Breakdown: Bowser's Inside Story - The Road Leading to the Secret [Revision] (Patreon)

Hey everyone! I've recently talked more about breaking down my arrangements for songs that weren't Patreon-voted. Today, I'm going to start that trend with the not-new new arrangement of The Road Leading to the Secret! 

But first an amusing note - I had no idea, but apparently I arranged this track already back in 2021. I suppose once you've covered close to 650 songs, it's hard to keep track of them all! Consider this an extra revision this month.

Anyway, onward to the analysis. Since I've already covered this song, it's a great chance to contrast my arranging techniques from now and 2021! 

@0:00 - Instead of a Bassoon like the original, I opted to use a solo Double Bass as the lead instrument here. This song's lurching, mournful vibe really made me gravitate towards it since those chromatic notes bring out its dryness. And it's no secret that as a fan of Bloodborne I'd be inspired by some of that part-writing as well! 

@0:05 - Something I like about this song are the short bursts of instrumentation; to me, it's almost like a musical jumpscare. To accentuate this spookiness, I included a texture of string trills and tremolo playing in the sul ponticello style, continuing to lean into this song's dark dryness. Also mixed in there is a bowed cymbal, which is a perfect pairing with sul pont. 

@0:12 - It brings me great pain to say, but I ditched the harpsichord this time around. I really wanted to accentuate round, dark tones this time, and harpsichord would have felt too bright and rhythmic to me. This way, the intro sections feel a bit more like they're floating in space. 

@0:25 - A lot has changed in my bass mixing since 2021. In fact, I've recently started including a layer of Upright Bass in some of my orchestral covers! Sometimes samples can be a little odd when it comes to panned bass tones in the celli and contrabasses, so while it's not true to live orchestra positioning I like to have a more secure bass tone down the middle of my mixes. You could probably get a similar effect with a dark synth tone. 

I wanted to bolster this almost "marching" bassline with a bit of percussion. Some really light, crispy snare, and deeper shaker were rhythmic enough without being obtrusive to this track's floaty nature. Also, there's the woodblock! I completely blame A Link Between Worlds' Eastern Palace theme for inspiring me to include woodblock into dark, spooky music. To me it almost sounds like a clock, which makes it feel more... inquisitive almost? You could probably chalk it up to personal preference. 

@0:44 - The way the pizzicato strings fall almost reminds me of dropping a rubber ball, or flinching and having your heart rate return to normal. I highlighted this with a short woodwind "gasp" to play into that interpretation. 

@0:54 - Nothing to note here, but kind of "forcing" the melody into this section was always cool to me. 

Some Inspirations for this Arrangement:

• Bloodborne - The Witch of Hemwick
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - Eastern Palace - 0:46
• Lili Boulanger - Psalm 130 - 14:13

As always, I'm happy to answer any additional questions about this piece down in the comments. Thanks for listening! <3