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Final Fantasy

Song: Aerith’s Theme – an impromptu piano solo

July 17, 2008

AerisPianoByTannerHelland.mp3 (5.8mb) | AerisPianoByTannerHelland.ogg (4.2mb)
AerisPianoByTannerHelland.mid (8kb)

Okay – I’ve finally had it. I have listened to so many mediocre arrangements of this song that it’s finally time to write a good one.

For those who don’t know (shame on you), Aerith’s Theme comes from quite possibly the greatest game of all time: Final Fantasy VII. The theme is beautiful, and many artists have attempted to arrange it in a variety of styles. Most are terrible; a rare few turn out very nice. I hope that this intermediate-level arrangement fits the latter description… ;)

I hesitated to post this song since it is, as described, an impromptu performance. I haven’t edited the recorded MIDI at all. What you hear is straight how it came outta my fingers, sloppy runs and all. But I feel like it’s important to post a good, original, live arrangement of this piece on the internet since most the amateur versions out there sound like they came out of a Lv3 Alfred Book. Argh. This is certainly a more varied, lively performance than the ones I’ve heard so far. (And no, I haven’t heard the Piano Collections arrangement of this, unfortunately. I imagine it’s quite good!)

It is also worth mentioning that this was arranged by ear, without any source notation. The mp3 and ogg files are soundfont-generated and NOT from an actual piano. I apologize for that, but alas – no recording studio + Yamaha Disklavier yet! Someday!! :D

Comments/requests for additional FF arrangements are welcome.

(last updated 9 March 2010)