ELDEN RING - Those United In Common Cause (Needle Knight Leda Fight) on Piano

[@moonlapsepiano]

Music Theory Breakdown This song is in the key of F# minor and is a very interesting piece! It's tone and energy definitely stands out compared to a lot of the Elden Ring soundtrack, and especially contrasts earlier works like Dark Souls/Bloodborne. As a whole, this piece is softer, more emotional, more poignant/yearning, and less tense than what we might expect from the soundtrack. A lot of the harmonic language in Elden Ring takes advantage of the harmonic minor scale, where we raise that diatonic b7 in a minor key to the raised 7th. In the key of F# minor, that's raising the diatonic E note (technically it's F flat but I will call it E for simplicity) to F. This turns the diatonic minor v chord into the dominant V chord, giving us that all-time-great perfect cadence V-i. Commonly used in classical music and thus associated with antiquity, using the V chord in a minor key has been a staple of nearly all From Software soundtracks (besides Armored Core). I've written about this in my other From Software OST writeups many times, as it's a very core concept and keeps coming up with nearly every new song I cover. One of the things Elden Ring did differently is start to step away from that nearly ubiquitous adherence to raised 7th. In earlier works, like Dark Souls III, the diatonic b7 could almost be looked at as an avoid note. Chords which contain it, like the bVII and III chord, almost never appear. Its inclusion adds a happier, more heroic, smoother, and more emotional quality to the music, compared to the sharper, more regal, and more tense raised 7th. It's like a soft blue/green versus a stark red. This b7 interval in a minor key was rarely emphasized by the work of Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura in Dark Souls III. However, in Elden Ring's title theme, we are treated to a very unexpected use of the bVII chord, G (that piece is in A minor). These are the kind of chords progressions found more commonly in pop and rock music. That title theme has Am to F to G to Em - something like this has never come up in any of the 20+ Soulsbourne musical works I've transcribed and analyzed so far. Harmony like this is more common in Armored Core, which already takes a lot more inspiration from rock, pop, and electronic music. Dark Souls took an approach more akin to classical music and heavy metal. To me, this G chord in the menu theme was a very strong declaration from From Software that the tone of the music would be changing to reflect a new game world. The bVII chord is almost unused entirely in the earlier works. I felt that this was Miyazaki's way of saying, "Elden Ring isn't as a somber, desolate, and lonely as Dark Souls. This game will be more epic, emotional, and human than before." Regal Ancestor Spirit, for example, leans very far toward the Aeolean/minor-mode side, leaving out harmonic minor to create something pretty and modern. (As much as I appreciate the Elden Ring OST, I must admit I do prefer Dark Souls more 💜 lol) I view the Elden Ring soundtrack as a whole to be somewhere in the middle between Dark Souls and Armored Core when it comes to harmonic language. We get a mix between that more modern minor key sound with the bVII and v chord seeing play, and the more classical-oriented sound with the V-i cadence being very prevalent. Toggling back and forth between these is essential to understanding why Those United in Common Cause sounds how it does. We are also going to find a bunch of other unusual stuff that makes this song more interesting than average, such as some inclusion of the Dorian mode. At first, I thought I would find predictable chord progressions, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a bunch of cool stuff that Tanizaki did that I haven't really seen before, moves that are non-diatonic to F# minor. 0:13: F#sus4 C (B7 - B7b9) | F#m i bV (IV7 - IV7b9) | i This is a pretty weird way to start the song. That C to B7 motion is SO strong, but it's really not diatonic to F# minor. Then we have this built up B7 dominant chord getting crunchy extensions like the b9. Our ears are expecting a V-i transition from B7 to Em, or maybe a V-bVI move like B to C. Instead it transitions to F# minor in the next section. From the perspective of F# minor, this is like a IV7b9-i move, some sort of crunchified plagal cadence. The most common and well known plagal cadence is a IV-I move in a major key. 0:22: F#m Emaj Dmaj7 Cm7 (C7sus4 - C7b13) | F#m i bVII bVI v (V7sus4 - V7b13) | i Pretty interesting! We start off with something you might see in a pop song, a diatonic walk-down of the chords in the F# minor scale. That F#m to E move sounds so NOT Dark soulsey, lol. It fits very well here though. We are also treated to the cool and smooth minor v chord, Cm7, which also contains that b7 (E). However, to round it out, we move from our minor v to a very classical quick Vsus4 to V movement, before moving back to F#m to start the next section. Right here you can see what I'm talking about it with the mix-between of the dark fantasy harmony with the more modern and 'upbeat' pop harmony. It starts out poppy, but we still get a V-i as a turnaround. Don't get me wrong, I am well aware that the V-i is used in some pop and rock music, and that some classical music uses diatonic chords like these. I am not making blanket statements here, but just describing overall trends that suit most scenarios. 