ReMix:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time "Forest Wraiths" 4:50

Emunator + Ocarina of Time? Can't really go wrong, as Wes brings us a hybrid hip-hop/edm jam on "Forest Temple" with some additional themes & traditional/folk instruments thrown in, which goes from ambient to hop to step to new age in a Zen sort of evolution:

"This remix has actually been in the works since May of 2015, and as usual, I've been sitting on it, anxiously scouring over every last detail before finally deciding (35+ hours later) that it's good enough to call finished so I can move on with something else. Hopefully, you agree!

This isn't the first time I've explored this ethnic-electro hybrid style, but the rest of the arrangement is somewhat off-the-beaten-path for me. The Forest Temple was such a haunting, twisted experience, and - despite the minimalist source tune - I wanted to challenge myself to see how far I could push that mood. To accomplish this, I did something that I haven't done in a remix before -- sample in-game audio. Of course, the iconic angklung rattle effect was used extensively (with various distortion and effects plugins applied), but you may also notice other various SFX used to build different parts of the beat (such as sword clanking, block pushing, and Stalfos sound clips). I wanted to integrate them as seamlessly as possible into the texture of the song, while still telling a story that should be familiar to anyone who's played Ocarina of Time.

The track goes through several mood shifts, starting from a mysterious intro, transitioning into something groovy and playful, then finally into a dark, gritty climax to represent the Temple's various boss fights. I ended with a very atmospheric outro section, which serves as a detached coda to illustrate the moment of tranquility after Link returns to Kokiri Forest. Here, I aimed to capture the melancholy of Saria's story arc throughout the game, particularly the moment when Link must say goodbye to his childhood friend after she awakens as the Forest Sage.

Big shoutouts to PRYZM, Theophany, Chimpazilla, Phonetic Hero, and for the encouragement, help, and advice along the way. Hope you enjoy!"

Source breakdown:

• "Forest Temple" (used almost entirely throughout the first 3:30 of the track)
• "Deku Tree" (loosely adapted into the intro bass solo)
• "Title Theme" (adapted into 6/4 time, the main focus of the outro, starting at 3:40)
• "Saria's Song" (played on piano from 3:54-4:08)

S'good work - oscillates between mysterious, chill, funky, energetic, and serene pretty effectively, and I dig the creative use of sound FX in both explicit & more subtle contexts. Larry writes:

"Having heard Jill's first take on this theme way back, it's cool to hear another version that goes even more interpretive, like Jill's second take on it. While it has a limited sampling of the angklung from the original audio, it's not leaned on to provide the connections to the source tune in this case. Hearing this source melody with the playful beat behind it definitely made me think that - if my eyes were closed, and you'd asked me to guess who made this - Chimpazilla would have been on my shortlist; so hearing this from Emu was a pleasant surprise. The closing section was a beautiful, almost solemn change of pace from everything that came before it, and I think it fit Wes's narrative and vision for the piece. Really cool approach to a spooky theme!"

Agreed; great to hear from Wes, and this arrangement ventures outside his previous styles a bit & executes a series of ideas/scenes in a continuous, transporting procession. I could have seen parts of this go more explicitly in a glitch-hop or future bass direction, but the production steers away from those edges, which probably helps maintain compatibility & coherence throughout and allows for the coda, as implemented. Unorthodox but still easily accessible & highly enjoyable stuff!