Air (TV), Kanon (2006), Clannad After Story - Piano Medley

So, there it is: one of the most anticipated anime covers of all time: Tori no Uta, Last Regrets and Toki wo Kizamu Uta - all three songs packaged in one single movement: The key anime piano suite.

2 months ago, in March 2015, I wanted to upload three videos at once, as a special feature, to commemorate 300.000 subscribers of my channel.
The original line up were the full version songs of Tori no Uta, Last Regrets and Toki wo Kizamu Uta, the three Opening themes from the legendary key anime series Air (TV), Kanon (2006) and Clannad After Story.

Famous songs like these put a lot of pressure on me of course, because I definitely had to deliver a piano cover worthy of the name "Animenz".
The pressure was like... well, just imagine you are a conductor. And one day, you have been told to conduct beethoven's 9th symphony, a world-famous and well known music piece, loved by many.
Just imagine the pressure.
Threrefore, as an anime pianist, it was an great challenge to transcribe these three legendary songs. And that's why I wanted to create the most accurate, most intriguing, and - above all - most emotional piano sheet possible.

At first I made good progress, and quickly created a basic draft for each of these three songs. However, after writing out the TV-size, I quickly ran out of ideas for the rest of the song. I couldn't think of a variation of the chorus and simply copy pasting everything was just too plain.
I sat on this for hours, for days, I couldn't even sleep because of that, but my ideas just didn't worked out in the sheet. I was in a hopeless situation. I tried and tried but to no avail.

And one day, in the middle of march, I just broke down. I couldn't do it anymore. I wanted to quit, I wanted to forget, I didn't want to accept my failure, but.. I just don't know anymore. In the end I dropped the three sheets, and felt depressed for the whole month.
I failed and I couldn't meet the expectations.

Then, more than a month later - while I was taking a walk near the sea - I was listening to my usual anime music with my headphones, and upon hearing Dango Daikazoku, my mind suddenly exploded and I had a moment of enlightment:
I'll just "recycle" the three abandoned TV-sized sheets and create a piano medley instead.
I immediately rushed back and began to work on the medley, working title "key anime piano suite".
I have extended the 1:30 min TV size by reusing some motifs in the original song, and created some transitions as well to give the song a better flow.
The entire sheet underwent more than two hundred edits until every single note is polished, until I am finally satisfied with every single detail.

5 years.
I actually wanted to cover these three songs for five long years, since the very beginning of my youtube channel, which I started in November 2009. Along with My soul, your beats! - the Angel Beats OP - these were the piano covers I've always dreamed of.
And now, the sheet has finally been created. Finally.

Thank you for reading this long wall of text, because this key anime piano medley, was probably one of the greatest challenges I have ever faced so far in my anime pianist career on youtube.
With this weight lifted from my shoulders, I can finally take a breather again. (Time to marathon some anime tonight!)
Well then, I hope you enjoyed this special "key anime piano suite" and I hope that the music has also touched your heart - same as the three key anime series has touched mine.

Animenz

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Piano arrangement by Animenz

Original Songs used in this medley:

1. Tori no Uta - 0:01
2. Last Regrets - 3:13
3. Toki wo Kizamu Uta - 5:56
4. Dango Daikazoku - 8:53

Anime series: Air (TV), Kanon (2006), Clannad After Story
Published by: Key Sounds Label
Composed by: Jun Maeda, Shinji Orito
Performed by: Lia (Tori no Uta, Toki wo Kizamu Uta), Ayana (Last Regrets)

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One last thing:
This time, I didn't record in the usual big room in the conservatory with the steinway grand piano, but instead, I recorded in a smaller room with a fairly old, but very beautiful concert grand piano from a german piano brand called "Seiler". The grand piano has an exceptional "singing voice", perfectly suited for key songs.

#Key #ClannadAfterStory #Kanon #Air #Medley #Piano

Видео Air (TV), Kanon (2006), Clannad After Story - Piano Medley канала Animenz Piano Sheets