01:01: This rhythmic section is my favorite part of the song. It's mostly played over a pedal tone of F#, and starts out with notes from F# minor. However, we are introduced to a new element here - the Dorian mode! Right around 1:04 we see the D# note, which is the major 6th. Remember, Dorian is just a minor scale but with a major 6th instead of the b6. The Dorian mode adds a totally new color to the track, one which is playful and adventurous in this context. Dorian can also sound mysterious. Trying to describe the sound of these modes in writing is pretty challenging - the best way to understand for yourself is to play it on the piano and use your ear! 8BitMusicTheory also made a great video on the versatility of the Dorian mode using VGM examples so definitely check that out if you want to know more. 01:10: Ebmaj7 D7 Gm D7b13 | F#m bVI V7 i V7 | i So out there! Tanizaki modulates to the key of G minor for bit, a half step up from our original key. It sounds amazing. What is really odd is this giant extended dominant D7b13 chord, which our ears are SO expecting to be a V-i resolution back to G minor. Instead, the track modulates back to our home key of F#m to an F#m chord, and that same 'verse' progression from 0:22 is resumed. It's quite an unexpected move, but it works. Even though the destination wasn't what we expected, the previous chord was SO tense that F#m still sound very stable in comparison. It makes me feel like you could move a really tense dominant chord to any other minor chord if you really wanted to, since you're gonna be getting some tension and release no matter what. 02:10: F#m9 F#m11 E i i bVII A very pretty outro for phase 1, we sit on a mysterious and cold F#m9 chord for a bit, moving to a moody F#m11 (extending the i) before ending on an E chord that really wants to go somewhere. Instead it just trails off. It can be viewed as a half cadence, which kind of feels like an unanswered question. It's with the bVII instead of the V but I still think can count as a half cadence since it ends on a dominant chord without resolving. PHASE 2 02:30: F#m E6/9 Badd9 (C#7b9 - C#/F) | F#m (i bVII IV V V^6) | i What's notable here is that we have another Dorian thing going on. This major IV chord is not diatonic to the key of F# minor - which normally has a minor iv. Badd9 has a D# in it, which is our major 6th in the key of F# minor. This phrase captures all 3 different colors mentioned so far. We have some modern, epic, and Aeolean mode chords with F#m to E, some adventurous Dorian added in with the major IV, and then a classic and fierce V-i cadence to tie it all together. For me, this specific combo of ingredients is what really makes this song unique. 02:47: F#m G#m (Asus4 - A) (G#m/B - C#9) | F#m i ii (IIIsus4 - III) (ii^6 - V7) | i We start off on F#m as usual, but we get more Dorian things! G#m appears naturally in the F# Dorian mode, but not in the F# minor mode. This III chord is also very uncommon in other From Software music, adding a triumphant and almost jolly energy. We see our Dorian chord again but in first inversion over its third (G#m/B). Finally we have another V-i cadence but it's a weird DORIAN one!! In a more standard minor key piece, you would not see this natural 9 as an extension on the V chord. This note is precisely that major 6, D#, which appears in Dorian and not in Aeolean. More often we would see the b13, D, used over the C#7 here. We even saw it earlier in the piece, but the second phase is leaning in to the Dorian vibe more. I haven't really seen this before, but it's a really nice sound. I've been jamming/practicing this Dorian V-i transition using a C#9 - F#m vamp to try and really lock it into my ears, and it's really fun! Thank you so much for reading this far - I hope it has been a fun and informative read! I know the formatting can be tough for the progressions inside a YT comment like this but I'm doing my best to make it readable. Any feedback is welcome. You can reach me in the Discord server if you have any questions, corrections, or just want to discuss this topic further.

