ReMix:The Legend of Zelda "Legend of Zelda Overture" 4:42

By Evan Arnett

Arranging the music of 2 songs from 2 games ( view all )...

"Above Ground", "Hyrule Field Main Theme"

Primary Game: The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo , 1986, NES), music by Koji Kondo

Posted 2007-10-07, evaluated by the judges panel


So, some recent news bears mentioning here simply for emphasis: We've announced our first official competition, a music video contest for (surprise!) Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream. I'm really psyched to see what folks are able to come up with in each of the three categories, and hopefully we'll be adding more prizes for additional incentive soon. We've also enabled browsing by album, which presents a variety of album info in one place but also links off to official album websites, etc., for more details and downloads. On October 2nd we upgraded our database to MySQL 5, following our previous upgrade to PHP 5 back on August 6th. Though we haven't yet recoded anything to take advantage of new features, each upgrade involved a lot of effort simply getting existing code to work properly. Also, hoodies are back in stock (!!) at eStarland, and when that stock runs out, there's more in reserve, so before things get cold and fall segues into winter, get some OCR on you and represent, warmly and comfortably. With all this work, both visible and behind-the-scenes, it's admittedly been hard to keep up with posting and judging; we haven't been posting less due to any raising of the bar, and in fact have something of a backlog at this moment of EXCELLENT music yet to be posted, but trying to improve the site while at the same time maintaining it is truly a challenge. We ask for your patience - I believe the end result will be well worth it!

Newcomer Evan Arnett has some professional credits to his name - check out www.evanarnett.com for more details. He's been working on this Zelda orchestral mix for a bit, getting some solid feedback from our WIP forums, and the result - especially for an overture/medley that incorporates multiple themes - is very cohesive. The ReMixer writes:

"I've always been a huge Zelda fan, and decided to create an orchestral arrangement. It's conceived as a piece of dramatic concert music that could be performed by a real orchestra. Rather than being based on one single Zelda tune, I took a few of my favorite themes, developed and combined them. So the point was more to communicate an overall feeling of "Zelda" with my own musical fingerprint, hence the label "overture". I got some really helpful advice from the folks on the forums and made some revisions accordingly. I hope you enjoy it!"

Enjoy it I did; there are certainly portions here that would be relatively obvious to someone with orchestral arrangement experience, but there are also more subtle, important decisions about transitions and layering that represent creative thinking and deliberation. Production is solid, and there's a good variety of legato sections sans percussion and rolling, enthusiastic marches. Strings are definitely dominant, with brass and winds often relegated to supporting parts, and while that works, I'd have liked a little more sharing of the spotlight... my history as a Euphonium in concert band perhaps clouds this wish, but I still think variety is important, regardless. Overall, though, anyone looking for an orchestral Zelda mix can hardly go wrong, and Evan's got a great first mix on his hands. I did want to specifically mention the mix title: it's not particularly inventive, and usually we insist on more creative titles, or will retitle a mix ourselves if the standards weren't followed. For overtures, however, it does make a bit more sense, since the common classical methodology for titling such pieces usually follows this convention. However, we certainly hope for more submissions from Mr. Arnett in the future, and will expect a more creative mix title at that time. He's certainly got the rest of the elements in place; good stuff.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Igami
on 2012-12-07 17:36:14

This remix definitely survives the test of time. It feels extremely cinematic and nothing shy of epic.

avatar
WesternZypher
on 2011-01-25 12:31:23

It's a word that gets overused so much, but this was, and still is, epic. Gonna get me a horse and ride across the plains to this music.

avatar
OA
on 2009-05-04 11:04:58

Breathtakingly creative and mature arrangement. I love all the subtle shifts at the beginning on all the familiar themes, all the attention paid to the details. Great transitions and even though a lot of themes are present, this is way more than a medley.

Top honors to this one, highly recommended.

avatar
Valerius
on 2009-01-18 18:01:20

I'm VERY impressed! Most of the time, I skip over Zelda Main Theme remixes, mainly due to the fact that it seems most people hammer on that theme over and over and over until you just want the remix to end.

You know, the type that plays the theme seven times straight, then just...ends.

Very admirable job. Having the other themes to break up "Just Zelda" really really helps.

Now...can someone find me a sword, shield, silly green cap, and maybe an Ocarina? I feel the need to go gallivanting off after Moblins and Like Likes.

avatar
Lucentas
on 2008-12-06 17:28:06

A very ambitious piece, and the idea is pulled off nicely--I'd like to hear what the rest of the epic suite would have sounded like.

avatar
Incronaut
on 2008-05-09 14:31:49

It's been a long time since i heard a remix that I enjoyed so much... the overall quality of the piece was excellent, and I loved the choice elements for the different zelda tunes. excellent

avatar
ncc14113
on 2008-04-03 11:10:23

amazing job

avatar
cloudkitt
on 2007-11-29 12:57:19

I really like this arrangement. I love the Zelda theme and one thing I didn't like about Twilight Princess is how you never just heard the straight up theme. I like the way you meshed the themes together. Nice job.

avatar
Ronyn
on 2007-10-26 12:39:28

The style is very film-esque to me more than an overture. Lots of solo lines and supportive underscoring. I think I would have liked to hear more blends than individual samples one at a time, especially to smooth the attack envelopes of the solo violin.

The strings at 2:36 are highly reminiscent of a Hyrule symphonic performance I've heard from the Tokyo symphony I think.

Overall the brass are a little turned down, I'd love to hear them soar over the mix. The writing is a little trepidatious, seeming to write to the samples more than the music.

Still, one of the best orchestral mixes you'll find around here, very nicely done.

avatar
NuVanDibe
on 2007-10-22 23:48:05

hate to say it, but this ocarina of time with zelda 1 elements. i'd say it's under the wrong game, but i suppose it could technically go either way.

still a beautiful mix, though, and i enjoyed it immensely.

i hate to be the guy who judges an entire fanfic on one typo, ya know?

avatar
Martin Penwald
on 2007-10-22 15:50:28

Pretty close to the source/sources, at least as far as I can tell, but that's not a bad thing. The dynamics are very good, and the transitions work well. Even after listening to this remix repeatedly, it hasn't become boring at all.

Nice job.

avatar
Dafydd
on 2007-10-18 10:34:13

Wow, this is sounding very good for an orchestral piece. Try some themes from Twilight Princess, next time :)

avatar
Kakeru
on 2007-10-12 13:04:54

It's Fantastic! Like the Opening of a big Zelda Movie ^_^.

I listen to so many good songs here, but this is one with a special feeling.

avatar
conker
on 2007-10-11 03:59:59

Yeah i think this sounds more like ocarina of time overture mix then original zelda 1 good mix but i was more dissapointed that there was very little of the original "main theme overture" being that in zelda 1 it really ws just the main theme plaed over again and this is deffinatly more of orcarina of time than anything

other wise good mix

avatar
Bilde
on 2007-10-10 17:08:32

Amazing, really love this smooth dynamic overture! :)

Sources Arranged (2 Songs, 2 Games)


Primary Game:
The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo , 1986, NES)
Music by Koji Kondo
Songs:
"Above Ground"
Additional Game:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo , 1998, N64)
Music by Koji Kondo
Songs:
"Hyrule Field Main Theme"

Tags (2)


Genre:
Classical
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Orchestral
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Legend_of_Zelda_Legend_of_Zelda_Overture_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,601,397 bytes
MD5:
96aafc449785248a90054d1789b19d3c
Bitrate:
128Kbps
Duration:
4:42

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes