ReMix:Zelda II: The Adventure of Link "Heroes Fall" 4:42

By housethegrate

Arranging the music of 3 songs...

"Overworld BGM", "Title BGM", "Town BGM"

Primary Game: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Nintendo , 1987, NES), music by Akito Nakatsuka

Posted 2012-02-03, evaluated by the judges panel


housethegrate! It's been a long time. With his first mixpost in over four years, house moves in a completely different direction for an intimate Zelda II arrangement that features an instrumental triforce of guitars:

"This arrangement is barebones and nothing fancy. It is one steel-string guitar, one nylon, and one electric - a representation of the simple strength of three. The guitars intertwine and each takes the lead melody at different points. The Triforce holds mysterious powers.

The inspiration was memories of growing up with my two brothers. As there were three of us brothers, our adventures often occurred in trios. This song is dedicated with loving memory to my late older brother, Mikael Liss."

First of all, this is a poignant concept & inspiration for a mix; it's not only personal and heartfelt, it connects on multiple levels AND works beautifully from a musical perspective. While the arrangement is relatively conservative, the emphasis is on the emotional connection, which came through for the judges, too - OA writes:

"Very sparse take on the themes, but it is overall really nice. I could definitely imagine this as a courage-wisdom-power trio played live. The arrangement itself was very nice, with some good counter melodies and ornamentation added to the source themes"

There's a wee bit of hum/hiss present, but to me it actually makes the mix better, lending humanity & immediacy. After all, this type of track isn't about super-pristine 24-bit 192khz hermetically-sealed studio sheen, nor is it about (one more time) killer studio chops. It's about expression, and that comes through in abundance and is conveyed with purity and simplicity. Courage, wisdom, power... three guitars, three brothers, another of whom also has a mix on the site. It's a personal story, and I think knowing the background adds something. It's also a thoughtful, enjoyable, nostalgic arrangement that stands on its own, that I think a lot of people will love.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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aerious
on 2016-08-16 21:35:08

i didnt think it was possible for a song with such simple instrumentation to bring a person to tears yet here i am

by far the most emotionally moving piece ive ever heard on this site. bravo

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Crulex
on 2013-04-29 14:41:24

Three guitars playing a simple strength of three, with three sources.......this screams triforce in the best of ways, which is a charming idea carried out very well. So relaxing and calming, and the combination of the three different kinds of guitars was fun to hear. Totally diggin' the creativity here.

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lady zelda
on 2012-03-12 23:41:53

*lays on picnic blanket* ahhhhh......

Lighthearted and perky yet still so relaxing. You did an awesome job painting a picture of Link in a field after finishing a quest relaxing with a guitar replaying the highlights of his adventure to himself. You really captured the simple appeal of NES games.

Keep at it!

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sleepeeg3
on 2012-03-10 23:40:13

Nice work. I enjoyed it. One of the most neglected Zelda's.

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WeirdOregonian
on 2012-02-26 03:47:17

Yeah, this is gonna be the new anthem for me and my brothers. Adventures came in threes for us too.

Hello GravitySuitCollector.

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Emunator
on 2012-02-06 00:59:08

Really touching, I tend to find mixes like this that have an actual concept and multiple levels of meaning behind them to be the most endearing, and it really helps when the actual song itself sounds so good, too :-) Everything about this is very memorable, thanks for submitting it!

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Monobrow
on 2012-02-05 22:29:58

Really nice medley. I like how you tied them all together neatly. The playing is mostly straight forward, but you let tag along some nice touches here and there that seem so simple, but belie some forethought. In other words, it's mild yet intimate :) I like this.

Also peace to your brother. A great tribute.

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Benjamin Briggs
on 2012-02-05 14:55:07

welp that was the best thing ever.

impeccable. also funny to note that the original NES had only 3 instrumental channels as well ;D

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GravitySuitCollector
on 2012-02-05 04:08:33

I loved this. Great job. :-)

The inspiration was memories of growing up with my two brothers. As there were three of us brothers, our adventures often occurred in trios. This song is dedicated with loving memory to my late older brother, Mikael Liss

Adventures are great in trios. I myself am a triplet, so I find myself spending much of my time figuring out what sort of stuff we can do together, especially since we each started going to college two years ago. Sometimes sad things happen in life, but that doesn't mean you can't do your best to acknowledge the good ones, as I feel you've done with this.

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Moot
on 2012-02-04 14:45:25

Wow, this mix really pulled me in right from the beginning. There's something I really love about simple guitar arrangements, for me it gives off this really close and intimate feel. This arrangement really capitalized on that sense, in a fantastic way. The electric guitar really surprised me in this, I thought it was going to completely overpower the other two guitars but it was blended in really well! I'm so used to hearing electric guitar as a big power lead, hearing it in a more subdued context was a great change of pace.

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Palpable
on 2012-02-04 14:23:19

This is one of those arrangements where reading the write-up really colored my perception of the song. The idea that you and your brothers will always be together, emblematized in a song like this is really powerful and moving. It makes the interplay and emotion that much more touching. Great arrangement.

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Drakken
on 2012-02-04 13:27:13

Nice to see you back! Absolutely love this. Zelda II does indeed have some great, really memorable tunes. I like the fact that you didn't go overboard on changing them up but stayed pretty true to the original melodies. Nice job blending the three guitar tones together; they complement each other very well.

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Kiamet
on 2012-02-04 01:37:50

Love guitar ensemble stuff. The texture of this is just perfect - the melodies are so fun to listen to! Top work, housethegrate.

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SuperiorX
on 2012-02-03 19:11:56

housethegrate! It has been far too long since he has graced the front page! (Walk on Water is still my favorite OCR song of all time)

Definitely not what I was expecting, but I enjoy it nonetheless. It has a very personal, folky feeling to it. Well done! Good to see you back!

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psychowolf
on 2012-02-03 17:27:30

Its great to see house come back.

I love this, it doesn't go mental on the theme

As said before its very subtle

And from the inspiration for it you can hear the emotion behind it.

my condolences to you and your family,

If i loved this remix i'm sure you'r brother would of loved it even more.

Take care dude, keep being awesome

Sources Arranged (3 Songs)


Primary Game:
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Nintendo , 1987, NES)
Music by Akito Nakatsuka
Songs:
"Overworld BGM"
"Title BGM"
"Town BGM"

Tags (6)


Genre:
Folk
Mood:
Mellow
Instrumentation:
Acoustic,Acoustic Guitar,Electric Guitar
Additional:
Origin > Competition

File Information


Name:
Zelda_2_Heroes_Fall_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
6,860,129 bytes
MD5:
0ca05b35ca906e754677b79fa751f84d
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
4:42

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