Sakari Infinity » Arcanum

With Vengeful Spirit

Arcanum — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:54:02 +0000

Description / Purpose:
I wrote this with the intent of having it be used in a very intense story-related boss battle, but I suppose it could just as easily be used for a normal boss or a chase scene perhaps. It’s quite fast paced, and uses some articulations of instruments that I’ve never used before, like Col Legno on the bass section. It’s meant to loop as well.

Instruments Used:
Male and female choir, full string section, harp, grand piano, percussion (snare drum, bass drum, timpani, woodblocks, tambourine, cymbals), tuba, french horn section, trumpet section, oboe, clarinet, and flute. Basically a full orchestra.

Inspiration:
Various boss themes from Kindgom Hearts with driving bass lines and fast percussion, and Shizu.

With Vengeful Spirit

As Their Ship Departs

Arcanum — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:02:05 +0000

Description / Purpose:
Written for the April 2008 competition. I didn’t really have much in mind when I was writing this, but as I finished it, I thought it might go well with a scene involving someone saying a bittersweet goodbye to someone else as they leave on a ship.

Instruments Used:
Grand Piano, Pizz. Violins, Cellos, Basses, Harp, Trumpets, Trombones, French Horns, Male and Female Choir ”ahhs”, Piccolo, Flute, Oboe, Percussion (cymbals, snare drum, tambourine)

Inspiration:
I’m not really sure where this one’s inspiration came from actually… I’m not sure if it has a blatant one.

As Their Ship Departs

Dark Fortress

Arcanum — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:36:39 +0000

Description / Purpose:
Written for February 2008’s Contest. This piece was meant to be a theme for an arch-villain’s lair, a walking, living castle with all sorts of morbid things contained within. The walls of this theoretical castle are covered in human skeletons, and the floor is crawling with all sorts of malicious beasties. I meant for this to have sort of a feeling of a final dungeon of sorts, and I wanted it to feel pretty epic too, and I think I succeeded. This is also meant to loop.

Instruments Used:
Full String Section with several articulations, Full Brass Section with two articulations, Oboe, Bassoon, Harp, and assorted Percussion instruments (basic orchestral percussion, woodblocks, crotals, gong, bongos).

Inspiration:
Hitoshi Sakimoto’s stuff, as usual. Specifically the Nalbina Fortress Underground Prison Theme from FFXII, though it really only influenced me in terms of the percussion writing.

Dark Fortress

The Power to Change the World

Arcanum — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 03:25:56 +0000

Description / Purpose:
This was written for the End of the Year music competition, and it was meant to illustrate the journey Ark, from the game Terranigma, takes through the world as he resurrects it, and how his place in the world shapes him.

In the beginning, Ark is a sheltered adolescent in a peaceful town called Crysta that exists deep under a post-apocalyptic earth, and has no knowledge of the desolate world that exists outside. However, his curiosity gets the better of him, and he opens a box that eventually leads to, by the Elder of Crysta’s instruction, the beginning of a journey forth from Crysta to resurrect the outside world.

In the course of his journey, as he changes from an uncaring adolescent into the savior of the world, he begins to question the purpose of his actions. He learns that the destruction and resurrection of the world, and all the pain associated with it, will only continue at the opposing will of Dark and Light Gaia, two godlike entities, if he simply accomplishes the task he set out to do originally. This piece is meant to illustrate Ark’s gradual realization of this fact, and what he does when he finds that he can change that cycle.

In the end, Ark dies because of the fact that he himself is part of Dark Gaia, whom he destroys in the end, but he dreams one last dream beforehand, in which he sees the beauty of the world he resurrected.

