DARK SOULS 3 - Dragonslayer Armour on Piano

Composer: Yuka Kitamura
Arrangement: Moonlapse
Sheets: musescore.com/...
Hi everyone! We are heading back to Dark Souls III today for another piano cover. Surprinsgly, I couldn't find any arrangements of both phases of this song yet, despite it being over 8 years since this beautiful game came out. This is a fantastic track and I really enjoyed diving into it. I know phase 1 gets the most love, and I agree it is more memorable and catchy, but I also really appreciate phase 2 for its bold uniqueness and ethereal quality.
Nonetheless, both phases of this track do a great job of showcasing very different sides of Yuka Kitamura's compositional style that she brought to the Dark Souls III OST. In phase 1 we have a very quintessential Dark Souls sound, minor key functional harmony with some spicy neighbor tones - this fierce medieval-sounding style is used in Slave Knight Gael, Yhorm the Giant, Abyss Walkers, Twin Princes, etc. It's dark fantasy harmony but twisted in the best way. This is probably the sound that the series is most famous for.
Phase 2 brings a otherworldly, dreamlike, unsettling, and icy quality that evokes imagery of unknown and ancient magic. We see this approach more in Yuka Kitamura's spectrally charged pieces like Dancer of the Boreal Valley and Pontiff Sulyvahn. It's not her most popular compositional style just based on which tracks ended up being the favorites, but I personally really love it and there is a lot to learn from analyzing it.
Next up I'll be making sheets for Black Knives from Elden Ring and Burnt Ivory King from Dark Souls II. I can't wait until the new songs for Shadow of the Erdtree drops - I am going to be jumping on arranging my favorite from that right away. Hopefully there will be at least 1 Yuka Kitamura song that she wrote before leaving From Software?
I also recently released an orchestral track on this channel called Earthblood Construct (Phase 1) - so I have unfinished business there to work on as well with writing and releasing phase 2. A special thank you to those of you who've listened to my original compositions, much appreciated! If you are new to my channel, you can expect to see primarily From Software OST piano covers (I made an exception for King of Puppets from Lies of P), with some original orchestral works mixed in and the occasional 8-bit cover as well. As always, my detailed music theory breakdown can be found pinned in the comments. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy this arrangement.
Side note - I actually made a spreadsheet resource to try and get a sense of the 'coverage status' of the Dark Souls III OST as a whole - meaning which songs have piano arrangements, sheet music, and/or other types of cover performances. It's probably missing a couple entries but it was fun to make. If that sounds interesting to you, here's the link:
docs.google.co...
We are having lots of fun discussing video game music, composing, and everything From Software in the Moonlapse Piano discord server, come hang out!
Discord: / discord
Bandcamp: moonlapse.band...
Musescore: musescore.com/...
#eldenring #eldenringmusic #bossmusic #gameost #gamemusic #pianocover #piano #pianomusic #composer #cover #pianoarrangement #pianocover #sheets #pianosheets #darksouls3 #darksouls #ds3 #kitamura #yukakitamura #soulsbourne #soundtrack #gamemusicvideo #ost #pianotutorial #darksouls #bossmusic #fromsoftware

[@moonlapsepiano]

