[Plazmataz]

So I'm in the middle of replaying Zelda: A Link to the Past, and I found that I'd forgotten just how similar the two main themes for the Dark World are (The main theme and the mountain/forest theme). I wondered, "What would happen if I just... played them at the same time?"

So I did. And I was quite surprised when I ended up with some pretty intense polyphony. I changed the rhythms to make it sound a little, I don't know, funky, then changed all the tracks from pianos to different synths. Added some drums, played around with the two main themes, and ended the song kind of abruptly. And then I added a kick drum throughout the whole thing for good measure.

Pros: I really like the sound of it in general. Very pleasantly surprised by how nicely that worked out.

Cons: I didn't do much as far as structure goes. Just ABCB, then the song ends.

Feedback, suggestions for improvement, and any comments are very welcome. Also, if this... thing is a lost cause, don't be afraid to let me know that it's not worth continuing.

VERSION 1 (3/14):



VERSION 2 (3/16):

[BlackPanther]

Heh, the only way I know how to explain the sound is "organic" this sounds very organic and I like it lol. That airy synth that starts at 1:28 playing the main dark world them you should probably bring up since it's playing a lead sound that's about all I have for you though. I really like this I hope you plan on submitting this when it's ready.

[Red Kinikacha]

I like it, but its more "Omph"

Add some Build-up, Mess with the EP's, and don't be afraid to add some originality in.

[MrSneak]

I always loved these themes and I don't think they're mixed enough, honestly.
I think the whole things a little bubblier than I would normally prefer. It lends itself to feeling very artificial. I still did enjoy listening to it. If I had one request, it would be that you increase the importance of the main Dark World theme. Right before the end it gets a little quiet solo time, but before that it seems dominated by the mountain tune.

I'd love to hear you roll with this. I've always enjoyed it when tracks match up in fun ways.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spYrjbyC3eY

[SLyGeN]

Death Mountain is heavily in minor.

The beginning of the dark world theme, not so much. I haven't really studied the Dark World theme, this is all just by ear.. but consider moving your dark world backing to the parallel minor key.

edit: Or, move death mountain to the relative Major.. it would certainly be different. I personally hate Major, though.

[aselectbselect]

First off, your percussion is lots of fun, and it's unique enough that it doesn't feel too repetitive- that said, more variation certainly couldn't hurt. I'll second Red's call for more bass - especially the kick. I want to hear it pumping!

The lead that comes in at :08 is good - especially those tiny breaks and staccato notes, which keep it from sounding too 'drone'y. The thing is, it stands out too much - it doesn't feel enough a part of the rest of the music, it's almost like it's just sitting on top of the other instruments, you know? Maybe a little reverb, or panning it around a bit could help sort of fill that out. And once it's gone at :40 (or once it's transitioned into the higher notes) it feels like it leaves a hole in the sound spectrum.

Also, in general, although there are a few areas where this changes, for the most part the bass and sort of airy accompaniment pad are just doing the same notes of the same chord over and over again - it really needs a little progression to help move things along, even just transposing the notes so they're not so repetitive would be good.

The ending synth fade down is cool too - and lends itself to a quieter, more sparsely instrumented passage, maybe with some sort of spaced-out drums with some delay - some nice classic snare hits or claps perhaps? Anyway, you could easily carry that on for a while, maybe taking things up a minor third before returning to the previous pattern again, and that'd be a great way to keep things fresh, while sort of lengthening the track.

[Plazmataz]

Alright, I've got a second version here. I went ahead and did some simple things, like turning up parts that were getting the shaft (kick, bass, the main Dark World theme), and then went through the second half of the song and added more melody to the dry parts. I didn't add any new voices, but I took hold of the weakest/most repetitive of the backup parts and gave them larger roles. The length of the song hasn't changed, but I hope the quality has.

Note: I still haven't mixed up the drumline, which I will do, never fear. I haven't lengthened the song or drastically changed its structure, although I plan on getting the former done, if not the latter.

Enjoy!

VERSION 2:

[Brian]

Originally Posted by SLyGeN

Death Mountain is heavily in minor.

The beginning of the dark world theme, not so much. I haven't really studied the Dark World theme, this is all just by ear.. but consider moving your dark world backing to the parallel minor key.

edit: Or, move death mountain to the relative Major.. it would certainly be different. I personally hate Major, though.

forest mountain is aeolian and Dark Overworld is dorian.
I dislike major as well lol. With today's pop music, a lot of them are written in major, and it gets so boring after awhile. But that's just me. A minor to Maj7 progression or vice versa are one of those type of progression that instills a lot of emotion imo.

[SLyGeN]

Originally Posted by Brian

forest mountain is aeolian and Dark Overworld is dorian.
I dislike major as well lol. With today's pop music, a lot of them are written in major, and it gets so boring after awhile. But that's just me. A minor to Maj7 progression or vice versa are one of those type of progression that instills a lot of emotion imo.

I've found a buddy. Please post more.

Yeah I haven't looked at the Dark World's theme real closely, but Dorian sounds right.

Not sure what Am to Maj7 means though, that looks like guitar jargon that I don't understand. Is the Maj7 an A Maj7 as well? A C E to A C# E G# ?

The upper portion of Dorian is major-sounding, and I think that's what my ears are hearing that appear to clash. So if you lower the sixth and seventh notes of the Dark World, that'll be fixed. Or you can raise the sixth and seventh of Death Mountain... but I like the idea of moving everything to Aeolian much better

ooh

move it all to phrygian!

[Brian]

Originally Posted by SLyGeN

I've found a buddy. Please post more.

Yeah I haven't looked at the Dark World's theme real closely, but Dorian sounds right.

Not sure what Am to Maj7 means though, that looks like guitar jargon that I don't understand. Is the Maj7 an A Maj7 as well? A C E to A C# E G# ?

The upper portion of Dorian is major-sounding, and I think that's what my ears are hearing that appear to clash. So if you lower the sixth and seventh notes of the Dark World, that'll be fixed. Or you can raise the sixth and seventh of Death Mountain... but I like the idea of moving everything to Aeolian much better

ooh

move it all to phrygian!

The 7th is lowered in both dorian and aeolian. The only difference is the 6th so that's what you've been hearing (aeolian has a lowered 6th and dorian doesn't). Theoretically if you were to have forest mountain follow the chord progression of dark overworld in the beginning four measures (i,IV, i7,IV), then the melody in forest mountain would go something like this: C, C, C, F,F,F,C,C,C instead of the Eb. Right now this is considered dissonant since the chord progression is clashing or isn't matching with the 2 sources (not that it's a bad thing). The chord progression for forest mountain is i all the way for the first 4 measures.

Off topic: I meant minor to maj7. The "A" in the sentence probably got you confused lol ("a" as in "a" song; singular). ei. The key starts out in Amin and later progresses to Fmaj7. In an Fmaj7 chord, the melody is centered around Amin while the bass is centered around F.