Uploaded September 2018 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
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A full transcription I've created of the main menu theme from Bravely Default, alongside a recording I created to test its accuracy.
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➤ Analysis:
With this being the main menu theme, you are essentially pausing the game. From that, I suspect that Revo themed this track around the idea of time with a steadily beating metronome slowly ticking away like a clock.
The start of the music box melody is reminiscent of the second theme from "Land of Light and Shadow" (youtu.be/BTQr-RsTTW4?t=47s) - an example of motivic working which Revo uses throughout the soundtrack.
RDG (Revo Drinking Game): Drink whenever you hear wind chimes.
--------------------
The score was created in Sibelius 7.5, and the audio was created in Cubase using the brilliant EastWest sample libraries.
Feel free to check out "SonicCouture's Music Boxes" - an excellent free music box sample library that I've used for this transcription: soniccouture.com/en/products/p43-music-boxes
★Game: Bravely Default
★Developer: Silicon Studio
★Publisher: Nintendo/Square Enix
★Composer(s): Revo and Linked Horizon
★Software: Sibelius 7.5, Cubase Elements 7, Adobe Premiere Elements 15, EastWest Sample Libraries, SonicCouture's Music Boxes
★Tags: Bravely Default, Bravely, Default, Bravely Default OST, Bravely Default Soundtrack, Revo, Bravely Default Eternity's Moment, Eternitys Moment, Eternity's Moment
#BravelyDefault
#Eternity'sMoment
#SheetMusic
🎵 Sheet Music & Parts ➤ musicnotes.com/l/cz9Wm
💗 MIDI / XML / Sibelius ➤ bit.ly/TandABundle
🎹 Commissions ➤ jshaw.co.uk/commissions
🎮 More Arrangements ➤ jshaw.co.uk/TandA
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🎵 Apple Music / iTunes ➤ bit.ly/TandAApple
A full transcription I've created of the main menu theme from Bravely Default, alongside a recording I created to test its accuracy.
--------------------
➤ Analysis:
With this being the main menu theme, you are essentially pausing the game. From that, I suspect that Revo themed this track around the idea of time with a steadily beating metronome slowly ticking away like a clock.
The start of the music box melody is reminiscent of the second theme from "Land of Light and Shadow" (youtu.be/BTQr-RsTTW4?t=47s) - an example of motivic working which Revo uses throughout the soundtrack.
RDG (Revo Drinking Game): Drink whenever you hear wind chimes.
--------------------
The score was created in Sibelius 7.5, and the audio was created in Cubase using the brilliant EastWest sample libraries.
Feel free to check out "SonicCouture's Music Boxes" - an excellent free music box sample library that I've used for this transcription: soniccouture.com/en/products/p43-music-boxes
★Game: Bravely Default
★Developer: Silicon Studio
★Publisher: Nintendo/Square Enix
★Composer(s): Revo and Linked Horizon
★Software: Sibelius 7.5, Cubase Elements 7, Adobe Premiere Elements 15, EastWest Sample Libraries, SonicCouture's Music Boxes
★Tags: Bravely Default, Bravely, Default, Bravely Default OST, Bravely Default Soundtrack, Revo, Bravely Default Eternity's Moment, Eternitys Moment, Eternity's Moment
#BravelyDefault
#Eternity'sMoment
#SheetMusic
![Main Theme (Animal Crossing: New Horizons) | Full Cover
🎵 Sheet Music & Parts ➤ [Removed by Nintendo JP]
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Its time to sit back, relax, and forget about your mortgage payments - here is a full sheet music transcription and recreation of the upcoming main title theme from Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
➤ Analysis:
For a soundtrack that accompanies a relaxing and casual simulation game, it is no surprise that it is similarly calming and laid-back.
The main theme here opens with a thin texture of instruments rarely found in orchestras - a ukulele and flugelhorn, later joined with bongos, shakers and upright bass - suggesting a departure from the more serious concert aesthetic. This mirrors the games departure from being a strict simulation genre, and instead following a casual care-free focus.
Harmonically, there is quite a bit going on: we begin by descending from F major (F-A-C) into Bb major (Bb-D-F; 0:03), followed quickly by a major-minor shift into Bb minor (Bb-Db-F) with an added 6th (G) to allow smooth voice leading back down to the tonic of F, now in 2nd inversion (with the C at the root of the chord; 0:07). Then we jump from the tonic of F into G (G-B-D; 0:08), functioning as a secondary dominant progression into C major (here as a suspended 4th dominant chord; C-F-G-Bb), allowing for a perfect cadence back into the tonic once more.
The melody here has what at first appears to be a surprising amount of rhythmic syncopation for such a casual game. Though this rhythmic feature is a commonplace staple of previous Animal Crossing soundtracks, and so it becomes no surprise that it makes an appearance here.
This opening 4-bar phrase repeats with additional instruments (0:12), but is cut short by an interrupted cadence into the flattened-6th degree of Db (Db-F-Ab; 0:19) - a tritone away from the previous chord of G7 (G-B-D-F). But Db is not the true new key. Instead, it functions as a subdominant pivot into Eb (Eb-G-Bb) - the dominant chord of the new key which is instead, Ab major (Ab-C-Eb).
How do we get from the new key of Ab and back to the tonic of F? Simple: a tertiary modulation. Here (0:27), we pivot from Ab major up a 3rd (the tertiary modulation) to C major (C-E-G) - the dominant chord of our tonic, F. But this is not a straight forward dominant chord; we have several added notes of the 7th (Bb) and 9th (D). This forms what can be colloquially known as a Gospel Chord (C-G-Bb-D; 0:28), often found in... well... Gospel music.
