DcapoVGMIf you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________
Hey all!
This week I have something very special to share with all of you. I recently had the pleasure of working with two of my all-time favorite VGM cover artists and I'm so excited to finally share what we've been working on.
I've worked with both Soundole and Ifnot on separate collaborative projects and I honestly just love making music with these guys. It really is such a wonderful privilege to work with artists like this, especially in times like this.
Like many of you, I've spent a great number of my hours playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons and I am just so in love with this game. It really is exactly what I need during these uncertain times. The music has been a huge inspiration for me as well. This early morning music that plays at 5am immediately struck me and I knew I had to work on a version of some kind for the channel.
In addition to the footage of each of us performing, Katie and I made an early morning trip to a nearby park and captured some footage of the local plants that were still wet from the morning dew. I tried to edit the nature footage as seamlessly as possible with the instrumental footage. It was a real challenge and I really tried to push myself in the editing side of things on this one. I really hope you all enjoy it.
Let me know what you think!
P.S - Did you spot Rover?
#Animalcrossing #animalcrossingnewHorizons #5AM
A HUGE huge thank you to both Soundole and Ifnot!! They are both incredible musicians and absolutely wonderful collaborators. This video would not have been possible without both of them.
♫ "5AM" from Animal Crossing: New Horizons Composed by Yasuaki Iwata, Yumi Takahashi ,Shinobu Nagata, Sayako Doi and Masato Ohashi _________________________________________________________________
Animal Crossing: New Horizons ~ 5AM Cover (Ft. Soundole & Ifnot)DcapoVGM2020-04-30 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________
Hey all!
This week I have something very special to share with all of you. I recently had the pleasure of working with two of my all-time favorite VGM cover artists and I'm so excited to finally share what we've been working on.
I've worked with both Soundole and Ifnot on separate collaborative projects and I honestly just love making music with these guys. It really is such a wonderful privilege to work with artists like this, especially in times like this.
Like many of you, I've spent a great number of my hours playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons and I am just so in love with this game. It really is exactly what I need during these uncertain times. The music has been a huge inspiration for me as well. This early morning music that plays at 5am immediately struck me and I knew I had to work on a version of some kind for the channel.
In addition to the footage of each of us performing, Katie and I made an early morning trip to a nearby park and captured some footage of the local plants that were still wet from the morning dew. I tried to edit the nature footage as seamlessly as possible with the instrumental footage. It was a real challenge and I really tried to push myself in the editing side of things on this one. I really hope you all enjoy it.
Let me know what you think!
P.S - Did you spot Rover?
#Animalcrossing #animalcrossingnewHorizons #5AM
A HUGE huge thank you to both Soundole and Ifnot!! They are both incredible musicians and absolutely wonderful collaborators. This video would not have been possible without both of them.
♫ "5AM" from Animal Crossing: New Horizons Composed by Yasuaki Iwata, Yumi Takahashi ,Shinobu Nagata, Sayako Doi and Masato Ohashi _________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMThe Illusory City - Live PerformanceDcapoVGM2022-11-13 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
I've been experimenting with more live performances of music on Twitch and ended up recording this little practice performance today while learning my way around the MPC One.
The MPC One is handling some synth sampling and drum programming, while the keystep pro is performing some recorded bass and synth VSTs. The lead for this is performed on the Arturia Microbrute. All music is recorded to one stereo master track, exactly as it would be for my live performances on Twitch. There is some mix imperfections, specifically with the lead being a bit too present in parts, but it's part of the performance. Always a work in progress! More coming soon!
If you want to see more like this, I generally do live performances on my Twitch, which I'll link below. Hopefully more coming soon!
Thanks for watching! ________________________________________________________________ ♫ "The Illusory City - Written and improvised by DcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT: MOTU UltraLite mk5 USB Audio Interface Akai MPC ONE Arturia Keystep Pro Arturia Microbrute NanoKontrol Studio Midi Controller - controlling the live mixing. Panasonic Lumix G85
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 18 Studio OBS Studio Gig Performer 4 Spectrasonics - Omnisphere _________________________________________________________________
SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitch • • • twitch.tv/dcapovgm Twitter • • • twitter.com/DcapoVGM Facebook • • • facebook.com/DcapoVGM Instagram • • • instagram.com/DcapoVGM Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMSteven Universe - Theme Song (Keystep Pro Cover)DcapoVGM2022-10-11 | Favorite piece of Steven Universe music? Go! Here's a little version of the theme song I made using my setup. I hope you like it. #stevenuniverseSomething Crunchy~ Twitch Live-stream Performance 9-27-22DcapoVGM2022-09-30 | Hello!
It's been SO LONG and I've missed you all!
I've been away from YouTube but pretty active musically offline and on other platforms. A while back I promised to share more live recordings and small snippets and I'm going to start really pushing to fulfill that going forward.
Here is a little something I performed earlier this week that I think went pretty well! All parts are recorded live using the Keystep Pro and the Drumbrute Impact and all sounds are being routed through Gig Performer 4.
If you want to see more like this, I generally do live performances on my Twitch, which I'll link below. Hopefully more coming soon!
Thanks for watching! ________________________________________________________________ ♫ "Something Crunchy - Written and improvised by DcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT: MOTU UltraLite mk5 USB Audio Interface Arturia Keystep Pro Arturia Drumbrute Impact Arturia Microbrute NanoKontrol Studio Midi Controller Panasonic Lumix G85
I've been hard at work getting my live streaming music setup as polished as possible, and I'm finally in a place to start showing a bit more. My Twitch channel has been pretty gaming/hangout-focused, but I'm going to begin phasing in more music-focused streams going forward. The live session will be broadcast on my Twitch channel, which I'll link below, but I will be posting some select performances here on YouTube.
I ended up doing about an hour of music last week and just had so much fun sharing with you all. It's all live, so there will be technical issues and mistakes, I'm sure, but that is part of the fun! This particular track is just a little tune I came up with while jamming over a simple bass line I came up with right before recording.
More coming soon!
Thanks for watching! ________________________________________________________________ ♫ "Something Smooth - WIP" Composed by DcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________
This week I'm starting my little experiment with uploading short-form content. I'm hoping to create more of this content to keep up a more consistent upload schedule in between the larger uploads. I'm thinking this will also allow me to experiment a bit with different kinds of music content. Please let me know if you enjoy these kinds of videos because I'm very interested in making more.
Thanks for watching and I hope you are all doing well! ________________________________________________________________ ♫ "Untitled" Composed by DcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 17 Studio Studio One 5 Super Audio Cart Plogue Chipsounds Battery 4 _________________________________________________________________
Hey there! I hope everyone has had an excellent start to the new year!
While I finish up some new originals and covers, I figured I'd share a couple of videos that I made last year that I didn't end up sharing on YouTube for one reason or another. This video was the first demo I recorded using the Arturia Keystep Pro. I'm sure you've seen this keyboard/sequencer in a few of my other videos, but this was my first ever test drive of what the sequencer can do. A lot of the new content I'll be sharing will feature this instrument heavily, so I hope you enjoy this little demo.
Thanks for watching and I hope you are all doing well!
P.S - Starting this week, I will start uploading some YouTube shorts as a test. I want to try and upload a bit more short-form content to keep the upload schedule a bit more regular and open myself up to experimenting a bit more on the channel. Of course, this content won't replace any of the bigger videos, but it's something I want to test out going forward.
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMMinecraft ~ Dry Hands (Piano Cover)DcapoVGM2021-12-30 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
#minecraft #C418 #piano
It's been a while! I've been a lot of Minecraft with friends on Twitch and have fallen back in love with the lovely OST written by C418. Last week, I was fortunate enough to stay in a house with an upright piano and decided to record a short impromptu cover of Dry Hand, which is a lovely little piano vignette. It's simple and short, but I hope it brings a moment of peace to your day.
The Zelda EP is still coming, and I've got some new videos lined up. I recently upgraded to a new PC, and the transition has taken longer than I thought it would. I've also been working a lot more than usual, but I'm getting to a place where I can work on content again more easily. The new PC is a beast, so that will hopefully speed up production from now on.
Thanks again for watching, and I hope you all have a lovely holiday.
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ~ Sheiks Theme (Solo Piano Arrangement)DcapoVGM2021-08-25 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
#OOT #Zelda #Sheik #Piano
More about the piece:
Hey all! I'm working on compiling a short E.P. of my solo piano arrangements from the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I'm still working on mixing and mastering, but I'm hoping to be finished in the next month or so. In the meantime, I've recorded a short piano arrangement of Sheik's Theme, which in my opinion, is one of the most unique tracks in the game. This track doesn't get arranged very often for piano, and it's not hard to see why. While it seems simple, the phrasing and fingering are pretty tricky. I recorded and edited this track in a single day, so there are some imperfections and phrasing issues, but I'm relatively happy with it, given the short turnaround. I probably could have continued to refine this performance, but I'm trying to be a bit less attached to my arrangements so that I can hopefully produce more for you all.