Music Theory Breakdown Phase 1 - 0:10 - Key of C minor This phase really showcases what could be considered the 'classic' Dark Souls III sound. One of the core techniques that Yuka Kitamura uses is pedal-tone modal writing, most often within the Aeolean and Harmonic Minor modes. In this composing method, a consistent root note becomes a steady harmonic anchor, while various notes of the chosen mode are played above it - this really envelops the listener in the intrinsic mood and color that mode. Aeolean is a popular choice for conveying epic scenes, sadness/tragedy, and general dark-fantasy vibes. There is a sense of grandeur to the Aeolean mode and Yuka Kitamura really knows how to make effective use of it. It can be fun trying to come up with words that describe how different modes sound, but the best way to really understand them is to practice and experiment and see for yourself. Set up a pedal tone and try jamming/improvising in different modes for at least 5-10 minutes at a time to really immerse yourself in their energy. A good portion of the way music feels is not well suited to being described by language. Tension and release is more subtle for modal pedal tone writing than with strong chord progressions - the ebb and flow comes from the melody and inner harmony moving between 'safe' notes of the mode and the more dissonant or unstable notes. In general for modal passages, the root, third, fifth are the most stable notes that feel like home. In C Aeolean, that's C, Eb, and G and together they form a C minor triad. The 7th note of the mode (Bb) is somewhere in between safe and tense. The tense notes which our ears intrinsically want to 'go home' would be the 2nd, 4th, and 6th notes of the mode. In this case that would be D, F, and Ab. That's it for the notes available in the Aeolean mode - but of course there are more tones available to experiment with. To create even more dissonance, the composer can briefly dip out of the chosen mode to even more unstable notes, for example the natural 7th (B) or b9 (Db). These are usually only briefly hit, and not sat on for long periods of time, so that the original modal identity can be retained. A good metaphor is that if Yuka Kitamura is making a painting with 95% shades-of-grey paint (Aeolean), she can dash in a couple small streaks of red (b2) or yellow (#7) and still create something that's ultimately qualified to be called a grey painting. This is often what's happening in her modal textures. The section primarily consists of one mode (like Aeolean), with some dashes of neighbor tones here and there to create extra tension, surprise and intrigue. As another approach, she will also engage in modal mixture, generally between harmonic minor and Aeolean. This 'modal mixture' happens when the notes of a different mode than the base mode are hit more frequently and can no longer be simply analyzed as temporary neighbor tones. In this song, Aeolean is usually the dominant force between the two modes. Maybe think of a 70% Aeolean grey painting with large streaks of harmonic minor red making up the remaining 30%. 0:10: Yuka Kitamura hits us with an onslaught of C Aeolean over a repeated pedal tone of C. No notes from outside of the Aeolean mode are used at all, so the core identity of Aeolean is heavily preserved. 0:25: We get our first deviation from straight up Aeolean. The 7 (B) is used instead of the b7 (Bb), adding a harmonic minor modal sound. At first one might think she switches to harmonic minor modal writing for this riff, but the natural 7th reappears during the same section at 0:36. So it's just Aeolean with a dash of harmonic minor on the side, as I mentioned before. This is something I've seen Yuka Kitamura do in a couple other Dark Souls III tracks - a close intermingling of the Aeolean sound with the Harmonic Minor sound. If you are composing or improvising, take careful note of the vastly different impact the b7 has versus the natural 7th in a minor key. For me, the natural 7 (B) feels medieval, ancient, and elegant, whereas the diatonic b7 (Bb) feels epic, dark, and tragic. I think the mixing of these two different modal moods within the same riff is a perfect way to represent the themes and setting of Dark Souls. Dark Souls is all of those words combined, and using just one mode was not going to cut it for this OST! I will say, after looking at a bunch of DS3 tracks, there is more harmonic minor than Aeolean overall across the OST (At least in Yuka Kitamura's tracks). Dragonslayer Armour is an exception to this trend, reversing that order. 