Wei Supercluster Region

#Pokémon 
#Music
#PMD
This is an atmospheric track based on a dangerous fog spreading around an island.

Ruinous Fog Spreading- String Sextet

Operation:Strike- Team Sharp Claw

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

Update 3/20/15 - Adjusted the violins so they don't overpower the track, stretched out some ritardandos a bit more

To fully appreciate this track, watch it in the context of the game here.

http://youtu.be/TuftT8P1904

This track contains the remaining two cues that make up the Southern Shrine section.

II - Revelation
Here is where I divert drastically from my usual instrument palette for Link's Awakening. As Link discovers the truth, the reality that is the island momentarily strips away from his vision, to be replaced by his true identity, the Hero of Hyrule. My music calls back to the grand moments of A Link to the Past, and the Zelda theme motif features heavily in the forefront. I'm sure many can relate to this somehow. You may be living a lie, but there may come a moment of clarity that allows you to examine your own situation, to see it as how it really is. You are faced with the decision to accept what you must do to escape your circumstance. Or, you can continue living in self-delusion

III - Consolation
What better way to cheer the player up than to tease the music of most people's favorite music of the game, Tal Tal Mountain range! This is not without reason, because that is the area you will eventually get to in the game. The owl comforts you by sharing some Schrodinger logic on you, but knowing the outcome, that seemed kind of pointless. Nevertheless the lingering gloom from the shrine continues to hang. That's why I ended it with the Ballad of the Wind Fish in a minor key. That theme is so versatile, considering how many different harmonies I was able to use on it. I drew influences from many places, including the Fellowship of the Ring theme, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto 3 2nd Movement, and Shadow of the Colossus.

The Truth about Koholint Island - 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

The creep factor in this piece is less about the mellow tone of the piece itself (although the melody never resolving is creepy enough), but the fact that a melodic "baroque prelude"-type melody is suddenly placed as a dungeon theme, when we were accustomed to more intense atmospheric pieces. This almost suggests either a deep back story behind the dungeon, or just the lingering traces of Link's emotions as he continues in his quest, knowing the truth. While in the Southern Face Shrine, the theme was characterized by deep lows and soaring highs, in the Face Shrine, the melody stays locked in the mid section. Although I still went high up with the violins, I at least left out the Cello and Basses, so the endless drone of the clarinets can remain distinct. I also deliberately left out the variation of Ballad of the Wind Fish here, and used an original tune here to build on top of the repeating phrase. This was inspired from the soundtrack to Let the Right One In.

Face 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 - Re EQ'ed

The triangle here is composed of a triangle as well as a glockenspiel, in order so I could use the same pitched tone as the 8-bit sound.

Coral Triangle - 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

My original version was entirely instrumental, but after sitting on it for awhile, I thought I would try something crazy, so I got two of my friends to record the frog voices. I always thought the third song was kinda off, because the first two were so catchy and memorable. When I first entered Mamu's secret hideout, and he charged me 300 rupees for a performance, my first reaction was, "Oh yeah I am in for a real treat!" And then I actually heard it and was dumbfounded. Really that's it?! Regardless how I feel about it, the frogs definitely sing their song with conviction and gusto. I instructed my friends to just give it their all with complete abandon. Great job!

Frog's Song Of Soul - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

This album will be released April 1. More info at goo.gl/1i2CfI

Get this track on Loudr - http://ldr.fm/fYDZ5I prefer Loudr please!!!
Also on iTunes - http://goo.gl/ZZdw79, Amazon - http://goo.gl/FfVUKd, and Play - http://goo.gl/VCqzfL

Finally we arrive at the Tal Tal Mountain Range Grand Orchestration. Since I first started, I was tempted to arrange it early on, as it is also my favorite track. Through great patience and humility, I held off on it, and even placed it far off in the tracklist, until my skills improved enough to tackle this beast. It is more appropriate here anyways, as this is when you can finally reach the majority of the mountain. Nevertheless, I've been arranging it in my head for the last 9 months, and obsessing over it until now.

