Tune Contest 3rd Nov. - 17th Nov. - Arrange Your Thoughts

[Kabukibear]

EDIT: I AM NOT ENTERING BUT I had a request to post a few examples of the sort of thing I'm looking for. They'll be at the bottom of this post. Feel free to completely ignore them if you want!

I love arrangements. I love how familiar, but also how new and surprising they can be. Even though it's based on something already written, there are always ways to express your own voice and your own ideas in the context of the music that's there.

So that is your task. I want you to arrange a piece of music, with a few stipulations, of course.

- You may base your arrangement on any piece, even another arrangement.

- Your arrangement must be at least 1 minute in length.

- You may NOT use MORE than 20 measures of music to be arranged from. This means you will have to either use a very short piece, or a section of a larger work. How you extend the piece is up to you but never forget that this is an arrangement contest as well as a composition contest, meaning that what I am going to be looking at is how you creatively arrange the piece you're using in addition to what you add of your own. Your composing shouldn't overshadow the piece you're arranging, only enhance it.

- Whatever piece or section of music you choose, it must have a clearly definable melody. This means no taking a chord progression and just soloing over top of it. You can play around with the melody as you extend the piece, but I don't want an entirely original piece that uses just the bass line or something. Make your composing mesh with the style and feel of the original. Feel free to have extended sections that are entirely your composition, as long as they fit the feel of the piece. Just don't forget that your own composition is only half of this competition.

- You must share the original piece you are going to arrange. It doesn't have to be the exact version you will be basing your arrangement off of but I want to be able to compare your arrangement with something.

- If you think it will help, you can explain what you did (if the arrangement is very drastic.) I will probably be able to appreciate your work, but if you would like to explain more subtle things you've done, feel free. This won't count against you if you don't, however.

- Your arrangement can be in any form you'd like. There are no limitations on instrumentation, style, structure, etc. If you've ever wondered what some Lady Gaga would sound like as a string quartet, or maybe Hip-Hop J.S. Bach, now's your chance to shine.

That's it! Hope to hear some great arrangements!

============================================
These are just examples, not entries.

1. Donkey Kong level 1
Original piece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMMXHZ5Aqdg
The music I am arranging starts at 0:35 and continues repeating the same 5 notes over and over. Hee hee!
Arrangement: "DK In Love"
http://two.xthost.info/kabukibear/Dk%20In%20Love.mp3

This one is a pretty liberal interpretation so I'll post something of an explanation. So, in the arrangement, the initial statement of the theme is in the accented notes at the beginning, note for note, with a few extra notes thrown in to make it slightly more interesting. After that the bass progresses down while still holding on to the rhytmic feel the theme presented and then finishes up with a little bit of my own writing to flesh out a bit of movement and drive the music back up to the original theme. Once the melody comes in you'll notice that the melody is actually the main theme, pushed up an octave and augmented so as to stretch the theme out into a melodic line while it accompanies itself in the rhytmic pattern you heard in the intro.

This moves into a slightly altered section where the rhythm is familiar, but the theme has now been moved up and augmented even further, allowing me to play around with some chords before each note of the theme appears. I eventually kick it into a fun little bridge that brings me back to the main theme. The reason I kept jumping back to the main theme was to provide a ground to the next severe altering of the theme. The next is the most of all in the piece, where it becomes almost unrecognizable, but the notes and order of notes are still there.

It ends with a recapitulation of the theme to draw in all the loose ends.

2. Amazing Grace
Original piece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkLXOWimMY8
Arrangement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxU8NOcb1ts

This one is a little more straightfoward that the previous. I just played around with rhythms and harmony to change the feel of Amazing Grace from sad and somber to bouncy and light. Key change before the flute reclaims the theme for a little dramatic effect. The piano was fun to write for in this one.

3. The Kingdom of San d'Oria from FFXI
Original piece: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaGaGqejQqI
I use the section from 0:13-0:26 and 0:53-1:16ish

Arrangement: "While San d'Oria Sleeps"
http://user.xthost.info/kabukibear/WhileSandoriaSleeps.mp3

Sleepy intro, then go into the theme. From there my own stuff then back to the theme. Which moves into the music heard at 0:53 in the original. End with the same intro.

[Ogon]

Ohai,

This is what I arranged with too much time on my hands: Baldur's Gate 2 theme arranged (the original plays on this website)

I might be still tweaking it till 17 Nov, but basically it's done.

EDIT: of course the original beats it (since it's just perfect and the most epic video game theme ever), but I hope you enjoy my arrangement anyway

[Kabukibear]

Anyone else planning on entering? No one likes winning by default. XP

[Kabukibear]

Well, Ogon, it looks like you win. Sorry for lack of competition. If I ever do another one I'll have to come up with a better theme.

[Phemar]

Oh well. It seems Ogan hasn't been online since the 15th of November... Seems unlikely he'll start a new competition anytime soon.

So in all overdueness, I present an unfinished version of Fireflies by Owl City - The rock version!

Download!