# Elden Ring - Lichdragon Fortissax (Phase 1) w/ Lyrics



## dhmusic (May 18, 2022)

Here's an Elden Ring arrangement I just finished. It's just the first phase for now since they're basically two different pieces. Tried to match the lyrics as exactly as I could although they were a little difficult to make out.

Transcribed by ear. There are a few places I shifted the focus of some chord notes to fit the composite melody that developed after like a hundred listens, so it isn't meant to be a 1:1 version, but I do try to stick to the original pretty closely. Fresh but familiar.

I'm going for more of a bloodborne vibe on this one. I really like the original but something about it feels a bit out of place in the world of Elden Ring. I'm pretty sure the issue is how it's mixed but I'm trying to keep as close to the maximalist intensity of the original anyway while leaning closer to a symphonic sound and hopefully preserving a little more dynamic range. It's been quite the tightrope to walk since I usually don't mix this loudly with so much low end present so I had to experiment a little. Let me know what you think if you have minute.

Also if you're into soulsborne music consider subscribing. I have quite a few tracks I've been working on over the last year.


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## MartinH. (May 18, 2022)

dhmusic said:


> I'm going for more of a bloodborne vibe on this one. I really like the original but something about it feels a bit out of place IMO. Let me know what you think if you have minute.


To be honest I prefer your version. Outstanding work once again! You must be learning a ton from these mockups, and I really hope one day you'll sum it up in a longer post or video.


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## dhmusic (May 19, 2022)

MartinH. said:


> To be honest I prefer your version. Outstanding work once again! You must be learning a ton from these mockups, and I really hope one day you'll sum it up in a longer post or video.


Thanks a bunch MartinH.! I definitely am. I'd like to break some of this down in the future. Not sure where I'd start though tbh. Usually when the thought comes up I just end up starting another piece instead lol


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## dhmusic (May 19, 2022)

Updated the mix


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## Brasart (May 19, 2022)

Very cool work, congrats!


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## dhmusic (May 20, 2022)

Brasart said:


> Very cool work, congrats!


Appreciate it! Thanks for listening @Brasart


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## Brasart (May 20, 2022)

dhmusic said:


> Appreciate it! Thanks for listening @Brasart


Listening to it again, you really nailed that "wall of sound" kind of sound Souls-like composers have been making, which I find really hard to nail *correctly*, really good stuff!


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## PeterN (May 21, 2022)

Never heard of Elden Ring, but the original composer probably deserves a mention. Its quite ok composition, while it could have a touch of slightly more chaos (dissonant chord and pitch disturbances) and then some quieter breathing, to be perfect. But it definitely catches the attention.

Or is the name of the composer Elden Ring? (not googling - just asking)


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## dhmusic (May 21, 2022)

PeterN said:


> Never heard of Elden Ring, but the original composer probably deserves a mention. Its quite ok composition, while it could have a touch of slightly more chaos (dissonant chord and pitch disturbances) and then some quieter breathing, to be perfect. But it definitely catches the attention.
> 
> Or is the name of the composer Elden Ring? (not googling - just asking)


Original track composed by Yoshimi Kudo as noted in the track notes. Elden Ring is the latest game by FromSoftware (Dark Souls, Demon's Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro, Armored Core). There are multiple composers for the series, Yoko Kitamura being one of the more prominent ones / my favorite of the bunch. 

I def agree the track could benefit from some changes but a lot of fans like the original so I wanted to keep to that pretty closely while dialing back the synthetic/hybrid sound a bit to something more traditional to the series.

Thanks for listening!


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## Trash Panda (May 23, 2022)

Me listening to this on my studio monitors:


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## dhmusic (May 23, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> Me listening to this on my studio monitors:


Yeaaaaah!!!

ngl it feels like I'm chasing a dragon with this piece's volume, appropriately. From the first listen it was basically picking a fight with me.


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## MarcMahler89 (May 23, 2022)

SUPERB work! Iam a huge fan of Kitamuras work, and i feel like you particularly nailed the Dark Souls 3`s OST feeling here, which is my favourite OST of the whole series. I even think that you managed to up the emotional intensity at times - a task i considered impossible. After hearing your version what immediately came into my mind was actually the _Pontiff Sulyvan_ piece from the DS3 score, composed by Kitamura as well.

As i totally missed Fortissax on my first playthrough, i suppose you just made me start my second - and i assumed i was finally done with this. Suffering is life heh?


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## dhmusic (May 24, 2022)

MarcMahler89 said:


> SUPERB work! Iam a huge fan of Kitamuras work, and i feel like you particularly nailed the Dark Souls 3`s OST feeling here, which is my favourite OST of the whole series. I even think that you managed to up the emotional intensity at times - a task i considered impossible. After hearing your version what immediately came into my mind was actually the _Pontiff Sulyvan_ piece from the DS3 score, composed by Kitamura as well.
> 
> As i totally missed Fortissax on my first playthrough, i suppose you just made me start my second - and i assumed i was finally done with this. Suffering is life heh?


That's a huge compliment thanks so much! I just updated the mix again and swapped the link for a youtube channel I just started. Gonna do a bunch of Soulsborne stuff if you're interested. 

And yeah I def I agree lol. Remaking these choir parts feels particularly masochistic but if fans of the series find enjoyment in the work it means a lot.


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## fudge (May 24, 2022)

Love your arrangement, it has that same 'in your face' vibe. Must've been hard to mix, especially because I feel like the track is so close to pushing the limits without distorting.


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## dhmusic (May 26, 2022)

fudge said:


> Love your arrangement, it has that same 'in your face' vibe. Must've been hard to mix, especially because I feel like the track is so close to pushing the limits without distorting.


I'm really glad to hear that, thank you 

It was pretty hard for sure - partly because I overwrote the parts a bit and kept adding layers that I wanted to keep intelligible. Initially I was going to make a less brickwalled version but I kept comparing it to the original and got caught up in a loudness war with it. In the end I had to sacrifice a lot of those parts to make room for the utter density of the mix. The most important aspect to me was making sure the choir stood out without scooping out all of the other parts which led to several days of trial and error. Shoutout to @Trash Panda for helping me with feedback for the final version's mix (thanks again!).


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## Real Mirage (May 29, 2022)

Good job!♥


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## dhmusic (May 29, 2022)

Real Mirage said:


> Good job!♥


Yo @Real Mirage thanks for listening 

lol I'm surprised we aren't super famous yet with our Elden Ring mockups


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## Real Mirage (May 30, 2022)

dhmusic said:


> Yo @Real Mirage thanks for listening
> 
> lol I'm surprised we aren't super famous yet with our Elden Ring mockups


hahaha I don't mind at all! I wrote it as a souvenir of getting destroyed by that boss. But doing this kind of "reverse-engineering" can teach you a lot...
Usually, when I get a new piece to learn (I'm a pianist), I try to analyze and memorize the music as best as possible before starting to practice, by doing so I can realize the ideas of that composer (to play better). Writing Elden Ring mockups somehow reminds me of that.


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