DARK SOULS 2 - Burnt Ivory King on Piano

Composer: Motoi Sakuraba
Arrangement: Moonlapse
Sheets: musescore.com/...
Hey everyone,
Here is my first piano cover of 2024, and I've decided to do a little throwback. I have been listening to the Dark Souls 2 soundtrack a lot lately and it's really fantastic and quite underrated in my opinion. It's really interesting to hear some of the earlier Yuka Kitamura tracks and compare them to how she sounds later on Elden Ring - and it's fun to see Motoi Sakuraba firing on all cylinders. This probably won't be the only DS2 song that I cover.
When looking across all 3 Dark Souls soundtracks, it's hard to find Motoi Sakuraba tracks that translate well (or easily) to piano due to his chaotic compositional and harmonic style. He highly emphasizes the rhythmic aspects of his music, played by low strings and brass, which doesn't sound as good on solo piano as more melody-focused songs. However, this track feels very different from his normal work and stands out because of it - it has a well defined structure, slow moving melodies, and unusual but cohesive harmonic movements. I knew right away it would make for a great piano cover.
When I was first re-listening to the DS2 soundtrack this year (besides playing it when it came out) I thought that this was for sure a Yuka Kitamura song before I looked at the artist name! I love both Kitamura's and Sakuraba's music equally, and I have covered a ton of Kitamura songs at this point. I've have been a bit sad that I hadn't hit any Sakuraba songs yet, so I was very excited to arrange this one and I hope you enjoy it.
I am aware that there is a lot of controversy surrounding DS2 on the internet. I was lucky enough to play it at a time (initial launch) when I was blissfully unaware of this, and I fully enjoyed it just as much as I did Dark Souls 1. If you join the Moonlapse discord server you will find that it is a 'no DS2 hating' zone lol. I have really fond memories of nearly the entire game, but the DLC was the best part for me. All three of them were incredible, and I loved the diversity of biomes/colors that they brought (green, red, white). Sinh The Slumbering Dragon and Old Iron King are incredible boss fights but I think Burnt Ivory King is probably the most awesome one. I'll never forget the contrast when plunging down from Frozen Eleum Loyce into Old Chaos to fight the king and his Loyce Knights. The fact that there is a massive scary tree and some ice blocks in that deep red fiery arena makes for such a unique setting, as those things are not usually found in 'fire-associated' video game zones. I also love fights with adds/dual bosses so that made this one even better for me.
Side note: If you haven't listened to the Aava, The King's Pet soundtrack in a while you need to, it's gorgeous.
The music theory breakdown of the track will be pinned in the comments below. As always, thank you so much for watching my videos and I really appreciate all of you! Let me know what you think. More to come soon.
Moonlapse Discord server: / discord
Bandcamp: moonlapse.band...
Musescore: musescore.com/...
#bossmusic #vgm #vgmcover #piano #pianotutorial #pianoarrangement #pianocover #videogamemusic #darksouls #darksouls2 #soulsbourne #pianocover #fromsoftware

[@moonlapsepiano]

