OCR04450 - *YES* Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening "Koholint Serenade"

[Emunator]

Dear OverClocked ReMix judges,

Seeing my submission from last summer pop up in the database was such a overwhelming surprise!

Every single judges' analysis and comments meant a lot to me and were a great source of insight for me about how you encounter a completely unknown and -- compared to other submissions -- unconventional piece. This encouraged me to submit another impro from the Zelda series, which I consider to be one of my most "flawless" works of the recent past and "the dreamy cousin" of my last (OoT-related) submission.

Have fun!

Contact Information
===================
- Remixer name: "Woody/mC" (alternatives: "WoodyofmC" or just "Woody")
- OCR artist DB entry: https://ocremix.org/artist/18382/woodymc
   (you may add the "Born:" field with "1981" if you desire)
- Real name: N/A
- Email address: 
- Website/Discography: http://en.wpoa.de/
- Additional equipment info: http://en.wpoa.de/www/organ.en.php
- Forum user ID: 37825

Submission Information
======================
- Name of game(s) arranged: "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening"
- Name of arrangement: "Koholint Serenade"
- Name of individual song(s) arranged: "Ballad of the Wind Fish"
- Link to OST: 

Download Links
==============
- Submission audio (FLAC 2.0ch 16bit 44.1kHz): I
- Original recording master (FLAC 7.1ch 16bit 48kHz): 
- VOD illustration: https://youtu.be/0GwhIAYvHOQ
Other surround/stereo downmixes (MP3 etc.) can be exported on demand in a snap, if required -- please don't hesitate to contact me in that case.

Additional Comments
===================
This impro somehow developed by itself when I sat down at the organ bench for a nightly impro session. IIRC, I had finished a casual playthrough of the TLoZ:LA Switch remake a few days ago and was in a mood to relive a ten-year-old-me experience, where I had to cry heavily during the credits when Koholint island and all of its inhabitants that I got used to during gameplay just dissolved into a bunch of clear pixels.

That's why my VOD illustration uses the Switch intro and outro cutscenes: If listeners can get emotional and/or nostalgic, I'm pretty sure they can feel the same despair; and with my "improvised ending version", things aren't as happy and heroic as the original end credits OST lets you get away with in contrast.

Like my previous debut submission (OCR04349), "Koholint Serenade" is a completely improvised work, played on-spot without any sheets. Every aspect reproduced from the original tune was picked up solely by ear and arranged on-the-fly, which -- again -- makes it a unique creation that I cannot revise, replay, rearrange or otherwise "polish" in any way that keeps the overall mood setting intact.

From a dynamics point of view, the piece is pretty quiet and serene (compared to the OoT one) and does not follow my "ramp up" pattern that I stress quite often; instead, there's a clear eight secs highlight at 1:31 spiking out to grab the listeners' attention for the upcoming drama that requires them to listen closely. Usage of a third in relation to the base note is one of my favorite patterns that I adapted from Bach music in particular, although I'm not playing very much (if not, at all) of Bach music on any pipe organ I encounter. However, this third-on-base pattern is so striking and tense to me that I used it somewhat instinctively here, I guess... Lots of 7th and 9th chords here and there in the soft "strings" stops section are meant to build up the "serene counterpart" in the quieter sections of the piece, while a constant "heart beat" in the pedals (= bass stops) provides a sometimes-changing pulse as a contrast to the long-drawn, breathing notes. Remember, a Wind Fish is just a giant flying organ bellow with lots of air in it...
Interleaved lower- and higher-pitched flutes in the later sections of the piece make this sound almost like a conversation between the Wind Fish and the birds flying over the ocean to me.

For the full emotional experience, I highly recommend to watch the VOD in order to let the combo of music and supporting visuals do their work and provide you with an "alternate end credits theme" for the game that initially drew me into the Zelda universe about 30 years ago.

As a reminder, pipe organs are wide-dynamics instruments and the piece (like all of my other organ pieces) heavily depends on these dynamics, so compressors are an absolute no-go for this kind of music and recordings. All of my pieces are leveled to a -0.1dB peak for full organ (= all stops active), so they could stand side-by-side on a compilation where the dynamics need to be kept in sync across all pieces. However, my lesson learned from the last submission is that the "rendering intent" is different for the OCR audience (mostly stand-alone pieces), so the 2.0 stereo FLAC provided for this submission is an exception from that rule. This is one of the rare occasions where I normalized its peak up from -3.09dB (~70% full volume, since it doesn't use full dissonant organ) to -0.1db (~99%). The 7.1 surround version provided among the download links is still at the original 70% level, because a) it's part of two different albums (to name them, http://en.wpoa.de/WPOA-ADHOC and http://en.wpoa.de/WPOA-MOM4 in my discography) and b) it's an additional gimmick for you to listen and compare (rather than the stereo material that you'd need to publish the song on OCR).
--

Greetz, Woody/mC

[Liontamer]

The music was 8:16-long, so I needed to make out the source tune being used during at least 248 seconds for the source to be dominant within the arrangement.

