Our Eternal Land (Acapella Version) - Xenoblade Chronicles 2

How about something completely different? Here's a little sonic treat for your eardrums.

There's a special place in my heart for the human voice, and especially for the rich, 'crunchy' harmonies that characterize modern acappella arranging. It's a genuinely distinct art form from traditional choral writing. Classical choir arranging tends to prioritize clarity and blend: voices are spaced carefully across registers, dissonances are prepared and resolved, and the harmonic language generally follows the common-practice rules of voice leading that go back centuries.

Modern acappella, think contemporary collegiate groups, vocal jazz, or groups like Pentatonix and Naturally 7, throws a lot of that out the window in the best possible way. Arrangers lean into extended harmonies borrowed from jazz: major 7ths, flat 9ths, #11s, dense cluster chords that would make an 18th-century choirmaster wince. Dissonances aren't always resolved; they're often the destination. There's also a percussive, rhythmic element that traditional choral writing rarely touches, and voices are frequently used to imitate instruments rather than blend into a unified choral texture. The voice leading is still there, but it's serving a different master; groove and color rather than purity and transparency.

Anyway, just a little something for your ears. Hope you enjoy it.

A Mother's Embrace - Original Guitar Composition

Wrote this for my mom for Mother's Day. I wasn't able to get it written down in time, but hey, better late than never. Work it up and play if for your momma next year!

A Mother's Embrace (Originals) - The Bear's Den

Singing of the Gentle Wind - Xenogears

Singing of the Gentle Wind (Xenogears) - The Bear's Den

Now with video! Go learn it!

Hidden Gem Spotlight: Uncharted Waters II – New Horizons (Special Edition)

So, I know this is usually where I post my arrangements, but I rediscovered this soundtrack recently and I genuinely can't stop listening to it and I feel like some of you need to hear it too.

It's the Uncharted Waters II: New Horizons Special Edition, composed by Yoko Kanno. Never played the game. Doesn't matter. This thing is incredible.

If you know Yoko Kanno, it's probably from Cowboy Bebop or Ghost in the Shell or Wolf's Rain. But this is earlier stuff; before all of that, she was writing music for video games through a company called Koei, and honestly? This might be some of the best work she ever did.

The Special Edition is all live arranged recordings; no chiptune, no synth, actual musicians playing this stuff. And the range of it is kind of insane. We're talking jazz, classical, Baroque, world music, acoustic... it goes all over the place and somehow never feels scattered. The game is set during the Age of Exploration, like sailing the world discovering new lands, and the music actually travels with you. It starts very European and then shifts as you go further out... African rhythms, Middle Eastern textures, Mediterranean vibes.

There's a track called "Southern Twilight ~ Dance on a Cape of Good Hope" that's eight minutes long, starts as a slow jazz ballad, and then just kind of... explodes into this big band Latin thing halfway through. I wasn't ready for it. "Catalina," "Fiddler's Green," and "Mast In the Mist," are also incredible.

🎧 Listen here → https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCR_yB6m-QVLWWgHXMzMD2-Z0sJCQcKSI&si=k-Ku96nN3P4pkb2F

Just put it on in the background and see what happens. And if any of you hear something in here you want me to arrange, drop it in the comments. No promises but also... no promises. 😄

Turnabout Sisters Ballad from Phoenix Wright w/Coobs!

Sheet music/tabs: Turnabout Sisters' Ballad (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) - The Bear's Den

So, if you hang out in the Discord with us, you might already know this, but if not, I'm partnering up with Coobs (coobs - YouTube) to record videos of my arrangements!

It seemed like a no brainer as he was already recording arrangements of mine, has the guitar chops to pull them off, and shares my mindset of introducing people to the wonderful world of classical guitar. I'll still be uploading my other recordings here and there, like you've been seeing recently, but with his renditions added into the mix, those of you who learn visually from seeing people perform the arrangements will be able to again.

There are PLENTY of my arrangements, both old and new, that don't have performance videos to go along with them, so we have a HUGE catalog of work to go through and choose from.