P.S. ~ I'm going to be streaming gaming and live piano performances on Twitch.tv starting today, and I'm excited to give it a shot. It won't replace any of the content I make on YouTube, but I'm hoping it will push me to retain a more regular schedule. I'll be starting with some Breath of the Wild and some short piano arrangements. :) I hope to see you there.
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMBeneath Green - A moment of peace (Short original music video in 4K)DcapoVGM2021-05-07 | If you enjoyed this week's video feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
Hey all. It's been a rather difficult and busy year thus far, so, unfortunately, making content has taken a back seat to rest and mental health care. It's been hard to find the time and energy to polish and finish some of the bigger personal projects, but I feel like I'm slowly starting to get into the swing of things again.
This video is the first and shortest of a series of original travel music videos that I've been creating for the channel, but I think it will a nice way to kick things off. We were fortunate enough to take a short camping trip a couple of weeks ago, and I took the opportunity to document one lovely morning. I wasn't planning on making a video during that trip, but I was inspired by how quiet and beautiful it was there, and I wanted to capture how the campsite felt in that moment. I was especially taken by how beautiful the light was moving through the treetops in the early morning.
The music was actually the most challenging part of this project for me. While I wanted the piece to some forward momentum, I really wanted to mimic the sound of the breeze through the trees. To keep things simple, I focused on just a few instruments. For the pulse of the piece, I used a combination of high register Rhodes and Celeste. It was a struggle to make it work as it, without hopefully being too sickly sweet. The focus of the piece is absolutely the synth part, though. The synth part is performed on a warm but fuzzy little patch that I made on my Korg Minilogue XD. It's got that very slow attack that I thought did an interesting job at mimicking that feeling of the breeze.
Overall, I think I'm pleased with how it came out, and I actually really enjoyed scoring this project a lot. I honestly just hope this short video allows you to take a pause and relax for a couple of minutes. Hopefully, it will serve as a reminder to take a breath and take in the things around you.
I'll be back again with a new video soon.
Thanks again for all your support. It means a lot.
EQUIPMENT: Roland FP-30 Korg Minilogue XD Keystep Pro Motu M4 Sony PCM D-50 Panasonic Lumix G85
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 16 Studio Studio One 4 Keyscape
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Fis Theme (Piano Arrangement)DcapoVGM2021-03-22 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapovgm
Hey there! 2021 has been a busy year so far, but I'm happy to say I'm back with a new video for you all!
This week I decided to arrange a solo piano rendition of Fi's Theme from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It's a remarkably simple but beautiful character theme that has resonated with me since I played the game on Wii back in 2011. I initially didn't care much for Fi as a character, but I found myself caring about her a lot more as the game progressed. I attribute a lot of that emotional attachment to the increasingly moving renditions of Fi's character theme that occur throughout the game.
Most of the beautiful piano arrangements I've heard people perform are fairly direct transcriptions of "Fi's Gratitiude", which is a slower and more atmospheric take on Fi's Theme. I didn't want to strictly arrange any specific version of the theme for my piano arrangement, so I took inspiration from a few other variations of the theme and created something more of my own. This version takes a bit more influence from the original "Fi's Theme," which has more forward motion and also some really interesting harmonic changes in the accompaniment. I hope you enjoy what I've done with this theme. I had a great time working on this arrangement and it just feels good to get back to recording again. I'd be very interested in arranging more from this OST at some point in the future, so let me know if you have any suggestions!
Also, you may have noticed that beautiful sculpture of the Master sword that I used in the intro and outro sequences of this video. That polymer clay sculpture was made and very generously gifted to me by the fantastic Sculpted Nostalgia. Sculpted Nostalgia makes some pretty incredible retro video game sculptures on their channel, and you can watch them all being made here. youtube.com/channel/UC61fmaut9vVCLa1hjTQ1p_A
You can even watch the actual Master sword I used in THIS video being made right here! Pretty incredible! youtube.com/watch?v=dEYWHMb6eBo
Show some love and support for them and give Sculpted Nostalgia a follow if you can!
Thanks again for watching! ________________________________________________________________
♫ "Fi's Theme" from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword" Composed by Hajime Wakai and Mahito Yokota _________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT: Roland FP-30 Motu M4 Tascam DR-100 Panasonic Lumix G85
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 16 Studio Studio One 4 Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ~ Kakariko Village (Solo Piano Arrangement)DcapoVGM2020-12-16 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
It's been far too long since I've released a Zelda piano arrangement, and I'm excited to finally have a new video to share with you all! I previously covered this piece back in 2017, and it was just the second VGM upload on my channel. That video has not aged well... The video quality and performance were really poor hahaha!
I'm generally very hard on myself, but I'm overall really proud of the progress I've made in terms of performance and production. It's a big difference.
For this new rendition, I wanted to focus on bringing out the piece's warm and comforting quality. I found that changing the key signature from Bb Major to F Major helped darken the sound and create a richer texture. F Major is one of my favorites and is just such a great key for these kinds of pieces. I generally shy away from changing keys too much, but this change made such a huge impact on the arrangement's tone. I also worked in some richer harmonies and a tiny bit of ornamentation for fun. It's a simple little arrangement, but I'm overall pretty happy with how it turned out. I hope you all enjoy it. :)
I'm working on compiling some of my Zelda arrangements for a possible release next year, so I hope you guys enjoy this little preview.
Thanks for watching!
P.S ~ My good friend Jay has streaming various games from The Legend of Zelda series throughout the last month on Twitch. I've been having a wonderful time watching him play Breath of the Wild and Majora's Mask and it has inspired me to come back and make some more Zelda covers. He'll be streaming some Zelda today, so please come by and hangout with us. :) Jay is also a talented composer and musician and makes music on his youtube channel. Check out his work below!
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMLegend of Mana ~ Nostalgic Song (Solo Piano Arrangement)DcapoVGM2020-09-29 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________
More about the piece:
It's been a long time coming, but I'm back this week with a new solo piano VGM arrangement, and I think this one is pretty special. I've always been a fan of the Mana series, but the only one I've ever gotten to play was Secret of Mana. However, I recently had the pleasure of watching one of my friends play through the game on Twitch and I had a blast watching him work through the game. It's an absolutely gorgeous game. The art style still holds up to this day, and Yoko Shimomura's score is timeless.
One of the first tracks you hear in the game is a simple but beautiful piece called "Nostalgic Song." The melody is just beautiful, and I wanted to take the piece and expand on it while remaining faithful to the original as possible. There are definitely some significant additions, most notably the introduction/outro that bookend the arrangement, but I tried to make it cohesive by basing that material on a fragment of the main melody. I've also changed and expanded on the piece in some stylistic ways that I hope you all enjoy.
This is the second piece by Yoko Shimomura that I've arranged for this channel, and I think I may continue to do more in the future. She's an incredible composer and a significant influence on me as a composer. Maybe I'll do some Super Mario RPG next. :)
Thanks for watching!
P.S ~
If you haven't played Legend of Mana but are interested in checking it out, follow my friend Jay's stream of the game on Twitch. He's a fantastic composer and musician and has been playing tons of great retro JRPGs. Most recently, he's been playing through Chrono Cross, which is another retro classic. I've linked his Twitch and YouTube down below. twitch.tv/decomposing_ youtube.com/channel/UCHsTIEcJWLy6RcpRlWghNNQ ________________________________________________________________
♫ "Nostalgic Song" from Legend of Mana Composed by Yoko Shimomura _________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT: Roland FP-30 Motu M4 Tascam DR-100 Panasonic Lumix G7
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 16 Studio Studio One 4 Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMChrono Cross ~ Radical Dreamers (Keyscape Rhodes Jam Session Cover)DcapoVGM2020-08-28 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________
Quick Note:
My composer buddy, Jay has a twitch channel and is going to start streaming Chrono Cross tonight, beginning at 8 PM EDT. Jay is also an insanely talented and knowledgeable composer, so I'm sure he is going to have a lot to say about this game's soundtrack. I'm also really excited about his stream because it's honestly been a really long time since I last played it, and a lot of it is going to feel fresh again. I remember pivotal moments, characters, and of course, the fantastic soundtrack. If you'd like to tune in, you can find the link here. I'll be there hanging out and having a drink while I watch. Hope to see some of you there too! It should be a fun, chill night.
It's been a bit since I last uploaded a VGM cover on the channel, but I'm back this week with a little treat from a very underappreciated JPRG gem. Chrono Trigger is such a monumentally iconic game, and an equal was always going to have an uphill battle being nearly as memorable. It really is amazing to me that Chrono Cross turned out to be such a great game, with beautiful characters and an absolutely stellar soundtrack.
While Chrono Trigger's music will probably always be the most famous, I feel like Mitsuda's compositions in Chrono Cross are much more ambitious, and the sheer scope of the game's soundtrack is really impressive. There are just so many memorable and moving tracks that the list of pieces to cover is overwhelming haha!
