Departures - Guilty Crown ED1 [Animenz Cover]

Hey everyone!
I'm back again with another video =D and no blazer as it's too annoying to play while wearing it haha - maybe I'll wear it in winter?
The bit after the key change uses a different camera angle as I tried to spice things up a bit =P
Anyways, Departures is my all-time favourite song from my favourite band, EGOIST. I first watched Guilty Crown in 2017 and instantly fell in love with the song as Chelly's voice is so smooth and really conveys the melancholic atmosphere of the song/anime. I've listened to this song on repeat for so long that I've memorised the lyrics lmao
When I first heard Animenz's arrangement, I didn't really want to play it since it wasn't 100% true to the original so I dropped it a few years ago. However, last year I found Departures in my RUclips recommended section again so I decided to check out Animenz's arrangement again. This time, I really liked the jazzy parts after playing other pieces with jazzy sections like Kigeki so I immediately went to practice it again.
I realise how masterfully arranged this piece is, especially the three-hand section at 1:42 which beautifully builds upon the opening. It was a pain to learn, though, haha. You need to be very efficient with how you choose the fingering for the main voice as the left hand has quite a few jumps involving chords. A tip for finding the ideal fingering is just to watch Animenz's video at 0.1x speed and copy his =D
The part that got me hooked on this piece was the jazzy section at 2:17. It took me a really long time to play it like Animenz as I didn't realise you had to hold the bottom D while changing pedals and letting go of the other notes. By holding the lower D, you can hear a 10th after playing the next chord (Dsus) which is why it sounds so good - 10th's are the best!
I read a comment under Animenz's video about how to play the tremolo section but I didn't really understand it. It's not that complicated, though. Just keep your wrist steady so you can oscillate it between the two groups of notes. No need to spend time lining it up with the left hand since you'll naturally do that if you play the right number of tremolos. Take it slow at the beginning or else you might develop a wrist injury!
Lastly, the cadenza at the end was so challenging to sync both hands. It took me 3 weeks to get that right and it still sounds a bit funky lol
The next cover will be Michishirube! See you then =)
Btw, I recorded this video with 4 mics - 2 AKG C414 and 2 Neumann KM184. Can you hear a difference?

[@Rafarofapiano]

SO CLEAN

[@Karl_Piano]

you just gotta love the way faziolo pianos sound. im in love (but broke :'))

[@CharlesMaPiano]

Very powerful but with clarity! You can try it at a piano shop, I'm sure the owners would be fine with you playing a bit

[@Karl_Piano]

@@CharlesMaPiano oh bet i have tried one. they are just peak piano. i could go into way more detail why, but im to lazy lol

[@YoungbloodPiano]

Really great cover! I also love the extra effort put into the production quality of this one. The extra camera angle is nice to see, and the audio sounds so much fuller in my opinion.

[@CharlesMaPiano]

Thanks for the feedback and glad you liked the audio! I spent so long tweaking it

[@harrisontrakilovic6766]

kinda popping off in this one sheesh

[@boredPianoAdv]

I sincerely think you make some of the best Animenz covers - your technique and attention to detail are on point! Sound quality and visuals are superb too; love the Fazioli representation, and it shows that you worked hard on getting the lighting right
Edit: only thing missing in this whole video is proper audio-video sync, lol

[@CharlesMaPiano]

Thanks for the encouragement! It's my goal to make the best covers I can =)
I don't like sharing anything I didn't put 100% effort in

[@Ahmed-yg3wp]

Exelent

[@Deeroot]

Damn nice job, this will be hard to match up to. Btw I did the same thing to find the fingering for 1:42 lol.

[@CharlesMaPiano]

I look forward to hearing your cover!

[@RichardYangPiano]

This is good stuff man. But for some reason I still believe you’re holding back power. I’d say, let it all out, you got a powerful piano to support all the potential power in you man.

[@CharlesMaPiano]

Yeah, I think the ending could've been louder definitely! I was debating whether to re-record but I got a bit lazy haha

[@BrayzePiano]

Nice cover!~

[@CharlesMaPiano]

❤

[@AlansPiano]

❤

[@rjampana7823]

Do you think you will ever learn Everyday World? Your tone is very well suited for Animenz's ballad arrangments

[@CharlesMaPiano]

Yep, re-learning that currently

[@rjampana7823]

@@CharlesMaPiano Awesome I will be looking forward to it

[@twofoldd]

I think you can become second Animenz🌚🎹

[@CharlesMaPiano]

Naw, I can strive to be like him though!

[@twofoldd]

💔❤️‍🩹Beautiful

[@CharlesMaPiano]

Thanks =D

[@rjampana7823]

Your learn so quickly holy shit

[@CharlesMaPiano]

Nah, it took like 2 months which is a bit longer than what I'd like but I didn't have much time

[@rjampana7823]

@@CharlesMaPiano I mean you're a second year university student right? It impressive that even with such little time you can learn a piece of this difficult in only two months

[@CharlesMaPiano]

@@rjampana7823 Yeah I am. I guess I've learned quite a few Animenz arrangements so I'm used to his style.
Piano > university 😛

[@AlansPiano]

Will you play Avid ? It’ll be perfect if we can heard Fazioli&Avid❤

[@CharlesMaPiano]

Yeah definitely. I love that arrangement. However, I want to try another style other than ballade for now since I'm going to upload "everyday world" and "michishirube" soon =)