Uploaded May 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
🎵 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
Step into the ethnic realm of Xian with this Chinese-styled track from Golden Sun.
Featuring SableProvidence on the Dizi, check out their other work!
➤ https://linktr.ee/SableProvidence
--------------------
➤ Analysis:
First heard in the village of Xian & Lama Temple in the original Golden Sun, how does Sakuraba convey the orient through music?
The first answer is, of course, pentatonicism (strictly adhering to only 5 notes) which is a common characteristic of East Asian music. Here, these 5 notes are E-G-A-B-D (E minor pentatonic), and are the only notes used in the entire track.
Another characteristic, largely one as a result of pentatonicism, is that of parallel 4ths & 5ths (i.e. material that moves together at the interval of either a perfect 4th or 5th). The opening has an example of this, looking at the strings moving largely a perfect 4th apart (with the 3rd appearing on occasion to adhere to pentatonicism). This intervallic parallelism persists throughout the entire track.
A further element Sakuraba could draw on would be the use of authentic oriental instruments. In his original, Sakuraba displays the heavy use of drums, strings & choir, with oboe and marimba melodies - an unfortunate lack of authentic instruments due to the hardware limitations of the time. But here, I have remedied this by incorporating Dizi (a membraned-flute), Suona (a reed), Sheng (a mouth organ), Pipa (a lute) & Guzheng (a zither) - traditional Chinese instruments that significantly enhance the oriental sound.
For the first statement of the melody (0:04), it is presented in the strings, pipa and guzheng. As it repeats (0:24), we now have additional dizi, sheng & string glissandi.
Moving into the 2nd section (0:42), the suona & violins deliver a new melody, soaring atop alternating bare 5ths chords in the choir & guzheng. This progresses to a faster mallet section (1:00), introducing marimba & guzheng on the melody with more bare 5ths accompaniment. This faster material continues through to the loop.
To close, I wrote a short ending (2:33) using the opening earlier material, now solely for the oriental instruments as a pleasant finisher to this East Asian track.
--------------------
The score was created in Sibelius 7.5, and the audio was created in Cubase using sample libraries from EastWest, Vienna Symphonic & Ethno World 6.
★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, Ethno World 6
★Tags: Golden, Sun, Golden Sun, The Lost Age, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Orchestra, Orchestral, Orchestration, Arrangement, Remix, Cover, Xian
#GoldenSun
#Orchestra
#Xian
🎵 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
Step into the ethnic realm of Xian with this Chinese-styled track from Golden Sun.
Featuring SableProvidence on the Dizi, check out their other work!
➤ https://linktr.ee/SableProvidence
--------------------
➤ Analysis:
First heard in the village of Xian & Lama Temple in the original Golden Sun, how does Sakuraba convey the orient through music?
The first answer is, of course, pentatonicism (strictly adhering to only 5 notes) which is a common characteristic of East Asian music. Here, these 5 notes are E-G-A-B-D (E minor pentatonic), and are the only notes used in the entire track.
Another characteristic, largely one as a result of pentatonicism, is that of parallel 4ths & 5ths (i.e. material that moves together at the interval of either a perfect 4th or 5th). The opening has an example of this, looking at the strings moving largely a perfect 4th apart (with the 3rd appearing on occasion to adhere to pentatonicism). This intervallic parallelism persists throughout the entire track.
A further element Sakuraba could draw on would be the use of authentic oriental instruments. In his original, Sakuraba displays the heavy use of drums, strings & choir, with oboe and marimba melodies - an unfortunate lack of authentic instruments due to the hardware limitations of the time. But here, I have remedied this by incorporating Dizi (a membraned-flute), Suona (a reed), Sheng (a mouth organ), Pipa (a lute) & Guzheng (a zither) - traditional Chinese instruments that significantly enhance the oriental sound.
For the first statement of the melody (0:04), it is presented in the strings, pipa and guzheng. As it repeats (0:24), we now have additional dizi, sheng & string glissandi.
Moving into the 2nd section (0:42), the suona & violins deliver a new melody, soaring atop alternating bare 5ths chords in the choir & guzheng. This progresses to a faster mallet section (1:00), introducing marimba & guzheng on the melody with more bare 5ths accompaniment. This faster material continues through to the loop.
To close, I wrote a short ending (2:33) using the opening earlier material, now solely for the oriental instruments as a pleasant finisher to this East Asian track.
--------------------
The score was created in Sibelius 7.5, and the audio was created in Cubase using sample libraries from EastWest, Vienna Symphonic & Ethno World 6.
★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, Ethno World 6
★Tags: Golden, Sun, Golden Sun, The Lost Age, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Orchestra, Orchestral, Orchestration, Arrangement, Remix, Cover, Xian
#GoldenSun
#Orchestra
#Xian
