Zelda OOT+Link's Awakening WIP

[Random Hero]

Hey

Title: When the Dreamer Awakens (The Legend of Koholint Island)

Just imagine a large group of kids gathered around Zelda, during a time when it is actually peaceful in Hyrule, as she tells them the tale of Koholint Island. That's basically what this song is about.

It starts off with a 'minor' version of Zelda's lullaby which was heavily inspired by 'Across the Star' from Star Wars, Ep II. This is where Zelda begins the tale. Then it goes into the Face Shrine theme as the story begins to unfolds. From there into The level 6 theme, back to a choral version of the Face Shrine and finally, to the Color Cave theme (DX version). This rather evil ending takes the story in a different direction and more or less shows the horror of the Island and it's inhabitants fading into nothingness. Then we return to Zelda as she concludes the story, another part which was inspired by 'Across the Star' from Star Wars, Ep II.

I know this is rather elaborate, but that's what I wanted to convey with this song.

The song itself is still not finished, but it is getting there. Here it is:

All comments welcome

Later

RR

[JeromeBaritone]

Harmonically, its rather busy. You've changed a lot of the harmonic structure of the tunes themselves (even though the two of the three voices of the gameboy are still distinctly there). I wish i could hear the melody, instead of what you have written in the flute. And i also wish that leading tone the flute has would resolve, but you dont have to.

I like it, and have always liked the face shrine theme especially from Link's Awakening. Just a little too intellectual.

[WindStrike]

*finally gets self to register after hovering about for a few months*

Heh... I remember the original version of this from way back when... kinda went dissapointy-like when ya decided to scrap it and save some parts for later... but now I see very clearly that it was definitely a decision for the better.

Never played Link's Awakening, so I only know a handful of stuff from there. Anyhow, it seems like you practically mastered the recovered part from the original in the first minute, so that amount is, as far as I can tell, completely solid... unless you intend on adding something, for which I see no reason why you would. When the five bell hits (dunno the exact name) come in at 1:01... I'd personally use a darker sounding bell. Or maybe rather than using the same one five times over, it might transition to a darker sound so that when that fifth one hits, it's not sounding out of place when the... I can't tell what that is when it enters, but it's a pretty dark sound with a bit of depth.

With this next section, when the piccolo enters... the blending is fine, but... there is practically no direction in terms of dynamics. Granted, there is an illusion of a crescendo because more instruments are adding in, but the overally dynamic actually stays nearly the same till 1:52. Point is, there's not really any life with it considering the section is (from what I can tell) a build up into the next. Maybe you don't need to go overboard, but I think making slight but noticable variations could help it out.

At 1:52... you achieve impacts and then you back it off. There's a hint of a build up before the next impact comes in, but it's not really apparent. I can tell you want these impactful feelings. However, if there's not enough "meat" in between them (a wholesome sound that isn't lacking anything), then there's pretty much a lack of support for those hits. Speaking of which, I think those hits can be a little heavier. Is there a bass drum behind those hits? If there is, I can't tell at all, so if there is, up the volume on it a bit so that it adds depth to each impact. If there isn't a bass drum, you might wanna consider adding one for those parts. The point of these impacts, because of the dark and impending feeling here is to make it feel deep, but even with my bass higher than usual, I just not hearing it.

When that trumpet enters, it's getting blotted out by the impacts. I'm not suggesting to lower the volume on the impacts - raise the volume on the trumpet. It's like there is a timid trumpet player there that's getting scared of the hits as if there are explosions threatening to knock him/her off the chair. And about what I said with the crescendos after the hits? See if you can make the trumpet go just slightly (not as much) with it.

Ooh... choral section. Not sure if you should do the same thing with the bells as I previously suggested - try experimenting around a bit and stick with whatever fits better I suppose. And quite well done (very remniscient of Jeremy Robson's Kefka stuff along with Derek Oren)... but when all of the instrumental voices come in, they're actually distorting the choral voices so that the lyrics are heard in a slight jumble. Additionally, the lower end string voices that actually have moving lines... are not being heard very clearly... though, I think that might just be a little lack of volume. Cool section nonetheless... also, when the voices cut out... well, that's the problem. They shouldn't cut out abruptly - rather, if anything, they should resonate as if fading away really quickly (not echoing though).