I've covered a couple of Chrono Cross pieces for the channel before, but I wanted to do something a little different with this one. Back in the early days of my channel, someone suggested that I cover the ending credits music for the game, entitled "Radical Dreamers." The original is a vocal song that is accompanied by a flowing guitar part. This cover is not meant to be a recreation of the original song, but more of a transformative arrangement. There are so many incredible renditions of this song that stick closer to the original, and I really just wanted to take the piece in a different direction.
I decided to strip the piece down and perform it on a custom Rhodes Patch that I made in Keyscape. It's a simple Rhodes patch with some amp simulation and distortion. I tweaked the patch so that the crunch and distortion really came out when I played with a bit more force. I really wanted to play up the accompaniment's forward motion and push some more dynamic contrast into the piece. I also ended up making some slight tweaks to the rhythmic and melodic structure, just to fit the performance style. After a brief little solo interlude that I improvised, I briefly quote a fragment of the violin motif from "Time's Scar." That piece is such an incredible opening number, and I thought it would be fun to include just a little snippet of it into the arrangement.
Thanks again for watching! I really appreciate everyone who sticks around and watches all my videos. It means a lot to me. I've got a couple of other ideas in the pipeline, so hopefully, I'll have some new original music and another piano video coming soon.
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMSupercell ~ Atmospheric synth and piano improvisation with audio-reactive visualsDcapoVGM2020-07-31 | If you enjoyed this week's video feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
Some info about how I made this piece:
This piece was improvised entirely on the spot. All sounds and effects were decided on beforehand, and all mixing was done before I hit record.
All synth sounds are from custom patches on the Korg Minilogue XD analog synth. The piano featured in this video is a bit-crushed Garritan CFX Concert Grand VST.
I had all instruments routed through Studio One's Analog Tape delay plugin, which I set to the longest delay possible (17ish seconds). Doing so allowed me to create natural-sounding loops that flowed less rigidly. It was refreshing to have the ability to loop something naturally, without having to live on a strict time grid.
This track is not intended to be an album quality recording, but more of a live performance demo. Eventually, I'll refine my method to recording these more ambient pieces, and attempt to produce a more high fidelity sound. I think given the kind of aesthetic I'm going for, the raw and untamed sound here works decently well for now.
I designed the visuals in this piece using a program called Fragment Flow. fragmentflow.com I've been experimenting with live visuals through Max MSP for a long time, but only recently discovered Fragment Flow. It's a fantastic program, and I was able to produce some reasonably compelling live reactive visuals very quickly. For this particular video, I chose to composite the abstract visuals gradually over the performance footage. I think this a pretty exciting look, and I hope that it will help people lose themselves in the music a bit more. It definitely came out more psychedelic than I initially thought, but I think I enjoy the look! Hahaha!
This piece is inspired by my life-long fascination with thunderstorms. When I was a kid, I loved watching the large moving thunderstorms that passed over the Everglades, and it's something I still think about often. I could go more in-depth with how that inspired the music and visuals, but I'm hoping it speaks for itself.
These atmospheric performances have been a wonderful escape for reality for me, and if even one person enjoys this more abstract escape, it will have been worth making. I know it's a pretty big departure from what I usually showcase on this channel, but I hope you find something to enjoy from this bit of musical escapism.
If you have any sensitivity to flashing lights and colors, please take caution in viewing this video. I really don't think the flashing in this video is enough to trigger an episode in someone prone to seizures, but I would rather be safe and warn anyone who could be at risk.
This piece is a much longer than I usually post, and I know the sound of this won't be for everyone. What music really is? Hahaha! However, if this piece isn't your thing, I'll have a new VGM cover coming out late next week, so don't worry. I'm planning on having some new arrangement work completed and uploaded very soon.
I hope you are staying safe and healthy during these strange and uncertain times. The last several months have been mentally exhausting, but all things considered, we are doing well. I'm very grateful for the extra time I get to spend with my wife, and I have been studying synthesis and learning as much throughout these last couple of months.
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMRest: A short improvised interlude (Korg Minilouge XD Synth Pad Demo)DcapoVGM2020-06-30 | If you enjoyed this week's video feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
Hey all! It's been a while since I last uploaded. Over the last month or so I've shifted focus on studying and improving my skills a bit more and because of that my content creation has slowed significantly. I'll be honest and say that the last few months have also taken a toll on me mentally and I needed some time to reflect and take care of myself a bit. I'm hoping to spend more on creating some new music for you all very soon.
In the meantime, I'd like to share some short improvised demos that showcase some of the little things I've been learning. I recently acquired a desktop Korg minilouge XD synthesizer and I've been obsessed with learning the ins and outs of this very powerful instrument. It can produce some really incredible sounds and I've been particularly enjoying making more atmospheric synth pads with the minilouge. I love some of the textures I've been able to get out of this instrument and I can't wait to incorporate them into larger pieces. Here is a short little atmospheric interlude that I made showcasing the new custom patch. The minilouge XD has a great little oscilloscope built into it and I choose to focus the shot on that , rather than my actual playing. I think it helps with the more laid-back tone of the video.
These are strange and difficult times we are living through right now and I truly hope you are all staying safe and healthy! If this little piece brings a little bit of calm and peace to your day, I'll be very content.
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMSunshower ~ Original (Arturia Keystep Pro Live Performance)DcapoVGM2020-05-12 | If you enjoyed this week's video feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
Hey there! Hope everyone is staying happy and healthy!
This week I've got an original performance that I'd like to share with you all. It's pretty different from what I generally share on here but I've been experimenting with different sounds and styles lately and thought it would be fun to shake things up. I recently purchased an Arturia Keystep Pro, which is a 4 track live midi sequencer and it has really opened up my ability to record and perform on the fly with multiple instrumental layers.
Right now I'm just using it loop and record tons of instrumental parts live and then I can immediately move to soloing over them. I'm really just breaking this thing in and I'm still a total noob at using it, but I can't wait to see what else I can do with it. I'm also using my Drumbrute Impact to drive some plucky Roland CR78 drum samples, which I think complements the piece nicely.
The piece itself is a lot closer to some of my past Chiptune work, which many of you probably aren't super familiar with. It's honestly been a long time since I've really written much new chiptune style music, but I think I'm ready to get back into it now. I started writing this piece a while back just for fun and I thought it would be a good fit to perform live with the Keystep Pro.
Anyway, I hope some of you enjoy this little detour. I'll be back to doing some solo piano arrangements soon, but I'll probably also do more of these if some of you enjoy this type of content. Let me know in the comments.
P.S I'm already planning some possible Mega Man covers with this setup...
I'm open to suggestions, so let me know if you have any other ideas!
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMStrung-Out ~ Live Original Improv (Keyscape Wurlitzer)DcapoVGM2020-04-10 | If you enjoyed this week's video feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
Hey all,
I'm back again with another quick and dirty improvisation that I recorded this morning. This quarantine business has been so weird on my mental state and I think it's coming out in my playing a bit. I have really been feeling like trying out different styles and approaches to music recently, and I've honestly been loving this more free-form type of music making. This one has a bit more of a latin/blues feel and it's honestly so fun to mess around with. This video is very similar to "Guitarish", in that I recorded this improv in a single take and didn't do much to the sound other than getting my effects and levels in before performing. I did a quick master afterwards just to get the levels somewhat consistent, but I'm honestly liking the more raw sound of these recordings right now.
I have some very cool VGM projects coming up that I'm so excited to share with you soon. I hope these little original videos are somewhat enjoyable for you all to watch in the meantime.
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMGuitarish ~ Live Original Demo (Keyscape Clavinet)DcapoVGM2020-04-08 | If you enjoyed this week's video feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
Hey all,
I hope you are all doing well during these uncertain and scary times. I've been going a bit stir-crazy here at home but I'm trying to remain somewhat productive and have been taking the opportunity to try new things. Lately I've been recording lots of small improvised original music videos and overall just experimenting with new sounds and styles.
This particular video was just recorded yesterday during a quick and dirty session and features a split multi instrument patch that contains two distinct Keyscape instruments. In the upper register of the keyboard, I am using a heavily effected clavinet patch and in the lower register I am using a simple keyscape bass synth patch. To add some bite to the bass part, I doubled it with another dry clavinet patch, and I honestly really ended up loving the distorted guitar and bass-like sound that this combo created.
Also featured in the video is a simple synth pad I made in Arturia Pigments for the contrasting section and a very basic drum beat on my drum machine. Everything was recorded in the same take and all instrument audio levels and effects were set before I recorded. The only audio processing done after recording was a quick volume master. I really wanted to get the raw sound of the original performance and I hope that comes through.
