ReMix:The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening "The Feather's Reflection" 5:19

By Rexy

Arranging the music of one song...

"Level 7 - Eagle's Tower"

Primary Game: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo , 1993, GB), music by Kozue Ishikawa, Minako Hamano

Posted 2011-12-15, evaluated by the judges panel


Rexy sends in her dark solo piano arrangement from an equally dark album:

"This is my contribution for the recent Zelda project Threshold of a Dream, a piano interpretation for Eagle's Tower. I got involved with the project when Aetherius revived it for phase 2 of its development span back in fall 2005, and unlike most remixers there was something about the genre restrictions that interested me for some reason.

So upon succeeding with the audition, he suggested I have a go at Eagle's Tower, knowing my nature as a player back then. A lot of my isolated feelings still carried over from earlier that year still seemed to transfer over in my playing style, though by some coincidence it also ended up portraying a feeling of looking into a mirror on the hopes of boosting one's ego, but rather seeing a manifestation of yourself back at you - kind of providing a feeling of self-esteem and lack thereof."

Not what I would call light listening - some solo piano arrangements are mellow, some are beautiful, some are jazzy, but relatively few are dark & cloudy, which is how I'd describe the general vibe here. Overcast, even. Which is completely appropriate for the album and jives with Bev's comments, just don't come in expecting toe-tapping or daydreaming... this is more in the introspective category, perhaps even cross-filed under "going quietly insane" ;) Deia weighs in:

"This is pretty cool, and you've done a lot of good work with a strange source. The title is pretty apt, this has a sort of reflective, mysterious feel to it, which is a lot of fun to listen to. I'd say that this does run a little long, but it still does manage to stay pretty varied throughout, and the source connection is there."

I concur that 5+ minutes may have stretched things a hair, but it's not egregious. halc adds:

"I'm not a huge solo piano buff, but this was arguably one of my favorites tracks off Threshold, and one of the most nostalgic of the bunch imo. very moody, reflective arrangement. nice stuff."

The piece speaks representatively for the album, which was itself moody and reflective, and I think it also speaks well for how Rexy's solo piano skills have improved - a long time ago there were some issues with her timing sounding quantized or mechanical, but this mix has very human, emotive dynamics that make it work. Pensive, foreboding stuff from Rexy that contributed to the overall concept for Threshold.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 11 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Rexy
on 2011-12-29 20:43:20

I'm, like, 2 weeks late with this but this is the part where I say thank you for your response :) I should've done it sooner, but I had rather been wanting for the Wild Arms and BadAss albums to sink in first before I could really make my move.

The response does indeed feel mostly positive, and I do sense both Brandon and Palpable noticing the tail of the piano texture used. This actually came from my attempts to add as much "realism" to the old sample bank that I used back in my student days, which meant having to tweak some of the envelopes on the patches that I had to work with including the attack and decay.

Yes, you read it - STUDENT DAYS. Believe it or not, this particular recording was established back in May of 2006 (yes, this take is nearly six years old!), when I had been working on the arrangement on and off during that year. This may explain some of my unhappiness with my life at the time really being channeled into the performance, fitting in with Aetherius's vision ridiculously well.

And so when I saw him dropping the project a year later, I felt extremely disappointed at what happened, not just with the project but the fact that I felt as if I was merely on projects that were going nowhere no matter how much effort I placed in them. Over time my attachment to the track was lost, but thanks to prophetik's dedication in getting it finished through phase 3 (and with then being when I FINALLY settled on a name for this thing) and getting the album unleashed upon the world, the amount of pride I had in putting it down was steadily built back up, and was soon reflected on the faint but positive user feedback from it upon the album's release.

It's a shame that I had lost the sample bank as I had been told for years that I couldn't emulate the same performance success that I had with "Tomorrow's Wake" (namely from Larry in-between talk segments on VG Frequency back in the day), and having discovered it it's all too late as I had moved onto a completely different set of gear, but I'm now game to learn with what I have now and see what I can do in what seems to be a more positive environment than years gone by. Hopefully this will be the start of a more positive comeback and not being over-confident in my abilities (when really these days, confidence in submissions tend to be lacking).

