Guild Wars 2

So, I couldn’t stop myself seeing what was possible with the notes we were given for bell choir. Turns out, since we got a dorian scale, things are a little trickier. Billie Jean is about the only well known song around that is written in the dorian mode. So, I pulled out a piano arrangement, adapted it to fit for handbells, stripped out all the notes that the Bell Choir can’t play, and then started work.

Thanks to Arenanet for the awesome minigame that made this possible. Next time, maybe we can get a few more notes? Just throwing it out there…

Oh my gosh! Ridiculous! That was great! Thanks so much for sharing! If only they took at that darn swinging sound >.<

Lol, nice xD you must have a lot of free time xP

Yamiino.1827:

Lol, nice xD you must have a lot of free time xP

Actually I really don’t. I did this mostly in the time I should have been doing my final year project for University…Got quite a fun amount of work to catch up on now :\

I don’t know Dorian scale, but can’t you get like an A, B, C? or C, D, something?

I know only need like the same three notes to play Louie Louie, some Creedance….

Wow.. Think Anet needs to mail out one of those unbreakable bells to you if you don’t already have one. .-.

MrMacAndCheese.3907:

I don’t know Dorian scale, but can’t you get like an A, B, C? or C, D, something?

I know only need like the same three notes to play Louie Louie, some Creedance….

Technically it’s not as bad as I make out – the dorian scale is D to D with no accidentals, think D to D using white notes on a piano. This effectively means you can pretend it’s C major and get all the pieces that are in that key…but I didn’t want to go that route. Also, since each part in the bell choir is D-D, it felt wrong to start using other notes in one part, so…eh. I just kinda went with it.

Doggie.3184:

Wow.. Think Anet needs to mail out one of those unbreakable bells to you if you don’t already have one. .-.

Would have been awesome if I’d had one of those before I made the video. There’s only so many times I can deal with someone interrupting my recording session on the Bell choir with random notespam…

Doggie.3184:

Wow.. Think Anet needs to mail out one of those unbreakable bells to you if you don’t already have one. .-.

Totally agree with this. You totally deserve an unbreakable bell lol.

That’s amazing.

Now if only we had other playable instruments and a way to sync them up… nudges Anet

TheUndefined.1720:

Doggie.3184:

Wow.. Think Anet needs to mail out one of those unbreakable bells to you if you don’t already have one. .-.

Totally agree with this. You totally deserve an unbreakable bell lol.

Thirded! If there ever was a case to distribute something so rare as a gift, this is it. Amazing job!

This was really amazing, congrats on a masterpiece!

Nicely done, Indeed! Congratulations!

Wow … just … Wow! That was awesome! I smiled thru the entire performance. Been feeling a bit of those ‘holiday blues’ and this perked me right up.

Thank you, thank you Hecksa! Very nicely done. I can’t even begin to imagine the effort involved in putting that together. And the Asura doing their dance to the music, priceless!

Happy Wintersday and Merry Christmas to you! And to all!

Harry Potter main theme is doable (although not perfectly because of the limited range.) It never fails to get a laugh when I play it.

Wow, that’s just…wow. :-)

From the few tries I did, I think Let Me Entertain You may also be possible…any chance you could record it?

Simply awesome – great job!!

That is great! Way to make something more awesome out of an already awesome event.

This post was very refreshing compared to a lot of the “complaint” posts about the gambling nature of the whole Wintersday events. Keep up that holiday spirit.

ThiBash.5634:

Wow, that’s just…wow. :-)

From the few tries I did, I think Let Me Entertain You may also be possible…any chance you could record it?

From a quick check, yes it probably is possible, though it’s not in the Dorian mode so it’s not technically in the key of the bell choir.

I don’t have any plans to do any more right at this moment because I’ve got exams coming up in January so I really should be revising, but I sure as hell enjoyed making this one, so I’d love to make more sometime in the future when I’m more free. Maybe using some other instrument (nudge nudge, arenanet).

MrMacAndCheese.3907:

I hate that Michael Jackson.

During the last few years of his life, M.J was a joke, sure. But you have to go back to when he was awesome; M.J was the king.

He made Thriller. ’nuff said.

Amazing job, dude! Nice playing, and nice video too! :-)

Hmm, I never noticed that “whosh” sound before, sort of like when you throw an axe — do you get that sound effect every time you swing the bell? ANet should definitely considered removing that.

Fyrebrand.4859:

Amazing job, dude! Nice playing, and nice video too! :-)

Hmm, I never noticed that “whosh” sound before, sort of like when you throw an axe — do you get that sound effect every time you swing the bell? ANet should definitely considered removing that.