This is very different territory for me and it was really just fun to mess around with new sounds. I feel like Clavinet patches in Keyscape don't get enough attention and they are so expressive and fun to perform on. Hope you guys like this little musical detour. Let me know if this is something you guys would like to see more of or if you have any requests of new stuff to try.I'm working on some new stuff that I'll hopefully have to share in the coming weeks. :)
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMAnimal Crossing ~ K.K. Cruisin Aircheck (Groovy Instrumental Arrangement)DcapoVGM2020-03-18 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________
Hey there! I know it's been a while since I last uploaded, but I've been hard at work on this arrangement and I'm so glad to finally get to share it with you all. New horizons is just a couple days away and I actually managed to somehow finish this track before it's release! I honestly didn't think I'd ever finish this thing haha! I've been hard at work with various iterations of this track for months and it's insane how many versions of this thing I've tossed out. K.K. Cruisin' is hands down one of the best tunes in all of VGM and I really wanted to do it justice.
At first I was working on a more standard rendition of the tune but I just didn't like the direction it was taking. After taking a long break from working on the piece, I remembered an alternate "aircheck" version of the tune that plays over the radio before K.K.Slider performs. This version has a completely different opening to the standard and iconic opening of the original. The aircheck version also sports this incredibly groovy hip-hop vibe and I was completely inspired by it. The only problem was that this version was missing the famous chorus section, which I absolutely had to find a way to incorporate.
I decided that if I was going to go this direction, I had to combine my favorite aspects of both versions, while also putting my own spin on it with solos and crunchy Wurlitzer sounds. After months of revisions, I ended up laying out the majority of this track in a couple of days by recording some improvisations and continually riffing of of those new ideas. This resulted in a brand new bassline, a lo-fi sort of section, adjustments to the main tune and some piano and synth solos. The ending in particular is a huge departure but damn was it fun to record. I had an absolute blast taking this track and trying to do something different with it and I learned and developed so many new useful skills while working on this video. I worked like a dog (lol) on this thing, so I really do hope you all enjoy it. :)
Let me know what you think!
#Animalcrossing #Kkslider #Newhorizons
Credits:
Performance, Mixing, Mastering and Video Editing: Daniel Capo Camera operator and video editing supervisor: Katie Harrell Bass guitar performance and recording: Nicholas Bonstin
Huge thank you to my Wife, Katie, for the incredible support and help with this video. I could not have done it without her. Just like in the Animal Crossing 7am video, Katie helped operate all the handheld camera work and it really added so much life to this video. She is just a wonderful musician and has provided advice and help in every step of the process. I hope I get to have her play some flute for us again in the near future too. ;)
Lastly, thank you so much to Nicholas Bonstin for performing on bass and lending his time and talents. Nick is an incredible guitarist and all around musician. Check out his work here!
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 16 Studio One 4 Spectrasonics Keyscape Garritan CFX Concert Grand Arturia Pigments Addictive Drums 2 RC-20 Retro Color by XNL Audio _________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMMother 3 ~ Shower Time Ballad (E-Piano Cover)DcapoVGM2020-02-08 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
Hey all! I'm finally back again with a new video! I've been hard at work on some big and exciting new projects. Both those projects are taking a bit longer to complete, so I wanted to share some smaller videos with you all in the meantime.
Over the holiday break, I finally got a chance to listen to the OST from Mother 3, which is a game that I unfortunately not been able to play yet. Earthbound is one of my favorite games of all time and I have heard so much about Mother 3 at this point, that I probably should have played it already. I think I was just holding out for an official release. :/
I may just have to go ahead and play it this year, because the soundtrack is absolutely beautiful and this particular track really spoke to me. The melody for "Shower Time Ballad" is so simple and memorable and the tasteful use of white noise that washes over it the original is a perfect touch.
For my rendition, I really wanted to slow the piece down a bit and really go for that calming and thoughtful atmosphere. I did some fun signal processing to get that light white noise wash and some light tape warbling for fun. I think I'm happy with how the track ended up sounding. I really hope you all enjoy it too!
If you enjoyed this little selection from Mother 3, maybe I'll do more from the soundtrack or possibly even something from Earthbound. Let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions!
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 16 Studio One 4 Spectrasonics Keyscape RC-20 Retro Color by XNL Audio _________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMLate Reflections ~ Live Original groove (Keyscape and Arturia Drumbrute Impact)DcapoVGM2019-12-07 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
Hey all, I'm working on some bigger VGM videos that I'm not sure I'll finish in time before my vacation, but I also wanted to share something original I've been working on this week. During a late night this week, I recorded this little improv with my Arturia Drumbrute Impact and one of my Wurlitzer patches. I wrote up this very fun little chord progression and felt like it would be fun to expand on and make something very smooth and groovy with it. After programming a very simple beat into the drum machine, I recorded a couple of little takes and that is basically what you see here.
This was a blast to improvise and I honestly really like how it turned out. Learning this drum machine has really opened up a lot of different stylistic avenues that I wouldn't have been able to do beforehand. The drum pattern I used here is super basic but just being able to live program a simple beat and improvise on another instrument has inspired me to try something different. It's always fun for me to play in this style and I definitely want to experiment more with it next year. I'm also planning on releasing more original music next year on this channel, in addition to the VGM arrangements. I'm hoping to possibly alternate arrangements and original releases next year, so I hope you all will look forward to that.
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMAnimal Crossing ~ The Roost (Relaxing Classical Piano Arrangement)DcapoVGM2019-11-22 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
Hello everyone! It's been a while since my last video, but I wanted to upload something nice and relaxing before the holidays. This weeks video is a sweet little rendition of "The Roost" from the Animal Crossing series. "The Roost" is a lovely tune that originally appeared in Animal Crossing: Wild World, providing a relaxing musical backdrop to the town cafe.
I've always loved this tune and I've been toying with the idea of arranging this piece for a long while. I had a lot of fun adding my own little touches to the piece. I found the more that I played the piece, the more I wanted to take a more "classical" approach. I ended up taking a much softer and gentle touch with the performance and slowed down the tempo to try and lend it an even more gentle feel than the original. The original tune is also relatively short, so I felt inspired to add a short middle section to develop things a bit further and make the piece feel more complete in this context. Hope you all like what I've tried to do here.Let me know in the comments! :)
I'll have one more video to showcase before the end of the year! Thank you all for all your lovely comments and support this year. It has meant the world to me!
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ~ Song of Time (Solo Piano Arrangement)DcapoVGM2019-10-10 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
#OOT #SongOfTime #Zelda #Piano
Hey all!
I'm really excited to share this video with you I've had this arrangement recorded for a long while, but I ended up mostly putting this video together within the last two days.I had the great pleasure of arranging this piece for a video made by the wonderful Sculpted Nostalgia, which is an amazing YouTube channel that is all about crafting memorable gaming icons out of polymer clay. I've been a big fan for a long time now and I'm so happy we finally have gotten to work together on a video. This particular piece of music was written for his newest video, which is all about sculpting the master sword. You can check out his channel here! youtube.com/watch?v=dEYWHMb6eBo
More about this arrangement:
It took me a long time to figure out how I wanted to approach this tune. It's such a classic melody now and it's honestly just so short and succinct that I didn't know how to make something different or engaging enough. I ended up extending the piece by starting the arrangement with slightly less thematically recognizable material and gradually getting closer to the original theme. I think I was trying to mimic the sculpting of the master sword in Sculpted nostalgia's video. I hope you all enjoy my approach for this one. I don't think it would have been that interesting if I had just played the piece as it was originally written.
I also had a great time shooting video at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. I had a relatively short time to make this video and ended up heading to the cathedral after work on a whim. It really is such a beautiful place and the employees there were so kind to me and allowed me to film inside. If you are ever in the San Francisco area, I highly recommend stopping by. :)
Anywho, I really hope you all enjoyed this new video. Hopefully more to come in the very near future! Thank you all again for all your lovely comments and support. It really means
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMA Restless Search: An Improvisatory Sneak Peek (Original)DcapoVGM2019-09-16 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
Hey all! I'm currently hard at work on a couple of bigger projects, but I figured I would share a snippet of something original that I am working on.
I started writing this piece for a little game demo scenario I'm building in Unity. I'm not sure if I'll ever share it but I'm having fun getting back into video game design after a long break and thought it would be fun to share a snippet of what I've been working on for the music.
For this particularly demo, I decided to focus on a short loop from the entire piece and perform something improvised for the solo. I recorded a video just for fun on this one, and I happened to like it enough that I thought it would be fun to upload. The solo ended up sounding a lot like an electric guitar, but the original instrument is just a electronic piano sound run through various distortion and guitar effects processing. I think it sounds pretty fun and I'm thinking about incorporating it into the final piece.
Once I'm finished with the full track, I'll make sure to share it with you all. Let me know what you think! :)
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ~ Title Theme (Improvised Solo Piano Arrangement)DcapoVGM2019-08-13 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
#OOT #OcarinaOfTime #Zelda #Piano
Hey all! It's been just over a month since my last video and a lot has changed! Since then, I've taken some videography courses online and acquired a new video camera. This video is the first to feature footage shot on my new Panasonic Lumix G7 and I have to say I'm really loving this camera. All the footage from this video was taken using the new camera, including the outdoor nature scenes. I honestly cannot wait to keep shooting more footage and learning the ins and outs of this camera. Huge thanks to my in-laws and my wife for helping me purchase this camera for my birthday! It means a lot to me.
