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The Official Legend of Zelda Series Music Thread


Faleel

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On 2/26/2017 at 5:05 PM, I Need About Tree Fiddy said:

Zelda is better because at one time, it had the incorrect honor of being written by John Williams back when Napster was legal. 

 

The birth of alternative facts!

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6 hours ago, Arpy said:

Shame it's only set for a Japan release. 

That's how is has been for a while, they have to be imported

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  • 8 months later...

@Disco Stu @Nick Parker Here are some cues from my WIP edit of Twilight Princess with my own adaptations for clean endings and transitions etc. They are only first drafts, so I will rework some of the more choppy ones.
 

 

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9 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

I don’t know what your plan is but I’m interested in the idea of shorter listening experience focused edits for game scores.

I have done single CD edits of Majora, Skyward Sword, Twilight Princess and Wind Waker.

The plan is to first edit a version of the full score with looping reduced and with adaptations for endings, and transitions to smooth any crossfades/segues, and then edit a shorter presentation after that.

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I never knew we had a Zelda music thread here. I imported the BOTW soundtrack release and it is fantastic. There is a lot of subtly and depth in the music that is pretty hard to make out in the game. There's a nice motif for the champions, their individual themes, and some pretty cool nods to past Zelda themes tucked away in various tracks. 

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I imported that box set too!  Haven't opened it yet though; Wanted to beat the game first and I kind of put it down after the 3rd Guardian and haven't returned to finish yet for some reason

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I remember a few people complaining about the BOTW score not being as engaging as previous entries, but listening to it separate from the game @artguy360 is right, there is a certain subtlety to the music that suits the quiet moments of exploration, with the thematic material punctuating the key scenes. My brother bought the physical CD set from Japan and the packaging is lovely, like most of the product design work for this game.

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Hey @Nick Parker

 

As a fan of Zelda music and a synth enthusiast, I'd love to know your thoughts on this album.  I have no concept of how well it's put together, but I still find it strangely disappointing even though it's very up my alley (being a fan of Zelda music and analog electronic music of the 1960s and 70s).  I guess the sound is basically right, but the arrangements aren't as sophisticated as I'd like them be.  Maybe I'm looking for "What if Zelda was performed by Tangerine Dream circa 1975?" and this isn't that.

 

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3 minutes ago, Faleel J.M. said:

 

Whoa cool!  Now I just hope the Mario concert gets released too.

 

Also, I forgot this thread existed!  I should probably have the post I just put in the 'Video Game Music' thread here...

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  • 1 month later...

Am I the only one thinking that BOTW's score isn't that memorable? It sure fits the game, and it can be very soothing, given that you sometimes, you know, wander around aimlessly, but altogether, I find it a bit dissapointing.

Just bumping this because I got the Switch plus game for Christmas, and am about to enter Hyrule Castle.

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On 1/21/2019 at 10:54 AM, gkgyver said:

Am I the only one thinking that BOTW's score isn't that memorable? It sure fits the game, and it can be very soothing, given that you sometimes, you know, wander around aimlessly, but altogether, I find it a bit dissapointing.

Just bumping this because I got the Switch plus game for Christmas, and am about to enter Hyrule Castle.

 

What are some of the tracks you enjoy from past games? 

 

I consider Breath of the Wild to be one of the great Zelda scores.

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I can't name track titles because I don't remember older games so well, but Twilight Princess is a treasure of great music, and Wind Waker is pretty fantastic. Sheik's theme from Ocarina of Time is super nice, and I like parts of Majora's Mask, like Elegy of Emptyness (?). 

Me not warming up to BotW has maybe something to do with my lukewarm feelings towards piano, which much of BotW consists of.

 

I don't know what it's called, but starting from 1:24:50 here, this is amazing:

 

 

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End Credits from A Link to the Past?

 

And yes it is definitely gorgeous, though it loses the amazing transition into the main Zelda theme from the actual in game version.

 

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On 6. Dezember 2018 at 10:47 PM, Faleel J.M. said:

 

Somebody alert me when this becomes available.

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On 1/30/2019 at 1:51 PM, Faleel J.M. said:

End Credits from A Link to the Past?

 

And yes it is definitely gorgeous, though it loses the amazing transition into the main Zelda theme from the actual in game version.

 

 

I never noticed how much that sounds like David Arnold's main theme from The World Is Not Enough

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Done.

I just bought the 2 CD 30th anniversary concert, which imo isn't as good as the Symphony of the Goddess. 

 

I just read that the description says "emphasis of the concert is on ocarina, harp, and accordeon." What? Isn't this the Symphony?