One way to help us out is to share these videos! I've never been very good at social media, so I know I can rely on you guys to spread the word!

Eyes On Me from Final Fantasy VIII

Eyes On Me (Final Fantasy VIII) - The Bear's Den

Kind of surprised I never arranged this one until now...I think part of it was, let's be honest, it's a pretty "cheesy," song. But I guess I was in a "gouda," mood today.
(Yes, that WAS a cheese pun.)

I wanted to do something with a little more interpretation with this one...there are times when I arrange things and I try my hardest to get as close to the original as I possibly can fit onto my guitar. But, there are other times when I want to arrange a piece as if it were originally written for the guitar in the first place. Usually, those get a little more interpretative, creative, and free flowing, which is what resulted here.

While I didn't stick to the original as closely as I sometimes do, I definitely wanted to keep the "vibe," of the original and the meaning behind the song. So, this one came out with a sort of jazz bar kind of sound at times. I felt like it was appropriate given the meaning and story that the lyrics tell.

The image was inspired by the cockpit scene in the Ragnarok from the game. I thought it came out nice, and I finally found a use for the lens flare filter in Photoshop! First time in the many decades I've been using that program!

The Guitarpro file was painstakingly timed to fit exactly along with the recording. I'll reupload the downloadable GP file and embed the audio from this so you can hear it while you practice later.

Anyway, that's all for now, my hands hurt. Bye bye!

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Howdy! So, this isn't one of my normal music videos. Not many of you may know but I dabble in the nerdy arts, programming being one. This was an idea I had for a piece of software a long time ago that I put on hold for going on 1 or 2 years! But, I got the dev itch the other day and decided to dust it off and completely overhaul it.

The previous version had issues with the translations, a pretty ugly menu, and how I implemented it all was just terrible. So, I went back to the drawing board and had a rethink on how I'd make it work and this is the result!

The game side translation portion of it works pretty well; I'm currently in the process of trying to get a manga translator side of it working too. That part is proving EXTREMELY challenging so it's not ready to be shown...YET.

If any of my patrons are interested in it I'm happy to share it with you!

Timber Hearth from Outer Wilds

Timber Hearth (Outer Wilds) - The Bear's Den
Here's one from one of my favorite games of all time: Outer Wilds. The one and ONLY game I've ever fanboy'd out hard enough to contact the devs to tell them how much I liked it.

It was challenging to figure out how to write it so the melody notes would ring out with everything going on underneath; I imagine it was originally played with multiple guitars, but you know me: I love a challenge!

(If you're wondering what is being played at the title card, that's "Goodnight, Until Tomorrow" from FF7. I had that short clip lying around and thought it would be fun to stick in there.)

🎉 It’s my birthday today! 🎉

I have officially leveled up another year. My stats have increased slightly in wisdom, noticeably in snack appreciation, and possibly decreased a bit in knee durability.

In celebration, I plan to do several important birthday activities such as:
• Accept compliments
• Eat something unnecessarily delicious
• Pretend calories don’t exist
• Reflect briefly on life before getting distracted by something shiny

Thank you to everyone who has been part of the adventure so far. Another trip around the sun begins; let’s see what kind of weird, wonderful chaos this one brings. 🎂

Both Eyes Open from Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

We're back with a brand-new arrangement from Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment.
Both Eyes Open (Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment) - The Bear's Den

This arrangement is a little bit different from my usual style of arranging. It's one you can add to your professional repertoire and no one would bat an eye. Most of my arrangements are aimed squarely at the beginner-intermediate player and stick very close to the source material, but it's fun to flex a little bit once in a while.

Because of its difficulty, I've notated every single left-hand fingering in the piece to aid your playing or, at least, to give you an idea of how I tackle it. (And boy did that take a while! So appreciate it darn it!)

I embedded the audio recording for this one into the Guitar Pro file and sync'd it up, so you can play along with the recording rather than the usual Guitar Pro sounds.

I hope you like it! Have fun, and happy strumming!

