ReMix:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time "Afternoon in the Sacred Forest Meadow" 3:16

By Doc Nano

impressionist french-horn harp orchestral strings woodwinds mellow romantic

Arranging the music of 2 songs...

"Lost Woods", "Minuet of Woods"

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

Posted 2016-12-22, evaluated by the judges panel

WOW. This symphonic impressionist arrangement of Ocarina of Time from Doc Nano (Alex Johnson-Buck) is absolutely breathtaking, channeling Debussy and capturing 110% of the magic & wonder of older Disney scores:

"As part of the album project for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I offered to write an orchestral arrangement of "Minuet of Woods." Since that project has, sadly, been placed on indefinite hold, I have decided to submit this remix as a separate effort.

Throughout this arrangement, I am deliberately imitating the style of Debussy's "Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune," with heavy use of harp, woodwinds, strings, and French horn, and only minimal percussion (namely, crotales and wind chimes). My aim was to convey the impression of a magical afternoon spent in the Sacred Forest Meadow with Saria. Although fragments of "Saria's Song" appear in the arrangement, the main source is "Minuet of Woods" (or "Minuet of Forest"), which I have attempted to develop into a somewhat more substantial theme."

It's a bummer that the album effort this was associated with stalled - I'm sure we'll do an Ocarina of Time album one day, and this would have been a standout track, but for now I'm just thrilled folks will be hearing this, because it's amazeballs. And I don't use that word lightly. Or ever, really. The concept itself is great, but required ace execution to realize - Alex nails the harp gilssandi, dynamics, chords, atmosphere, & everything else necessary to make that happen. DragonAvenger writes:

"The mix is very peaceful, love the instrumentation and stylistic choice you went for here. I can certainly imagine a quiet afternoon having a picnic with Saria before running off to clear out all the baddies in the forest temple!"

In addition to being a powerful piece of music, this is an amazing accomplishment from an arranging perspective; I'm kinda speechless. Truly beautiful & enchanted, this is one of my favorite OoT ReMixes and a late-breaking surprise for 2016 - highly recommended!

― djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 8 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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MordantBlackmorrow
on 2017-05-12 18:55:15

I enjoy classical pieces and I don't comment as much as I should. I've also been gone for quite awhile but I always come back here to find some interestingly done reworks and pieces. I like how this piece opens up in the beginning. Slow and smooth and transitioning into the other instruments. I'd have to say this is probably one of my most favorite Zelda pieces I have heard on this page so far. Congratulations on a superbly amazing job. I hope to hear more amazing pieces like this. Not to say the other music on here isn't all great. I love all the work everyone does here.

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timaeus222
on 2016-12-27 18:04:23

Man, this has some amazing dynamics! It's definitely giving a peaceful, natural feel. If VGM is still coming off as blips and bloops, well... show the people this!

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Mordi
on 2016-12-26 12:26:05

Not familiar with classical music, but this was really good!

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docnano
on 2016-12-24 07:57:24

I'd also like to acknowledge the role of critical feedback in the writing of this arrangement. I think it was Theophany that encouraged me to do a substantive rewrite of an earlier version (into which I had already poured several hours of work). But the previous version was confused, with too many ideas vying for the listener's attention. In restarting from scratch after playing around with the themes a bit, I had a much clearer vision for the arrangement, and what emerged was by far a superior product.

In other words, don't succumb to the sunk-cost fallacy -- sometimes it's best to start over from a clean slate.

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TillyFun
on 2016-12-22 22:13:54

In addition to Debussy, I also feel a bit of Bizet's slower pieces. ^_^ Just a fantastic, fantastic OoT piece. :)

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lemnlime
on 2016-12-22 19:08:32

Wow, this is so classy. An interesting interpretation of a short song. Nice!

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BardicKnowledge
on 2016-12-22 16:26:23

I rarely post reviews -- something that I should definitely do more often -- but holy smokes, this is the best channeling of Debussy I have heard in a very long time, without limiting that qualification to fan-made material. I also love that it tackles what is a very short source, demonstrating that there is a mountain of potential for almost anything given enough talent....

...and "enough" doesn't even begin to describe what's going on here. The ending is particularly well-executed, giving us the source melody clearly in a way that doesn't feel contrived in the slightest. I'm going to be gushing about this for some time to come.

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Liontamer
on 2016-12-22 10:18:15

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (2 Songs)


Primary Game:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo , 1998, N64)
Music by Koji Kondo
Songs:
"Lost Woods"
"Minuet of Woods"

Tags (8)


Genre:
Impressionist
Mood:
Mellow,Romantic
Instrumentation:
French Horn,Harp,Orchestral,Strings,Woodwinds
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Legend_of_Zelda_Ocarina_of_Time_Afternoon_in_the_Sacred_Forest_Meadow_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,789,758 bytes
MD5:
c3eeef0866c9c3e387561f706d4cc552
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
3:16

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