Hollow Knight - Greenpath (Piano Arrangement)

My channel is a year old! A huge thank you to all of you who've watched/liked/left such nice comments on my videos - it really means a lot to me :)
(Well... almost. Technically my first video was July 11.)
My most watched video in this time was Enter Hallownest from Hollow Knight, so to celebrate, here is another Hollow Knight arrangement!
After wandering through barren tunnels and gloomy ruins, the player is introduced to this lush landscape - the first area to truly show signs of current life. In a way, Greenpath can be thought of as the true "start" to the game and, in my mind, this piece should reflect that and the Knight's/player's journey through it.
My interpretation of this piece was heavily inspired by the performance by Ryan Mcgaughey (channel name: iLikePiano, link below), especially in the first half. While I'm ambivalent about the official Hollow Knight Piano Collections arrangement which he uses, his performance is excellent (far more polished than mine haha) so I wanted to give a quick shoutout before continuing.
The opening should express the initial reaction to to Greenpath. With such a stark contrast, the player is almost taken aback and has to pause to admire the scenery - represented by the rubato 0:11. While they quickly resume on their journey, the piece should still remain relaxed as the player takes in the beauty of their surroundings.
This first section continues to measure 44 (around 1:55), which in my arrangement is defined by the repeating B-E-F# accompaniment. Tempo-wise I think it's possible to either let it be relaxed/flow organically (what I did) or keep it more rigid like the original. But for the latter, the right hand needs to distinguish the different voices even more clearly, and at no point can it feel rushed. The transition to the next section also needs to be handled carefully due to the higher starting tempo. Either way, phrasing and clarity is absolutely critical - while it's especially true for the main melody, even the accompaniments should be able to stand on their own in this regard. This is an area that I could improve on - there are several overemphasized/underemphasized notes (e.g. the F# at 0:56) and a few awkward moment tempo-wise where I pause a bit longer/shorter than I should.
The start of the next section is marked by the upwards scale at 1:56 and is the turning point of this piece. From here, the player has now grown accustomed to their environment and is now ready take on the area's challenges. The mood is now very playful, with so many different voices all calling out to each other. I'm pretty proud of my approach to measures 54 - 61 (2:15 - 2:30) - the higher Bs feel more like an extra voice rather than an accompaniment (which I think is what would have happened with a simpler left hand), while the lower octaves sustained by the pedal tie it all together. On the other hand, the following section could still use some work - the left hand melody should have the same energy and feel as the right hand, but much of it is blurry instead.
The last main section starts at measure 70 (2:50). This part is straightforward interpretation-wise, although it's also the most technically challenging and there's a few places where I stumble. The main melody needs to be crystal clear, especially during the second half (3:07) where the right hand is now responsible for two voices. As for the arrangement itself, the biggest challenge was coming up with a left hand substantial enough to support the other voices. I originally wanted to keep the first and second half different, but I think it worked out okay in the end.
Overall, I think this is one of my best videos, and is certainly worthy of a one year celebration. While my performance could use some polish, the arrangement itself is solid and I think I still conveyed the main ideas across. I hope you enjoyed it as well, and thanks for watching!
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Game: Hollow Knight
Track name: Greenpath
Composer: Christopher Larkin
Arranged for piano by: Theal An
Piano: Kawai CA-79
Audio: recorded internally by the piano
Video: iPhone 6S Plus
Thumbnail: Made from in-game screenshots
Ryan Mcgaughey/iLikePiano's performance: • Hollow Knight - Greenp...
Sheet music: drive.google.com/file/d/1gK_N...
MIDI: drive.google.com/file/d/1_b5E...
(Note: The MIDI is generated from the sheet music, not from my performance.)

[@thealanpiano]

A few other notes because I ran out of space in the video description:
I moved! Hence the new camera angle and background. Not sure if I like this position or not/might change it in the future.
I will be switching to a 3 week upload schedule, at least for the foreseeable future. While I've managed to upload every 2 weeks so far, it can get quite stressful if I have other things going on in my life (such as moving). A 3 week upload schedule would give a lot more practice time and let me tackle more challenging (and fun) pieces without being forced to find easy pieces as buffer.
Speaking of challenging pieces, my next "major" video will be Inazuma from Genshin Impact - this is by far the most difficult arrangement I've worked on, but it's been incredibly rewarding and I can't wait to show it off. I've finished the first ~3 minutes, and while the remaining parts shouldn't be too difficult to arrange, they will take a lot of practice to get right. I'm hoping to have it ready by September, but we shall see.
Again, thanks for watching!

[@das7099]

Absolutly Beautiful

[@zpkspiano]

Fantastic cover!

[@angeelamcflyer]

Hi! Can i ask you how you recorded it and how did you make the video? I love this song and I love Hollow Knight haha !! Thanks ❤

[@thealanpiano]

My piano has built-in audio recording with USB, so I just use that. For video, I record with my phone and replace the video audio with the piano recording using Shotcut, which is a free video editing software. Hope this helps!