ReMix: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 'Bottled Choir'
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- Game: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Nintendo, 1991, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Brandon Strader, ladyWildfire
- Composer(s): Koji Kondo
- Song(s): 'The Goddess Appears'
- Posted: 2011-12-05, evaluated by the judges
WAT? More Zelda? Yup, but not from 25YL this time... this here's a new arrangement from Brandon Strader, with a vocal OCR debut from ladyWildfire; Mr. Briggs chimed in on the submission email:
"Ben Briggs here. Brandon has asked me to do the write-up for this song (and I also thought up the title), because he is illiterate. Many of you may not know this, but Mr. Strader writes and records awesome original music! You can (and should) listen to all of it here -> http://brandonstrader.bandcamp.com/
Anyway, I decided that I was going to convince him to do a remix in this same style, because I thought he had a fairly... SKEWED idea of what was "supposed to be" an OC ReMix. I told him that it would be easy, considering how much experience he has with the genre, and I suggested "The Goddess Appears" from the Zelda 3 OST. I was his only guide and harshest critic throughout the production process.
In the very late stages of this song, Brandon decided to get wildfire on the track, singing those SUPER RIDICULOUSLY HIGH female vocals that you hear throughout. Gotta respect that range, seriously, she's a beast. Having her sing the melody really was the PERFECT finishing touch to what is now one of my favorite Zelda remixes of all time <3 "
This was a good suggestion on Ben's part; I made similar suggestions to Jimmy in the past, to incorporate both his singing and guitar playing into his ReMixes, and - whether it's because he listened to me or not - 'Chivalry Begins' is a great track that showed off more of what he's capable of. Anyone doing their mixes in one style and their originals in another should at least consider SOME overlap; experimentation is a good thing! This is a mellower, rock/ballad arrangement with ethereal singing/vocalizing that lends a very laid back, transcendental vibe, completely in keeping with the source material. halc writes:
"really smooth, pleasant textures. slight timing issues coupled with delay on the guitar were slightly distracting, but the production and sounds are nice, and you've actually added quite a bit of variation on a short, repetitive theme. the tempo-change transition could have been tighter but I'm not bothered by it. love the layered vocals from both; Wildfire's intonation as said is slightly off at times but otherwise her range is pretty impressive. nice work, guys."
The tempo transition (at 1'36", specifically) actually DID bother me... almost like the clutch got stuck momentarily while shifting gears... but the delay effect & vocal intonation - ultimately much more important - did not. It's a little risky to anchor a mix on a vocalized melody like this, and even more interesting to do a male-female duet of sorts in the process, so definite kudos are in order for trying something different and making it work. I think it's an approach that is particularly well-suited to the source material - "ahhhs" and "oohs" certainly make sense for the appearance of a goddess, right? - so that contextuality also serves the bigger picture. The sheer range on wildfire's vocal really does lend the right sort of ambiance & otherworldliness, so the collab certainly resulted in this vision reaching a more complete realization. Good, unique stuff!
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the While the tempo change is a bit abrupt, it does not bother me much, personally.
Fade out is a little weak, IMO. Would've liked for the vocals to be at full volume until the end.
- Martin Penwald on March 27, 2012
- ryankeeton on December 28, 2011
This is great. It's so pretty. :razz: The vocals are the icing on the cake of an excellent arrangement.
AND GOD CAN SHE SING
This mix just works. It just does. I can't put my finger on a how... or why. It just does.
END OF STORY
NEXT
- Tuberz McGee on December 25, 2011
NegimaSonic;825883 wrote: Those are some pretty high notes. How high can she go? (srs question rly)
not really sure, i've never had any vocal training. this was definitely pushing the upper limits though.
- wildfire on December 6, 2011
- NegimaSonic on December 6, 2011
This makes me happy, mainly because I'm collabing with her on another album.
Ahem. Yeah, this is a nice mellow track that captures the feel of the original perfectly and converts it into a calming, soothing rhythm. Kinda like what the fairies do by calming and relaxing Link to heal him. Or something.
The vocals are the icing on the cake, taking what was already pretty nice to a whole new level of awesome.
- Mirby on December 6, 2011
So what we have here is a nice and charming ballad akin to some of Brandon's original acoustic material. It mostly retains itself pretty safe to the theme, though the tempo-changed section at 1:40; while somewhat awkward, did manage to play around with the chords enough to vary things up. The little original response calls thrown in throughout were pretty sweet, and the chants throughout (including that bleedin' AWESOME whistle register vocal from Wildfire) similarly gave it some life. Very sweet stuff.
I'm not even sure if it's sane eough for me to state this too, but the drum transitions seem a little weak for my liking. Thankfully due to the style it doesn't hurt the mix as much, though it is something to bring up when it comes to percussion, which seems to be somewhat of a weak point for quite a few remixers out there, I've noticed.
That said, it's a pretty track and it managed to fit really well for Zelda's anniversary even if it wasn't for that album. Nice work you two, and let's see BadAss come out soon too :D
- Rexy on December 6, 2011
- GravitySuitCollector on December 6, 2011
I like the middle part where you diverge from the theme and the chords, I sort of wish there was a little more development in that direction, away from the source, since the source itself is so short and repetitive. It's not a major gripe though, because after I was finished listening to it, I immediately wanted to hear it again, so clearly the repetition does not put me off .)
Like halc, I was kinda iffy about the tempo change. I felt that some of the super delay in the beginning was a bit distracting and made things a bit crowded; that wouldn't have been my production choice, but it still works.
Overall, this one is a definite love for me. Great job and thank you for making this and sharing it with us all ^_^
- diotrans on December 5, 2011
Bahamut;825757 wrote: Can we see a live performance of this at MAGFest Jamspace maybe? :)
Maybe if you're lucky ;-)
- wildfire on December 5, 2011
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!!!!!
finally... you've taken my favorite Zelda song of all and made it.... well, you've made it exactly how i imagined it would sound if it were rearranged in the right hands!
I can't type anymore without spilling every ounce of my inner over-the-top-fanboy-praise, but this has just earned a spot on my top favorite OC Remixes, right up there with Love Hurts and Read the Sine.
Great job. "perfect" is selling it short imo, but to each his/her own.
also, great debut for LWF!
- Damashii!! on December 5, 2011
Can we see a live performance of this at MAGFest Jamspace maybe? :)
- Bahamut on December 5, 2011
- Crulex on December 5, 2011
- uhhh6677 on December 5, 2011
Yet every second up to that, and within moments after I had settled down, i was relaxed and peaceful and this song was slowly rocking me to heaven. Almost perfect, an excellent excellent piece... Thanks for such a great song. Great vocals as well...
Now to check out your solo stuff.
- Swifthom on December 5, 2011
