze Rusted Pride piece. Keep up the amazing work!
Man, here I was simply taking about 30 minutes because I was too stubborn to utilize the checkpoints they added in AC6 😂… main issue I had was simply putting it all together into 1 run, as I found pulse guns great on Balteus, but not so easy on Sulla. Guess I’m just too old fashioned of an AC player to have really appreciated checkpoints 100%… then again, AC2AA was my first Shooter, mecha action, fromsoft, teen rated, etc… game I ever played back as a kid. Eventually got too good for balteus I think 😂. Who DID give me trouble? Volta in the NG+ version of that early game mission. He was annoying simply because I battled him before stagger was fixed for tanks lmfao… not bragging in any way fyi, just pointing out that gamers have it easy these days, even in FromSoft games
I listened to this yesterday, but didn't leave a comment at the time because this have been kind of rough for me personally, but this is fantastic! A surprisingly simple, yet effective piece. Definitely my favorite from the game, and you've done a great job adapting it to the piano, which isn't easy because of the random arpeggios in the original! Great work!
Thanks Ludwig I always appreciate your comments. I definitely wrangled with those random arpeggios (and by that I mean just took the chords they outlined and played them more orderly). Wishing you the best! 💜
@@moonlapsepianoyea, boss is tough your first encounter, and I’d bet more so if you never played any Armored Core before 6. If you ask me, it’s the missiles that are intimidating, but they have a pattern that can be learned. This is coming from a guy who has 100% AC3, AC nexus, and AC For Answer though Bottom line: boss is tough if you have no experience, but otherwise can be made into a joke… still a great fight imo
@@AvgGamerGuy15 Yeah it was my first Armored Core game so it took a lot of adjusting. Loved every moment of it I struggled with the crossing flame swords
Yesss, so glad to finally see this here! Deffo a personal favorite track of mine from the game, and the arrangement really turned out fantastic; the original remains recognizeable, but some liberties were taken to make this feel more natural which I like. Also, theory breakdowns! :D Out of the remaining candidates, I'm dying to hear Dragonslayer Armor next. 💙 And if you're open to the idea of covering other tracks from the Armored Core series, Coral Guardian from VI or Dirty Worker from Verdict Day would be some recommendations!
thanks Spektron! I appreciate your comment about the original's DNA still being recognizable since I did transform parts of it for piano. And always happy when people read my theory breakdown 💜 Armour is pretty likely. I will have to play an old AC game before considering a cover, maybe I should expedite doing that this year lol they look awesome
Oh right comments are good for the algorithm lol I've been listening to this a lot and have nothing new to add aside from it's awesome but comments help this get spread around so here's mine!
Very slow but imagine armored core becomes armored souls. It's so different but it's somewhat reminiscent. I don't play much piano but side by side, its there.
Ngl, I think it sounds better this way lol… just hits harder in piano form for me, as someone who did like the original even. Also, you ever look into the music of earlier generations of AC?