0:41: Our first real chord progression interrupts the modal pedal tone flow. The changes in this one happen pretty quickly and is quite awesome - it feels like a bold statement. Cm Dm7b5 Cm/Eb G7/F Bb/F Fm/Eb Dm7b5 Ebmaj7 Dbmaj9 G7b9b13/B Cm There is too much here to go over each change individually, though that would be fun. All of this fits within by C minor functional harmony, except for the one additional element - The bII (Dbmaj9) chord at 0:53. My first instinct it to call this is a borrowed chord from the C Phrygian mode - modal interchange. I highly suggest researching this on KZbin if you are unfamiliar as there are a ton of very well made videos on the topic. This bII chord is one of Yuka Kitamura's favorites and appears all throughout her music, in both Dark Souls and Sekiro. I really love the way it sounds. However, I haven't seen her follow it up with the V chord until now. My friend Marcel pointed out to me that this bII chord might be more accurately described as the Neopolitan chord from classical tradition (sometimes notated as N), since it is a substitute for the subdominant iv chord in a iv-V-i progression. The Neopolitan chord is traditionally used in 1st inversion, but Yuka Kitamura uses it in root position here which is why I think it could still be considered modal interchange. However, it's such as clear N-V-i progression that viewing it as an evolved Neapolitan is very useful. This substitute is more sinister sounding than a iv-V-i due to the added b9 dissonance. This is another way Yuka Kitamura "evokes sensations of regalness" by incorporating longstanding classical music harmony that our ears often associate with antiquity. In this case, that last V chord at 0:55 is placed in first inversion over its third, B. It has grim and tense upper extensions b9 and b13, very commonly chosen extensions for the V in a minor key since they are diatonic. We have seen the V chord placed in first inversion all the time in my analysis of Souls music so far. I think it works super well because of that half step bass motion from B to C feeling a lot more smooth than G to C can often feel. It's also a little bit less obvious and in your face about being a classic V-i move. Honestly, after analyzing so many of these songs over the last year and a half, I feel like creative use of inversions within a minor key setting is the number one takeaway for any composer trying to write Dark Souls III style music. This (along with above-average neighbor tone usage like b9 and b5, lots of diminished chords, and increased use of modal interchange) is what really separates the Dark Souls III soundtrack from other (dare I say more generic) dark fantasy music. Back to the 0:41 progression - it would take far too long to try and explain every chord change here, but to sum it up - lots of use of inversions to complicate and make the harmony more nuanced, without departing from the minor key sound. The amount of bass motion here feels much different than the pedal tone sections surrounding it - it feels like a quick rush of action as we are taken swiftly from chord to chord. 0:57: The iconic chorus riff. This is all tragic Aeolean with a C pedal tone - gorgeous. To make the pedal tone more interesting throughout the song, the bass will rise or descend quickly through Eb and D in what feels almost like a little guitar riff toward the end of some measures. Gives us a little bit more motion and intrigue in the low end, rather than just C the whole time. 1:44: Another Aeolean pedal tone section, with a little dash of harmonic minor (B instead of Bb) here and there. The B note first happens at 1:50 and sounds devilish. But we are back to Bb at 1:57. The two modes are mixed here with Aeolean being more prevalent. 2:00: Another incredibly creative chord progression. Grand, regal, and heroic, Yuka Kitamura starts this one off on C7! That's the I7 in a minor key, pretty crazy. Turning the tonic chord major has such a dramatic effect here. Since it moves to Fm, it can also be viewed as V/iv - iv cadence. This is also called a secondary dominant. If you aren't familiar with secondary dominants, there are also a ton of fantastic resources on those all over the internet. They are not used super frequently in Dark Souls music but this one here is epic. C7 Fm Dm7b5 Eb Cm Ab/C G7sus4/D G7/D The use of the III chord (Eb) is pretty uncommon in Souls music as its often too happy and joyous, (doesn't fit the vibe) but it works and doesn't feel out of place here due to the heroic introduction of the C7 already establishing a deviance from the norm to a major chord. This part feels like a battle between esteemed royal knights. It is grandiose and majestic compared to its somber and dark Aeolean/Harmonic Minor surroundings. Once again we have some pretty awesome inversions. G7sus4 to G7 is a tale as old as time and is a sound our ears have gotten very used to hearing. For that reason, I love her choice to put it over D here in second inversion, just to spice it up and make it a little more interesting. I think it also feels a lot more tense than if it was in root position. Phase 2 breakdown will be in another comment :)