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Well the description mentions the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the tracklist (very BOTW heavy) does mention an Ocarina medley and Kan’ accordeon medley:

 

 

Disc 1:

  1. Main Theme – Breath of the Wild
  2. Breath of the Wild Medley – Hyrule
  3. Zelda’s Theme
  4. Ocarina Melodies Suite 2018
  5. Boss Battle Medley 2018
  6. A Link Between Worlds & Tri Force Heroes Medley
  7. Breath of the Wild – Champions

Disc 2:

  1. Link’s Awakening Medley
  2. Breath of the Wild – Kass Medley
  3. Horse Race
  4. The Legend of Zelda ~Harp Lesson~
  5. Breath of the Wild – Final Battle
  6. The Legend of Zelda Main Theme
  7. Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017 Trailer BGM
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5 hours ago, gkgyver said:

Done.

I just bought the 2 CD 30th anniversary concert, which imo isn't as good as the Symphony of the Goddess. 

 

I just read that the description says "emphasis of the concert is on ocarina, harp, and accordeon." What? Isn't this the Symphony?

It is the symphony.

 

Some tracks have ocarina etc. In the orchestrations. That's all. see the above video I linked to.

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1 hour ago, Faleel J.M. said:

It is the symphony.

 

Some tracks have ocarina etc. In the orchestrations. That's all. see the above video I linked to.

 

I know, but the video was taken down.

 

I mean symphony of the goddess. I heard the concert on Youtube, it's not the symphony of the goddess that I heard. There is quite a bit of repeated music from the 30th anniversary double CD. For example, I don't know why they would repeat the ocarina medley, or Fairy Fountain ("Harp Lesson").

Finale Battle is great, though, I was hoping for the BotW epilogue.

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Those WERE a part of the first iteration

The ocarina songs medley was dropped for the "Second Quest" and "Master Quest" programmes

 

Fairy's Fountain was dropped for "Second Quest", but returned for "Master Quest"

 

https://zelda.gamepedia.com/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Symphony_of_the_Goddesses

 

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On 2/13/2019 at 3:39 PM, gkgyver said:

Yes, THAT concert. But it's not Symphony of the Goddess.

Symphony of the goddesses (Master Quest) was released in this album:

https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-legend-of-zelda-symphony-of-the-goddesses-master-quest-live-concert-from-the-venetian-mw0003080203

 

Though it seems it was only a digital release and there was some issue with that release and it was pulled (it does seem to be on Spotify). There’s a lot of repetition from the 25th and 30th CDs, but there’s some unique tracks on it, like a A Link to the Past medley. There’s more clapping and cheering than in the 30th, where it’s mostly only at the end of tracks, in this one there’s some clapping in the middle of the tracks.

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There is/was videos on YouTube of a soundboard recording of a Master Quest concert in Tokyo with LTTP etc. without clapping during the music.

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I found the Master Quest concert digital album on YouTube, but not from Tokyo. I find the Symphony Of The Goddesses far superior to the concert that's released on CD now.

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HA!  Earlier this month the Ocarina of Time soundtrack got a bona fide, serious Pitchfork review

 

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/koji-kondo-the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time/

 

Not a joke at all, and actually very knowledgeable and well-written.

Quote

Kondo’s fascination with arcane instrumentation rarely heard in general, let alone in games, gave him the edge. An Armenian duduk snakes through the musty, grim “Spirit Temple,” marimbas pace around the climactic battle against Ganondorf—set against leaden drums in a 23/16 time signature that looks bizarre on paper, they represent the lithe movement you need to overcome a dominating but cumbersome final boss—while the rattling percussion and ephemeral hollering of “Forest Temple” respectively came from Indonesian angklung and a sample pack named Zero-G Ethnic Flavours.

 

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48 minutes ago, Borodin said:

I'm not overly obsessed with Zelda music. But, I haven't heard this in years and I started lying down on my bed... and these voices came from nowhere in my head!

 

1:10

 

 

Incorporates a track from a CD sampler of world music called "Zero-G Ethnic Flavours"

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Incorporates a track from a CD sampler of world music called "Zero-G Ethnic Flavours"

 

 

The Zero-G samples have featured in so many video game soundtracks, it's almost like they were made for games! What's unfortunate is people see the word "sample" and think the composer is lazy and not fully responsible for the music they enjoyed. I remember finding a Silent Hill forum where they were tracking down all the samples Akira Yamaoka used for the series, and some people were saying, "Man, I lost some respect for Yamaoka now"...I guess it's like the initial feeling of seeing orchestrators credited alongside John Williams. 

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