@@AvgGamerGuy15 I have heard some of the older AC music and it's pretty awesome. I'd love to go back and play a couple of the games sometime to see how it's used. Thanks!! 💜
@@moonlapsepianohey, that’s a start… I will point out the missions that play the song Remember in ACFA do have an interesting point to it in how the lyrics apply symbolically. Also, a big note for anything before gen 3 is iirc it was a different band entirely… Kota Hoshino only really got involved in 3rd gen and later, but he cemented his place in my heart with the Gen 3-5 soundtrack. Personally I prefer the gen 2, 4, and 5 ost for main songs I listen to, but find 3rd gen has a few i really enjoy. Oh, if you were to do a version of Shining from Ac Nexus, note it’s the song in the intro CGI, as well as having a motif in other songs that game in particular. Also worth mentioning that Remember and Mechanized Memories are pretty much gen 4, and a gen 5 remix, respectively
Oh, forgot to mention: I decided to try playing ACFA with this in the background on a few missions… I noticed that it made some of the more important fights feel more impactful emotionally than normal… funny I say that, as an especially noteworthy mission is “destroy Cradle 03”, one of the missions Remember plays in. That one mission does make war criminals look like beacons of honor at times, but the fact that the follow up mission sounded better imho with this too. I will note, arguably the darkest ending in ANY Armored Core game to date, including the dark as all hell entry Last Raven. Thing is, in Last Raven, you feel like a hero despite how dark a lot of the endings are, where the route i mentioned in ACFA feels like you are committing genocide on a scale a certain man would envy. Last mission pretty quickly ends up a 1v4 if you ain’t careful, but the song here sounds fitting for it imo. It’s ironic it even can fit it if you ask me… Oh, 2 of the 4 enemies together makes Balteus look like a joke at the missile boat game, then you got 2 others with EN weapons, so one of the harder endings of ACFA. I still say it’s easier skill wise than good ole Nineball Seraph from Gen 1-2, but not by much
Maybe! I actually haven't heard this song yet because I didn't get there in the game yet and was trying to hold out (only completed the story once). I think I'm just gonna have to take a listen now
![[UNCUT] บอสพอล แผลงฤทธิ์ บอสพระ-นักร้อง ก. โดนแฉยับ! I คนดังนั่งเคลียร์ I 21 ต.ค. 67](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XKf6HeftoPI/mqdefault.jpg)
Theory Breakdown
Just like we saw in my writeup on Steel Haze (Rusted Pride), there are a lot of interesting things going on in the Armored Core VI harmonic language that all take place primarily within the Aeolean mode. This takes advantage of tried and true chord progressions found all throughout rock, pop, and metal, to elicit our emotions with confidence. However, there is something awesome about the way Kota Hoshino architects the songs to make them more vague and ambiguous harmonically. The main technique I like to call "obfuscation of the i'. This means making it so that the natural 'return to home' feeling that our ears expect is continually denied or diluted. This obscures the underlying chord progressions despite them having a common diatonic origin, and also gives a sense of continuation to the track. It makes us feel like we are floating or flying in midair and that the battle will never end because there is not as much release of the tension in the music.
Here are 4 ways that 'obfuscation of the i' is manifested in this track:
1. Inversion of another chord: When the i is expected (E minor in this song), instead play the bVI in 1st inversion (C/E). The root is the same, but the chord does not feel stable as it's lacking that root-5th stability. This ends up looking like an E minor chord, but with b6 C instead of 5th B.
2. Inversion of the i: Playing the i in first or second inversion creates ambiguity and complexity in the harmony, and doesn't feel as settled or 'at home' as the i in root position.
3. Orient the chord progression around a chord other than the i but the i is included: Here Kota Hoshina takes a 'Lydian-infused' approach, starting and ending each 4 bar phrase with the bVI chord Cmaj. For example, Cmaj7 - D7 - E - C. It revolves around the bVI, not the i. In a minor key, the bVI chord has a lydian sound (E aeolean is enharmonic to C lydian) so that's why I bring that up. The #4 of C is leaned on heavily (F# in this song) to provide a yearning and hopeful sound.
4. Simply avoiding the i altogether in the progression, and doing a rotation of other chords in the key.
With that in mind, let's get started taking a look at some of the chord progressions going on in this song. Many of them look kind of similar (and like familiar rock progressions) on paper but each have at least one or two important differences worth studying.
Phase 1
0:54: Cmaj7 - Dadd9 - E/B - C
bVI - bVII - i - bVI
This chord progression starts and ends with the bVI chord, revolving around that as 'home base' rather than the i chord which we see more frequently used as home. And equally interesting is the use of the i in second inversion, obscuring its function and quality. The notes of the E minor chord are the same, but placing them over a B in the bass makes it feel really unstable and uncentered. If you don't want to be too 'obvious' about landing on the i, it can be very effective to play an inversion of the i like this. It adds a lot of depth to the harmony. On it's own, it's hard to imagine how the chord might be used since it sounds pretty weird but it sounds fantastic within this progression since our ears are expecting the i right after the bVII, only to get a distorted version of it instead.
