Sheet music → mymusic.st/animenzzz/53594
Attack on Titan is one of these anime series, where small bits of information are being revealed with every new season and each of them are slowly fitting together like a gigantic puzzle. Every season is changing the status quo and with the time, you become unsure which side of the factions you are supposed to root for. All you can do is to just watch and see how the grand story is going to unfold in the end.
“Ashes on The Fire” is probably the most recognizable soundtrack in the Final Season and its enigmatic main motif “G-F#-G-G” (2:40) has really fascinated me: It has a feeling of “uncertainty” and I feel like fate itself is giving its voice in the music. It is interesting to note, that this main motif is used in other tracks of the OST album as well (for example in Track 02 “The Other Side of the Sea”)
①　The “Chain of Hate”
One of the most striking characteristics of “Ashes on The Fire” is the endlessly repeating background violins in the middle voice range. There are multiple variations such as 1:46, 2:54 or 4:00 but they all have one thing in common: They are perfectly looped. I was thinking about the meaning behind these perpetual movements in the music and I came up with the following theory:
The characters in Attack on Titan are in a perpetual war with each other and they all repeat the same mistake over and over again - basically forming an endless “Chain of Hate”. And these endless repeating violin voices are essentially rekindling the already burned down world: “Ashes on The Fire”.
As if that were not enough, this whole arrangement itself has a perfect loop form because it starts and ends with the exact same notes (0:01 and 4:16). Therefore, the “Chain of Hate” will continue to play, even if the video has ended. There is no god.
②　Extreme Dynamic difference
From suspenseful ppp (2:20) or a literal explosion of fff (3:22): This arrangement shows both extreme ends of the dynamic scale and it almost always happens instantaneously. The original song kept building up the tension in the music again and again with these extreme dynamic differences and I did the same on the piano as well.
On a side note, I think this is the first time I pressed the sustain pedal for almost 8 whole bars. The entire section from 0:35 until 1:02 is sustained by the right pedal in order to keep the G-minor chord intact and to build up tension in the music. (I absolutely look forward to play this piece again in a big concert hall and enjoy the reverb)
③　The one-man “orchestra” on the piano
In 1:10 for example, I managed to include the brass instruments in the middle voice range while the right hand continues to play the repeating patterns. But what happens if the multiple voices are too far away from each other?
My initial idea was to play the original violin melody (4:00) during the climax in 1:46 and 3:22 but it required impossibly fast jumps for both hands. That’s why I had to modify the violin melody a little bit to make it more reasonable to play with the three-hand technique. I guess as a piano arranger, you always have to look for alternative solutions: You want to replicate the “spirit” of the original song as faithful as you can, but you should still be able to play it with only two hands.
Alright, that’s it for today! This week’s “Animenz Explains” has gotten a little bit longer than expected but big thanks to everyone, who have made it so far! I hope you enjoyed my orchestra-style arrangement of “Ashes on The Fire” this week and I am looking forward to see you in the next video again! Let’s hope the “Chain of Hate” will be finally broken at the end of this season.
See you next time!
Animenz
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🎹Piano arrangement by Animenz
Original Song: Ashes on The Fire
Anime: Attack on Titan Final Season (2021)
Published by: PONY CANYON (2021)
Composed by: KOHTA YAMAMOTO
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#AttackonTitan #AoT #FinalSeason #TATAKAE