Holy crap, something I recognize (aside from Zelda's death-a-by)! It's executed better than that 1:52 section, but it has the exact same problems - lack of build ups, more depth on impacts (actually, you don't need that nearly as much here), and more volume from the lead voice that's buried beneath the impacts. Normally, I would critique on how this section resolves, but it sounds like it's due to "haven't gotten there, WIP, etc.".

Last section... well, I know it's supposed to be quiet like but uhh... it's a little TOO quiet. Had to turn my volume up a bit to hear it, quiet. The oboe, even though it's in the high range when it enters, could also use a slight boost on the volume (not as much as the acoustic guitars).

And there's my rather lengthy review of this WIP, which already seems well established in what's there - just a bit of nit-picky tweaking here and there to master it and make it sound even awesomer than it already does. Best piece I've seen from you so far. I look forward to hearing what more you could add to it and just outright finishing it. Keep it the great work!

[Sil]

The similarity to Across the Stars might be a little too close for comfort. Instead of trying to make a melody fit someone else's harmony, why not just make the melody and harmony fit someone else's style?

Whenever there's a harp ostinato I always have to mention the option of putting in bass pizzicatos.

The oboe solo sounds strained and unrealistic. There's no vibrato, and you'll be hard pressed to find any instance of oboe playing that lacks vibrato.

At 1:00 the staccato violins sound out of place. If you truly want staccatos there, use the entire string section in four octaves, which means taking the bass off its pedal.

1:12 shows a lack of development (stagnation) because there was no harmonic change, or change in the cello accompaniment, etc. Maybe the cellos could play the bassoon line and the harmony could be sustained by pizz basses or trombone chords or both.

You may want to reimagine the portion beginning at 1:52 because the sustained cello accompaniment makes no sense against the stabbing trombones and col legnos. Also, your harmonies are block chords, which goes against the nature of the ostinato. Typically you want a fundamental harmony, let's say B (don't worry about major or minor modalities) and have your ostinato instruments (usually timpani, cellos, basses, trombones) stay in that pattern while the harmonies change above. After the key has been iterated for a while, you can shift the harmony to a close neighbor to add suspense. Holst's Mars is a good example of this.

I like the harmonies in the trumpets (and I think violins) beginning at 2:30, which I think would work well over a fixed-key ostinato, although the violins could be much louder, doubled with winds if possible.

You're probably wondering how to make the choir sound better at 2:57, and I think one solution is to use less syllables, and to use other instruments to help them out in unisons. For example, if you didn't have a choir, you should still know where the melody is in the orchestra.

Again the cello line is too sustained against everything else, especially your percussion. Also, where is the timpani? A choral section is the perfect opportunity to use a fixed-key ostinato with timpani, as per Carmina Burana and its countless imitations. You can still have the harmonic progression you want, just not in the bass.

By 4:18 the piece has just become too stagnant because the cello refuses to do much else besides help along the block harmonies, hence the trombone stabs and non-timpanic percussion just aren't having the effect you want. You need to have more models to base your work on, just like how you began with a reference to Across the Stars.

The harpsichord section sounds good, but I think like anything with harp and orchestra, it could benefit from pizz bass.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Random Hero]

Thanx for the advise guys. Nice Reviews!

I had some technical difficulties with my sequencer file, damn thing began to crash randomly. But I've managed to completely salvage what I had done. My problem now is that My computer can in no longer handle the song. . My system is old to say the least and it is in dire need of a replacement/upgrade. Until then, there will be little progress made on this song. I'm hoping that a simple ram upgrade will help substancially. I only have 512MB at the moment and regularly use 1500MB+ just to load the instruments. ... UGH

Ryan

[MX-Z8]

This arrangement is awesome. Where did you get those vocals?