For this weeks video, I wanted to work on some Zelda music, as it's been almost half a year since I've featured any music from the series on my channel. I've had lots of requests to perform the title music from Ocarina of Time and I thought it was a bout time to record a rendition of that lovely tune. This video was put together in just a day and half and it was a fun challenge to arrange and shoot a video in such a short time frame. The arrangement itself is improvised and incorporates some elements of the classic Zelda series main theme. It was both a blessing and curse that I gave myself such a strict time frame to create this video, and I would have done a couple of slight things differently in terms of the piano camera angle and lighting, but it will only get better from here on out I think.
I'll have some more videos in the coming weeks and some fun collaborative projects coming up! For now, I hope you guys enjoy this video!
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMAnimal Crossing ~ 7AM (Cover)DcapoVGM2019-07-02 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
Hey everyone! This weeks video is something special. As many of you already know, I absolutely love the Animal Crossing series and I've covered a few pieces of AC music in the past. I have a particular fondness for the soundtrack of the original Animal Crossing game for Gamecube. It's eclectic mix of punchy drum beats and silly instrumentals are wholly unique and charming. The music for 7AM perfectly encapsulates what is so special about the games unique character and I've been desperate to arrange the piece for my channel. This video cover is something I've been working on for several weeks and I actually started an early version of this arrangement almost a year ago. I'm so excited to be able to share this with you all!
This video could not have been possible without the help from some incredible people. I was lucky enough to have some close friends and my wife help me make this project come to fruition.
Huge thanks to @Leah Von Photos for the amazing outdoor photography. Such an incredible photographer and wonderful person. I've had the pleasure of working with Leah for a few projects now and it's always a wonderful experience.
Another thanks to Nicholas Bonstin for performing the bass guitar and for additional outdoor photography. That last panning shot from the melodica to the sunlit tree canopy really added to the ambiance of the video. Nick is an incredible guitarist and all around musician.
Finally, a huge thank you to my wife, Katie, for all the indoor instrumental camerawork. It was impossible to get the right energy and motion with my traditional static shots, so having someone like Katie record some handheld camerawork really made the video what it is. Katie is one of the most incredible musicians I know and a person of many talents. She has joined us in the past to perform flute on a couple of arrangements and It was wonderful to get to work with her again. Thank you so much, Sweetie!
♫ "7AM" from Animal Crossing Composed by Kazumi Totaka, Kenta Nagata, Toru Minegishi and Shinobu Tanaka _________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Alesis V49 Midi Keyboard Roland RD-100 Yamaha Melodica Micro Korg S Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Canon T5i DSLR Camera One very cute clock. A whole bunch of AC Amiibo
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 16 Reaper DAW Spectrasonics Keyscape Super Audio Cart Revolution Drum Machine Kontakt 5 _________________________________________________________________
Hey everyone! I'm so excited to share with you my contribution to "Beyond the Mist" from Pixel Mixers. "Beyond the Mist" is an incredible 120 track Final Fantasy IX tribute album full of amazing musicians and performances and I'm so incredibly proud to be even a small part of this amazing project.
Final Fantasy IX is such a remarkable game and one that I have so many fond memories of playing during my childhood. Final Fantasy VII may have been my introduction to the series but FF IX was such a completely different experience and the music in particular made an significant impression on me.
Nobuo Uematsu's score is incredible and chock full of some of the most memorable tunes in the series. There are just so many memorable and well written tunes in this OST and "Find the Princess" always really jumped out at me as one of the best written. The original tune is performed mostly on Harpsichord and I had a great time transcribing and arranging this piece for piano. I added and adjusted some material to make the piece a little more personal and I really hope you guys enjoy the changes.
It was an absolute pleasure working with Pixel Mixers and I am just so proud to be involved in this massive project. Please support all these incredible musicians by downloading the album for free at the link above!
SoundCloud • • •soundcloud.com/dcapovgmSuper Mario Galaxy ~ Rosalinas Storybook Luma Theme (Cozy E-Piano Arrangement)DcapoVGM2019-05-18 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
Hey everyone! This week I'm here to share with you my submission for the #SoundoleChillOut2019 competition. I'm really excited to hear all the wonderful work people are going to create this year. I had such an incredible time working on my submission for last year and had to pleasure of meeting and discovering tons of incredible artists through the competition.
For my submission, I decided to arrange a piece from Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii. The piece is usually referred to as the "Luma Theme" or Rosalina's Storybook and occurs at the very start of the game. Ever since I played Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii, I've absolutely adored the gorgeous "Disneyesque" melodies throughout the soundtrack, and this piece was always a huge standout to me. I just loved the sweet and intimate feeling the original conveyed and I wanted to try and capture that in my rendition, while also attempting to add a bit of my own style in to the mix. The most significant addition I made in this arrangement is in the middle section, which expands the main melody out into some very different harmonic material. It was a joy trying to blend the original piece with something slightly different. I was originally working on this as a much larger scale project, but I eventually decided something simple and more atmospheric would be much more in line with the "chilled out" nature of the competition.
The video portion of the piece is fairly straightforward and simple but I actually got to experiment with some new tools throughout the production of this video. Katie and I made the investment in "Keyscape", which is this incredible suite of vintage electronic keyboards. This particular patch is a highly detailed recreation of the Vintage Vibe Electric Piano, which has such an interesting tonal character. I experimented with several different instruments before settling on the unique sound of the Vintage Vibe.
I also had a blast experimenting with some lighting effects in this video. I set some RGB leds up during the shoot and it resulted in some really interesting atmospheric effects on camera. This lighting setup is something I will continue to experiment with in videos to come, but will most likely not use it unless it fits the tone of the video.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this one! I would love to do some more Mario Galaxy music in the future. Let me know if you have any suggestions!
♫ ""Rosalina's Storybook" or "Luma" from Super Mario Galaxy Composed by Mahito Yokota and Koji Kondo _________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Shure SM7B Rode NT1A Canon T5i DSLR Camera
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMKeyscape Showcase ~ Wurlitzer 140B Live DemoDcapoVGM2019-05-16 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
Hey everyone! There will be a new VGM cover coming this weekend, but for now I wanna share something different with you all. Katie and I recently made the investment into "Keyscape", which is this incredibly high quality suite of vintage keyboards and we've been having a blast trying them all out. Here is a quick demonstration of the Wurlitzer 140B, which is probably one of the best sounding instruments in the suite. I went with a setting that was a bit more raw and gritty sounding then the rest, and I think it fit the piece nicely.
The piece I'm performing is a mostly loose improv on an old original tune I've been kicking around for some time now. I think the gritty sound of the Wurlitzer 140B really adds something new to the tone. At some point I'd love to get some drums, guitar and bass on this. :)
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this. I know this kind of video is a bit different then what I usually share on the channel, but I had a blast recording this and may eventually do some more periodically if enough people like it. Let me know what you think.
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMChrono Cross ~ Departed Souls Leaving the Body (Solo Piano Arrangement)DcapoVGM2019-04-30 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
Hey everyone! Apologies for the long month long wait between videos. It's been a time of hectic work schedules and serious adjustment but I have several videos line up that I should be able to release on a more regular basis.
This week I want to share with you a solo piano arrangement of "Departed Souls" from Chrono Cross. It's been over a year since I've featured an arrangement from Chrono Cross and this piece is one of my favorite in the OST.
The original tune is so wonderful and I thought it fit my style fairly well. I ended up re-harmonizing parts of the piece and making adjustments to the accompaniment in order to make the piece more powerful as a solo piano piece. I also made some adjustments to the ornamentation of the piece as well. I really hope you all like how it turned out! Cheers! _________________________________________________________________
♫ "Departed Souls ~ Leaving the Body" from Chrono Cross
Composed by Yasunori Mitsuda _________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Shure SM7B Rode NT1A Canon T5i DSLR Camera
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 16 Reaper DAW Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Kontakt 5 __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMSuper Mario World 2: Yoshis Island - Opening Theme Music Box (E-Piano Cover)DcapoVGM2019-03-26 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
More about the piece:
Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well. Today, I'm excited to share an arrangement from one of my favorite childhood gaming experiences. Yoshi's Island will always have a special place in my memory. The colorful storybook visuals and adorably catchy music the game showcases is something truly special. Every time I play it, I'm transported back to another time.
A large part of the games charm is the incredible music, which is some of Koji Kondo's best work. Recently, I was delighted to see that piece "Flower Garden" was getting so much attention from the internet community and I wanted to put a tiny spotlight on the opening title music, which I think is one of the best little opening themes in video game history.
