ReMix: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 'SoS'

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Game: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo, 1998, N64)
ReMixer(s): SAiNT 420
Composer(s): Koji Kondo
Song(s): 'Windmill Hut'
Posted: 2003-09-27, evaluated by djpretzel

Newcomer SAiNT 420, aka Jeff Little, posted this snazzy acoustic/electric guitar arrangement from Zelda 64 over on the Minibosses forums, and was met with suggestions that he submit it here, which thankfully he did. Though it's mixed a little low, and the solo that makes up the bulk of the middle of the track gets into Jerry Garcia levels of continuous, running passages, nevertheless the playing is superb and the wah guitar solo towards the conclusion alone is worth the price of admission. Introing with just acoustic guitar strumming, at 0'20" an acoustic lead solo comes in over that and you know straight out that - especially if you're a guitar buff - this is going to be an enjoyable ride. Fuzz electric comes in circa 1'17" in an extended lead that has its ups and downs - in the beginning, the fresh timbral addition to the existing acoustic texture is welcome, and the seemingly improvised playing is creative in its meandering. It does go on a bit; whether you're still into it by the time we get to the wah guitar will depend largely on your tolerance or predilection towards extended guitar solos. I prefer a bit shorter length, and some of the more chromatic passages here struck some odd tonality, but the majority was an enjoyable, mellow groove. Like many, I'm a sucker for a good cry-baby wah-guitar solo, and at 3'10" that's exactly what we get, as Jeff concludes this collage of guitar flavors with a really smooth wah solo that soars up and down with style to spare. The core melody is thankfully brought back in immediately afterwards, to remind us that this is not only an extended showmanship of guitar skills, but also a rather creative, interpretive ReMix of Zelda 64. Some excellent playing here, with a variety of guitar styles in full effect. Though to hear such playing matched with a fuller arrangement that played more on the original material would be wonderful, nevertheless this piece works on a standalone basis as a good extension of Kondo's composition into the realm of the fretted, both plugged and unplugged. Good stuff.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.

This remix was fantastic. It made me nod my head, there was little if no repetition, and it just made me zone out and made me feel all smooth and shiny.

- MechaFone on December 12, 2010

While It's impossible to deny that the mixing is a tad rough, I think it has an overall positive on the effect of the atmosphere. It's just a purely emotive piece, and precisely what the original song asks for.
And I didn't find it too long at all. Because the soloing rarely repeats itself it flies by.

- Nearly on December 12, 2010

:smile: I highly enjoyed this mix. The night I downloaded it we had a huge storm and I went out on my porch and danced to it. One of the best experiences in my life.

While I can't blame some people for not liking it, imo it one of the best on here. It was also one of the first mixes I ever heard.

- MajoraLon on July 14, 2010

This one ran way long for my tastes, and the sound balance was pretty weak, with the leads often too buried or too prevalent, and the arrangement meanders. Decent overall, but more like a WIP than a finished piece, and way too much soloing for my tastes. Some wrong notes in the middle solo also hurt it.
Can't say i'm a fan, sorry. :-(

- OA on December 10, 2009

Well, despite the wonky volume levels and overall production being a bit below the bar, this mix has its redeeming merits. It's got a pretty neat mood and is the kind of thing you can drift off into daydreaming while listening to. The arrangement is unfocused which I can see turning a lot of people off, but for the most part this is pretty good. It's not a favorite of mine but when I'm in the right mood it's easy to get lost in this song.
Socrates: Check over the [URL="http://www.ocremix.org/info/Content_Policy"]Content Policy[/URL] to see if that answers your question.

- Emunator on October 12, 2009

hey is this song free to use?

- socrates271 on October 12, 2009

wow. speechless. that was like, a journey, or a questing or something. very emotive. that performance creates imagery and texture. very impressive.

- duane on July 17, 2009

Great guitar, great mood, great salute to the original. Great in every way! Keep it up! This is awesome music to chill to.

- lady zelda on May 11, 2006

Sweet song, gorgeous tone on all the guitars, and it has a wah-wah.
What more could you possibly ask for?

- Geoffrey Taucer on May 10, 2006

This sounds like something from The Sky Moves Sideways-era Porcupine Tree. That might be why the long solos didn't bother me as much. I really like this remix, but the mixing was kinda weird. Bad levels and stuff. I'm definitely keeping this one though.
edit: I take back what I said about the mixing and stuff. Maybe I just had the volume to high on my headphone's volume control thingy. It's actually perfect.

- Radiowar on May 10, 2006

First, the bad -- I have to agree with the majority of the listeners regarding this mix. Aside from the general "noodling" as previously mentioned, the production values are sorely lacking. It sounds like someone doing a demo in his room and recording it onto a cassette tape. I have wavered numerous times between keeping this mix and outright deleting it from my collection.
With that said, you guys [i]definitely[/i] need to check out SAiNT's homepage: http://mywebpages.comcast.net/saint420. He took the time to actually remaster this track. Although the basic structure is still the same and there will inevitably still be complaints of rambling notes, SAiNT ups the production factor by no less than 10x. The lead guitar is re-EQed, the track is remastered at a super-high bitrate, drums and a bass are added, the SoS theme is revisted more flavorfully after the 2nd solo, and the song finishes on a strong ending. This should have been the definitive version posted to OCR. Grab this now, before yet another independent artist's webpage goes the wayside of the 404 error.
By the way, also grab his Duck Tales remix there while your at it. Somewhat coarse on the drums, but good nonetheless.
SAiNT, I didn't think much of your playing before, due mostly to the aforementioned issues on the original lackluster recording, but my opinion has done a 180 U-turn since. If you ever read this, keep churning out the good stuff. Props.

- MrBogus on November 26, 2005

This was one of the first OCR's i heard ,and its still awesome.

- Magical Ninja on August 19, 2005

This song is phenomonal! (Did I spell that right?) It might be my headphones but the only complaint I have is the song is way too soft!

- Final_metroid on August 17, 2005

[b]I LOVE THIS[/b]
Ever since I started listening to OC-remixes a good version of Song of Storms from zelda 64 (togeter with a good version of sarias song , still waitn') was all I wanted to hear to get nostalgic.
FINALLY someone has done it, and man SAiNT 420 did it GOOD!
I've listened through this eight bazillion times by now and the only thing I can say about that is NOT positive is the first distorted guitar solo is kinda hard to listen to.
Otherwise this is one of my all time favorites, maybe bexause I'm a guitarist and zelda lover but admit it, it IS catchy.
Good call SAiNT!
BTW, I surfed in on his website and find a version with drums and synth that was even better :O listen to that one!
Maybe SAiNT can change this one to the full arrangement over time?
Anyways, good remix, listen if you've played zelda OoT, otherwise.. listen anyway :P

- anosou on May 26, 2005

Great song. It deas get old after a while. I wonder if it has anything to do with the title, "SoS". And yet I just realized what it means... DUH! :P Man, am I dense.

- The_Wind_Waker8 on January 14, 2005