Long ramble over, but you get the picture :wink: Once again, a big thanks for the responses, and I hope to push things through for the future!

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Tuberz McGee
on 2011-12-25 19:08:49

The opening chord just shows the deep conviction of the piece.

The lead parts are filled with soul, giving a feeling of loss and deep sadness to an almost angry extent.

At about 0:55 things get a bit more technical and the piece goes head first into a slump of depression.

I won't lie. I've listened to this piece when I've felt angry at the world. It helps a tonne.

2:39 brings with it a deeper sense of anger and sadness.

I can't help but picture a man sitting over his piano playing this while the tears drip from his eyes.

Maybe I'm just over imaginative. Haha

Either way, great piece to disregard the police to.

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Mirby
on 2011-12-23 09:21:14

A nice piano rendition by Rexy, the thing she is known for the most. 1:28 brings in more of the source. 2:28 shows another part of the main rhythm. The track continues to build and expand into something more awesome and more beautiful, just like withMario’s Hazy Beach Holiday. It slows down at 4:03 or so. It goes back to basics at about 4:40.

Slightly outdated review from the album review. STILL COUNTS!

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WesternZypher
on 2011-12-16 11:12:23

Moody, moody, dark and broody, but is has this air of tranquility to it. Reminds me of this

from the original Sims game.
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Crulex
on 2011-12-16 11:04:38

Mmmm, loving this one. Dark keyed solo-piano with a nice arrangement and great production. You know that it's really good when you can keep other people's attention going for more than five minutes, especially for a piano only piece. I'm not sure what it is about the Zelda series that lends itself so well to piano, but this was a great rendition of the Eagle's Tower. Very nice.

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OA
on 2011-12-16 10:46:08

Really moody and introspective work here, with a nice sound, and a expanded arrangement that really focuses on the emotional aspect.

Nice stuff, Rexi. :-)

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Bahamut
on 2011-12-15 20:42:16

Ah wow, I forgot all about this mix - I need to listen to Threshold more, I've got nothing but good memories of the album, and this song certainly is a nice one on the album. It is a dark brooding mix that carries the atmosphere pretty well, and is fairly unusual in that it remains interesting throughout for such a long and serious piece. Good job on this one, it's certainly a standout as far as piano mixes go on the site!

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Benjamin Briggs
on 2011-12-15 18:34:22

personal favorite from the album... extremely emotive and interpretive, yet nostalgic

so good!

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Brandon Strader
on 2011-12-15 18:33:49

Not too long for me. Especially when building a dark atmosphere. :-)

So this is another incredible solo piano performance from Rexy. Piano like this would fit awesomely upon a death metal record from the mid-90s. It actually somewhat reminds me of Silhouette from Opeth's first CD. Another great performance full of ideas, flowing from one to the next. The movement at 2:38 was definitely a highlight with the staccato notes. I think the higher chords are used very well throughout this piece. There's some odd timing in the left hand at points but it isn't a dealbreaker. There's a bit of a late reflection on the reverb, which may have been a style choice -- it's a little too noticeable I think, but also not a dealbreaker. I think this is Rexy's strongest posted mix to date. :-)

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TGH
on 2011-12-15 18:04:01

5 and a half minutes of only piano, and my interest was firmly held the entire way through. Excellent musicianship, great taste in adding your own twist to the song while still staying true to the original, which is one of my favorites from the soundtrack.

Awesome work. :D

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djpretzel
on 2011-12-15 17:48:11

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo , 1993, GB)
Music by Kozue Ishikawa,Minako Hamano
Songs:
"Level 7 - Eagle's Tower"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Mood:
Dark
Instrumentation:
Piano,Solo Piano
Additional:
Arrangement > Solo

File Information


Name:
Legend_of_Zelda_Link's_Awakening_The_Feather's_Reflection_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
7,780,745 bytes
MD5:
60f1fee9b9eedf4bfff2e26002d1eb44
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
5:19

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