It is possible that Totakas use of a Gospel Chord here is to elicit a sense of community as Gospel choirs have a remarkably strong communal aspect. And since a primary goal of the Animal Crossing series is to build your own communities, this would be a sensible connection.
Similarly, the reason for there being so many modulations and key changes in the opening 30s could be an allusion to the theme of travelling in the Animal Crossing series as we travel across multiple locations.
Continuing through the track, we have now returned to the tonic of F (0:34) as we follow a simple common progression of I - IV - V (F-Bb-C) which repeats twice. Afterwards (0:45), we abruptly travel once more to a new key of A major (A-C#-E) - another tertiary shift - and repeat the same I - IV - V progression (A-D-E). However, this time it is extended to progress from E to F# minor (F#-A-C#) via a C# major tertiary pivot (C#-E#-G#).
But we are not done yet. We ascend upwards once again from F# minor to the more familiar G major (G-B-D; 0:50) as we begin to prepare for our flight back home to F major... Or maybe not! As we move upwards once again to A major (A-C#-E; 0:52) and an interrupted cadence into Bb, allowing one final ascension to our old friend, C major - the dominant chord of our original tonic - once again appearing as a Gospel Chord.
The smooth voice leading in the bassline allows such dramatic modulations to appear natural, as it slips effortlessly up throughout this passage (0:45 - 0:58) - a great technique for seamless modulations.
★Game: Animal Crossing: New Horizons
★Developer: Nintendo
★Publisher: Nintendo
★Composer(s): Kazumi Totaka (et al.)
★Software: Sibelius 7.5, Cubase Elements 7, Cubase 10, Adobe Premiere Elements 15, EastWest Sample Libraries, Vienna Symphonic Library, 8Dio, Massive, AmpleBass
★Tags: Animal Crossing, New Horizons, Main Theme, Sheet Music, Transcription, Score, Title Music, Title Theme, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Cover, Trumpet
#AnimalCrossing
#NewHorizons
#MainTheme Main Theme (Animal Crossing: New Horizons) | Full Cover](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7hpKrvZCcpw/mqdefault.jpg)

![Izumo in Despair | Orchestral Cover
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Enjoy this ethnic-orchestral arrangement of Izumos first theme from Golden Sun!
➤ Analysis:
In Golden Sun, various real-world locations served as the inspiration for various in-game locations. For Izumo, the real-world equivalent would be Japan as it resides on the eastern edge of the world map and with similarly shaped islands.
When we initially arrive, Izumo is in despair after the nearby Serpent-Dragon (residing in Gaia Rock) awoke, likely as a result of Mt. Aleph erupting at the beginning of the series. The Serpent demands a female sacrifice each year, and this years sacrifice falls to Kushinada (the character in the thumbnail). Susa, the fiancé of Kushinada, will not stand for this, and ventures to Gaia Rock to slay the serpent himself.
The name Kushinada itself stems from the Japanese legend of the same name, where a woman is similarly rescued from the clutches of a Serpent by the God Susano-o who then marries her.
So with such an obvious connection to Japan, how does Sakuraba treat the music to accompany this story?
We open with an ambiguous chord; a minor 7th chord with a suspended 4th (E-A-B-D). This chord serves as the tonal anchor of the track, appearing for the vast majority of it. The lack of the 3rd (here, the G), suggests a pentatonic foundation (using only 5 notes; here, E-F-A-B-D) - a particularly Eastern musical trait. And indeed, those are the only 5 notes that are used in the entire track.
To complement the Eastern aesthetic, I replaced the hi-hat with Japanese taiko stick hits, as well as suzu bells (similar to sleigh bells), which are often used for good luck and to ward off spirits. The melody falls to the Shakuhachi - a Japanese flute.
The harmony remains relatively static until 0:20, where the bass shifts upwards a semitone to F, forming a quasi-Lydian / Phrygian chord of F-A-B-D (Lydian due to the sharpened 4th (B); or Phrygian due to the flattened 2nd (F)). Oscillating between these two chords (E-A-B-D & F-A-B-D) remains the sole harmonic interest for this track... but thats all it needs to convey such a despairing emotion!
By 0:38, we progress to a new section. Here, a koto zither instrument is added to enhance the Eastern focus (originally this was some sort of low vibraphone / celesta). Additionally, a shō (mouth organ) is added, oscillating between these two chords once more with a gentle fade. And finally, I also added some mystical gong and singing bowl strikes to add a touch of meditative spirituality.
The Shakuhachis return for the final section (0:53), as we oscillate once more between the two chords before looping. Relatively simple material.
To finish, I wrote a brief concluding statement to give a definite end to the track (2:10).
The score was created in Sibelius 7.5, and the audio was created in Cubase using sample libraries from EastWest and Vienna Symphonic.
★Game: Golden Sun: The Lost Age
★Developer: Camelot Software Planning
★Publisher: Nintendo
★Composer(s): Motoi Sakuraba
★Software: Sibelius 7.5, Cubase Elements 7, Cubase 10, Adobe Premiere Elements 15, Vienna Symphonic Library, Ethno World 5
★Tags: Golden, Sun, Golden Sun, The Lost Age, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Orchestra, Orchestral, Orchestration, Arrangement, Remix, Cover, Izumo, Izumo in Despair
#GoldenSun
#Orchestra
#Izumo Izumo in Despair | Orchestral Cover](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8-5wl1DBLEk/mqdefault.jpg)