[@Leo_Carrilo]

I've seen many channels that transcribe piano music in this synthesia format, but I've never seen such an in-depth commentary analyzing the music. Thank you so much for taking the time to do all this, I'm an amateur pianist who has never studied music formally, but I love understanding music theory and I was able to extract some valuable information from it. It felt like listening to a friend who knows more about the subject, but shares the same interests. I love that V-i cadence, so I also prefer the Dark Souls OST a bit more, and that's probably the reason I love neoclassical metal too lol. But it was great to see new kinds of sounds in Elden Ring.

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@Leo_Carrilo thanks Leo I really appreciate that and I'm thrilled that you were able to get something valuable from the writeup. I also love neoclassical metal lol For me, a piano cover doesn't feel complete without a theory analysis 💜

[@Leo_Carrilo]

​@@moonlapsepianoYeah, it's easy to understand more standardized modern music, but some of these OSTs and classical music I simply can't comprehend what is going on with the harmony 😅 so this helps a lot

[@WeirdTroll666]

best npc fight in the series, ost is soo good, thx for the arrangement

[@moonlapsepiano]

I agree it's definitely the best NPC fight they've ever put together. thanks for watching! 💜

[@moonrabbit2334]

Oh definitely but those who ignored the quests and those who lower the music volume won't get it

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@moonrabbit2334 people LOWER the music volume? lol

[@moonrabbit2334]

@@moonlapsepiano Yup I will never know why. Honestly it's a huge red flag😂

[@Columbine621]

​@@moonrabbit2334those people shouldn't be playing Fromsoft games.

[@wraithwrecker_]

None of the tracks from the DLC signify the end of Elden Ring more than this one.

[@moonlapsepiano]

I agree, it really has such a finality to it. Felt tragic but also one last chance for some glorious battle. Love it - thanks for watching 💜

[@ittupelkele9918]

Guess it isn't actually ending just yet

[@moonrabbit2334]

It's great not just because of the music but also because of the heartfelt dialogues with you and between npcs

[@moonlapsepiano]

very true. I debated maybe overlaying some of them on top of my arrangement but decided against it lol. But it would be really cool

[@dusamanin]

Can't wait for Bayle's arrangement!

[@AuralAzure]

This, bar none, is my favorite soundtrack in all of Fromsoftware's discography, and hearing it arranged on piano has rightfully brought me to tears.

[@moonlapsepiano]

💜That is so amazing to read! thanks so much I'm glad you enjoyed it

[@JORDANVITALIJWIRMAN]

“I am Ansbach of the Pureblood Knights. I stand with blade loft, blood afire. For the dignity of my lord and master, Mohg. Righteous Tarnished. It appears that our interests have aligned. A balm upon my soul it is, that we do not meet today as enemies. Now, my blade. Watch closely. Well, good Freyja. It will be my honour to test my blade against a Redmane. Ha-hah! How readily the sensation returns! The runaway spirit of war! Lady Leda. Your suspicions were dead-on. In the end, I could not bury the memories. Of Lord Mohg, and our pact of blood.” - Sir Ansbach

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@JORDANVITALIJWIRMAN we love Pureblood Ansbach

[@JORDANVITALIJWIRMAN]

@@moonlapsepianothey were all such wonderfully written characters and the buildup to this moment was amazing!

[@mushroomy9899]

Don’t you _dare_ approach Miquella the kind. Needle knight leda, dryleaf dane, and our ally will *_never_* allow this.

[@Math_0402]

I am the Redman Freyja. The time has come

[@goodmusicenjoyer97]

You just don’t miss. Great arrangement of a great theme.

[@moonlapsepiano]

thanks 💜

[@Виктор-ч7х1щ]

What a sad state of affairs

[@sheepsheadbey]

the folly of it all

[@evafox9696]

I am so thankful the algorithim blessed me with this recommendation. I am now humbly requesting Malekith's theme from the base game. I cannot fathom how wonderful it would sound with your piano skills.