:01-:58, (1:14.5-1:19 rhythmic only), 1:59-2:28, (2:49-2:54.5 rhythmic only), 3:03.75-3:18.75, 3:20.5-3:53, 4:19-4:29.5, 4:36-4:40.75, (4:44.5-4:53.75 rhythmic only), 4:53.75-5:26, (5:27-5:43 rhythmic only), 6:34.25-6:48, 7:31.5-7:41.5, (8:04-8:16 rhythmic only)

204.75s melodic usage + 47.25s rhythmic usage = 252 seconds of overt source usage or 50.80%

Digging the low rumble underlying the whole piece, which adds some nice tension even in light of the slow tempo here.

I like the interplay of arranged sections with original composition, but this seemed to be coming up as source light for me. I had to go back and listen for held notes and instances where rhythms/patterns of the source were used with different notes, which is another valid albeit less used technique. There could be other stuff the theory-knowledgable Js can easily spot, but that's not in my wheelhouse.

Dig the organ approach, Woody!

YES

[MindWanderer]

Wow, 8 minutes of solo organ.  That's a hard sell to retain interest.  Even without direct repetition — which would be impossible in an improv piece — I frequently found myself wondering when it was going to be over.  The sustained drones add to the feeling of monotony.

That said, there's a bit of genre bias here on my part.  I'd have a hard time remaining engaged with any 8-minute long organ solo, and I can't deny that it's a valid style of composition. It's just not for me.  The length is pretty much necessary to convey our required amount of interpretation (I checked out more of Woody's discography, and there are plenty of shorter arrangements that wouldn't meet our threshold.)  And given that this arrangement is literally irreproducible, and can't be resubmitted (except for production tweaks, which I see no need for here), and can only be a YES or NO, I see no reason not to give it a

YES

[prophetik music]

 beautiful registration on the initial melodic intro. i love the clarity of that tone selection. similarly, beautiful job passing the little fanfares between hands around the 1:00 mark to about 1:30. 1:31 gives us the biggest hit of organ, but the immediate contrast provided by the following sections was more meaningful in that light.

counterpoint around the melodic material at 1:56 was also nice. the continual approach to play the initial melodic riff with nothing else there is so fitting given the context of the game. the continued use of pedals to offset and make unsure the chords above them is a neat concept as well.

whatever registration you're using at 3:05 is neat specifically because of the additional amount of air tone you're getting. i can't tell if it's intentional or not but it's a very organic choice. the pedal arpeggios at 3:43 are neat since they give the impression of something larger than yourself moving in the background, and allow a much more introspective and patient representation of the melody than you'd be able to get otherwise. i'm at almost 5 minutes and i don't feel it's dragged much at all.

if i'm not mistaken, the chord structure used at this section of the arrangement reflects what you did at the beginning, yes? i wouldn't have minded some more interpretation here since it's similar registration for the left hand. i also didn't care for the lead that intro'd at 5:29 - i like the concept, but it's just too strong compared to the rest of the parts - maybe something more on the string spectrum? the following use of it at 6:35ish was much more enjoyable.

around 7 minutes and i'm starting to notice the duration of the work. the last few minutes have felt more homogenous than i think you intended. right on cue, though, there's some variance especially in the pedal bass and chord structures and tempi (did your foot slip at 7:15 or is that just room resonance?), which is overdue but welcome. the settling down towards the final chord is great, just so patient and fulfilling. the voicing on said chord (this might be my headphones) is a little fifth-dominant and i don't hear the fundamental as much as i'd hoped, but it's still a solid resolution.

i agree with LT that the track did feel somewhat source-light on first pass.

overall i think this is a great addition to the community. i think this isn't as intentional, integrated, or in-depth as your last arrangement was, but i still am enjoying it a lot.

 

 

YES

[DarkSim]

Another fascinating improvisation, Woody! Took me a couple of listens to get into it, but it really is a serene, and very well performed piece. I love the approach as well, to have the source in mind, but to use it as a base to improvise off for 8 minutes, and produce something entirely original and organic.

I especially enjoyed the 'heartbeat' style 2-note arpeggiated chords that appear from 4:31. The steady pace of them helps the piece flow, and the rhythmic changes and slowdown from 6:36 are an inspired way to wind down the piece gently and wistfully.

YES