Table of Contents:
00:00 Underground River
02:27 Made in Abyss
03:28 In the Blind
05:03 The First Layer
05:55 Adventure Through the Light
06:52 New River
07:40 Remembering Home
08:40 Pathway
10:22 Tomorrow
13:50 Hanezeve Caradhina
In retrospect, all the longer medleys I've done so far are probably my favorite videos to look back on. There's something about working on a bigger project for a while and finally seeing it come together. Even more so when I get really lucky and manage to get it recorded in one take, which is the case here!
Made in Abyss is one of the most unique soundtracks I've ever heard and I've been listening to it consistently ever since I've watched the show a few years ago. 'Tomorrow' is one of my favorite pieces of music ever written, though I've looped 'Underground River' and 'Hanezeve' just as much.
Surprisingly, by FAR the most fun to play out of the medley was 'Pathway.' I took some liberties with it, though, and switched some phrases around.
I transcribed 'Underground River' into sheet music a few years ago already, and I started 'Tomorrow' around that time too -- and that's also where I stopped. Kevin Penkin is very, very creative with his writing, and I struggled so much to translate the instrumentation into something that would sound even slightly coherent on a piano. I struggled with that up until the very end, honestly, and it's also why I stopped 'Tomorrow' in the medley where I did. That vocal part that comes after is absolutely insane, I love it to bits, but it doesn't work on piano at all lol. Also, I'm very sure I got the harmony wrong sometimes because it's so tricky. And sometimes I just didn't know how to transition from one track to the other, hope it's not too jarring in places!
When I have a one-take recording like this, I make a choice: I decide the fumbles and occasional mistakes are worth it for the integrity of the video. And the fun doggo cameos. You can also hear the rattle of his collar at one point and some steps, sorry about that lol I'm just happy he didn't do anything that would completely ruin the take.
I will write this down into sheet music, I have most of it more or less written down already so it hopefully won't take too long -- also, I know I'm terribly behind on many, many sheet music requests. If you've personally asked me about some sheet music I've said I'd do but didn't, I'm very sorry but it's so time consuming, and that kind of time is hard to find lately.
I'm eagerly awaiting the release of the Season 2 soundtrack, that one 'Von' sounding track keeps me up at night. I'll have to do a second medley for that one, I can tell.
See you next piece!
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IG: / calikospiano
musescore: musescore.com/caliko
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Made in Abyss OST by Kevin Penkin