Symphony Master

The Symphony Master is an Unversed that is found in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. It is one of the bosses at Castle of Dreams, and is fought by Terra.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
After Cinderella and Prince Charming meet, Terra notices some Unversed on a balcony overlooking the ballroom. He travels up to the balcony, only to be faced with the Symphony Master. The Unversed summons three massive instruments, attacking Terra with sound waves. Terra, escaping before being hit by a resulting explosion of energy, fights off the Symphony Master.

Design
The Symphony Master is a tall, humanoid Unversed that resembles a marching band conductor. It wears a light red coat with black cuffs, a high, black collar, two black M-shaped patterns on its chest, white pauldrons with gold tassels on its shoulders, and a gold trim. Its pants are white, very baggy, and have several creases on them. It has white gloves with black fingertips and knee-high, black boots with slightly curled toes. It also wears a tall, light red with a black feather-like decoration on it and a gold trim. The Symphony Master's black head has grey horns shaped like musical notes on its sides a relatively large spike on the back of its head. When it takes off or loses its shako, it reveals short blonde hair with a widow's peak, similar to Luxord. Its red eyes are set in an angry expression and it always carries a gold, lightning bolt-shaped baton. The Unversed insignia is on its back. Every move the Unversed makes creates glowing musical notes and lines.

The Symphony Master is also always accompanied by three instruments that float around it; a trumpet, a violin, and a drum. It conducts them in time with its battle theme, The Tumbling. Its is red with white rims, a white face emblazoned with the Unversed symbol, and grey, lightning bolt-shaped supports along its sides. It has two dark grey, conical drumsticks that end in gold spheres. The is almost entirely gold, save for its mouthpiece and valves, which are silver. The trumpet's slides have a unique, zig-zagging shape. The is fairly ordinary in appearance, save for its headstock, which is an odd V-shape, and the indentations on its sides, which are deeper than normal. It is predominantly brown with some black lightning-shaped markings on its body. The violin's bow is gold with a grip shaped somewhat like the infinity symbol and a black, arrowhead-shaped tip. All three of these instruments generate glowing, red musical notes as they play.

In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, the Symphony Master receives a palette swap which gives it a bright green coat and shako. Its shako's "feather" now sports a yellow and orange gradient fading pattern. Its pants now sport vertical stripes that alternate from black to white, its gloves become black, and the cuffs of its jacket switch from black to white, as do its boots. Its baton is now bright red.

The Symphony Master's instruments also change in appearance. The drum is now yellow with black rims, while the face of the drum remains white. The handles of the drumsticks become bright blue. The violin becomes a much darker shade of brown with more black highlights, while its bow becomes a much brighter shade of gold. The trumpet is largely unchanged, but also becomes brighter in color.

A "symphony" is an extended musical composition, scored almost always for orchestra. A master is one who is highly skilled or proficient in their field.

Strategy
The Symphony Master is a much stronger opponent than the previously fought Unversed boss, the Wheel Master, and it must be defeated using a hit-and-run strategy, the best way to ensure Terra will take minimal damage in battle. Terra can utilize Shotlocks, Command Styles, and D-Links, so be sure to make good use of these special abilities.

At the start of the battle, the Symphony Master will command one of its three instruments to attack Terra. Each uses a different fighting style, so be prepared for a change in strategy with all three. Each instrument only has one HP bar, so tackling them should not be a difficult feat to accomplish. An instrument also drops much-needed HP orbs and other rewards when destroyed. If one faces the drum as its first opponent, it will home in on Terra and damage him when it makes contact, this tactic avoidable via the Guard ability. One may also utilize Counter Hammer if they have it equipped, the Guard and Counter Hammer combo a good way to damage the boss while still avoiding damage. If one faces the violin, it also will rush at Terra until it is within attack range, bombarding him with damaging sound waves. The Guard and Hammer combo can again be used to avoid this attack and damage the opposing instrument. Should one face the trumpet it will shoot sound waves as it follows Terra, meaning Slide should be used to avoid it as it moves. As the trumpet floats higher off the ground than the other two instruments, the Guard and Counter Hammer combo will be made useless. Strong aerial combos granted by a Command Style are the best way to successfully destroy the trumpet.

Once all the instruments have been destroyed, the player can focus on the Symphony Master. As its main means of offense; the distraction method it used with its instruments, is gone, the Unversed boss will begin leaping around the battlefield, creating shockwaves as it lands. Slide can be used to avoid the attack, the player then able to bombard the boss with either aerial combos or a powerful ground finisher. The Symphony Master also may elongate its conductor's baton, throwing it at Terra with a boomerang effect. The player should either Slide out the of way or use Guard to defend against it. It can also separate the baton into smaller batons and throw them at the player, similar to Larxene's throwing knives. The Symphony Master will then alternate between these three attacks for the duration of the battle. Note that landing a powerful combo finisher causes the boss to drop its hat, leaving it stunned and open for attacks until it picks it up, but be careful as it will promptly glow with dark energy, damaging the player if he or she is too close. Also note that its instruments do not have to be destroyed to defeat the boss, but it makes the fight easier. So long as one has patience and uses the correct strategies, the Symphony Master will not be a challenge.