Xion's Theme from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Musique pour la tristesse de Xion (Xion's Theme) (Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days) - The Bear's Den

This is a track a dear friend asked me to write a long time ago. I kept returning to it, adjusting small things here and there, but somehow the months slipped by. Every time I tried to really sit with it, my mind would freeze. I couldn’t move forward. Nothing sounded the way I heard it in my head, and over time it turned into a kind of quiet burden I carried with me. I didn’t just leave it unfinished; I learned to avoid it.

Today, I finally stopped fighting that feeling and decided to take the same advice I so often give others who are learning to write or arrange: just write. Don’t worry about whether it’s good. Don’t worry about where it’s going. Just put something on the page.

Letting myself do that, even while knowing I didn’t like what I was writing, was enough to loosen the grip of the block that had held this piece hostage for so long. Once the rough draft existed, it gave me something real to respond to, shape, and refine into something that finally felt right.

It’s a small reminder that experience doesn’t make you immune to doubt or creative paralysis. Sometimes, even after all these years, the hardest lesson is remembering to follow your own advice.

The Molentary Express from Professor Layton

This was a track I had wanted to do years ago, but I could never figure out a way to get that constant accordion line to work with the melody above and bass below. Taking a look at it now, I guess experience is a great teacher. Some altered tuning and a capo and BAM, works perfectly. :D

Molentary Express (Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box) - The Bear's Den

Choral Chambers from Hollow Knight: Silksong

This was a request on the Discord server, and it's a really pretty piece of music. I transposed it to make it as playable as possible while keeping the intention of the original. It fits under the fingers nicely, so play it!

Choral Chambers (Hollow Knight: Silksong) - The Bear's Den

Katawaredoki from Your Name (Kimi no Na wa)

This is my guitar arrangement of “Katawaredoki” from Your Name (Kimi no Na wa). It’s such a delicate and emotional piece; I tried to capture that fleeting, dreamlike feeling the movie is known for on guitar. Hopefully it takes you back to that unforgettable twilight scene. ✨ Thanks for listening!

Katawaredoki (Your Name (Kimi no Na wa)) - The Bear's Den

OP1 (Hikaru nara) from Your Lie In April

Here’s my guitar arrangement of the opening theme from Your Lie in April.

This anime is packed with emotion, and the opening captures that mix of energy and heart so well. I tried to bring out both the brightness and the bittersweet side of the song on guitar. Hope it brings back some memories if you’ve seen the show, and if you haven’t, definitely check it out! 💛

Hikaru Nara (Opening Theme) (Your Lie in April) - The Bear's Den

Ahead On Our Way from Final Fantasy VII

Here’s my guitar take on “Ahead On Our Way” from Final Fantasy VII! 🎸

This theme has always felt super warm and nostalgic to me, so I wanted to bring that feeling out on the guitar. Hope you enjoy it!

Ahead On Our Way (Final Fantasy VII) - The Bear's Den

Hollow Knight: Silksong - Main Menu Theme

Couldn’t resist arranging the main menu theme from Hollow Knight: Silksong. The music really captures that mysterious, beautiful vibe Team Cherry is known for, and it just felt perfect for guitar. The artificial harmonics are optional, but it's good practice if you need to work on them!

Main Menu Theme (Hollow Knight: Silksong) - The Bear's Den

Spotlight Sessions: Singing of the Gentle Wind from Xenogears

Another recording from coobs, this time from a game that needs no introduction: Xenogears!

It's no secret that Yasunori Mitsuda's music holds a special place in my heart; both the memories I have attached to the games in which they're played, and the music Mitsuda composes. He's one of the composers I always find the most joy in arranging; as a guitarist himself, his music tends to fit so well on the guitar. Whenever I'm in a slump, I invariably turn to Mitsuda to help pull me out of it!

Some really solid playing here! And if you'd like to be featured in one of these, just record yourself playing one of my arrangements and reach out! I'd love to hear your interpretations!

Get the tab here: Singing of the Gentle Wind (Xenogears) - The Bear's Den