[@AqareCover]

I respect you always analyzing each song so deeply in the comments! Also, great video!

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thanks Aqare I appreciate that 💜

[@moonlapsepiano]

Music Theory Breakdown (yes I wrote too much for one comment sorry - I have lots to say lol) Phase 2 - 2:34 - Key of D Major Now is where things get insane. I had a really hard time comprehending this phase as I transcribed it, but I think now I have come up with a solid understanding. First of all, it's unusual to see a Dark Souls piece with a major key home base. This phase lines up a bit with Kitamura's style in Dancer of the Boreal Valley, where adding twisted and messed up notes to a major tonality creates a dark sound in a totally different way than the more common minor key stuff. Here, it feels otherworldly and incomprehensible, adding a Lovecraftian flare that I think is perfect for the pilgrim butterflies that surround this boss battle. Yet, viewing this as a major key doesn't feel the most accurate way to describe it. In fact, I'd look at it as D pedal modal writing, but with LYDIAN. Just like Yuka Kitamura painted us a grey picture primarily with Aeolean in phase 1, with dashes of other notes outside the mode, in phase 2 she is painting in deep blue Lydian but with freakish streaks of yellow and red as dissonant out-of-the-scale notes are added like the b6 and #9. Seeing it this way really cleared it up me though and got rid of the confusion. This entire phase is primarily D Lydian modal writing, but with various neighbor tones being added. It just sounds super weird and startling to my ears to hear this same concept applied for a mode other than Aeolean since that's so much more common. When she does dip out of the Lydian mode, it is often only momentarily, resolving that tense out-of-scale note back to one in the Lydian mode - just like before in phase 1 with Aeolean. However, this doesn't create a warm and fuzzy feeling of being at home like Minor (Aeolean) or Major (Ionian) does, because Lydian is inherently unstable with that #4 (G#) in there. In a 'normal' major key piece with common functional harmony chords, the IV chord is the one with the Lydian tonality. It is a subdominant chord and wants to propel itself toward a dominant or tonic chord. I would say modal Lydian writing feels subdominant the entire time because of this. It is the sound of sitting on the IV chord endlessly. This phase 2 forces our ears to get used to Lydian being as much of a 'home base' as it can be. As a result, there is a constant sense of unease, tension, and mystery that never really goes away. To summarize, most of this phase is written in D Lydian, but with dark neighbor tones being temporarily visited to make it more sinister - these extra notes corrupt the often hopeful and beautiful sound of Lydian to create something new and strange. 2:36: Within a sea of D Lydian, we briefly hear the b6 and b3, before each resolves back to a note in the Lydian mode. What an odd and refreshing type of tension and release! 2:39: The F note is played loud and clear in the top register, over a D major triad. So weird! I guess you could chalk this up to being Lydian #9, a mode of harmonic minor. This gives us a very slight tie in to phase 1 in that harmonic minor modes are coming into play, but that's kind of a stretch since the effect is so different. Note that Lydian is to Lydian #9 as Aeolean is to Harmonic Minor - each can be thought of as 'parallel harmonic minor' of the original major-scale-derived modes. 2:51: We get a low F note, right after an F#. While F is best thought of as a #9, we can't deny it's also what would be the minor third from the perspective of D. Going back and forth between the minor third and major third really confuses our ears and makes it hard to understand the vibe and energy of the section. The third is usually one of the most important distinguishing intervals that gives us information on a chord or mode, and having both of them in there is just a recipe for insanity. Another way to look at it this whole section would be that its just mixing Lydian with Lydian #9. Just like phase 1, which mixed Aeolean with its harmonic minor counterpart (Harmonic Minor), phase 2 is mixing Lydian with its harmonic minor counter part (Lydian #9). Remember, harmonic minor is not just the one scale, it is a family of modes that can be built off of it. Look into 'modes of Harmonic minor' if you are not super familiar with this. I am assuming you are familiar with the modes derived from the major scale like Lydian, Dorian, Aeolean, etc. 3:00: A very clear Lydian sound here. It's kept pure Lydian until 3:10 when Yuka Kitamura adds a b6, Bb into the mix. If you are thinking I must have made a mistake there because of how funky and out of place it sounds, I didn't - it's 100% in the song lol. It's quite jarring but I won't deviate from what Yuka Kitamura wrote! It's such a cool composing philosophy introduce a riff built solidly on one mode like this, only to have that concise sound begin to decay and fall apart as broken and alien intervals are added in. 3:12: It gets more complicated - we have a subtle vibe change. It's not just Lydian anymore, because the b7 note C is being added everywhere. That C note is not in D Lydian - D Lydian has the natural 7 (C#). This makes the new section in Lydian dominant, a mode of the melodic minor scale family! Only one note is really different, but it definitely changes the energy somewhat. It's still ethereal and mysterious, but even more unstable now than before. Our home base is now a dominant chord (D F# A C) with tense intervals E G# and B available. This is a change from D Lydian having a subdominant feel - that doesn't want to 'go somewhere' as much as a dominant base does. Both still elicit a sense of constant motion and tension compared to a homebase with tonic function though. Having your harmonic center be a mode or scale that has a dominant chord based off the root can feel very unbalanced and uncomfortable - which is often what the composer intended! (Except Mixolydian, that one is pretty chill somehow despite resting on a dominant 7 chord). The Lydian dominant scale is often played over tritone substitutions, and is very interesting to research. It's also known as the overtone scale but that's a whole other topic. I know phase 1 gets the most attention, and that makes sense given its memorable and beautiful melodies, but analyzing phase 2 gave me a massive appreciation for it. It's extremely unique and interesting and I am still finding new cool things in there each time I take a look. It's inspiring to see such an unusual sound - it reminds me of the endless possibilities available for composers to use. Lydian, Lydian#9, and Lydian Dominant vibes all in one phase - wonderful. I think our ears have a harder time latching onto this type of harmonic foundation, and that's okay. The Aeolean/harmonic minor setting of Phase 1 is a lot more familiar and catchy. Both of these approaches have their time and place. As always, happy to discuss this further or answer questions in Discord - link is at the top of the description. If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading my writeups! I hope they are interesting/helpful/fun to read. I know they're long and wordy but there really is so much depth in each section - in fact, most of my paragraphs have been edited down from double or triple their length. See you next time!