Yeah, I didn’t notice it until I started putting all the recordings together. The dev who designed the bell choir wanted to get rid of it, but they weren’t able to do it in time for the event, so it had to stay

Very awesome. I thought the dancing asura in the middle was a nice touch. Michael Jackson was a great performer. It’s a shame people around my age only see him for what he was like before he died.

Play Zanarkand (Final fantasy 10) or Still Alive (Portal)! (Please??)

DanteZero.9736:

Play Zanarkand (Final fantasy 10) or Still Alive (Portal)! (Please??)

Wish I had time to do all the requests people are putting through! Some awesome ideas, I really like the idea of doing Still Alive sometime.

Sadly these things take a lot of time, and I really should be revising around now…but I definitely want to do more in the future.

When the asura started dancing in the middle of the screen..

lost it

Nicely done, i wasn’t sure how it would sound but you pulled it off nicely.

Have to agree regarding you getting an unbreakable bell (so long as more music comes our way :P).

Well, here I was just browsing the forums to see what drama might be unfolding, but after seeing this I had to log in to say…

That was awesome!

Which is not something I say very often. /e holds up lighter

You guys should get a freakin’ achievement for this!

gahahawa
/happy clapping
/stomp
/stomp
/clap

/signed for an a appreciation unbreakable bell. That is definitely getting the most out of the content.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

You guys should get a freakin’ achievement for this!

Just to clarify, because a few people have said “You guys” – I’m only one guy; the various characters were just used to make things look a bit less repetitive and help people distinguish the parts that were being played.

Would have been nice to have a team though…maybe I could do the fun creative composing side, and other people could do the mindless repetitive part. Sounds like a plan to me.

Very nice, my hat off to you

yurtshone.7325:

I loved the edit, very well done.
However I did not like the noise, I had to stop it 2 mins in.
Why people venerate MJ is still beyond me. The fact he was a pedophile and was very, very disturbed mentally puts me right off.

I sure as hell don’t venerate him. I like some of his music, my views on him as a person are irrelevant anyway.

And yeah, fair enough if you weren’t a fan of the music. Was it my particular cover, or do you just not like the song? I know the “woosh” sound after every note is annoying (sadly unavoidable) but I thought that otherwise it sounded ok.

Sorry about my last post. I was abused as a child so I… well lets not go there.

No, I actually like the song. But to my ear it sounds terrible, akin to a car alarm or baby crying. I think it is the tone of the bells and that awful wooshing sound.

No worries at all, your post was entirely understandable.

Yep, I pretty much agree, I hate the wooshing sound that’s in there, and I’m not a huge fan of the bell sound either, but you’ve gotta work with what’s available, and sadly that’s all we’ve got right now, at least until Arenanet roll out more instruments (nudge nudge).

wow.. very nice bell-ringing and video composition.
I know whenever I try to play some song (between songs or in the free-play time) someone absolutely has to spam all the keys just to interrupt and be an idiot, so I can imagine how much time it took to get these recordings.
congrats and good luck on your exams (just send them the link, maybe your profs will give you bonus credits)

wow.. very nice bell-ringing and video composition.
I know whenever I try to play some song (between songs or in the free-play time) someone absolutely has to spam all the keys just to interrupt and be an idiot, so I can imagine how much time it took to get these recordings.
congrats and good luck on your exams (just send them the link, maybe your profs will give you bonus credits)edit: somehow the board likes to duplicate sentences no matter how much I edit. removed all smilies etc but still – any duplicates are not of my own making, thank the board..

Like I said in my first post. I loved the edit. Very creative.
I would love to hear some slower tunes as I think they would work better. Maybe some traditional Carols or Christmas songs?

Wow, that is amazing! Well done!

Simply amazing….

Hecksa.7140:

Would have been nice to have a team though…maybe I could do the fun creative composing side, and other people could do the mindless repetitive part. Sounds like a plan to me.

Your request for elves will be taken under advisement by the Supranational Mad Scientist Syndicate.

More seriously…more instruments and more dancers would open up many possibilities for machinima artists and performers. If the stewards of Tyria introduced more musical mechanicals, would a primer explaining the real world challenges of IPR and fan generated content be useful?

Some may call me a dreamer, but I see a very productive trajectory for Tyrian musicians and performers. Apply the concept of PvP as an esport to this discussion.

Men… This is serious art! Well done, you did great and your work is nothing short of amazing! Being able to arrange most of the melody with such a limited instrument requires a mastery that you don’t see that often! You are a star… Thank you for such a creative and amazing job!