[@moonlapsepiano]

thank you so much! 💜 Maliketh is a possibility. I appreciate the kind words

[@renssea]

My favorite song from Elden Ring!! Thanks!!

[@MinerDiner]

This is such a pretty OST. I would love to hear your rendition of the final battle- Promised Consort Radahn

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@MinerDiner thanks!! 💜 it could happen

[@mokspeed1856]

One of my favourite themes and moments in the dlc and now one of my favourites of your covers

[@moonlapsepiano]

thanks mokspeed! 💜 it was also one of my favorite moments of the DLC

[@Obsthunter69]

Im blown away as always. It shows everytime how much work and love you are putting into these arrangements. Just listening to this made me want to crawl to my piano immediately.

[@moonlapsepiano]

I appreciate the kind words! 💜 I do put a lot of work into these. Thanks for watching

[@mydude_]

This is one of the best osts in all of elden ring, im glad you did such an amazing composition of it Moonlapse. Keep up the good work ^.^

[@moonlapsepiano]

thank you so much as always mydude 💜

[@DanF5264]

Very well done! I am thoroughly impressed with your ‘Music Theory Breakdown’. I’ve never had much of a grasp on all the details of chords or such, so to see someone who understands all of it and more, I can tell you really have a feel for the music. Keep doing what you’re doing!

[@moonlapsepiano]

thank you 💜 I'm glad you enjoyed the writeup!

[@SaimoodPianoVersions]

Yeeees! There it is! 😭❤. This is wonderful mate. You really got it, thank you for this.

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@SaimoodPianoVersions thank you Sai!!! 💜 would love to hear your interpretation of this piece

[@SaimoodPianoVersions]

@@moonlapsepiano (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)

[@pillford4226]

YES THANK YOU, THIS WAS MY FAVORITE OST FROM THE WHOLE DLC, the emotions and the aura. Thank you for the sheet music too. I'll definitely be learning this. (edit, thats your account, i thought it was sheet music :( ...)

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@pillford4226 I'm glad you enjoyed it! I will be making sheets for this in the next few weeks 💜

[@pillford4226]

W reply

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@pillford4226 sheets are now linked in the description!

[@pillford4226]

@@moonlapsepiano LESGOOOOOO

[@HotAExperiments]

THANKS WERY MUCH FOR PUTRESCENT KNIGHT NOTES!!!

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@HotAExperiments you are welcome!! 💜

[@nikushimi_vas_rannoch]

Fantastic cover !! Honestly my favorite song of the entire franchise. Your covers are always a blessing to the ear !

[@moonlapsepiano]

I appreciate that! 💜 thanks for the kind words

[@steakfist176]

Another fantastic job as always. Appreciate the breakdown!

[@moonlapsepiano]

thank you, I appreciate you reading it! 💜

[@nerotv836]

I recently discovered your channel and started watching your videos, your arrangements are simply stunning! I wanted to play the main theme on piano and don’t know whose version to learn, hopefully you’ll make one for the main theme as well..🤞 Cheers!

[@moonlapsepiano]

thank you so much!! I appreciate it. It's possible! 💜

[@theblandpiano]

Hell yeah, had this stuck in my head at work today

[@moonlapsepiano]

love to hear that! thanks 💜

[@krociere]

awesome as usual

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@krociere I appreciate that! 💜 thanks for watching

[@CreativeUsernameEh]

Beautiful. Subscribing in the hopes you do Miquella's Theme next??

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@CreativeUsernameEh thanks! it could happen 💜

[@ChristianClown]

Bro this is brilliant! Thank you! Such a good composition 🥰

[@moonlapsepiano]

thanks, I appreciate that! 💜

[@Paul5013S]

Best arrangement of a SotE-track Ive seen so far. Can you tell, when the sheet will be available on your Musescore? Will you cover Promised Consort Radahn as well? It is my favorite piece of videogame music so far and I couldnt find any good arrangement yet.

[@moonlapsepiano]

thank you! 💜 I'm probably going to do my next cover first (might be Promised Consort!) and then do sheets for both afterward. So not for a few weeks, but I will let you know when the sheets are up.