[@mt2r-music]

Incredibly underrated OST. I love that one part at 2:00. Great arrangement as always.

[@imannam]

I love that part too. I don't know the terminology, but the "drums" (left hand) coming in with a delay just adds to the tension and power of the song so much! it's called contratiempo in Spanish. if it is what I think it is.

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thanks 💜 Yeah this one is super underrated. I love that timestamp you mentioned definitely a highlight moment of the song

[@WyattFerron-lt8te]

I love this boss fight all around it is my favorite in ds3

[@xshock__]

Such awesome transcriptions and also awesome attention to detail on certain things in the song that people tend to ignore! Your stuff is awesome man I'm really hoping your videos blow up one day

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thank you so much xshock! I really appreciate that. 💜 I do my best to be as detail oriented as possible

[@davem2856]

Brilliant work as always! Dragon Slayer armors first phase theme is among my absolute favorites from DS3. I’m glad you decided to take the time and effort to transpose it so well.

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thanks I'm glad you enjoyed it! 💜

[@LudwigVanLarx]

Very well done as usual, Moon! I REALLY love that second phase, and your transcription allows for it to be enjoyed even more. I'm definitely getting some Holst Neptune vibes from the second phase, and the use of the acoustic scale is too good. I also very much agree with your sentiment at the end of your analysis. The second phase is 100% underappreciated, and hopefully both your transcription and analysis of the piece give people a newfound appreciation for it!

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thanks Ludwig!! I am happy you read to the end of my write up 💜 I also love the acoustic scale - was so cool to see it in end of phase 2. One of my all time favorite scales. I also certainly hear the Holst comparison - it reminds me of Scriabin as well.

