Alicia from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Harp Cover)

Well, it's taken me nearly a year since Expedition 33 came out, but I've finally, FINALLY made a cover of Alicia. Even before I knew anything about the game, I listened to this song and was floored. But I spent all of last year working on my Octopath Traveler II album, so I wasn't able to get to this until now.

But wow, it's been so fun to arrange Alicia for the harp! I really got to lean into my classical roots, which was a lot of fun, and I feel like I was really able to create an arrangement that feels like it was really made for the harp.

The biggest change I made to the original is in the first statement of what I think of as the "chorus" - originally, the piano plays very prominently on the quarter note beat as the meter changes, but it doesn't really have the same effect on the harp, in my opinion.

I decided to keep that for the second statement as the arrangement builds to a climax, but for the first time, what I really wanted was something softer and more delicate. So instead I went in with arpeggios and a lighter touch in the right hand - just a single line in the middle register, rather than more heavy-handed chords or octaves. The result feels a little similar to L'Amour d'une Soeur.

The other change I made in the chorus, which I wonder if people will pick up on, is that I changed the baseline in the second chord from a Bb/D to just Bb. It works great on the piano, but to me I felt like I just wasn't getting the resonance and warmth that I wanted from the third of the chord in the bass.

I've been playing with the idea of creating another version of this cover with vocals... we'll see!