Album Release: A Silent Voice - Piano Reflections

UPDATE: I've now added two more bonus tracks! Enjoy :)

Today I've finally finished "A Silent Voice - Piano Reflections", a tribute album to my favorite anime movie, originally known as Koe no Katachi. The music of this movie is quite different than what you'd find in Studio Ghibli or Makoto Shinkai movies. I feel it is more based on rhythm than melody, and there is a distinct connection between the themes of the movie and the music in my opinion. It is an intimate score, with both depressive and uplifting sections. The movie tackles topics such as suicide, bullying, and coming to terms with your own past actions and yourself as a person. It does a masterful job of handling the source material, and it does not waver to follow tropes, or to show anything that doesn't contribute to the story. Needless to say, I love this movie very much! For this album I've selected my personal favorites, and made them into piano arrangements.

Tracklist:

01: Lvs
02. Green
03. Round
04. Svg
05. Sunlight
06. Lit

Bonus Tracks:
01. Slt
02. The Speed of Youth

Lvs is one of the more well-known tracks for people who have heard the soundtrack. It plays during a few of the bullying sections, early in the movie. I think the simpleness of this track fits with the conflict shown on screen. They were only kids, after all. Green reminds me of everyone's favorite green-haired friend from the movie, someone that Shoya desperately needed in his life. This track was difficult to adapt because of the section differences, but I love the fast and light nature of the main sections. The instrumentation is excellent in the original, and when the drums kick in, it's such a mood! Round is perhaps the most stale track here, but I do associate it with the mood of the soundtrack. It was a fun transcription. And if you view the sheet music, the relationship between the hands and the themes here are quite interesting, since it tackles three voices at once. Svg is without a doubt my favorite, this track plays towards the end of the movie when everyone are finally working together. What an incredibly unique and uplifting piece of music! The arrangement itself is one of my best, the bass line especially. When I posted this on Youtube last year, it encouraged me to make the album since the reception was very positive. Sunlight is another favorite of mine, but I ended up having to make it for four hands to properly arrange it. When splitting it up like that, it becomes quite simple and repetitive. But the build up and atmosphere of this track is unparalleled in my opinion, especially in the original. There's a certain sadness to it, but I think that there is a ray of light shining through at the end. Speaking of which, Lit is exactly that. In the composer's own words;

"The last song "lit", which was only played 2 times, means "light". This movie, which is about achieving the light, ended with this song attached."

It is the light at the end of the tunnel. And it tells us that there is a future for Shoya and his friends ahead, one that is worth being inspired by. Thank you for reading!

You can DL it as part of my discography here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/massive-update-98905690

This album is on the shorter side, but there was much work to it nonetheless. As for what's next, as I wrote in my monthlies post, I'm excited to show you what's next! See you then!