A collection of tracks from across the Zelda series; including arrangements and covers based on dungeon music and other unsettling tracks.

Dread of the Hero

This album is free to download. Consider supporting me on www.patreon.com/thesecondnarrator to support my future works!

Update 3/20/2015 - adjusted the EQ on the piano, fixed some of the tempo so it sounds smoother.

This is highly experimental. As a pianist turned composer, I was looking forward to a piano-centric piece to do. The articulations I settled on using are in many cases too fast for me to play, but if you are a world renown pianist, feel free to have fun with it. Nevertheless I thought it was important to preserve as much of the "performance" as I could, so for parts too hard for me, I would play the left and right hand parts separately, and in other cases, I would record the midi notes at slightly slower tempo then speed it up. A lot of the rhythms and riffs came from previous piano pieces I enjoyed playing and are far superior to this track. Check these out.

La Campanella "Little Bell" - Franz List (for the crazy high note trills)
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 - Franz List (for the insane single note repetition)
Grande Valse Brillante in Eb Major - Frederick Chopin (for the repetetive notes leading to arppegios)
Polanaise in Ab Major - Frederick Chopin (the octave ostanatos that will destroy your left arm)

My interpretation is accomplished by creating three main versions of the original track. I imagine as the bottle level, there might be a factory somewhere or massive warehouse to deal with all the bottles coming in and out. That's where the orchestral middle section would fit. The beginning pure piano translation would be used for rooms and areas surrounding it. The final piano cadenza section was where I went crazy and just added whatever came to mind. Remember that one room where you're supposed to kill the enemies in a certain order? During my very first playthrough I was stuck in that room for weeks before I figured it out. The piano cadenza in some ways portrays the frustration I felt.

Bottle Grotto - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

This album is free to download. Consider supporting me on www.patreon.com/thesecondnarrator to support my future works!

Update 3/20/2015 - Used new sample library for the woodwinds

For those that are unaware, Richard is a character from the Japan-only game, "For the Frog the Bell Tolls," and makes a cameo in Link's Awakening. I only just found that out right before I started arranging. The overworld theme from that game contains a fully developed version of the theme, so I based my arrangement off of that instead, while still preserving the slower peaceful nature of the version found in Link's Awakening.

Richard's Villa (For the Frog the Bell Tolls) - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral

This album is free to download. Consider supporting me on www.patreon.com/thesecondnarrator to support my future works!

Update 3/20/2015 - Reworked the finale portion. Adjusted the trumpet levels, added some counter-phrasing in the horns.

I felt Kanalet Castle deserved a more romantic and grand theme than just four repeating arpeggios. You have this king Richard who was ousted from his castle and forced to hid in his villa. Did the moblins just show up and push him out? No, it was much worse! All his soldiers fell in battle, his family and friends were massacred, and the grand history of his kingdom was destroyed. I imagined Link roaming through the hallways while glancing at the paintings and statues, imagining what was once a proud legacy. I haven't given the brass section much love in recent tracks, so I tried to use them here in grand fashion. I pulled phrases from various tracks from the soundtrack of "For the Frog the Bell Tolls" and used them in constructing the noble melody. The theme swells in a crescendo until the very end, where it hangs unresolved. Link's eyes snap back into reality as he realizes the past glory is over.

Of course, this is just a dream island, so probably none of that happened.

Kanalet Castle - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

Argorok boss music

This album is free to download. Consider supporting me on www.patreon.com/thesecondnarrator to support my future works!

Update 3/20/15 - Re EQ'ed

The original version features a juxtaposition of loud ominous phrases and light staccato bells. I interpreted that to be the atmospheric "cavern" part contrasted with the jingling "key" sounds. In my version, I basically stuck to the same format, using heavy brass for the cavern, and a variety of metal percussion instruments for the key. In addition, I experimented with a lot of changing articulations in each section. This, along with the tense chord progressions, makes the song altogether unpredictable and creepy.

