Liontamer ⚖️ Posted April 8 Posted April 8 Artist Name: RebeccaETripp This is the end of my Zelda Sky Themes Medley, with winds performed by Steven Higbee, Brooke Ferd, and Gamer of the Winds. I wanted this finale to feel weightless. While all the themes in the medley involved flight, heights, wind, or heavenly contemplation, by this end, I hope the listener has mastered the art of flight! Games & Sources 0:00 Sky Islands Low Gravity (TotK) 1:40 Skydiving (TotK) 2:54 The Skies (SS) 4:20 Island in the Sky (SS) 5:18 Cuckoo Shack (LA) 6:10 Flute Boy (LttP)
prophetik music ⚖️ Posted April 24 Posted April 24 opens with a very conservative arrangement of Sky Islands, there's a lot more space in between each vignette of chords than i'd expect. i think i'd call this section more of a recontextualization than an arrangement given the very straight-line adaptation to the instrumentation. it quickly moves into the skydiving theme from TotK, and the transition is great, as is the shift of the descending riffs to start on the downbeat rather than ending there. the violas for carrying the sustained line are also a good choice. the articulated descending sections drag a touch starting at 2:29, understandably given the tempo. the faster handoffs you wrote in later help allay that. The Skies has a big cinematic intro, and that's represented in this arrangement as well (albeit with less bravura). this source occupies the largest subsection of this track, and it's also without question the most vibrant in terms of source vibe and arrangement scoring. the transition into Island in the Sky is pretty solid also, which is fun since it's from the same game. the presence of whatever plectral instrument you're using for the original's guitar was kind of a surprise since it's so non-idiomatic to the orchestral setting you're using - really expected the harp there! cuckoo shack is a funny source to include in this, and the way you handled the octave jump (among other elements) is a cute idea. i don't think that the aerophone that you're using for the lead here works because of how obviously artificial it sounds compared to other instruments in the arrangement, but that's a nitpick. the last source is Flute Boy, and this is beautifully handled. ocarina for the lead is great here. there's a little bit of outro material, and then the set is done. as expected, this is a straightforward and enjoyable arrangement that does what it says on the box. i wish it had more dynamic contrast outside the middle two minutes or so, but it's a great approach to a thematic concept. YES
Hemophiliac ⚖️ Posted June 1 Posted June 1 Once again, a lovely medley of themes that pair up very well together. And Rebecca, you have crafted and wove them together masterfully in one cohesive tapestry of sound. It's floats through the air and feels so weightless. The lack of dynamics is made up for in changing texture as well as changing sources. Things are always evolving even without much dynamic contrast or change. It's nice to see a small piece being used in the form of Cuckoo Shack. Of course, the Flute Boy as well. That one happens to be one of my favorite little tunes from LttP, I'm happy to hear it receive some coverage. I'm confused by the ending as it has a different feeling than the rest of the piece. It could be you wanted to leave the listener off on a very specific emotion, but I'm not sure what that is supposed to be. This is an artistic choice for sure, but I'm not grokking it. Altogether this is wonderfully put together with fantastic performances from Steven, GotW, and Brooke. YES
jnWake ⚖️ Posted June 4 Posted June 4 (edited) I've already reviewed the first 2 parts of this large medley and I feel most of what I already said applies here. Begins with the Sky Islands theme, it's very interesting how much you separated the chords. Outside of that it feels like a very conservative take for the most part. In previous parts of the medley the choir sample didn't bother me much but it sticks out a lot to me here. Transition to Skydiving is cool, the panning works great here. Transition to Skyward Sword is very interesting, I think I'd have liked the strings to enter a bit more subtly but the chord progression was very well done. On this section the mix feels unbalanced to my ears in terms of panning, lots of content on the right ear but not that much on the left one. Transition to Island in the Sky is perfect and this section sounds very pretty. Transition to Cuckoo Shack is also good, although this section feels more like a random interlude than a big part of the piece. After a quick Flute Boy cameo we return to Sky Islands and close. In terms of production this is excellent, performances all sound clear and the mix lets you hear everything without issue. Maybe the only issue is the quality of the choir sample and that sometimes the panning is unbalanced, but this is quite clearly way above the bar regardless. In terms of arrangement it's similar to the previous parts of the sky medley, generally conservative takes of each source all glued together by a consistent instrumentation and good transitions. I tend to prefer medleys where there's more returning themes (kinda like the final minute here) but this approach still satisfies OCR's standards. Overall, the same conclusions as previous parts of the medley hold. Personally I'd find it interesting to have the full piece as one release rather than 3 as I don't really see any particular reason to actually separate it into 3 parts. Regardless, that's just a random comment. YES Edited June 4 by jnWake
Liontamer ⚖️ Posted August 10 Author Posted August 10 Adding composer credits here for posterity: 0:00 "Sky Islands Low Gravity" (TotK) Masato Ohashi 1:40 "Skydiving" (TotK) Manaka Kataoka 2:55 "The Skies" (SS) Hajime Wakai 4:20 "Island in the Sky" (SS) Mahito Yokota 5:18 "Cucco Shack" (LA) Kazumi Totaka 6:11 "Flute Boy" (LttP) Koji Kondo
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