Each part is meant to represent a stage of that change, and the parts are as follows:

Part 1: Ark Opens his Eyes (0:00 – 1:01)

Part 2: The Desolate World Before Him (Theme of Change)(1:02 – 1:30)

Part 3: Life’s Resurrection: Optimism (1:31 – 1:57)

Part 4: Loss of Innocence/The Return of Mankind (Theme of Change Reiterated)(1:58 – 2:17)

Part 5: Understanding (2:18 – 2:58)

Part 6: Outside the Loop of Fate (2:59 – 3:26)

Part 7: Breaking the Loop (One Last Change)(3:27 – 3:53)

Finale: Sleep: Dream of the New World (3:54 – 4:34)

Instruments Used:
Brass sections (Trumpet, Trombone, French Horn), String sections (full), with Pizzicato Violins part of the time, Solo Cello, Female Choir, Harp, Vibraphone, Clarinet, Flute, Percussion. Pretty much almost a full orchestra.

Inspiration:
Terranigma, Miyoko Kobayashi and Masanori Hikichi, and a deadline of 4 days.

The Power to Change the World

Spirits Frozen in the Ice

Arcanum — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:21:37 +0000

Description / Purpose:
This one was written for the November music competition… When I was writing it, I envisioned a scenario in which a character became trapped in a frozen room in an ice-bound cave, feeling completely desolate and alone. Though, eventually, he finds that the cave holds many mysteries, and that he isn’t quite alone after all… I think this would work pretty well as a theme for a quiet icy cave.

Instruments Used:
Chimes, Strings (Pizzicato Cello, Bass, Violin), Oboe, Piano, very sparse Percussion.

Inspiration:
A 3 day deadline for the contest… heh. And also a song by a band called Abigail’s Ghost, ”Love Sounds”. It uses a similar progression to the one at the beginning of this piece.

Spirits Frozen in the Ice

The Calm Frontier

Arcanum — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 04:29:08 +0000

Description / Purpose:
Written for this month’s competition, this is intended for use as a town theme. Just generic RPG-fare stuff.

Instruments Used:
Glockenspiel, Harp, Strings, Clarinet, Flute, Horns, Light Percussion.

Inspiration:
Stuff by Hitoshi Sakimoto, especially “The Skycity of Bhujerba” from FFXII.

The Calm Frontier

Discovering the Floating Continent

Arcanum — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 08:03:37 +0000

Description / Purpose:
I wrote this song to depict a scene I had imagined, one involving an airship journey through a violent storm. This is probably best used as a piece of music for a really epic or dramatic scene. The first and second halves of the piece are meant to represent different levels of intensity of the storm, and the end is supposed to represent when the protagonists come out the other side of the storm into the calm, where they see the floating continent.

Instruments Used: Piano, Harp, Strings, Brass, Woodwinds (very subtly), Percussion (Timpani, Cymbals, Shakers, etc).

Inspiration: The scene in Hayao Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky where the airship is sailing through the weather front to reach the castle in the sky.

Discovering the Floating Continent

Vanquished Foes

Arcanum — Fri, 25 May 2007 23:14:40 +0000

Description / Purpose:
A short piece for May 2007′s contest intended for use as a victory fanfare.

Instruments Used:
Strings, Brass, Harp, Percussion (Timpani, Cymbals, Snare, Triangle).

Inspiration:
Any game with an orchestral soundtrack.

Vanquished Foes

They Were Too Tough For Us…

Arcanum — Thu, 24 May 2007 05:32:25 +0000

Description / Purpose:
For May 2007′s contest, this is intended for a game over-type theme.

Instruments Used:
Strings, Brass, Harp, Percussion (Timpani, Cymbals, Triangle).

Inspiration:
Any game with an orchestral soundtrack.

They Were Too Tough For Us…

The Betrayal

Arcanum — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 07:52:54 +0000

A piece I wrote for this month’s contest. Intended to be used for a very fateful encounter (it seems fairly fitting for a final boss) with the hero(ine)’s best friend, who has turned into a demon and slain his/her loved one. Instrumentation is fairly orchestral, with strings, brass, a choir, a harp, and orchestral percussion, but has an electric bass with a fairly subtle presence in the background.

The Betrayal