Schala's Theme - Chrono Trigger [Erhu and Lego Zither Cover]

[@AnimalisaKeys]

Beautiful arrangement and playing!

[@SheaViolin]

Thanks Annalisa!

[@LucasCooperVGM]

That erhu is dreamy!

[@SheaViolin]

Thanks Lucas!

[@mercury4885]

you have outdone yourself. this is astonishing

[@SheaViolin]

Thank you so much! I love this song so much, and I'm so glad I decided to revisit it!

[@InstrumentManiac]

The lego Koto is a very innovative instrument! What a great solution to get that distinct koto sound 👏

[@SheaViolin]

Haha thanks Luke! When I asked whether I could buy a "real one," the answer was no before I could finish asking. So now I have "the koto we had at home" instead. 😂

[@0nlyGh0sts]

This is one of the most beautiful arrangements of Schala's Theme I've ever heard. The LEGO zither is really just the cherry on top!

[@SheaViolin]

Thank you! It's such a low instrument, it's a little hard to get it to sit nicely in the mix, but I think I got there! I'm really glad I reworked this for the album because this one has really grown on me

[@Emunator]

Erhu and koto is a match made in heaven with this theme ❤️ Truly fantastic arrangement, I’m so excited to see the koto unleashed finally!

[@SheaViolin]

You might say the melody was unchained. Oh wait. That's a different song entirely! Glad you liked it Emunator! I hope I can find more ways to use it in the future!

[@Tremendouz]

LEGOTO! Sounds great as always

[@SheaViolin]

Thanks Trem! I think I'm starting to get closer to a releasable sound before I ask for help by working on the masters lately. I think I'm learning!

[@rophmusic]

Fantastic 🥰

[@SheaViolin]

Thanks so much Roph!

[@OokiiPeter]

Not only do you play all these instruments, but you've even made your own! So so cool!

[@SheaViolin]

The ADHD blessing and curse, I guess. 😂 I never know what I'm going to do until after I've done it, some days.

[@Naeddyr]

This is absolutely one of the greatest renditions of Schala's theme I have ever heard on a LEGO Koto.

[@SheaViolin]

The competition is fierce, but I'm glad this one rose to the top for you 😂

[@SamanthaBallard]

I only jsut got around to watching this but WOW now that's what I call creativity 😄 I think the Lego-koto sounds great! The percussion layers are really grooving too

[@SheaViolin]

Haha thanks Samantha!! So glad you liked how it turned out 😊

[@ThomasMHead]

Absolutely amazing work, Shea!! A wonderful finishing touch for your album! That koto is a great invention, and reinvention of this piece!

[@SheaViolin]

Thanks so much Thomas! I'm so proud of this collection, though I might have to start on volume 2 because I have so many more songs I want to do 😂 I was just listening to memories of green this morning and it's calling to me

[@ThomasMHead]

@SheaViolin I'm happy you're getting such satisfaction and further inspiration!

[@TrAntidote]

Oh wow, i love this rendition

[@SheaViolin]

Thank you!

[@offdutyenglishmajor9924]

This song was made for you to cover, Shea. I'm glad you got around to it. It's one of my favortie's from Chrono Trigger. So beautiful and heartbreaking.

[@SheaViolin]

It's really such a gem, and I'm so glad you liked the version I made!

[@ChrisSchaffer]

as always, simply phenomenal

[@SheaViolin]

Thanks Chris!

[@XanderPlute]

Absolutely beautiful! Love the creativity on display here!

[@SheaViolin]

Thanks Xander!

[@Mcpblackheart]

One thing i love about your skill also is that you capture that perfect sound of the japanese and chinese legato strings.

[@SheaViolin]

I love having these sounds in my collection! It's just such a nice contrast in the mood they can create!

[@Mcpblackheart]

I just dropped a Schalas theme cover the other day. Always happy hearing new renditions 🔥 . This one really goes hard i love it

[@SheaViolin]

Thanks Blackheart! I had a lot of fun putting this one together. Super excited to get the album together!

