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

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The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Quite a bit of news to catch up on: due to time obligations involving new priorities and in Wingless' case a swanky new job at Midway , John, Harmony, and analoq as well have all left the judges panel. This represents the single biggest staffing change the panel has seen; in the past, I've used this space to talk about one or two judges leaving, but talking about three hardly even seems possible in a sufficiently thorough manner. Nevertheless: Brandon, John, and Aaron are all multitalented guys who I have all confidence will be successful in their new endeavours. They all had very unique styles of evaluating mixes, ranging from succinct lowercaseness to specific technical analysis to... whatever adjectives one might use to describe what Wingless did. Musically, they're collectively responsible for some of the most memorable, creative mixes on the site, from Dragon Song to Eutopia Pegasi to demonik elektronik. But outside of their judiciary and musical capacities, and just as importantly, they're all great, smart, laid-back guys who I'm just plain happy to know. I definitely hope they can intermittently find time to still drop by or put together a mix or two, but even if that's not the case, their contributions to date have been monumental.

There's actually more to cover, but I'll save it for later, as Michael Zasadzinski (frugally pseudonymed to 'Zas' for the pronunciation-impaired) has been waiting awhile for his approved mix to reach the front page. The ReMixer writes:

"...This is the first movement of a personal project of mine, which aims to cover the storyline of Ocarina of Time by following the Game's OST around. This installment deals with Ganon and the Deku Tree, as well as the beginning of Link's journey."

Shariq found the perfect adjective to describe the end result:

"Ponderous. I like it. It's hard to do something like this, which is such a slowly evolving piece, effectively, but you've managed to pull it off. I love how this piece moves from one idea to the next seamlessly. The crescendo to the Deku Tree theme at 4:51 is perfect; a powerful statement with lots of emotion behind it."

For some reason, parts of this reminded me of the soundtrack to the Fatal Fury anime film - very expansive and grandiose. It's very cinematic, and does a particularly strong job of slowing down some of your favorite Zelda melodies and making them sound both interesting and natural at a much more deliberate pace than their original context. For the most part, the arrangement is percussionless, and is largely led by various winds. Oboe and flute figure largely, but I specifically like the way the harp fills in the gaps between passages and guides the whole thing along. Jesse used five adjectives - and nothing else - in his decision:

"organic, unique, reflective, complex, simple."

The complex simplicity and simple complexity might seem paradoxical, but it's appropriate; no one portion is overly elaborate, but the whole of the composition is rather tightly woven and nested. Besides a weak, premature cutoff on the final note, this is an excellent approach to an ambitious vision, and as Michael's first posted mix, a strong and memorabe introduction; hopefully, it's a prelude in more ways than one.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Wow, a really thought-provoking mix here- it's very well suited to telling a story, and it floats from one theme to another effortlessly. There are some great details tucked into this one, but it never comes across as cluttered.
Some really nice moments throughout, and it really does tell a story. Nice work. :-)

- OA on June 19, 2009
Subtle things going on here which makes this so interesting.
There is an undercurrent mingling each theme throughout the mix.
While each theme is distinctive, they're extremely fluid, well woven together, and revisited appropriately.
What I'm trying to spit out like a popcorn kernel wedged in my teeth is that this is no average, run-of-the-mill, "ho-hum", ordinary melody; this is something far greater and more delectable.
I highly agree, nay demand, that if there ever is a Legend of Zelda movie (curse you IGN for breaking my heart :-() that this needs to be part of the movie score.

- 42 on March 2, 2009
This sounds like a movie soundtrack more than just a remix of the familiar themes. I like the use of some of the motifs from Wind Waker at 1:31. All the different musical motifs are blended together seamlessly - especially where you hear the "Deku Tree's speech" segment mixed with the Hyrule Castle theme at 4:09, and at 3:00 where just a snippet of the title screen music comes in. I would have liked to see a bit of Ganondorf's theme mixed in place of the Hyrule Castle theme at a few points but that's really the only crit I have.
If a Zelda movie ever sees production, this is the kind of music they need to use. I'm looking forward to hearing future installments.

- Lovely Peach on January 9, 2009
Pretty cool Orchestra tone. Links in to the story telling aspect. Nicely done overall. Good dynamics.

- Ryu2Wolf on January 6, 2009
For those interested, the next part is here:
http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?p=218064#post218064

- FM on January 16, 2007
Sweet! That's awesome.

- Adam_Slight on October 5, 2006
I've written the next 4, but producing them is the hard part. Expect it reasonably soon though!

- FM on October 5, 2006
When is the next installment due?

- Adam_Slight on July 16, 2006
High quality stuff. Good use of crescendos, especially.

- Chuckles on June 30, 2006
Is it just me, or is the first link for the song - # HTTP - http://dhmirror.ocremix.org/songs/Zelda_64_Prelude_OC_ReMix.mp3 - bad? I tried to download it and all Iw as getting was a 1kb file.

- Lyrai on June 26, 2006
I think this was a well done song, though it was a bit long. Even so, it was very relaxing and it makes your mind swirl with images. Absolutly superb.

- Square-EnixLover on March 17, 2006
This would be incredible as the opening theme of a Zelda movie. I can see it in my mind... lots of sweeping shots of Hyrule are involved, I'll tell you that.

- Zekian on March 16, 2006
I completely second what everybody else has said. It's amazing. I would still describe it as movie soundtrack material, not that I'm promoting a Zelda movie, but it's dramatic, beautiful, and engaging throughout. I will say once again, that Disney can't top this. Awesome stuff, Zas.

- lady zelda on January 25, 2006
Damn this is some damn right good work, however, it does sound alot like "The Wind Waker" near the end, when u meet the king at the very end....
NICE JOB goodie ol chap :d Youve made a man proud
Really damn right nice work

- iain70000 on January 24, 2006
I actually listened to it over and over again, without realizing I had my player on repeat. I thought to myself, "Wow this song is long."
It's a really great mix though.

- Souldier on January 18, 2006

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