Uploaded October 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
🎵 Sheet Music & Parts ➤ [Removed by Nintendo JP]
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🎮 More Arrangements ➤ jshaw.co.uk/TandA
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By request, here is an arrangement of one of the earliest town themes from Golden Sun - "Lunpa", perhaps more commonly titled "Lunpa Fortress".
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➤ Analysis:
For a happy little town theme, it is peculiarly scored in a 5/4 time signature to begin with. This little oddity for a town theme suggests something is wrong with the underlying foundation, which is perhaps quite suitable with its first appearance being with the corrupt town of Lunpa.
However, even with an asymmetrical meter, it still flows seamlessly, largely in part to its 3-3-2-2 metric grouping, but also because of a large history of classical music being scored in 5/4 over the past century which has normalized its irregularities.
Throughout, the string ensemble perform plucky pizzicatos, enhancing the upbeat aesthetic of a town theme. On top of this, an echoing oboe performs in A major (0:07), slotting its melody into the irregular 5/4 grouping with ease. This is followed quickly by flutes (0:18), which similarly deliver an unobtrusive 5/4 melody.
When the two join together (0:23), I added a wood block and contrabass to emphasize this joining, as the lower strings begin a gradual harmonic descent downwards. This continues through to 0:33, where the time signature cheekily shifts from 5/4 into a more stable 3/4. Although, it is not obvious at first due to the descending string passage of 0:33 which has a lack of metric emphasis as it steadily floats downward.
At 0:37, we have a modulation to G Mixolydian (G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G), with a strong emphasis on the tonic (I) and leading note (vii). This to me felt like an important section, so I emphasized it with a rural tambourine rhythm and additional appoggiaturas. To start, the flute also follows the oboe canonically, before going off on its own melody.
At 0:49, we have another descending harmonic passage, this time with flutes taking on the melody, and now modulated bluntly back into the tonic of A major. By 1:01, the strings mirror their descending passage of 0:33, but now ascending and far more rapidly into G major.
Here, akin to 0:37, we have another climactic section, now in G Lydian (G-A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G), characterized by the alternation of G and A major over a pedal G (in the lower strings). To emphasize this section, the tambourine returns, but now also with an additional glockenspiel to reinforce the brightness of that sharp Lydian 4th (C#).
--------------------
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
★Developer: Camelot Software Planning
★Publisher: Nintendo
★Composer(s): Motoi Sakuraba
★Software: Sibelius 7.5, Cubase Elements 7, Cubase 10, Adobe Premiere Elements 15, EastWest Sample Libraries, Vienna Symphonic Library
★Tags: Golden Sun, Golden, Sun, The Lost Age, Golden Sun The Lost Age, TLA, GS, Golden Sun Orchestra, Golden Sun Cover, Golden Sun Remix, Golden Sun Arrangement, Lunpa, Town, City
#GoldenSun
#Orchestra
#TheLostAge
🎵 Sheet Music & Parts ➤ [Removed by Nintendo JP]
💗 MIDI / XML / Sibelius ➤ bit.ly/TandABundle
🎹 Commissions ➤ jshaw.co.uk/commissions
🎮 More Arrangements ➤ jshaw.co.uk/TandA
👍 Facebook ➤ bit.ly/TandAFacebook
🐦 Twitter ➤ bit.ly/TandATwitter
🎵 Bandcamp ➤ bit.ly/TandABandcamp
🎵 Spotify ➤ bit.ly/TandASpotify
🎵 Deezer ➤ bit.ly/TandADeezer
🎵 YouTube Music ➤ bit.ly/TandAYouTube
🎵 Apple Music / iTunes ➤ bit.ly/TandAApple
By request, here is an arrangement of one of the earliest town themes from Golden Sun - "Lunpa", perhaps more commonly titled "Lunpa Fortress".
--------------------
➤ Analysis:
For a happy little town theme, it is peculiarly scored in a 5/4 time signature to begin with. This little oddity for a town theme suggests something is wrong with the underlying foundation, which is perhaps quite suitable with its first appearance being with the corrupt town of Lunpa.
However, even with an asymmetrical meter, it still flows seamlessly, largely in part to its 3-3-2-2 metric grouping, but also because of a large history of classical music being scored in 5/4 over the past century which has normalized its irregularities.
Throughout, the string ensemble perform plucky pizzicatos, enhancing the upbeat aesthetic of a town theme. On top of this, an echoing oboe performs in A major (0:07), slotting its melody into the irregular 5/4 grouping with ease. This is followed quickly by flutes (0:18), which similarly deliver an unobtrusive 5/4 melody.
When the two join together (0:23), I added a wood block and contrabass to emphasize this joining, as the lower strings begin a gradual harmonic descent downwards. This continues through to 0:33, where the time signature cheekily shifts from 5/4 into a more stable 3/4. Although, it is not obvious at first due to the descending string passage of 0:33 which has a lack of metric emphasis as it steadily floats downward.
At 0:37, we have a modulation to G Mixolydian (G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G), with a strong emphasis on the tonic (I) and leading note (vii). This to me felt like an important section, so I emphasized it with a rural tambourine rhythm and additional appoggiaturas. To start, the flute also follows the oboe canonically, before going off on its own melody.
At 0:49, we have another descending harmonic passage, this time with flutes taking on the melody, and now modulated bluntly back into the tonic of A major. By 1:01, the strings mirror their descending passage of 0:33, but now ascending and far more rapidly into G major.
Here, akin to 0:37, we have another climactic section, now in G Lydian (G-A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G), characterized by the alternation of G and A major over a pedal G (in the lower strings). To emphasize this section, the tambourine returns, but now also with an additional glockenspiel to reinforce the brightness of that sharp Lydian 4th (C#).
--------------------
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
★Developer: Camelot Software Planning
★Publisher: Nintendo
★Composer(s): Motoi Sakuraba
★Software: Sibelius 7.5, Cubase Elements 7, Cubase 10, Adobe Premiere Elements 15, EastWest Sample Libraries, Vienna Symphonic Library
★Tags: Golden Sun, Golden, Sun, The Lost Age, Golden Sun The Lost Age, TLA, GS, Golden Sun Orchestra, Golden Sun Cover, Golden Sun Remix, Golden Sun Arrangement, Lunpa, Town, City
#GoldenSun
#Orchestra
#TheLostAge
