Artist Name: Ridiculously Garrett
This is an arrangement of "Zora's Domain" in a straight ahead style. This arrangement was originally inspired by the city pop genre. The track is created using MIDI sounds from Bitwig Studio and some samba percussion samples.
We start off hearing the iconic introduction played by the synthesizer which has high reverb. A drum fill transitions us into a tight, lower reverb setting at 00:13. 8 bars later and we hear the melody played by a soft, yet bright synthesizer sound. Accompanied by some close voiced, colorful piano chords over a bass pedal on the tonic. The chord progression follows the original composition completely with no changes.
Another thing to note which continues to develop throughout this arrangement is the influence of bossa nova/samba on this arrangement. You will hear the bass play on 1 and 3, a staple to bossa nova. You also will hear two different bossa claves hard panned in both ears.
At 01:27, we get our first chorus continued by the synthesizer. We hear the drums play a low tom on beats 2 and 4, a common samba rhythm usually played on a similar type of pitched drum. Addition of ride cymbal and some elongated bass patterns gives it more of chill feel. At 01:57 we get a quick break from the melody.
At 02:13 we get a reference from Ocarina of Time's "Title Theme" to start us off in a piano solo. The solo plays for the rest of the section, and mostly follows the original main melody with some slight variations.
At 03:03, we return to the chorus as a breakdown. At 03:27, we play the chorus one last time with the groove back in, this time ride is flipped to playing on downbeats instead of offbeats, just a little funny detail with no major significance.
At 03:51 I really start to develop more of the bossa influence. The track remains in 4/4, but the synthesizer plays a 3 over 4 cross rhythm. This is a very common rhythm in bossa nova claves and percussion and was probably replicated in the claves previously in this track. The synthesizer soon morphs into another common syncopating samba rhythm at 04:03. The chord progression changes from I-IV to I-bIIV. A subtle change, and honestly not really that noticeable. The bass pedal changes to the dominant giving it an unresolved feel. I added 3 samba instruments in the section: caixa, repique de anel, and repique de mão. These were edited to sound more like swishing wave, so if it doesn't sound like super clear, tight percussion, this is why. The groove carries us to the ending with variations in the bass. Slowly the synthesizer reverberates more and more to give that diving feeling until ending on a single, reverberated, open piano chord.
What would it be like to dive into Zora's Domain? This track demonstrates just that. An ecstatic dive into the vast, serene freshwaters of the domain.
Games & Sources
Game: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Release Date: 1998
Composer: Koji Kondo
Source Tunes: "Zora's Domain", "Title Theme"
Source Links:
1. "Zora's Domain"
2. "Title Theme"