This piece was a blast to perform and record. There is nothing flashy about this tune, but I love simulating that music box sound through performance. I ended up going with a slower, more deliberate tempo and a slightly clunkier feel than usual, which resulting in something that sounds a bit more like a music box recording. I used Soniccouture's wonderful "Canterbury Suitcase EP" VST to get a very plucky semi-music box sound. Overall, I'm fairly pleased with how this turned out, especially since had about 4 hours to turn this around and upload it.
Lastly, I want to dedicate this video to my young niece and nephews. We've used this piece and numerous other tracks from Yoshi's Island during our playtime that I can no longer separate those new memories from my original experiences with the game. Love and miss you all!
♫ "Opening Theme - Music Box" Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
Composed by Koji Kondo __________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Shure SM7B Rode NT1A Canon T5i DSLR Camera
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 15 Reaper DAW Canterbury Suitcase EP VST from Soniccouture Kontakt 5 __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMThe Legend of Zelda ~ Zeldas Lullaby (Solo Piano Arrangement)DcapoVGM2019-02-27 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
More about the piece:
Hey everyone! As you all know by now, I love the legend of Zelda series, and the music has always resonated with me more than any other Nintendo series. There is just something special about the melodies that Koji Kondo has composed that makes the music so memorable and inspiring to me. I've arranged a plenty of Zelda music in the past, but I've been really waiting to do something special with this piece because it means so much to me. Since I first heard this theme played in "A Link to the Past, the melody has stuck with me and it's use in "Ocarina of Time" only solidified its stance as a mainstay for the series.
For my rendition, I wanted to really place emphasis on the piece feeling like a true lullaby. I've seen a lot of wonderful performances interpreting this piece as a sweeping virtuosity piano piece, but I wanted to keep the piece as intimate as possible for my arrangement. It was great fun to experiment a bit with the harmonic progression, as well as writing some small tweaks to give the piece some forward momentum, as well as some changes to the melody on the second pass to keep things interesting. It's certainly a different take on the piece and I hope you guys enjoy what I've done here. It's been a long time coming, but I'm really happy with it thus far. Let me know what you think in the comments.
♫ "Zelda's Lullaby" from The Legend of Zelda Series
Originally from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Composed by Koji Kondo __________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Shure SM7B Rode NT1A Canon T5i DSLR Camera
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 15 Reaper DAW Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Kontakt 5 __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMKingdom Hearts: Dear Kairi ~ Another Side, Another Story (Piano Arrangement) + Sheet MusicDcapoVGM2019-01-31 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
I'm very happy to announce that my incredibly talented friend, Nathan Stang has transcribed the whole piece for your viewing pleasure. You can download it at the link below. Nathan is also an incredible musician and composer and you can visit his artist page at http://www.nathanstangmusic.com
Hey guys! I hope everyone has had a great first month of the year! I apologize for the late start on videos this month. I wanted to get some new content to you guys much earlier, but I've been making lots of exciting changes to my workflow, which has taken a bit more time than expected. This week I finally arrived at a point where I could begin working on new content and I am so excited to be sharing with you my first video of 2019.
With Kingdom Hearts III finally releasing this week, I thought it was finally time to share an arrangement I've been working on for some time now. It's been such a long time since I've revisited the music from this series and even longer since I've played the games. The original Kingdom Hearts has such a special place in my memory, but for whatever reason I just haven't played any of the games since the 2nd game came out in 2006. Once I began listening to Yoko Shimomura's breathtaking soundtrack to prep for this arrangement, all the wonderfully warm memories suddenly came flooding back.
The soundtrack as a whole is absolutely stunning, but I wanted to center my arrangement around 3 of my favorite pieces from the OST. I knew right from the beginning that I wanted to center the arrangement around an altered version of Kairi's theme. Her theme is one of my favorite melodies from the OST and the beautifully tragic tone of the piece really captures the essence of story. The original piece is written in 4/4, which is very lovely, but in my head I've always heard this piece in 3/4. Once I made that small meter change, the whole feel of the piece transformed into something more akin to the style of composer, Erik Satie.
For the intro and the transitional middle section, I adapted the introductory passages of the piece "Another Side, Another Story" which originally plays during the secret cutscene at the end of the game. The opening piano section of that piece works so well as an introduction to Kairi's theme and as transitional material to the last piece.
When people think of Kingdom Hearts music, they usually can't help but think of the beautiful looping piano track "Dearly Beloved". It's such an iconic piece and it was a lot of fun working it into the end of my arrangement. The climax of the piece is a mix of the "Dearly Beloved" theme, mixed with a fragment of Kairi's theme. I'm really happy with the way that gradual reveal in the climax turned out and I really hope you guys enjoy it.
♫ Based on these pieces from the Kingdom Hearts series.
"Another Side, Another Story"
"Kairi I"
"Dearly Beloved"
Composed by Yoko Shimomura _________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Rode NT1A Canon T5i DSLR Camera
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 15 Reaper DAW Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Kontakt 5 _________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMChrono Trigger: Wind Scene ~ Yearnings of the Wind (Cozy E-Piano Cover)DcapoVGM2018-12-14 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
More about the piece:
Welcome to the last video of the year!
I honestly wasn’t planning to release another video this year. I was absolutely convinced that the previous Animal Crossing video was the last video of the year. I just didn’t think I would have time because of how insanely busy my work schedule leading up to this holiday vacation has been. Last night, I ended up recording a quick semi-improvisitory version of “Wind Scene” or “Yearnings of the Wind” from Chrono Trigger. I’ve been wanting to adapt this piece for a long time, but I wasn’t sure how best to approach it.
This piece is one of the most iconic and memorable pieces from video game history and many musicians have made absolutely stunning arrangements of this piece. I decided I would perform an unpracticed/imperfect and stripped down version of the piece that will hopefully feel a little warmer and more intimate. My hope is that some of you are watching this enveloped in a warm blanket with some hot tea at home. :)
It’s been a wonderfully productive and educational year for me and I can’t thank all of you enough for watching and being an incredible community. Your lovely comments and words of support have helped me get through a particularly difficult year. My deepest and most sincere thanks to all of you Thanks again for watching and Happy Holidays!
Another huge thanks to another incredibly talented friend, Leah VonEhrenkrook for shooting the absolutely beautiful footage seen in the ending credit title card and for providing the beautiful sunset photo I used in the thumbnail.. Leah is an insanely talented photographer and clothing designer, and you should check definitely check out her other incredible work!
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMAnimal Crossing: Wild World ~ 8PM (Cover) Feat. IfnotDcapoVGM2018-11-21 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM _________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
Welcome back! I’m so excited to share this one with all of you. For this weeks video, I had the pleasure of working on a collaborative project with the amazing, Ifnot. If you are not aware of his channel, I highly suggest that you subscribe right away. He has a host of absolutely gorgeous guitar-centric VGM arrangements on his channel and his playing is so beautiful and expressive. It's easily one of my favorite VGM channels out there! Check it out here!
We chose to cover two great Animal Crossing pieces for each others channels. We worked on a great cover of 5PM from New Leaf for his channel, which is a sweet little Bossa track, and I’m so blown away with how well it turned out.
For my channel, we chose the track 8PM from Animal Crossing: Wild World, which I think is a nice change of pace for my channel. It’s a warm and cozy piece of music and I thought it was pretty perfect for this time of year. It was a blast working with Ifnot and I had fun breaking out the drum machine and jamming out to this simple little tune. Hope you guys enjoy it!
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMDELTARUNE- Legend (Solo Piano Cover)DcapoVGM2018-11-02 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM __________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
Hey everyone!
I wasn't planning on releasing a video this week, as I am still sorting some things out with my new workflow, but Toby Fox dropped DELTARUNE on us all, and that changed my plans a bit. I'm still working my way through the game but I heard this piece and had to cover it as soon as I could. I'm very glad to be finishing this cover so quickly, just so I can go back and continue playing the actual game. :)
Undertale meant a great deal to me when I first played it over a year ago and the idea of a successor is just incredibly exciting. The music of Undertale is easily one of my favorite aspects of the game and I can already tell this game will be no different. I don't want to give any spoilers away, but this piece is easily one of the early standouts from the OST. The original piece has this building snare rhythm that has such a great energy to it, but naturally I had to make some adjustments to make it work as a solo piano piece. I tried to keep the spirit of the original piece, while also making it work better for the instrument. As a side-note, I don't have any sheet music at the moment for this one, as I learned it completely by ear, but I may work on some sheets in the future. Anyway, I hope you guys like the arrangement. I
Thanks again for watching! __________________________________________________
♫ "Legend" from Delta Rune Composed by Toby Fox _________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Canon T5i DSLR Camera
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 15 Reaper DAW Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Kontakt 5 __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMThe Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask - Song of Healing (Solo Piano Cover)DcapoVGM2018-10-10 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
More about the piece:
Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've featured some music from The Legend of Zelda series, and I wanted to come back strong with one of my favorites pieces of music from the entire series.
