Orchestral Kirby by Ronald van der Ham

In the fall/autumn of 2017 I wanted to take another swing at arranging music for orchestra. Instead of arranging originals I decided to look for a set a of well known themes with a potential for public appeal. This set would also have to lend itself to a classically tinged orchestral arrangement. I knew I had struck gold when I encountered the music of Kirby's Adventure, a NES game I loved to play in my youth. Its music was memorable across the board, and the 8-bit sound left enough room making reinterpretation worth the effort.

I noticed the music in Kirby's Adventure could be grouped into three categories: 1) Pop/rock-tunes such as the Yoghurt Yard and Boss Battle music; 2) Latin tunes such as the main music to the Butter Building & Orange Ocean and 3) Classical tunes. I chose from the latter category, because I reckoned these would be adapted most easily to a virtual orchestra.

I aimed at amplifying each theme's unique flavour. For example, I tried to bring out the Russian soul that lurked in the "Forest Area" and with the "Rainbow Resort Map" I highlighted its inherent sleepiness. In most tracks I added counterpoint freely, changed structure or key, developed variations and wrote proper endings (no fades!). This was especially necessary in order to flesh out the miniatures of the world maps. You will sometimes hear a truthful retelling of the music you know, whilst at other times you are taken into utterly new directions.

Ronald van der Ham is a Dutch composer & guitarist. He is always on the lookout for surprising and adventurous harmonies, and explores these in music's far corners, whether they be black metal, classical composition or good old heavy rock.

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