ReMix:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time "Prelude" 6:02

By Zas

Arranging the music of 4 songs from 3 games ( view all )...

"Deku Tree", "Hyrule Castle", "The Legendary Hero", "Title Theme"

Primary Game: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo , 1998, N64), music by Koji Kondo

Posted 2005-12-17, evaluated by the judges panel


Quite a bit of news to catch up on: due to time obligations involving new priorities and in Wingless' case a swanky new job at Midway, John, Harmony, and analoq as well have all left the judges panel. This represents the single biggest staffing change the panel has seen; in the past, I've used this space to talk about one or two judges leaving, but talking about three hardly even seems possible in a sufficiently thorough manner. Nevertheless: Brandon, John, and Aaron are all multitalented guys who I have all confidence will be successful in their new endeavours. They all had very unique styles of evaluating mixes, ranging from succinct lowercaseness to specific technical analysis to... whatever adjectives one might use to describe what Wingless did. Musically, they're collectively responsible for some of the most memorable, creative mixes on the site, from Dragon Song to Eutopia Pegasi to demonik elektronik. But outside of their judiciary and musical capacities, and just as importantly, they're all great, smart, laid-back guys who I'm just plain happy to know. I definitely hope they can intermittently find time to still drop by or put together a mix or two, but even if that's not the case, their contributions to date have been monumental.

There's actually more to cover, but I'll save it for later, as newcomer Zas has been waiting awhile for his approved mix to reach the front page. The ReMixer writes:

"...This is the first movement of a personal project of mine, which aims to cover the storyline of Ocarina of Time by following the Game's OST around. This installment deals with Ganon and the Deku Tree, as well as the beginning of Link's journey."

Shariq found the perfect adjective to describe the end result:

"Ponderous. I like it. It's hard to do something like this, which is such a slowly evolving piece, effectively, but you've managed to pull it off. I love how this piece moves from one idea to the next seamlessly. The crescendo to the Deku Tree theme at 4:51 is perfect; a powerful statement with lots of emotion behind it."

For some reason, parts of this reminded me of the soundtrack to the Fatal Fury anime film - very expansive and grandiose. It's very cinematic, and does a particularly strong job of slowing down some of your favorite Zelda melodies and making them sound both interesting and natural at a much more deliberate pace than their original context. For the most part, the arrangement is percussionless, and is largely led by various winds. Oboe and flute figure largely, but I specifically like the way the harp fills in the gaps between passages and guides the whole thing along. Jesse used five adjectives - and nothing else - in his decision:

"organic, unique, reflective, complex, simple."

The complex simplicity and simple complexity might seem paradoxical, but it's appropriate; no one portion is overly elaborate, but the whole of the composition is rather tightly woven and nested. Besides a weak, premature cutoff on the final note, this is an excellent approach to an ambitious vision, and as Zas's first posted mix, a strong and memorabe introduction; hopefully, it's a prelude in more ways than one.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Crulex
on 2014-06-30 14:40:13

Gotta say, I like how Hyrule Castle was used in this arrangement. Almost score-like in it's pace and underlying melodies. And the section that connects Ganon to the Deku Tree was pretty good as well. These are the kinds of ReMixes that take mulitiple themes and manage to transistion between theme nicely, and I love to see that. Well done.

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FM
on 2013-07-07 17:51:53

I just want to point out for people who like this kind of thing that I'm doing the whole OoT soundtrack now, albeit in a different style http://zazmusic.bandcamp.com/album/seven-years-a-work-in-progress

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Oar
on 2010-09-07 21:42:39

It's been said previously but I must say, the transition from Ganondorf's theme to the Great Deku Tree was flawless. I get goosebumps every time I hear it!

Well done, good sir!

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OA
on 2009-06-19 10:42:09

Wow, a really thought-provoking mix here- it's very well suited to telling a story, and it floats from one theme to another effortlessly. There are some great details tucked into this one, but it never comes across as cluttered.

Some really nice moments throughout, and it really does tell a story. Nice work. :-)

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42
on 2009-03-02 21:40:20

Subtle things going on here which makes this so interesting.

There is an undercurrent mingling each theme throughout the mix.

While each theme is distinctive, they're extremely fluid, well woven together, and revisited appropriately.

What I'm trying to spit out like a popcorn kernel wedged in my teeth is that this is no average, run-of-the-mill, "ho-hum", ordinary melody; this is something far greater and more delectable.

I highly agree, nay demand, that if there ever is a Legend of Zelda movie (curse you IGN for breaking my heart :-() that this needs to be part of the movie score.

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Lovely Peach
on 2009-01-09 09:39:27

This sounds like a movie soundtrack more than just a remix of the familiar themes. I like the use of some of the motifs from Wind Waker at 1:31. All the different musical motifs are blended together seamlessly - especially where you hear the "Deku Tree's speech" segment mixed with the Hyrule Castle theme at 4:09, and at 3:00 where just a snippet of the title screen music comes in. I would have liked to see a bit of Ganondorf's theme mixed in place of the Hyrule Castle theme at a few points but that's really the only crit I have.

If a Zelda movie ever sees production, this is the kind of music they need to use. I'm looking forward to hearing future installments.

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Ryu2Wolf
on 2009-01-06 22:16:16

Pretty cool Orchestra tone. Links in to the story telling aspect. Nicely done overall. Good dynamics.

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FM
on 2007-01-16 16:31:48

For those interested, the next part is here:

http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread.php?p=218064#post218064

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Adam_Slight
on 2006-10-05 09:52:52

Sweet! That's awesome.

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FM
on 2006-10-05 01:56:00

I've written the next 4, but producing them is the hard part. Expect it reasonably soon though!

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Adam_Slight
on 2006-07-16 16:42:46

When is the next installment due?

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Chuckles
on 2006-06-30 20:37:58

High quality stuff. Good use of crescendos, especially.

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Lyrai
on 2006-06-26 04:14:44

Is it just me, or is the first link for the song - # HTTP - http://dhmirror.ocremix.org/songs/Zelda_64_Prelude_OC_ReMix.mp3 - bad? I tried to download it and all Iw as getting was a 1kb file.

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Square-EnixLover
on 2006-03-17 20:11:00

I think this was a well done song, though it was a bit long. Even so, it was very relaxing and it makes your mind swirl with images. Absolutly superb.

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Zekian
on 2006-03-16 22:52:05

This would be incredible as the opening theme of a Zelda movie. I can see it in my mind... lots of sweeping shots of Hyrule are involved, I'll tell you that.

Sources Arranged (4 Songs, 3 Games)


Primary Game:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo , 1998, N64)
Music by Koji Kondo
Songs:
"Deku Tree"
"Title Theme"
Additional Game:
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Nintendo , 1991, SNES)
Music by Koji Kondo
Songs:
"Hyrule Castle"
Additional Game:
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Nintendo , 2003, GCN)
Music by Hajime Wakai,Kenta Nagata,Koji Kondo,Toru Minegishi
Songs:
"The Legendary Hero"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Classical
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Orchestral
Additional:
Origin > Resubmission
Time > Duration: Long

File Information


Name:
Legend_of_Zelda_Ocarina_of_Time_Prelude_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,875,945 bytes
MD5:
12d046a1175d39f6743d32e6e142cef4
Bitrate:
128Kbps
Duration:
6:02

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