I have a CD out! Final Fantasy VI on piano
 

Hey guys, I've played classical piano for about 14 years now, I learned about the VG music scene 5 years ago and this is my first "official" release. These arrangements were done with the intent to honor as many details of the original sound versions as best I could, while keeping them sounding pianistic. Most FF pianos I've seen are "piano collections" style, these are more in the tradition of the classical "piano transcription."

Mystic Awakening: Music of Final Fantasy VI
http://danielbrown.vgpiano.com/cdcovers.jpg

Now a free download. Thanks to everyone who bought one!

Full album.zip

01. Opening Theme
02. Awakening
03. Locke
04. Kids Run through the City Corner
05. Gau
06. The Day After
07. Kefka
08. Aria di Mezzo Carattere
09. Mystic Forest
10. Another World of Beasts
11. Relm
12. Forever Rachel
13. Dark World
14. Coin Song
15. Phantom Train
16. Under Martial Law
17. Dancing Mad part 3
18. Epitaph
19. Strago
20. Edgar and Mash
21. Main Theme

Some related piano videos:

Opening Theme #1
Opening Theme #2 - More accurate arrangement here than on the CD.
Opening Theme #3 - Called "Main Theme" on the CD.
Mines of Narshe - Arranged after I put out the CD. Should have been on it, though.
Awakening
Locke
Dancing Mad part 1-4 (complete) - Live from my Sitacon '08 concert.

Rapidshare? Torrent?

Great work, is there any way you can upload the whole Kefka song? I hated it that they changed the song from the original on the FFVI Piano Collections, but you play it perfectly =D

I really admire your piano work. I hope you get a ton of orders for your CD and make many more in the years to come.

here you go - I might as well write something about it
I've heard the piano collections version, and I don't like it either. This tune in OSV fits Kefka's character really well, it's sort of mocking.
The sheet music in the OSV book is ridiculously simplified and in a easier-to-read key than the original Bb minor.
So about mine: The part at 0:13 isn't exactly like the original, but has the same effect and works better tonally. Starting at 0:33 the left hand has some large leaps from low to the middle of the keyboard, but instead of using big chords that you'd usually find in oom-pah basses, I just use the octave for the low part and just a 3rd in the middle - it's really all that's necessary, and I try to make my transcriptions efficient instead of bloated (see: Liszt grande etudes vs. transcendental etudes for bloated vs. efficient.) The right hand has some arpeggiated figures swirling through the melody notes - again, not exactly as original but presents the same aural effect while fitting in the hands better. I chose not to repeat because I think it says all it needs to in one play-through - there's plently of repetition in it already. But nothing's stopping you from putting it on repeat if you disagree.
So that's that.




PS please don't torrent this album if you buy it :(
I'm actually the recording artist here, and this is my first commercial venture, if everybody just downloads it, I won't bother to put out any more, you know?

Will there be sheet music for this put up on your vgpiano site?

Sure, why not?
I've got some abbreviated handwritten scores, but I haven't made any for the computer yet.

Any you'd like to see specifically? I could try to make one pretty quick.

Nothing yet. It was just a general question . . . You could take it a step further and collate all of the sheet music into a book and sell it with the CD in a bundle or separately.

God, you people will clasp onto sheet music for anything.

I dunno, Final Fantasy seems to be a pretty common request.

Amazing work! I encourage everyone to get this cd

Listening to the samples, I'll say first that your technique is good. Still, I found myself wishing the performances were a little more musical...some pieces had more expression than others, but in general it seemed that you were too busy thinking of them as video game music to realize their full potential as piano music. In short sections I could hear basic crescendos and decrescendos, but usually the larger phrases lacked a unified direction. In "The Day After," for example, there is a very inspiring key change near the end, and yet you play it at exactly the same volume and in exactly the same way as the rest of the piece. I noticed similar trends in most of the other samples as well.

That said, even though I personally prefer full piano arrangements, I definitely respect what you're doing here, as I used to have a very similar mentality. It brings back memories of constantly going back and forth between my computer to play the SPC and my piano to write down the notes...definitely a labor of love.

So any chance of seeing the sheet music? Or maybe a companion book?

Now a free download. Sorry it took so long. Thanks to everyone who bought one!

Mystic Awakening: Music of Final Fantasy VI
http://danielbrown.vgpiano.com/cdcovers.jpg

Full album.zip

01. Opening Theme
02. Awakening
03. Locke
04. Kids Run through the City Corner
05. Gau
06. The Day After
07. Kefka
08. Aria di Mezzo Carattere
09. Mystic Forest
10. Another World of Beasts
11. Relm
12. Forever Rachel
13. Dark World
14. Coin Song
15. Phantom Train
16. Under Martial Law
17. Dancing Mad part 3
18. Epitaph
19. Strago
20. Edgar and Mash
21. Main Theme

Some related piano videos:

Opening Theme #1
Opening Theme #2 - More accurate arrangement here than on the CD.
Opening Theme #3 - Called "Main Theme" on the CD.
Mines of Narshe - Arranged after I put out the CD. Should have been on it, though.
Awakening
Locke
Dancing Mad part 1-4 (complete) - Live from my Sitacon '08 concert.

Thanks a lot for sharing your work. =)

I'll be posting a review of the album once I've had time for it sink on on my website but I love all things FF Piano so I know I'll enjoy this. Many, many thanks

Si