[@LudwigVanLarx]

@@moonlapsepiano Love Scriabin and can definitely hear him, too!

[@RaphaelPerfeito]

wow, really nice i didnt expect that song sounding so good in a piano arrangement, great work moon!!!

[@dyroth]

Can't to indulge myself with the theory section, but THIS IS BEAUTOFULLY DONE DUDE. Really captured the feeling of the original, amazing cover brother

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thanks Dyroth 💜 🤘😈

[@weaselbeee]

got chills listening to this, one of my favourites from ds3

[@moonlapsepiano]

It's one of my faves too! Thanks for watching as always weaselbeee 💜

[@theblandpiano]

What an excellent arrangement! This is in my opinion the most underrated boss and OST in DS3. I will definitely have to learn this one :)

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thank you so much!! It is a wonderful OST I agree. Let me know how learning it goes 💜 Btw love your Blasphemous soundtrack arrangements

[@theblandpiano]

@@moonlapsepianothank you! I love your stuff as well :)

[@CthulhuSeeker]

masterclass

[@JossHenry]

So beautiful! love this game and song!

[@alexeiyugosavnov]

Second phase sounds incredibly ominous- lovely work

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thanks! It's such a unique piece of music I'm glad you enjoyed my interpretation 💜

[@RubALamp]

Thank you for always considering more uncommon tracks! I'm hoping someday you'll transcribe Maliketh's theme! Regardless, I'm always grateful for your transcriptions and videos.

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thank you!!! I actually started my channel out of frustration about less popular songs not having piano covers, lol. 💜 Maliketh could happen someday

[@RubALamp]

@@moonlapsepiano Yeah, I fortunately found my safe place here for rare tracks. I wait eagerly for Maliketh's theme if you choose to do it someday. No pressure, though! I enjoy all your transcriptions!

[@markedone5988]

This is great, i love your breakdowns, would be great if you could do this with two tracks of King's Field 4: the ancient city entrance and dark reality

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thank you so much! I love those songs so much, King's Field IV OST is next level, so that maybe could happen 💜

[@romandubois6473]

Great video as always. Do you transcribe everything yourself ? I have absolutely no way of recognizing these complex chords in these pieces so I'd like to know how you do it..

[@moonlapsepiano]

I appreciate that! Yes I do it mostly by ear in my DAW Reaper, but I'm not just hearing the chords first try. I loop the different measures over and over again and annotate note by note in MIDI. I also use a spectrogram to help me out - this tool can help me visually ID notes that are hard to hear/buried in the mix. I need to do it myself to ensure as close to 100% accuracy as possible haha Thanks for watching! 💜

[@ericserres330]

Fantastic work, amazing music 😄😄

[@alexgerlach5630]

Dont know where to start lol. But first: Wonderful cover my friend..love it. My favorite part is at 2:00 because it has something classical with the cadence..i dont know which chord progression this is..definitly no I-V. Anyway...the part at 3:00 sounds happy but also epic..because the notes are consonance haha. The harmonic scale here hits soo good. I tried by myself and it has a very nice sound..even without the Bb. So she doesnt used the harmonic scale just sometimes the notes? Even it just the B instead Bb lol. I will use some technique of Yuka in my track. It helps me a lot. This track inspired my track a lot man. My favorite. I will keep reading it..and phase 2.

[@moonlapsepiano]

Thank you so much Alex! I also love those timestamps you mentioned. I appreciate that you're reading my theory breakdowns and that you are coming away with new techniques to try 💜

[@alexgerlach5630]

@@moonlapsepiano You are welcome friend. I will try to understand whats going on these parts. Need to keep read the second phase haha.

[@andresmora7077]

Magnificent Moon

[@SpencerGrewell]

Fun😊

[@thegriffin4140]

goated

[@void735]

Original: dragon armour!😎🔥 Piano: dragon Armour 😔😞