[@moonlapsepiano]

the sheets for this are now available, linked into the description!

[@Paul5013S]

@@moonlapsepiano Great, thanks for remembering me :)

[@purplefishy8164]

Very nice!

[@moonlapsepiano]

thank you 💜

[@SarudeDanstorm]

Loved this. Do you think you'll tackle the Divine Dancing Beast OST at all?

[@moonlapsepiano]

thank you! That one is less likely as the constant flute runs make it a bit awkward on piano. But it's not out of the question! 💜

[@KeeperOfTheKey]

I am Ansbach of the Pureblood Knights. I stand with blade loft, blood afire. For the dignity of my lord and master, Mohg

[@HotAExperiments]

Hello! Don’t forget to put Putrescent Knight notes on Musescore!

[@deepfriedvex1665]

I love this piece a lot, but i suppose a part of the reason why is because I'm reminded of skyrims soundtrack at certain points in the first phase.

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@deepfriedvex1665 it definitely has a more high fantasy vibe than dark fantasy, which is why it feels more unusual for the series and sticks out

[@AilaNenonen]

Could you do a theory breakdown on Bayle the dread at some point? :)

[@moonlapsepiano]

@AilaNenonen If I decide to cover that song, I most certainly will do a theory breakdown. Thanks for your interest 💜

[@antimatterinc.7026]

not the finest blade, nor the mightiest armour... will spare your life.. from the poison of Thiollier.

[@TheNessening]

Sad, forever?

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@TheNessening 😭

[@Franckzyzcko11]

Now just left The midra's ost

[@HotAExperiments]

Waiting for Leda.

[@moonlapsepiano]

sheets are now available for this one, linked in the description

[@reblazedfyr3146]

Are you done with AC6 covers or are more to come? I think they're your best work.

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@reblazedfyr3146 thanks!! Honestly after doing 4 Elden Ring tracks in a row, I am having a hard time wanting to do another. Maybe it's time for some more Armored Core VI 💜

[@CthulhuSeeker]

[@33vil]

Do you arrange using any programs or play them yourself?

[@moonlapsepiano]

My process is a mix of both. I put this together in my DAW Reaper using midi, but I play the sections in one at a time by hand to capture that human feeling in the velocities. I make lots of adjustments and edits as well after recording. My goal is to create something playable on 2 hands and that sounds good to listen to with solid humanization, though it is not an actual performance from beginning to end. for me, the fact that I get questions if I played it myself is a huge compliment and shows that the humanization efforts I put in are working! I don't want it to sound robotic. thanks for watching 💜

[@33vil]

Very well put, thanks for your hard work ❤

[@ethanwashington6789]

Saw you took down the "earthblood construct" theme if i'm remembering the name right, you end up making the 2nd channel for original music like that?

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@ethanwashington6789 Hi ethan, thanks so much for following up about this it means a lot! I didn't make the 2nd KZbin channel yet because I am in the process of getting artwork and it is taking a little while. I actually finished Phase 2 for that song and added the finished track to my orchestral music portfolio, which is available right now at my bandcamp page moonlapse.bandcamp.com/album/orchestral-works I'm still planning to launch it on this platform once I get the art figured out. Was going to ping you and do a community message once I launch. thanks again for your interest 💜

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@ethanwashington6789 Hi Ethan, the new channel is launched. Thanks for your patience - your support was very motivating in helping me to get this launched kzbin.info/www/bejne/eXvOpaF8mKufo9Esi=2gSVkA-c98Ojxebz

[@theoglhiddentreasure]

Hey man can you do the owl from sekiro?

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@theoglhiddentreasure hey thanks for stopping by. I am still going to be focused on Elden Ring for now, but Owl could happen in the future!

[@theoglhiddentreasure]

@moonlapsepiano ah I see enjoy man these are all sick

[@bhoototiger3366]

damn

[@TheG3Son]

Hello! Nice video! Can You please put notes on Muse score?

[@moonlapsepiano]

@@TheG3Son yes i will do it in the next few weeks. I'll update you. thanks! 💜

[@moonlapsepiano]

the sheets are up! Link in the description