Fluorite Eye’s Song (薇薇：-萤石眼之歌- OST) - 八木海莉

The ultimate arrangement I have been working on for a year is finally here!

This arrangement symbolizes the end of my four-year college life. I have contributed all my experience, knowledge, and love for anime piano to it. 

Vivy: Fluorite Eye’s Song has always been one of my favorite anime, and its impact in 2021 is still unforgettable. After uploading my Sing My Pleasure arrangement last year, I immediately decided to move on to the next chapter with this outstanding OST. But due to bottlenecks and heavy study pressure, I endlessly postponed this project, which meant I had a whole year to polish it and even break my limits.

If Sing My Pleasure aims to tell a passionate story, then Fluorite Eye's Song is designed to be lively and melodious. It narrates my college life, understanding of this anime, and my sincerest thanks to all my friends who supported me. The arranging process was a great challenge because lyrical piano arrangements are the style I am least good at. Most of my previous arrangements were based on mirroring the features of the original songs. While arranging Fluorite Eye’s Song, I asked myself various questions: How to achieve a balance between each ‘sound layer’? Should I modify any chord progressions? How can I best use the considerable space between the melodic notes? After countless failures and attempts, I finally came up with an answer that I am satisfied with at this stage.

Regarding similarity, both of my Vivy arrangements focus on building emotions and reaching the final climax. For Sing My Pleasure, I sharply contrasted each section. However, this time, I took a different approach to achieving the goal by letting the music flow slowly and move steadily to its peak.

➀ Part 1 (0:18)

Part 1 is constructed with simple chords that gently begin the story. After a buildup, the music reaches its first climax. (1:27) Here, the chorus melody is combined with the secondary melody to form a beautiful polyphony. Immediately after, with a few modifications, the melody is played again in the upper register at (1:51). 

②Part 2 (2:37)

After a short buildup, the verse melody is played again. I used some rhythmic patterns to add more spice to the music. Starting at (2:39), I introduced some secondary melodies once again, thus making the atmosphere a bit warmer. Here (3:00), I used a simple Canon Polyphony to form a 'duet' to heat up the atmosphere further, followed by a three-hand section to bring the song to its next climax.

While arranging the second chorus, I struggled for a long time because I almost ran out of ideas. Ultimately, I decided to bring out a string instrument ostinato presented as a background of the original and use it as an ornament on piano. At the same time, I used some left-hand arpeggios to create even more diversity. (3:47) Then, I expanded the right-hand ostinato into a fifth arpeggio, reaching the highest register of the piano. At the same time, the left-hand bass octaves got to the lowest register, creating the maximum span. After the chorus ended, I built the bridge section with a more intense pattern.

③ Finale

(4:40) The music reorganizes its dynamics toward the final climax. The structure of this piece is very different from regular anime music since it doesn't repeat the third chorus. Instead, a stunning ‘duet’ emerges. In the anime, this is where Vivy fights her final battle. So, using the most magnificent ornaments, I performed four variations for Vivy:

Variation I (4:45): The ‘duet’ starts with various orchestrations in the original. I had to create a unique piano-only pattern to make this arrangement sound as rich as possible. Thus, I designed risky jumps, hand-switching, broken chords, and frenetic rhythmic syncopations to bring an explosive feeling.

Variation II (5:08): This time, I used a massive left-hand arpeggio for the bass part and maintained the 'duet' melody with the right hand.

Variation III (5:31): On the third repetition, the chorus melody that appeared earlier is reproduced in the background as a string accompaniment, which I couldn’t ignore. So, after modifying some of the left-hand arpeggios, I made enough space for the left hand to play an individual melody while the right hand continued to play the 'duet' unchanged.

Variation IV (6:03): The song should have ended at this point because the original music starts to weaken on the third ‘duet’ and eventually fades away with the volume decrease. Unfortunately, this is impossible to be mirrored on the piano. So, I created a fourth variation based on massive right-hand arpeggios and formed the final climax for the entire piece.

④ Epilogue (6:27)

I once again wrote an original end for myself. Unlike the ambition of my previous works, I wanted to use this ending to express my reluctance to graduate from Syracuse University, the sadness of farewell, and the hint of warmness when I look back.