There is a reason why the Song of Healing from Majora's Mask is much performed and beloved. Koji Kondo is a master of melody and this tune, in particular is so catchy, yet somehow so bittersweet and emotional. It's such a special tune and I wanted to do something different with my arrangement. I first version of my arrangement was far more virtuosic and flashy, but I felt that it was missing what made the original so beautiful and intimate. I instead decided to keep this arrangement fairly loose and record some raw improvisations at the start.
After I got some ideas that I thought were interesting, I paired everything down to the best couple of ideas and focused my arrangement on those. I ended up getting a solid little structure going, but every take had lots of little details that changed every time I performed it. The resulting video is what I thought was the most natural and cohesive version of my semi-improvisatory take on this tune. I really hope you guys like this one. :) Thanks again for watching!
♫ "Song of Healing" from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Composed by Koji Kondo __________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Shure SM7B Rode NT1A Canon T5i DSLR Camera
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 15 Reaper DAW Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Kontakt 5 __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMRumble ~ Piano and Drums (Original) Live excerptDcapoVGM2018-09-27 | If you enjoyed this week's video, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
More about the piece:
Hello all! I'm still working hard on a new VGM cover for you guys, and I think it's going to be one of my best yet. In the meantime, I thought we would take another shot at something new and original. Last time, I shared a piece with you all that I wrote for a short commercial spot.
This time, I wanted to share a recording I made of a fun improvisation session. In this video, I'm improvising on a piece I initially wrote as a left-hand technique exercise. I thought it might be fun to write a quick drum track and elaborate on the idea on video. This video is just a snippet of the full piece and at some point in the future, I'd love to flesh this out into a completed piece with a full band.
It's been great practice to record myself on a more regular basis and I think it's been a wonderful process for getting past my writer's block. This is one of many recordings I've been making in the past few weeks and at some point, I may share some more if you guys enjoy them. This will be my last original video until after I release a few more covers. Hope you guys enjoy it!
Composed by Daniel Capo __________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Arturia BeatStep Pro Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Shure SM7B Rode NT1A
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 5 Reaper DAW Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Kontakt 5 __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMAfterglow (Original) - Promo VersionDcapoVGM2018-09-22 | If you enjoyed this week's video, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
More about the piece:
This week I wanted to share something a bit different with you all. I’m currently prepping a couple of new VGM covers for the coming weeks, but they are a little more involved than usual and will take a bit more time.
In the meantime, I thought I would share this little tune I composed for a good friends promo video last week. It's musically very different than anything I've posted on this channel before, but reasonably pleased with how it ended up turning out. At some point, I may write a longer version of this, but the promo spots are generally fairly short and I wrote this to sync up to the video.
The writing process for this piece was fairly quick and dirty. The first step was programming the drum part on my Beatstep Pro. I used that to get a good feel for the feel of the piece. After that I wrote out this very simple and bouncy bass part. I wanted the bass to really accent the drum part and give it a bit more snap. After that I recorded a couple of E-Piano and Piano improvisations and then kept the 2 takes I was most happy with. Once the melody parts were recorded, I went back in and tweaked the mix and added some analog synth pads and finished up within a couple hours.
I’ve had some serious writers block recently, so this quick and dirty compositional process was so refreshing and productive. Hope you guys like how this turned out. __________________________________________________________________
♫ "Afterglow"
Composed by Daniel Capo __________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Arturia BeatStep Pro Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Shure SM7B Rode NT1A
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 5 Reaper DAW Soniccouture Broken Wurli VST Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Kontakt 5 Max MSP __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMMinecraft ~ Sweden (Solo Piano Cover)DcapoVGM2018-09-07 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM __________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
Hey everyone!
This week I wanted to perform a rendition of "Sweden" from Minecraft, which is one of my favorite games of all time. Minecraft and its soundtrack hit me like a ton of bricks when I first played the game years ago and that sense of exploration and pure creativity the game provided has never really been matched since. I have so many fond memories of playing this game on my own and with good friends that were miles away. I still play Minecraft with my Wife on a regular basis and it's one of the few constant gaming experiences that we continue to share. The original soundtrack composed by Daniel Rsenfel (C418) is an absolute masterpiece and This piece, in particular, was always so striking to me. There was always something so beautiful and melancholic about the music in this game and I think Sweden perfectly encapsulates that feeling.
Minecraft is such a meditative experience for me, so I decided to keep the video portion mostly focused on the performance, with some light time-lapse footage that I recorded in-game to give the video a sense of space. I really hope you guys enjoy this one. I will definitely be doing more Minecraft videos in the future.
Composed by C418 (Daniel Rosenfel) __________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Shure SM7B Rode NT1A Canon T5i DSLR Camera
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 15 Reaper DAW Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Kontakt 5 __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMThe Studious Prince: Solo Piano (Original)DcapoVGM2018-09-02 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM __________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
Hey everyone! I've been away for several weeks, but I'm finally back to work and ready to release new videos more regularly. I'll have a new VGM cover this coming week, but this week I've decided to revisit an older composition of mine that many of you might not have heard before. This piece was actually the first performance I ever uploaded on this channel, just slightly over a year ago. This year has been an incredible learning experience and I feel like I've made a lot of progress in terms of my performance ability and production skill. I decided to develop the piece a bit further and bring the audio and video production up to my current standards. For comparison, I've here is the unlisted link to my original video.
The piece itself was written for a fantasy video game idea I was toying with creating in Unity. Maybe one day I'll have time to develop the game further and write more music for it.
On another note, the video used for the ending card and the thumbnail was shot on my dining room table. I used two of these old wood chess boards, some older music books, and a rustic looking bulb to create an intimate lighting set on my table. I then applied a bit of light SFX design to sell the setting. It was really great fun, and something I'd like to do again in the future. Let me know what you guys think of it.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this video. Feel free to leave a comment or share if you feel so inclined.
Composed and Performed by Daniel Capo Copyright 2017 __________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Shure SM7B Rode NT1A Canon T5i DSLR Camera
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 15 Reaper DAW Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Kontakt 5 __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMAnimal Crossing: New Leaf ~ 7PM (Cover)DcapoVGM2018-07-21 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM
* Somehow my original video was deleted from Youtube without my permission and unfortunately Youtube will not restore all of your original lovely comments. :( I've gone ahead and re-uploaded. __________________________________________________________________ Many thanks to my incredibly talented friend, Leah VonEhrenkrook for providing some of the absolutely stunning footage on display in this video. Leah is an insanely talented photographer and clothing designer, and you should check definitely check out her other incredible work!
instagram.com/ragavon __________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
Hey everyone! It's been a while! I'm back this week with a little something from one of my favorite video games of all time, Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I've been wanting to arrange something from the Animal Crossing series for a long time and I think this piece was the perfect fit for the aesthetic I've crafted for the channel. 7PM from New Leaf encapsulates many of the qualities that I love about the Animal Crossing soundtracks. That sweet and simple patchwork writing is something so unique and charming about the series and this piece also has a bit of melancholy to it as well.
This video was a surprising amount of work for me. I wanted to push myself in terms of the video editing and I hope you guys enjoy the style of editing that I'm pursuing with this video. It's more of a continuation of the video style I tried out for the Soundole competition and overall is a more visually striking look. I also ended up purchasing a set of Clave and a new Yamaha Melodica for this video, which were both really fun to play with and record.
Hope you guys enjoyed this video. Feel free to leave a comment or share if you feel so inclined.
Composed by Manaka Katoaka, Atsuko Asashi and Kazumi Totaka Arrangement and Performance: Daniel Capo __________________________________________________________________
EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 Roland VA-7 Yamaha Pianica P375 (Melodica) Clave iMac Mid-2010 Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 Shure SM7B Rode NT1A
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 5 Reaper DAW Soniccouture Broken Wurli VST Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Kontakt 5 __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMUntitled RPG Battle Theme ~ Original (Work in Progress)DcapoVGM2018-06-10 | If you enjoyed this week's video, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/DcapoVGM __________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
I thought I would change things up a bit and do something original and slightly more technically demanding. This is an original JRPG Battle Theme that I've been toying with for a while now. It's more of an accompaniment part, and I have lots more I want to add. I plan on adding more and more to this and posting different/expanding versions in the future. I had a very badly performed and underdeveloped version that I posted almost a year ago, but my technique has recovered a lot since then. I'll most likely be posting originals a little more frequently if you guys enjoy this kind of stuff.
Hope you guys enjoyed this video. Feel free to leave a comment or share if you feel so inclined.
Thanks again for watching!
Cheers! __________________________________________________________________ Composed and performed by Daniel Capo __________________________________________________________________ EQUIPMENT:
Roland RD-100 IMac Mid-2010 Focusrite Scarlett 6i6
SOFTWARE: DaVinci Resolve 5 Reaper DAW Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Kontakt 5 __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMFinal Fantasy VIII ~ Fishermans Horizon (Cover)DcapoVGM2018-05-30 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM Sheet music below! __________________________________________________________________ Many thanks to my incredibly talented friend, Leah VonEhrenkrook for providing much of the absolutely stunning footage on display in this video. Leah is an insanely talented photographer and clothing designer, and you should check definitely check out her other incredible work!
instagram.com/leahvonphotos __________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
Hey everybody! Thanks again for tuning in again! This weeks video is a big one. I've been wanting to cover "Fisherman's Horizon" from Final Fantasy VIII ever since I started this channel, and Soundole's chillout competition was the perfect opportunity to do just that.