Music Theory Breakdown This is one of the most digestable Sakuraba tracks, harmony wise. He is usually very chaotic/complex in his arrangements, and it can often look 'random.' Of course, any music can be analyzed regardless of complexity, but this particular song gives us a much easier time coming up with some core harmonic takeaways we might use in our own music or compositions. Progression 1: 0:03 Am Em/A Asus4 Am Am Asus2 Asus4 Am This 'pedal-tone' technique can be seen all over Souls music, and from a wide variety of the composers. It's a very effective way to create an emotional and moody atmosphere. Any 'functional harmony' chords that are placed on top of the pedal tone have their normal meaning obscured and abstracted in a very interesting way. To really see what I mean, try playing this progression but with a root position E minor chord instead of Em/A. It has so much more movement and purpose, and feels a little bit jarring. Another way to think about this is that it indicates modal songwriting. Each note is related back to the root note of A because there is no chord movement in the bass. In this particular case, the A Aeolean mode washes over us, bringing a torrent of sadness and ancient glory. You can take any diatonic chord progression, for example something basic like Am, F, G, Em, and play them all over A in the bass. Compare that to hearing each chord in root position to really understand the impact pedal tone writing has. It's also pretty notable to hear the minor v in souls music. We rarely see the diatonic b7 in the minor scale, since usually its raised up a half step for a harmonic minor sound. Sakuraba also uses harmonic minor a lot more often than Aeolean in his writing, so that Em/A is another reason this track feels very different from his other work. It keeps the song in an Aeolean vibe, not referencing that classical sound we get from the raised 7th. To really wrap your head around this one, try playing this section on piano but replace all the G notes with G#. It really is a drastic difference in tone and energy. Progression 2: 0:22 Here we get another pedal tone Aeolean section, but this time over Em. I found this really interesting because of the transition from the previous section's Am to a new Em home base. It feels so natural, because we've heard that move from the i (Am) to the v (Em) very often. But now that Em is the home base, it can also be viewed as a move from the iv (Am) to the i (Em). However it's looked at, it's a simple but effective modulation. My favorite realization about this is that it's a great way to disrupt the monotony that pedal tone/modal songwriting can occasionally have if gone on for too long. Just changing the home base/root between sections gives us a sense of motion during that transition, something which is lacking due to not having an obvious chord progression. Each individual section has the droning and somber quality that pedal tone writing achieves, while not all meshing together into a blob of sameness. One note here, the Aeolean mode is finally left at 0:39 for a devious invocation of the b5. That note in a minor-key context is probably the most 'Soulslike' one you can add in my opinion. There is strong argument for the b2 and #7 as well, but in my opinion that addition of the b5 is most representative of the particular variety of darkness we hear in this series' soundtrack. The inclusion of this note forms an Edim chord, which actually sets up a beautiful transition to the next section. Progression 3: 0:41 Now we have a pedal tone section in D minor! The Edim from the previous section acts as a pseudo V-i transition here, and can be looked at as a rootless A7b9. Another switch up, while continuing with a simliar harmonic style. However, now that the b5 has been introduced by the previous section, it shines through much more often in this one. At 0:46 we have both the b9 and b5 clashing with the other Aeolean notes. These dark, non diatonic tones really make this part more sinister and dissonant. I also appreciate how at 0:55 we see the b9 with the minor 6 instead for a subtle change of energy. While the minor 6 Bb is diatonic to D Aeolean, it is still a tension note. My favorite part of pedal tone songwriting, improvision, and analysis, is experimenting with how combinations of 2 different intervals sound over the root. It is fun and easy to see how individual tones relate to the root, of course. You just play in D Aeolean, and then experiment with adding one out-of-scale note like the b9 into the topline. I encourage everyone to do this. However, it becomes a lot more interesting when you level and start playing with two notes over a pedal tone. How do the b9 and b5 sound over the root? How about the b5 with the major 6th? We could try the natural 9 with the minor 6. All of these are going to have different moods/impacts on the listener. This philosophy does not care about staying in a particular mode or key, but is focused on how different intervals sound in relation to one another. This type of interval-focused mentality for writing, at least for me, feels a lot different from writing sequences of chords into a progression. It can be a nice refresher/change of pace when jamming, improvising, or composing. Progression 4: 1:37 Am G#dim/A B/A Bdim/A Am G#dim B Asus2 There are two really cool things about this one. First is how the progression is first played over pedal tone, and then the second time around the actual bass root notes are used. It is a great example how different these two approaches sound - the first is most ambiguous, while the second has much more movement and purpose. I really like this idea of teasing a chord progression over pedal tone, then actually using it right away afterward. I also think that the B chord (which is a B7 in 3rd inversion during the first half) is a wonderful borrowed chord. It shows up in a number of From Software tracks (Rykard comes to mind) and is usually phrased as a II7. It introduces that twisted b5 (Eb) in relation to the i (Am), which we've seen is a staple Soulsbourne interval. I haven't seen it move from II7 to iidim like it does here, that is a new one. Really interesting and I will be sure to investigate that move in my own music. I don't often see dominant chords directly turning into diminished chords with the same root, and it has a very striking/tense sound. That Bdim acts as a variation of a V-i transition back to Am, just like we saw in the transition between Progression 1 and 2. I view that Bdim as a rootless E7b9, but all placed over the A pedal note. Progression 5: 1:59 Em Bm/D Em Bm/D This progression is very similar to progression 2, also modulating from Am to Em. The melody is also basically the same. I just wanted to point out how the underlying chord progression is no longer just pedal tone. Sakuraba has taken the same exact idea that was previously all over E, and now uses the minor v in first inversion in addition to that. So we have our minor v again as a motif, just like we heard in the intro (that was Em as the v in respect to Am). Now we have Bm as the V in respect to Dm, but using a beautiful inversion to make the harmony more ambiguous. Again, we have a similar composition theme popping up where Sakuraba does a chord progression in pedal tone first, then later changes the bass notes to create more of a chord progression out of it. I think it's a really great tool to have up your sleeve if you are writing music! It also helps address a common issue many composers have (myself included) of how to repeat/re-use ideas without sounding too boring/repetitive. Varying whether a chord progression actually uses the bass notes associated with each chord, or is awash in a droning pedal tone can be very effective for this problem. Thank you so much for reading and I hope these music theory breakdowns are thought provoking, informative, and useful. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments or join up to the Discord if you want to ask me questions or chat about these topics further with like minded people.

[@CthulhuSeeker]

who let bro cook 🔥🔥

[@moonlapsepiano]

I think we need a chef Cthulu version of this one! 💜

[@mokspeed1856]

​@@moonlapsepianoI agree (pls)

[@AqareCover]

A very memorable boss fight and a great arrangement, well done Moonlapse!

[@moonlapsepiano]

thanks Aqare! It’s definitely one of the best moments from the trilogy for me

[@andresmora7077]

Ok, this overhelming my perception, I LOVE IT! Very thankfully to you Moon!

[@moonlapsepiano]

thank you andres!!!! 💜

[@davem2856]

Yooo no way, great cover! I never thought Ivory Kings theme would get a cover, you love to see it.

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thanks!!! And yes DSII soundtrack definitely needs some more love lol

[@SaimoodPianoVersions]

Yeaaa DS2! Damn, this is so accurate version. Thank you for your hard work man. ❤

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thanks Sai!!!! I really appreciate that 💜

[@mr.husker2719]

So goood❤

[@moonlapsepiano]

thanks! 💜

[@LovelessOmbra]

I have been enjoying the hell out of your arrangements. Would you be alright with me using this and some of your other work for an upcoming Elden Ring critique I'm working on? Of course, I'd credit you with links in the descriptions and such.

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying. I would be happy and honored for you to use this or any videos in your content if you include the link for credit. Looking forward to it! 💜

[@JossHenry]

Very beautiful track! Thx for sharing!

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thank you!!! 💜

[@thegriffin4140]

2:18

[@aubriannashields6467]

When will it be on musescore

[@moonlapsepiano]

just uploaded it, the link is in the description!