1:18: C - D - C/E - C
When we arrive at the C/E, we hear that bold and expected root note of E. However, there is a spice to it - instead of what our ears expect, there is a C note instead of the instead of the B we expected as the 5th of E minor, ringing loud and clear in the upper registers. The first inversion of C is only one note off from an E minor chord, but the difference is very noticeable to our ears. Because of this, technically this is a chord progression that doesn't actually include the i - it's obfuscated.
01:31: C - D7 - C/E - C
C - D7 - Em - C
A really wonderful part of obfuscating the i over and over again is that when it's finally brought in at full force with no inversions it has immense impact. The Emin in root position here has immense power when it comes in, as our ears are expecting the modified C/E but instead the dissonance/ambiguity is removed and we get a clear Emin chord. I really love the effect this has, especially when used with restraint like Kota Hoshino does in this song. Only occasionally granting the listeners' ears the i chord which they have been trained to expect is very effective in a boss/combat theme because it doesn't allow that satisfying hoem-base releasem, creating unending tension in the music.
Phase 2
One thing interesting to note is that the entire phase 2 is in 7/8, which I thought was really cool for an electronic-style track like this. This adds a bit of tension and rhythmic intrigue throughout the entire second half of the song.
The quiet phase 2 build has some really nice harmony going on. It's kind of hard to hear in the track because it's very soft, blended, and chaotic, but it's there.
02:08: Fmaj7#11(3x) - C/F
Bm/E - Em9 - Cmaj7 - Cmaj7#11
3 concepts here:
The upper extensions are of course wonderful, especially that maj7 and #11 over the Fmaj and the 9 over Em, a timeless classic.
That move from C/F to Bm/E. An easier way to think of this is a move from Fmaj9 to Em9, but the thirds are missing. These types of thirdless slash chords are also really common in jazz and additionally in Steely Dan's music :) These chords have a totally different sound when you leave out the third. I don't want to use the word ambiguous again.. but I have to here. It also sounds more open and airy. When you are composing or jamming with with maj9 or min9 chords, consider just playing a triad starting on the 5th of the chord and leaving out the third (like C/F).
The move itself is interesting because it has chromatic movement embedded within, and is non-diatonic to any key. However, it's used all the time especially in Japanese video game music. It can be viewed as the bII chord moving down to the i. The bII chord is a modal interchange chord substitution from the Phrygian mode. Yuka Kitamura especially likes to use this.
02:51: Em - D - Cmaj#11 - C
Em7 - D7 - Cmaj#11 - C
This is a bit more standard, nothing too spicy going on here. But it's important to see that at exactly the climax of phase 2, Kota Hoshino chose to ditch the 'i obfuscation' and start the progression right on E minor without hiding it. The reason this feels so strong is because it's happening in comparison to the more ambiguous and vague harmony present in the rest of the piece. It's a cool composition idea, to only really deliver that easy-listening and strong rock progression at the most intense part of the music. I love the addition of the seventh chords too, really adds depth to the harmony in a completely different way than was achieved before.
3:34: Esus2 - B7sus4/F# - Emaj - Fmaj7
Em - B7sus4/F# - Emin9 - Fmaj7#11
I really like the outro here, especially for the inclusion of the E major chord. It adds a brightness and finality to the track, an unexpected little twist at the end when our ears would expect something in the key of E minor. I love this type of chord substitution, it can be thought of as modal interchange with the E major mode. That B11sus4/F# chord's name sounds complicated, and there are a variety of ways to look at it, but I think this is the most apt name for it. It is functioning as an ambiguous V chord in my opinion, but with a suspended 4th and in second inversion. It's a dressed up and obscured version of the V. This follows along with the same theme we've been seeing throughout the track, where Kota Hoshino adds depth/ambivalence/obscurity to the song through use of various inversions.
Thank you so much for reading this far, I hope you were able to learn something from this or simply just find it interesting/fun to read. I am always happy to discuss music theory or answer questions on these types of topics in my Discord server. Until next time!
Your breakdown is so good even a musically illiterate person like myself understand what you are conveying.
