ReMix:The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild "Time Is of the Essence" 3:01

Time to wrap up our Zelda 6-pack with something befitting the series' thirst for adventure, as Kelly Andrew returns with his first featured ReMix in nearly a decade! Once a Zelda fan, always a Zelda fan, as Kelly follows up his 2014 Link to the Past debut with a sophomore arrangement from Breath of the Wild, channeling the sounds & style of Pirates of the Caribbean for "Kass's Theme":

"Hi, OC ReMix community. A new submission from me... It has been far too long since my last one, "Justice for All", which I frankly didn't expect such a great response! Thanks, I'm glad the remix was well-received.

I'm excited to share a new video game remix of "Kass's Theme", "Time is of the Essence", in celebration of the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom release! I have been avidly listening and very appreciative of the wide variety of styles of games and remixes these last several years. Fascinating how music continues to evolve organically, yet still conveys their emotions and unique artistic nuances. No two songs are exactly alike.

Over the years, I kept a list of video game songs I wanted to remix and among those, the song that I wanted to do the most was "Kass's Theme". When I heard his theme for the first time, the melody drew me in. Oddly, I immediately thought of Pirates of the Caribbean, because I mistook the accordion for a harmonica (harmonica = pirates & ships) and the rhythm had a waltzy 3/4 feel, which, in my head at the time, sped it up to 6/8. Next thing I knew, I pictured Kass taking off on an adventure on large ships on sails and travelling to distant lands on foot. Then, I thought to myself, "At this point, why not create an epic movie trailer about Kass!".

The arrangement was heavily influenced by a storyboard I had developed for a few years now. The energy needed to stay relatively high throughout using a Disney movie trailer-style arrangement, or fantasy adventure, and felt it would be most appropriate for it.

My arrangement takes pieces of the melody, specifically last 3 notes (minor E, C, A) of "Kass's Theme", in the beginning, middle, and throughout the track, and built around this motif.

When the main melody comes in, the first half of the payoff uses the "Kass" arrangement directly. Second half uses "Kass's" bridge section, but more subtlety and not directly. The first + second half are combined to make a longer phrase that just made more sense in what I was trying to accomplish because "Kass's" original phrase felt too short.

I had a blast working on it. Hope you like the remix!"

As soon as this kicked off, the cinematic strings, vox, and percussion set the stage for swashbuckling excitement, with Kass's melody booming with string & brass at :29. The dropoff at :59 was reminiscent of the "Shop" theme from Ocarina of Time, while the original brass writing at 1:15 gave off the imagery of heroes steeling themselves to enter battle. Kelly stripped down the "Kass" references to just the chord progression at 1:28 before filling things out again with the brass at 1:43, punctuated with vox and string stabs at 1:54 as our lead-in to the final crescendoing section at 2:00, capping off with a big swell at 2:27. Great dynamic shift at 2:35 by Andrew for a slowdown before the last impactful hit of drums & low strings at 2:50. Judge Emunator evaluated, though it seems more like he needs to be evaluated, because he enjoyed this so much, it's almost as if Kelly's music steamrolled over him:

"Kelly, this is absolutely stunning, bombastic, and dynamic. Fantastically produced orchestration across the board, I can't find any faults here. Cheers!"

Kass's theme gives off a Parisian feel, and it was certainly curious to hear how a ReMixer would be able to take a brief (though substantive) theme like this one, only 17 seconds long, and expand on it. Fear not though, as Kelly Andrew was easily game for the task, skillfully tapping into his inner Zimmer!