[@luizhenriqueamorim9457]

Great Work. Congratulations!!!

[@SheaViolin]

Thank you!

[@The_pebble_music]

Splendid ! And the homemade koto sounds fine and is a daring idea !

[@SheaViolin]

It was a fun project for sure! Glad you liked it!

[@AdrianUnplugged]

An overpowered amount of instruments. You're recording quality is so good. Good job!

[@SheaViolin]

And ironically none of them are powered! I'm glad I'm getting better at the recording quality, since that means I'm making progress! 😁 Thank you!

[@_.Alucard._]

Excellent 👍

[@SheaViolin]

Thank you!

[@prollybee]

hauntingly beautiful rendition, i loved it ❤ also btw i think your drying rack has some Legos stuck in it

[@SheaViolin]

I'm so glad! It's such a beautiful song. And thanks, those kids leave Legos EVERYWHERE. Sometimes I don't notice them until it's too late.

[@erikoftheinternet]

That sounds great. Any chance for a 'making of' video, or some sort of demo?

[@SheaViolin]

Sure! I didn't take video as I made it, but I could demonstrate all the pieces!

[@imptwins]

Shea. You actually made me tear up a little. This is one of my fav retro songs and I can't even put into words how beautifully it came out. The composition came out so nice, the balancing is perfect, every instrument, the bass is so wonderfully featured and comfortable in there, your already wonderful erhu playing has come such a long way since I first found you, all the percussion adds so much, gods this is SO GOOD. ... Except the koto. I gotta be real with you lmao. It's good! I also would not have expected it to come out this well, and it serves really nice when it's back in the mix, but I don't think it stands against the rest of your instruments once the solo kicks in at 1:15. It's just a bit too... Tinny. A bit too empty performance hall. Something about the acoustics, something about the tone, I don't have a good enough ear to describe it well. Might even just be the strings for all I know. You're new to it, either this thing (affectionate) you've created or koto in general, to playing it and to mixing it, and it is a crazy achievement to have made this thing so I don't blame you wanting to feature it, but I gotta be honest and say I don't think it currently holds up to everything else you're doing. It's still an incredibly gorgeous cover though and I am looping it as we speak, still manages to be one of my absolute fav covers I've heard. So I hope the criticism isn't too rough.

[@SheaViolin]

That's TOTALLY fair! 😂 I could always do a version with just the violin solo and nix the feature! I had a lot of fun with the process of making and playing it, and I was a little skeptical whether I would be able to use it as a lead because it's so low in the frequency spectrum. I think it might have more of a place in a sparser mix, or possibly tuned much higher! I haven't found how tight I can make these strings before breaking to push it more into a band that could stand up better. Realistically I'm not going to succeed on this platform with what I have been doing, so I decided to try something weird to maybe break out of my downward trend.

[@SheaViolin]

For what it's worth, I asked a whole bunch of musicians that I respect a whole lot if I had ruined my song before I published it, and everyone I asked liked it 😂

[@imptwins]

@@SheaViolin ugh, i fucken hate youtube man. You do such wonderful work Shea, and it's obvious you work so damn hard too, I'm sorry this garbo platform doesn't appreciate it. :I For what it's worth and to reiterate, I don't think it at all ruins the track. And in the grand scale of things adding a very slightly tinny lego koto to a track is far from the worst thing you can do to chase clicks lmao

[@SheaViolin]

😂 thanks! Yeah, it seems like video essays, reaction content, and AI are the best "content" for the platform, and I'm trying to just make peace with that. I'm going to succeed in music through collaborations and session work regardless of whether or not my solo work succeeds, and while it would be nice to be able to pay other artists to help make my work better I can still make stuff that I love on my own!

[@imptwins]

@@SheaViolin Yeahhhh I've lost a lot of channels I really liked in the last couple years to floods of reaction content making it fucken arduous to keep following :') From a washed up muso who couldn't make it, I'm glad you found your window. People underestimate how hard it is to just make a living in a field you love, I'm really glad you're working it.