This comment just nailed it home. You just earned yourself a subscriber (That being said you are extemely underrated
Man, underrated is an understatement… also, would you consider looking into songs from Gen 1-5, specific examples being Remember from ACFA, Administrator from AC3, King Lear from AC2, Artificial Line from AC: silent line, and Shining from AC Nexus. Might even be fun to compare Remember to the Gen 5 version called Mechanized Memories.
@@AvgGamerGuy15 I would definitely consider it at some point, but I usually cover songs that I have a strong connection to from playing the game. I will go ahead and check out all these songs though.
I wish I could try For Answer on the PS5 but I don't think it's available. Maybe emulate on PC? Idk
And thanks again for the compliment 💜
I think you're overanalyzing. Hoshino is self-taught.
Everyone calls this Balteus' theme, but to me it fits more as Ayre's theme. That ethereal tone and the constant runs really tie in with the mysticism the game builds around her, and the main melody shifted to 7/8 in phase 2 feels like Raven and Ayre finally synching up and just cutting loose on whatever's unlucky or stupid enough to end up in their way. The fact that it also plays during the first half of the 'Eliminate 'Cinder' Carla' mission only cements that even more.
I actually totally agree with you, especially given the name of the track. I think that's a great observation and probably another reason why this track had such a big impact on me.
It was the first time we got a longing/melancholy track in the game OST right when we synced up with Ayre, very good music planning
The soundtrack is literally called "Contact with You". And what we clearly did was not bonding with Balteus. Unless what you call bonding is involving explosives, missiles, and flame thrower, of course.
@@DanzIndz Yeah I agree with you. I felt the need to put Balteus in the title though since some people may not realize the nuance here on their first playthrough, and I still wanted the track to be searchable.
Maybe I'll change it from Balteus Theme to Balteus OST or something
@@moonlapsepianoTechnically it is, Balteus' fight theme but with the context players meeting Ayre and work for the first time. Ayre got her own fight theme at the end, so it's technically still valid lmao.
Ngl I didn’t expect much because it just sounded so difficult to me to transfer this OST to the piano. Guess I was wrong because this is amazing.
Thank you!! 💜 It was definitely a tough one and I put off doing it for a while but I knew eventually I had to sit down and make it work on piano
@@moonlapsepiano to me the most impressive thing is that you not only captured the notes but also the overall atmosphere of the track. Great work!
this hits different ;-;
I don't know how Cries of Coral would translate to a piano piece, but if it turns out that there is any merit to it, I'd love to hear it. I imagine it would sound more beautiful and slightly heartbreaking than it already does, even without the vocals.
I'm amazed at how well the section at 1:30 - 1:56 and 2:50 - 3:12 translated from the melodic synth-whine sound to a piano.
I don't know music theory, but your write-up does help me appreciate the care and craft that goes into composing these soundtrack, so thank you for that. It is nice to get a window into the other world of composition that is entirely obscured from me.
@@al2156 thank you so much! 💜 glad you enjoyed the write up too. this one was definitely hard to translate to piano but i think that extra challenge ended up with a good result because I had to try so many different things.
Cries of coral is a fantastic track, could happen in the future
@@moonlapsepiano I’ll watch this space, looking forward to seeing whatever you upload next!
Absolutely and insanely cool to hear this arranged on piano. Arpeggios intensify.
just wow 😃 love the og track.. and now this one too!
@@cradlefan2001 thanks!! 💜
Wonderful take on this song!
Edit : I just noticed your music theory breakdown comment, incredible work!
Thank you!! 💜 I'm glad your enjoyed the theory writeup as well. I'm very passionate about this subject lol
That was beautiful. Somehow it perfect encapsulates how Ayre's character feels to me .
Thank you so much 💜 It is definitely Ayre's theme
My absolute favorite theme in the entire game! Nice cover, as always!
I appreciate that! The original is such a great track 💜
And it's out! I love love love this one! It sounds amazing, arpeggios and arps and all :) The sheet music looks great too, can't wait to give it a try!