While Final Fantasy 6,7 and 9 are my all time favorites, I have a huge soft spot for Final Fantasy 8 and I think the musical score is one of the best in the series. The soundtrack has such a wide range of musical styles and has some of the most memorable melodies in the FF legacy.
This video marks a fairly big departure for the channel. My playing takes a backseat in this arrangement. My wife Katie takes front and center with her flute performance in this and I can't thank her enough for taking the time to record this part. It's always wonderful to perform with her and I couldn't have done this without her. I also ended up playing Melodica in this video, which was a great learning experience. If people enjoy this performance, I will definitely do more like it in the future.
This is also my first video edited in DaVinci Resolve. It's a fantastic piece of software and I've learned so much editing this video with Resolve. I ended up utilizing a lot of nature footage in this video and the color correction tools in Resolve made the whole editing experience so smooth. I'll be using Resolve for all my videos going forward.
Hope you guys enjoyed this video. Feel free to leave a comment or share if you feel so inclined.
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMPersona 5: Beneath the Mask - E-Piano & Drums (Live Instrumental Cover)DcapoVGM2018-05-18 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. http://ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM __________________________________________________________________ More about the piece: Hey everyone! Apologies for the extended time between videos. I've been busy with life and work and have not been able to work on content as often, but I want to share this little impromptu rendition of "Beneath the Mask" from the incredible Persona 5. I was recently introduced to Persona 5 by a good friend of mine who was staying with me for a week. We ended up sinking 40 hours or so into the game while he was here and I was completely blown away. The music, in particular, was totally captivating. This week I purchased a hardware drum sequencer and decided to demo it with an quick and dirty performance of the piece. I'll most likely do a more fleshed out version in the future, but I thought this was a fun little video to hold you guys over until my submission to the Soundolechilltout2018 competition, which I'll be posting within the next week. If you guys enjoy this kind of quicker and dirtier content, let me know. This only took me about an hour to edit and upload, so maybe this might be a new thing I do in between full video. __________________________________________________________________ ♫ "Beneath the Mask" from "Persona 5"
Composed by Shoji Meguro
Arrangement and Performance: Daniel Capo __________________________________________________________________ EQUIPMENT:
Arturia Beatstep Pro 8DIO Advanced Drum Series Ragnarok VST Soniccouture Broken Wurli VST Reaper DAW Kontakt 5 IMac Saffire Pro 40 Audio Interface __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMFinal Fantasy VII ~ Flowers Blooming in the Church (Solo Piano Arrangement) + Sheet MusicDcapoVGM2018-04-21 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/dcapoVGM Sheet music below! __________________________________________________________________ Many thanks to my incredibly talented friend Nathan Stang for transcribing my performance into this beautifully crafted sheet music. If you've already downloaded the sheet music, you've seen just how meticulous and beautiful his work is. Nathan is also an incredible musician and composer and deserves your support. Check out his official website to see more! http://www.nathanstangmusic.com
Another huge thanks to another incredibly talented friend, Leah VonEhrenkrook for shooting the absolutely beautiful footage seen in the ending credit titlecard. Leah is an insanely talented photographer and clothing designer, and you should check definitely check out her other incredible work!
instagram.com/ragavon __________________________________________________________________ More about the piece: Final Fantasy VII was the most profound gaming experience of my childhood and it is still a huge influence of mine to this very day. I know this game gets more than enough praise these days and I acknoledge how very flawed this game is in the grand scheme of the Final Fantasy series, but I love it nonetheless.
This was my first Final Fantasy game and like many, this was my first experience with Japanese RPGs. I experienced this game at just the right time in my life and I was completely enamored with it's epic story, charming charaters and incredible music.
Before Final Fantasy VII, gaming was just something I did hidden away in my room. VII somehow managed to capture the interest and imagination of many in my family and suddenly I wasn't alone in my gaming world anymore. My brother, Uncle and Cousins all loved this game just as much as I did, and we talked endlessly about it for years afterwards. I really do miss these times.
Nobuo Uematsu's score had the biggest impact on me. I was so taken with the musical score for Final Fantasy VII, that I learned as much of the music as I could on the piano and played it at family gatherings and parties. This was the game that made me want to be a composer. In all honesty, its becuase of this game that this channel even exists.
"Flowers Blooming in the Church" was easily one of my favorites pieces in the OST. The original piece is very peaceful and unhuried take on Aerith's character theme. I actually much prefer this variation of the piece over the main Aerith theme. There is just something so hushed and tragic about this version.
With this new solo piano arrangement, I wanted to accurately transcribe the original piece to piano, while also bringing my own personal stylistic touches to it as well. I really put my heart and soul into this performance and I hope you all enjoy listening to this piece.
Cheers! __________________________________________________________________ ♫ "Flowers Blooming in the Church" from "Final Fantasy VII"
Composed by Nobuo Uematsu
Arrangement and Performance: Daniel Capo
Transcription: Nathan Stang
Ending Credit Footage: Leah Von EhrenKrook __________________________________________________________________ EQUIPMENT:
Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Roland RD-100 Reaper DAW Kontakt 5 IMac Saffire Pro 40 Audio Interface
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMUntitled (Meditation No. 1) for Solo PianoDcapoVGM2018-04-11 | If you enjoyed this week's video, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/DcapoVGM __________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
I've had this little piece kicking around for a while now but I haven't really known what to do with it. This week, we lost our favorite cat and I felt compelled to perform this piece for you all. This piece doesn't try to hide its influences and is very reminiscent of many classical pieces that came before it,, but I thought the tune was particularly poignant and I'm very happy with how this came out. I hope you guys enjoy this video.
R.I.P Maggie. __________________________________________________________________ Composed and performed by Daniel Capo __________________________________________________________________ EQUIPMENT:
Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Roland RD-100 Reaper DAW Kontakt 5 IMac Saffire Pro 40 Audio Interface __________________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMThe Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening ~ Mabe Village Medley (Solo Piano Arrangement)DcapoVGM2018-03-16 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/DcapoVGM More below! __________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
Welcome back! This week, I wanted to perform some music from of my favorite Zelda games ever made. Link's Awakening was a mindblowing experience when I first played it on my Gameboy as a child. This game and Pokemon Red & Blue will forever be some of my most memorable gaming experiences of my childhood.
Link's Awakening has such great catalog of incredibly catchy and memorable tunes, that I thought I would arrange and perform a few medleys. This first medley includes the theme to Mabe Village, Inside the Houses and Richard's Village. I picked these pieces for this first video in the series because they are all similar in theme and style and they adapted so well to being performed on piano.
In the future I want to arrange an extensive take on "Ballad of the Windfish", which I think would be a great piece to cover from this soundtrack. :) __________________________________________________________________ ♫ "Mabe Village" from "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening"
♫ "Inside the Houses" from "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening"
♫ "Richard's Villa" from "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening"
Composed by Minako Hamano, Kozue Ishikawa, Yuichi Ozaki and Kazumi Totaka
Arrangement and Performance: Daniel Capo __________________________________________________________________ EQUIPMENT:
Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Roland RD-100 Reaper DAW Kontakt 5 IMac Saffire Pro 40 Audio Interface _______________________________________________________________
Ko-Fi • • • ko-fi.com/dcapoVGMThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ~ Temple of Time (Solo Piano)DcapoVGM2018-03-04 | If you enjoyed this week's VGM cover, feel free to like, subscribe and leave a comment below! Also, if you would like to further support the channel with a small donation, feel free to buy me a coffee on my Ko-Fi Patron page. ko-fi.com/DcapoVGM __________________________________________________________________ More about the piece:
Hey everyone! Now that my album is officially completed and released, we are back to releasing new VGM covers and originals every other week. This time, I've done something a bit more simple and soothing to demo a new Piano VST that I am testing out. For a long time, I've been using Cinesamples "PIano in Blue", which is a lovely instrument with a lot of character. I was recently gifted a copy of the "Garritan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST and I've been extremely impressed with its clarity and unique tonal character. For a while now I've been getting requests to do the Breath of the Wild version of the "Song of Time", which is a very open and minimal arrangement of the original tune and I figured this would be the perfect piece to test out my new VST. Hope you guys enjoy! __________________________________________________________________ ♫ "Temple of Time" from "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild"
Composed by Manaka Kataoka & Yasuaki Iwata
Based on an original theme by Koji Kondo
Arrangement and Performance: Daniel Capo __________________________________________________________________ EQUIPMENT:
Garittan CFX Concert Grand Piano VST Roland RD-100 Reaper DAW Kontakt 5 IMac Saffire Pro 40 Audio Interface __________________________________________________________________