Key Cavern - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

This album is free to download. Consider supporting me on www.patreon.com/thesecondnarrator to support my future works!

Update 3/20/15 - Re EQ'ed

I had to control myself here lengthwise, as the dream shrine in the game is only four screens large, and the player only needs to come here once. In keeping with the tone of the original, I kept the instruments mostly in the higher registers. I also experimented with various reverbs and panning automations to move the instruments around in the physical space of the chamber. This leaves the listener a bit disoriented. For maximum effect, listen to this piece with headphones!

Dream Shrine - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

This album is free to download. Consider supporting me on www.patreon.com/thesecondnarrator to support my future works!

Update 3/20/15 - Added an extra drum in the beginning.

Since the original version is just a faster version of the caves music, I gave myself more flexibility in arranging it. Again I mostly kept to the higher registers, but I used softer instruments to carry that feeling of wetness throughout. For the piano articulations I borrowed heavily from the piano piece, "Les jeux d'eau à la Villa d'Este" by Franz Liszt, which roughly translates to "Water Games at Villa d'Este." I could never figure this stuff out on my own. That, combined with the other instruments allow me to portray various aspects of water: dripping water, water running down the walls, light splashes, ripples, footsteps on wet ground.

Angler's Tunnel - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

This album is free to download. Consider supporting me on www.patreon.com/thesecondnarrator to support my future works!

Update 3/20/15 - Fixed the drums in the end from becoming overblown

One of my favorite tracks from the soundtrack. I was always disappointed you could only listen to it one time only in a single playthrough. I noticed the tune that Link plays on the ocarina isn't even in Manbo's original performance. Yet the magic still works. My interpretation is that Manbo was teaching the beat and the spirit of the music, and as improvisation is a big part of Jazz, Link's unique melody also works. In my arrangement, I have a middle section where Manbo essentially instructs Link to solo and "try it out." I am not too familiar with Jazz orchestra, so this is my humble attempt at spicing up the track. The end portion gets a little hectic, so I'll try to clean it up in the future. 

Ocarina Song 2 - Manbo's Mambo - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

This album is free to download. Consider supporting me on www.patreon.com/thesecondnarrator to support my future works!

Update 3/20/15 - Re EQ'ed

I had promised to do another version of the boss theme, and here it is. The modern Zeldas since N64 all had multiple boss fight music, but two for Link's Awakening (or maybe three? wink) is enough for me. The great challenge in this version is to make an action version of Ballad of the Wind Fish. This boss theme also describes a story. I am the second narrator after all! If I were to describe the atmosphere of the second half of the game, the bosses have become more desperate. They must have heard through the grapevine of an intruder making his way through all the dungeons stealing the instruments, and they now fear that the end of the world is near. When I played this for the first time, I felt a bit of sympathy for them, but the important thing to remember is that a sleep is meant to be woken up from. All inhabitants, both good and bad, are destined to die, and if Link had decided to just live in blissful ignorance, he himself would also face early death.

In the first version, the theme utilized elements from A Link to 
the Past, but now Link wields the true solution to defeat the nightmares, the Wind Fish song, hence the action variation. The bosses are still represented by the four note motif from the original, but I made it much flightier to describe their weakness and dread. Changing it to a major key also gives it a sense of irony. The boss fights aren't even that hard, possibly even easier than before. Link may be conflicted with compassion, but he has to remain firm and put them to eternal sleep. 

Boss Theme ~Act 2~ - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

Maxime Poulin Tremblay - Transformaction (mastered 2025)

Okami - Issun's Theme

Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Soundtrack Mashup) - Mushroom Speedway

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD Original Soundtrack

Boss Battle #2

Midna's Theme

Hyrule Castle

I am a developer as well as a self-taught composer. My style is creating narratives in music through the use of strong melodies and unique instrumentation.

Primary DAW used: Presonus Studio One

Dream Shrine - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

The Second Narrator

Related tracks