Here's the classic tune Wicked Child, probably more well known as the Stage 3 Theme from 1986's classic NES game, Castlevania! When this game was released, it's possible no one imagined that this vampire killing/stair climbing platformer would be the start of a nearly 40 year gaming franchise, however, 38 years after release, this game remains a classic. Almost as well known as the game is its soundtrack, featuring classical music elements, many of which would make Bach smile!

This tune is a pretty rocking piece, starting with an aggressive vamp that sets up the main riff of the piece. The main riff is a two melody harmony played over an uptempo disco octave bass line that alternates from D down to Bb. The harmony of these main melodies often spans a 5th, but aren't purely parallel. This is followed by an arpeggio sequence of a descending Cmaj in 2nd inversion into an ascending Dmin. Having the E as the root of the Cmaj arpeggio cleverly introduces stepwise motion between the arpeggios, and possibly a key factor in creating this memorable hook. After the arpeggios section, there's an upbeat rock section which sets up the turn around. Overall a pretty ambitious song structure at a time when track lengths were generally limited.

For tracking, I pretty much stayed true to the original arrangement, but added a keyboard unison an octave below the original main melody. I also added a parallel 3rds harmony to the 2nd half of the arpeggio section because I like parallel 3rd harmonies!

Hopefully you dig this tune, I had a great time learning it and playing it!

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