So, I am still figuring out how to best arrange the main tracks from Deltarune Chapter 2. Since the majority of setting is the Cyber City, I gotta evaluate if I should incorporate some synth with the orchestra or not. In the meantime, here's an orchestration of a track that has some distance from the cyber synth sound. The general flow and structure is very similar to An Ending from Undertale. You have this repeating motif played softly that gets more and more agitated, but when the lush harmony kicks in, it overwhelms the listener with emotions and warmth. Because of this it was easy enough for me to arrange this track in the same way…

OR DID I??????? My immediate observation from playing Chapter 2 was that it had a real sense of momentum. I was always moving forward, dodging cars, riding giant teacups, crashing into obstacles at high speed. Ralsei, Susie and also Noelle are so nice and encouraging to Kris, they liven up the mood so much. The game over screen shouldn't break my momentum, but instead propel me to get back quickly on my feet! And that's why, listening to the game over track, I thought to myself that an EPIC VERSION would still fit the spirit of the track. I generally don't like epic-fying a track for no reason, so if you guys notice me doing it more often for the "clicks" CALL ME OUT ON IT. It'll get stale fast.

I'm still practicing with Hollywood Orchestra OPUS Edition, while adding all that good Hans Zimmer drums and percussion. I still can't get the woodwinds to express as much as I'd like, but the overall balancing of instruments is a bit easier. In the first softer loop, I worked hard to avoid having the harmony hold long notes underneath the melody the way I did in An Ending. You'll also notice that I changed the baseline a lot compared to the original. Most of the track consists of the same three-note motif down the scale, so I pulled out all the stops to prevent it from sounding too repetitive.

For the epic percussive part, this time I limited myself to only a handful of drums that I used, because I wanted to break the habit of just piling it on. Listening back to my previous Undertale/Deltarune boss music, I cringe at how messy and aggressive all the drums sound. I remember reading an interview with Hans Zimmer where he said when playing drums, never hit it too hard, because the "slap" you get on the high register can clash with the overall sound. Thanks for the advice, Hans! I made sure to really just tap the notes on the keyboard, and with some general EQ and reverb tweaking, tried my best to make each instruments distinguishable while still filling out the space.

Deltarune Orchestrated will be available on iTunes/Spotify upon completion of the album.

MP3 and FLAC available for Patrons. ► https://www.patreon.com/thesecondnarrator

Arrangement by Jeremiah Sun
Original Theme by toby fox

DELTARUNE Chapter 1&2 is currently free to download on PC and the Nintendo Switch!

Deltarune Chapter 2 Orchestrated

DELTARUNE Chapter 2 Orchestrated - Faint Courage (Game Over)

I am a developer as well as a self-taught composer. My style is creating narratives in music through the use of strong melodies and unique instrumentation.

Primary DAW used: Presonus Studio One

DELTARUNE Chapter 2 Orchestrated - Faint Courage (Game Over)

The Second Narrator