Thank you so much Cali!!! I would love to hear you playing it that would be so awesome 💜
oh my god you HAVE to do Rough and Decent please i need the jazz injected directly into my eyeballs
Could happen! Thanks for watching 💜
You know you did it right when it gives me the same goosebumps I got while playing AC6!
Thank you so much! I am glad to hear the essence of the original track shone through for you
I'd love to see your rendition of "The Man Who Passed the Torch". Thank you again for all your videos!
Thanks for watching! It could happen 💜
God bloody damn this is fantastic. It’s genuinely always such a highlight to see whenever you upload. Stunning arrangements with really insightful theory breakdowns and sharing of passions is just excellent.
Love your work.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate that and I'm happy to hear you like the theory breakdown as well 💜
Absolutely beautiful, evokes alot of emotions of trying and failing until succeeding against pre nerf Balteus. Been waiting for this since listening to your Steel Haze Rusted Pride piece. Keep up the amazing work!
Thank you!! 💜 I also got to experience it pre-nerf and it took me like a week lol
@@moonlapsepiano Now thats some perseverance!
@@ReapingHarvestGames Yeah I'm not very good but I never give up lol
Man, here I was simply taking about 30 minutes because I was too stubborn to utilize the checkpoints they added in AC6 😂… main issue I had was simply putting it all together into 1 run, as I found pulse guns great on Balteus, but not so easy on Sulla. Guess I’m just too old fashioned of an AC player to have really appreciated checkpoints 100%… then again, AC2AA was my first Shooter, mecha action, fromsoft, teen rated, etc… game I ever played back as a kid. Eventually got too good for balteus I think 😂. Who DID give me trouble? Volta in the NG+ version of that early game mission. He was annoying simply because I battled him before stagger was fixed for tanks lmfao… not bragging in any way fyi, just pointing out that gamers have it easy these days, even in FromSoft games
I listened to this yesterday, but didn't leave a comment at the time because this have been kind of rough for me personally, but this is fantastic! A surprisingly simple, yet effective piece. Definitely my favorite from the game, and you've done a great job adapting it to the piano, which isn't easy because of the random arpeggios in the original! Great work!
Thanks Ludwig I always appreciate your comments. I definitely wrangled with those random arpeggios (and by that I mean just took the chords they outlined and played them more orderly).
Wishing you the best! 💜
This is very impressive! Thank you for your hard work!
I appreciate that! Thanks for your comment 💜
Holy cow... this is brilliant. This piece is giving me some feelings of constant hope. Really great job✌🏻.
Thank you Sai!!! It's definitely a very hopeful song, which contrasts with a very tough boss fight lol
@@moonlapsepianoyea, boss is tough your first encounter, and I’d bet more so if you never played any Armored Core before 6. If you ask me, it’s the missiles that are intimidating, but they have a pattern that can be learned. This is coming from a guy who has 100% AC3, AC nexus, and AC For Answer though
Bottom line: boss is tough if you have no experience, but otherwise can be made into a joke… still a great fight imo
@@AvgGamerGuy15 Yeah it was my first Armored Core game so it took a lot of adjusting. Loved every moment of it
I struggled with the crossing flame swords
Its so nice that there is someone making arrangements of Amored core 6 themes. Thx
Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying my covers 💜
Thank you so much for the sheet music! This sounds amazing, and it gets better on each listen
I appreciate that! Glad you're enjoying the sheets and thanks for listening 💜
Yesss, so glad to finally see this here!
Deffo a personal favorite track of mine from the game, and the arrangement really turned out fantastic; the original remains recognizeable, but some liberties were taken to make this feel more natural which I like.
Also, theory breakdowns! :D
Out of the remaining candidates, I'm dying to hear Dragonslayer Armor next. 💙
And if you're open to the idea of covering other tracks from the Armored Core series, Coral Guardian from VI or Dirty Worker from Verdict Day would be some recommendations!
thanks Spektron! I appreciate your comment about the original's DNA still being recognizable since I did transform parts of it for piano. And always happy when people read my theory breakdown 💜
Armour is pretty likely.
