ELDEN RING - God-Devouring Serpent (Rykard's Theme) on Piano
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ต.ค. 2024
- Composer: Yoshimi Kudo
Arranged by: Moonlapse Piano
Sheets: musescore.com/...
Discord: / discord
Hi everyone! I'm back with another Elden Ring arrangement. I'll never forget how overwhelming it was during this fight as the insane operatic end of phase 2 was playing while the endless hellfire of skulls rained down. This song also comes packed to the brim with incredibly interesting music theory concepts. I won't be able to cover all of it with the 5000 word limit here, but I am thinking about making a separate music theory blog (or dedicated theory videos) soon.
-Theory Breakdown-
0:32 sets the tone by introducing a concept which will repeat throughout the piece - abundant chromaticism. Here we have a main melody in F Phrygian. What's interesting about this is the overlaid chromatic ascending runs - they add a frenzied and demonic quality to the already dark-sounding phrygian modal backdrop. My takeaway from this is you can be pretty creative with chromatic runs like this and basically 'dress up' a different mode with them to add chaotic energy.
01:26 is a very strong progression which I absolutely love.
C#m C#m G#5/D# F#m C#m/E C#m/G# D#7/G D#7
C#m C#m G#5/D# F#m C#m/E C#m/G# A
Ignoring the bassline for a moment, we basically have (i, V, iv, i, II7) into (i, V, iv, i, VI). However, it's fascinating in that it has most of these chords as inversions for driving melodic bass movement that takes center stage. Especially when we get the i over its third (E), and then i over its fifth (G#), in order to set up a savage half step walk down to the II7 over its third (G). G is the flat 5 of the parent C# minor scale so using this note in the bassline especially gives it such a Soulsborne boss music quality, for lack of a better phrase. It's dark, twisted, bombastic, wild, evil-sounding, warped. In general, using the II7 in a minor progression is a great takeaway from this to achieve a similar sound, especially resolving down to the i. Having that flat 5 in there is just so potent. The second time around we get to an uplifting and epic major VI chord instead, which has even more impact since our ears were now expecting that gritty and warped flat 5 sound. Gorgeous - don't forget the chromatic runs over the top to add color/texture.
01:50 is actually my favorite section. The first chord is basically an expression of the F# whole tone scale (D E F# G# C). It feels dreamy and ambiguous but still dark. Then it moves to a Gsus type of sound, with notes C D F G A over G, so no third - also very ambiguous. These two chords back and forth work SO well together but they are really quite unusual and nonfunctional. I have seen a lot of whole tone stuff in music before to achieve that 'Alice in Wonderland' vibe but this chord progression demonstrates how whole tone can fit in a chord progression. We can also look at this 'whole tone context' as an F# 7#11b13, as it has some dominant function (though Yoshimi Kudo leaves out the major third here). In an effort to neatly package this: Anytime we are in the whole tone scale, we can move to a sus2 or 7sus2 chord that is a half step away from any note in the scale. I tried replacing the G7sus2 with others and it sounded really cool, like F7sus 2 or Eb7sus2.
At 02:46 we get a marvelous octatonic scale. This is the F whole-half diminished scale played blazing fast right on top of an F diminished chord. This is covered pretty well on the internet so I definitely recommend looking into it.
03:39 - the fabled outro. It's quite complex and erratic, but it's almost entirely in the D harmonic minor mode. While it isn't utilizing an usual harmonic cadence, what's crazy is how the inversions are used and how we only sit on the i or iv for very brief durations. Simplified, it is mainly going V7, i, iV, V, i - shards of a very common progression in classical music and souls music. It really gives that medieval, kingly, lordly overall vibe. We sit on some form of the dominant A7 for most of the section. However, it's dressed up - for example, the section opens up with a fierce A7b9/E. Later, we get a bass walkdown from E to C# to A, all parts of A7. is just one example of how a 'simple' chord sequence is obfuscated. Also, more chromatic runs on top. My overall takeaway is that we can use inversions in creative ways to hide the fact that we are actually doing very common chord progressions like i iv V i, or V i, etc. We can breathe new life into an A7 chord by putting it over its fifth, for example, and resolving that down a whole step to the root of the i. We can make a chord progression more chaotic and unstable by resolving to the i for a brief moment, only to leave and go right back to a dominant or diminished chord.
Thanks for reading! Join the discord linked at the top if you want to learn/talk/brainstorm about Soulsborne music or theory in general.
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I love how the notes themselves look like a serpent spiralling up a tree or something
Haha true, I didn’t notice that till now. It’s a slithering song!
You could say they are spiraling up… TOGETHAAAAAAAAA!
Please never stop making these Eldensoulsbournekiro arrangements.
Your covers are god tier.
