AboutImportanceofTruth

ThePSPgameCrisisCore:FinalFantasyVIIintroducesanewmusicaltheme/melodytotheFinalFantasyVIIseries.
Thisthemeisexpressedbymanyinstrumentsinmanysongarrangementsthroughoutthegame.
ImportanceofTruth(CD1,Track10)isthecompletepianosoloarrangementofthemaintheme.
Succession(CD1,Track2)isashortexcerptfromImportanceofTruth(measures926),butitisthemost
recognizablepartofthesong,becausethisiswhatisplayedonthemaintitlescreenofthegameandontheofficial
websiteforthegame.
Also,adifferentexcerptfromImportanceofTruth(measures3542)isplayedwhenpreviewingthegamefromthe
PSPmenu(underGame>UMD
TM
).
TogetherwithPride(CD1,Track24)isanothercompletesolopianoarrangement,verysimilartoImportanceof
Truth,butdifferingfromitinseveralways,suchas:(1)Therecordinghasmorereverberationeffects;(2)Thetempois
moreconsistentinmanyparts;(3)Somenotesareslightlydifferent;(4)Itsgrandfinaleisshorter.
ThemusicwascomposedbyTakeharuIshimoto.

AboutThisTranscription

AsfarasIknow,noofficialsheetmusicexistsforImportanceofTruth(orforanyCrisisCorethemesong,forthat
matter),hencetheneedfortranscription.
Thisisanunofficialtranscriptiondonebyme(PatrickJ.Barnes),amereFinalFantasyfanandpianoplayerwhohasno
officialassociationwiththemakersofFinalFantasyoritsmusic.Ihavebeenplayingvideogamemusicbyearfor
about20years,sohopefullythistranscriptionisprettyclosetotheoriginal.However,notethatthistranscription
doesntincludemarkingsfordynamics(volumechanges),tempochanges,orpedalmarkings,sousesomediscretion.
Thissheetmusiccanbefoundatthefollowingwebsite:http://pjbarnes.com/sheetmusic
Ifyouhaveanyrequests,corrections,comments,etc.,contactmeat:pjbarnes@gmail.com

AlternateRhythmInterpretationsforImportanceofTruth

TherearetwoplacesinthesonginparticularwhereIstruggledwithhowtotranscribetherhythm,soIdliketoshare
mythoughtsonthemandtoprovideanalternateinterpretationforthem.
Measures5,6,7,8:
Measures58eachconsistofaseriesof6notesthatarebasicallyeighthnotes,withonecaveat:thereisadramatic
pausebetweenthe5
th
and6
th
notes.Also,overall,thelasthalfofthemeasureisslightlylongerthanthefirsthalf.This
canbeinterpretedinatleasttwodifferentways:
(1) The5
th
noteisactuallyadottedeighthnote.Aslighttemporeductionstillneedstobeaccountedfor,butthisis
simplyaritardando(slowdowntempo)attheendofthemeasure,withanatempo(resumenormaltempo)
atthebeginningofthenextmeasure.
(2) The5
th
noteisstillaneighthnote,buttheritardandostartsbetweenthe5
th
and6
th
notes,rightafterbeat3,
fordramaticeffect.
Ithinkthefirstinterpretationisaverynaturalandstraightforwardone,anditwasmyinitialinterpretation,sothisis
howItranscribedit.
However,Ihaveplentyofreasonstosupportthesecondinterpretation:(1)Measure5doesnothavethepauseand
soundslikeaneighthnote;(2)TogetherwithPride,thealternatepianoarrangementwithamoreconsistenttempo,
doesnothavethepausehereinanyofthesemeasures;(3)Averysimilareffectmaybegoingon(seebelow)in
measures9and11;and(4)Thisliberalexpressionactuallyseemstofitthegenre.
Measures9,11,23,25(equivalenttotitlescreenmeasures1,3,15,17):
Inmeasures9and11(and23and25),thetimingofthefinalthreemelodynotesbeginningonbeat3(D,E,A)issimilarly
subjecttointerpretation.Whichofthefollowingisit?
(1) Dottedeighth,dottedeighth,eighth.
(2) Eighth,quarter,eighth.(Withritardandorightafterbeat3.)
Again,thefirstinterpretationisprobablythemostnaturalandcommon.Afterall,thelastnotetrulyisshorterthanthe
othertwo.Thiswasmyinitialinterpretation,sothisishowItranscribedit.
However,TogetherwithPridesupportsthesecondinterpretationinmeasures9and11and23(butsupportsthefirst
interpretationinmeasure25).Also,ifthealternateinterpretationthatIdescribedformeasures58iscorrect,thenthe
alternateinterpretationforthesemeasuresisevenmorelikely,sincetheyaresimilar.
(Isupposethatyetanotherinterpretationcouldbethatthesethreenotesaretripletquarternotes,butthatdoesnt
seemconsistentwithanyoftheotherrhythmsinthepiece.)

Again,feelfreetocontactmeifyouhaveanyopinionsonhowIhavetranscribedanything.

PatrickJ.Barnes(pjbarnes@gmail.com)