I will have to play an old AC game before considering a cover, maybe I should expedite doing that this year lol they look awesome
Gave me goosebumps
@@thex6992 thanks! 😭 💜
Hey man, I really appreciate you doing all these video game OSTs and analysis! Very unique
Thank you so much!! 💜 Glad you are enjoying the videos
at 2:09 it feels like the sky opened up. Hearing the song this way adds a strange dimension to the lore through imagination
💜 Piano is a very powerful instrument. Thanks and I'm glad you're enjoying it!
Very nice arrangement!
I dont know what to say anymore, amazing.
Thanks nahctan!!! 💜
Man, this is absolutely amazing
Oh right comments are good for the algorithm lol I've been listening to this a lot and have nothing new to add aside from it's awesome but comments help this get spread around so here's mine!
Thank you!! Appreciate the comment 💜
PERFECT! Regards from Brazil.
Thank you!!! 💜 🇧🇷
Wonderful composition yet again, you have talent thats for sure
Not to pressure or anything but, any plans for the Disk 3 tracks?
That was... beautiful.
Thank you 💜
Loved this
@@mat3393gjh Thank you!
This hits hard at 2× Speed!
it kinda did! Thanks for watching
Very slow but imagine armored core becomes armored souls.
It's so different but it's somewhat reminiscent. I don't play much piano but side by side, its there.
Thank you!! 💜
AMAZING
thank you!! 💜
Oh hell yeah
Ngl, I think it sounds better this way lol… just hits harder in piano form for me, as someone who did like the original even. Also, you ever look into the music of earlier generations of AC?
@@AvgGamerGuy15 I have heard some of the older AC music and it's pretty awesome. I'd love to go back and play a couple of the games sometime to see how it's used.
Thanks!! 💜
@@moonlapsepianohey, that’s a start… I will point out the missions that play the song Remember in ACFA do have an interesting point to it in how the lyrics apply symbolically. Also, a big note for anything before gen 3 is iirc it was a different band entirely… Kota Hoshino only really got involved in 3rd gen and later, but he cemented his place in my heart with the Gen 3-5 soundtrack. Personally I prefer the gen 2, 4, and 5 ost for main songs I listen to, but find 3rd gen has a few i really enjoy.
Oh, if you were to do a version of Shining from Ac Nexus, note it’s the song in the intro CGI, as well as having a motif in other songs that game in particular. Also worth mentioning that Remember and Mechanized Memories are pretty much gen 4, and a gen 5 remix, respectively
Oh, forgot to mention: I decided to try playing ACFA with this in the background on a few missions… I noticed that it made some of the more important fights feel more impactful emotionally than normal… funny I say that, as an especially noteworthy mission is “destroy Cradle 03”, one of the missions Remember plays in. That one mission does make war criminals look like beacons of honor at times, but the fact that the follow up mission sounded better imho with this too. I will note, arguably the darkest ending in ANY Armored Core game to date, including the dark as all hell entry Last Raven. Thing is, in Last Raven, you feel like a hero despite how dark a lot of the endings are, where the route i mentioned in ACFA feels like you are committing genocide on a scale a certain man would envy. Last mission pretty quickly ends up a 1v4 if you ain’t careful, but the song here sounds fitting for it imo. It’s ironic it even can fit it if you ask me…
Oh, 2 of the 4 enemies together makes Balteus look like a joke at the missile boat game, then you got 2 others with EN weapons, so one of the harder endings of ACFA. I still say it’s easier skill wise than good ole Nineball Seraph from Gen 1-2, but not by much
Nice
still waiting for an allmind cover
can you do allmind next?🥺
Maybe! I actually haven't heard this song yet because I didn't get there in the game yet and was trying to hold out (only completed the story once). I think I'm just gonna have to take a listen now
please make phase2 30 minute Extend!!
@@佐藤太郎-f9z thanks for the request, I will look into it!
Song request! AC6 the man who passed the torch (just the 2nd half lol)
Could happen! Thanks for your request 💜
Wait until you find the music from the older games