ReMix:The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess "Solace" 3:07

Emunator's got a new Undertale lo-fi album out to buy (through Curaga Records, GO!), and he's here to bait the hook on that with another lo-fi piece! We also love Midna around here so much, Gaspode's amazing ReMix is not enough! We had to bow in tribute to the Twilight Princess once again, this time with Emunator (+ Zelda-superfan Chimpazilla on mastering) entering the lo-fi Twilight Realm:

"This track is a spiritual successor to "Beginnings", which marked the start of my journey into lo-fi music production. "Enter the Twilight Realm" is a riff that would frequently worm into my brain, and, on Christmas Eve of 2023, I finally decided to do something with it. Like "Beginnings", I didn't listen to the source material during the creation process, simply pulling fragments from my memory and piecing them together like a warm patchwork quilt. Lo-fi music frequently feels like searching through a box of memories that I forgot I possessed, and this track sort of evokes that same feeling for me.

"Forest Haven" pops in briefly on the lead bell melody at 1:46. :) It's a subtle thing that's mixed and mashed with the main Zelda theme, but the ascending riff at 1:46 specifically is :11 in "Forest Haven" (or "Kokiri Forest", if you will, I think they share the same tune). I wasn't sure if I was even quoting a Zelda song during the creation process, so I had to look it up to verify what I actually used when I was writing the submission letter!

This track was finished in two days and under 10 hours, with Kristina providing a beautifully lush master. Thank you for always helping my work shine, my friend. <3"

OOOOOOK, Mr. Workflow Braggart, let's see how good a mere ten hours in two days really IS, with ya lazy behind...

[/listens]

Ah... OK, I like what I'm hearing! Subtle thing, but Emunator excellently varied the tone of the beats over time so that they didn't feel repetitive. I also dug the sound design at 1:45 with the lil' twinkle sprinkles, and the antennae were up to catch the Zelda theme cameo at 1:46. So, to circle back to the original skepticism -- "let's see how good a mere ten hours in two days really is" -- as it turns out, pretty damn good according to Emu's fellow judge, Hemophiliac:

"Warm, lush, minimal. 3 words I expect from lo-fi, even though two of those are opposites of each other. Lushness of the parts filling the spectrum and minimal parts used to do it. The very slight detuning and subtle filter sweeps throughout are really highlights for me. They add so much despite being very minuscule in the amounts of each.

The arrangement doesn't overstay it's welcome and we get variation and changes to new sections right when we need them. The subtle hints at the main Zelda theme also were a nice touch for 1:47-1:59, right before we get the final recap."

Well, I'm certainly cool with this, but what about the judges panel's toughest customer, MindWanderer:

"Very pretty. Does a good job of being lo-fi chill without being repetitive. Great sound design and production. No complaints from me!"

You know what, all this praise for Emu is making a brother jealous of having no creative skills. *I* take solace in the fact that I can likely eat more delicious McRib sandwiches than Emunator, as smooth-brained of an accolade that is... :-P In any case, if you side with Emu over moi and like what you hear, go get Emu's Undertale album with Curaga Records! And for his lower-fidelity freebie here, it's nice and laid back, with understatedly strong sound design and a vibe that 9 out of 10 Hylians/Hyrulians can still swing a sword to (gently)! :-)