Good job I love it
Thanks My Dude 💜 I got more coming
Beat me to it. Very well done
Thanks Scrb! I am still very much looking forward to your arrangement if you’re still gonna do it, your work is amazing 💜
What a beauty. What a deliciously nightmarish cover you have done! Ahhh voluptuous!
💜
This track hits like a freight train. So fucking fitting for the boss. Great job arranging this, you really brought out the standout parts! Lovely walkthrough in the description as always!
thanks Wraithwrecker! Much appreciated. Thanks for watching/reading 💜
Honestly great work.
Thank you 💜
This madman actually did it, and as always, incredible fucking work. Wow, been listening to this on repeat all day already
Thanks Dyroth 💜
super cool moonlapse! My favourite part was definitely the end that was so nice to listen to. Loved how how you managed to dial down a whole orchestra into just a piano piece. Really well done and i also loved your breakdown in the description!
Thanks Antihero! I’m glad you enjoyed the theory breakdown 💜 That end section was crazy hard to figure out lol I appreciate the kind words
Oh my god moonlapse your stuff is just the best. I’ve been looking for a Rykard transcription for AGES!! And just when I have up on it, you dropped a complete BANGER. Insanity. Keep up the fantastic work!!
Thank you so much Tate!! I really appreciate the kind words 💜 I will keep it up
Awesome!! I love how much detail you provide in the descriptions as well :))
Thanks! Theory breakdown is my favorite part 💜 I appreciate you reading it
I was expecting your new video! Great job man.
Thanks Sai 💜
This is BLASPHEMY!!!....well done!
💜 I appreciate it!
So good! I’ve been trying to figure out the violin parts for forever!
Thank you!!! 💜 those were hard to figure out, I had to loop the same bar over and over again so many times lol
1:50 is also my favourite section! This is really great
Thanks 💜 that is my favorite part too. Can’t get enough of that whole tone scale
🤯💙
sounds just as menacing and awesome on piano >:)
Yes it does, I think it translates to piano very well. Thanks for watching 💜
This is wonderful. It's a joy to read your description and see your passion for music theory too. I can barely keep up with my strategy of "OK it sounds like maybe this note is happening" or "I have no idea, just start adding some notes to the piano roll that are inoffensive" LOL. Whereas you've both pinpointed what's occurring and broken it down. Incredible work.
Also, I live for 3:39, if I had to pick a favorite part :)
Thank you so much Steuben! The music theory breakdown is definitely my favorite part about doing this, I love thinking about this stuff and trying to take lessons from it. Agree on 3:39, but it’s tied with the whole-tone section at 1:50 for me 💜
Oh yeah, another masterpiece, keep it up man🔥🔥
Thank you botti 💜
I waited so long for this, it's one of my favorites🔥🔥
Same, such an awesome track. Thanks for watching 💜
Looking forward to Maliketh's and Radahn's 👀
Wonderful!
I'm very novice still on the piano (been playing every day since February this year), so this is clearly beyond my skill level but I can't help but notice some of those right hand chords don't even look physically possible, like at 2:16. I'm 6'2 with some awfully large hands, and there's no way i could reach those five keys simultaneously. What's the technique here? Do you sustain the note with the pedal and shift your hand to root on C, not even touching the higher G key there?
Hey thanks for your comment. I do my best to make my arrangements playable with 2 medium-sized hands. I try to keep maximum interval as a 10th (like C to E an octave higher).
That way that chord looks at 2:16 is a mistake in the lengths of the midi notes, the G should have been clipped off earlier, when the lower A note begins. In my more recent videos I have been more attentive about this. Sorry about that.
I make heavy use of the sustain pedal as part of my general style, so for that 2:16 section you'd briefly hit the high G with your pinky and let it ring out via the sustain before moving down to play the other notes. Sustain is held over that entire portion allowing all the notes to ring out.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
@@moonlapsepiano awesome, thanks for the reply! I discovered your channel today and adore your arrangements. I've seen this in transcriptions on other channels as well and wondered if it was technique, a skill issue, or just a common understanding that I hadn't been filled in on yet. Thank you very much for the clarification!
Indescribable! Man, this is amazing! Well done.
Would like to hear Demon of Hatred from Sekiro, keep it up!
Thanks Allmaster! I will definitely keep it up. Demon of Hatred is on my list but there’s a lot of tracks on there lol 💜
Sick my friend, Well Done.
Much appreciated Alex! 💜
@@moonlapsepiano Keep it up my friend. :)
Excellento !!! Can we download thethe sheet somewhere?
Thanks!! I haven't made the sheets for this one yet, but because of your comment this will be next on my to-do list. I've made sheets for some of my other arrangements which can be seen on my Musescore page 💜
Sheets link can now be found in the description!
You are the awesomest of the awesomests haha thanks so much ill head on my piano trynn not break my fingers haha