With regards to instrumentation, I felt the interpretation from the "Symphony of the Goddesses" concert was suitably epic, though a bit brief since it was a medley, so I kept mine similar for the fast parts. Tambourines really do add a nice flavor to the energetic rhythm and keep it from sounding too heavy. For the repeating ostinato, I used a combination of ukulele and nylon string guitar, which is similar sounding to the Gerudo Valley theme.

Although every characteristic of the original song is preserved in my arrangement, I still made some significant alterations. The first drastic change you'll notice is that the opening phrase of the main melody has been stretched out 4 times. I felt that the original version rushed to the climax too early. By giving it more room to develop, I feel the melodic progression sounds a lot smoother this way. This also gave me more places to try out all sorts of instrument combinations and articulations. Check out those strings playing trills in discord to the melody. Sounds slightly off, yet somehow works!

One possible controversial addition I made is introducing a third arc to the music after the first two repetitions of the main melody. Since the song is constantly fast and rhythmic, having it on repeat might sound a bit exhausting to a listener. A mountain range consists of peaks and valleys, plateaus and caves. I wanted to add some gloom and introspection, as I'm sure Link must be feeling as he nears the end of his journey. This also allows your mind ears to rest in between the awesome main melody.

Tal Tal Heights / Mountain Range - 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 - Adjusted piano level, changed notes on some background ostinatos so it sounds more harmonic

Merry Christmas! I used a similar set of instrumentation as Kanalet Castle because just like the castle, the Eagle's Tower is one of the few dungeons that exists above ground. I imagine the interior of the tower has high ceilings and long corridors, which is why I increased the reverb a whole lot. I also used a lot of wind sound to really sell the echo-y elevated atmosphere. This dungeon is my favorite in the game, with the fantastic multi-tiered, dynamically changing level design. The penultimate locations seem to always be better than the final ones. I added a soaring romantic melody in the middle just to provide an extreme contrast to the creepy tone of the rest of the song. When the harmonies don't resolve at the end, it makes the listener feel even more unease. The long notes are reminiscent of Jeremy Soule's style in his Guild Wars 2 soundtrack, which I am a fan of.

Eagle's Tower - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

Support me on www.patreon.com/thesecondnarrator to support my future works!

Update 3/20/15 - Stretched out the ritardandos, added an extra measure before the Zelda Lullaby theme, fixed some instrument articulations, and readjusted sound levels

This is the last track in the album. I did this first before the ending track because I knew this would take much longer.

I thought long and hard on how to do a full arrangement of Ballad of the Wind Fish. In fact, I spent more time fiddling on the piano and writing notes than I did actually producing it in the software. There are a myriad of versions floating around online, and it would only be worth doing for me if I could bring in something new. Most “orchestrated” arrangements consist of a solo instrument playing soulfully while being accompanied by a piano or whatever instruments playing harmony. Then, you have the real live Symphony of the Goddesses version which while grand and epic, seems to have strayed too far from the spirit of the original. The interpretation I like the most appears in the Hyrule Symphony album, as part of the medley track. It was way too brief, and deserves a fuller arrangement.

My version is constructed as a narrative about the end of Link’s relationship with Marin. It describes what Link may possibly be thinking during the ending as the credits are rolling.

1. Link never got a chance to say goodbye to Marin, but with her utterly occupying his consciousness, he has to let her go. The main melody starts out softly.

2. It’s too painful Link to drum up memories of Marin. How could someone just moments ago he could see, hear, and feel, suddenly be gone? The next portion of the melody is filled with discord, as feelings of disbelief flood his mind.

3. Link is in denial and wants to believe Marin is still alive and breathing somewhere on Koholint Island. Here the music becomes flighty with the woodwinds climbing up and down the scale. Link is fleeing the truth, while the reality is trying to chase him down. Ironically, the song we associate with Marin is also the the Song of Awakening, used to make her disappear.

4. In frustration, Link directs his anger at the Wind Fish. Here, I used the Mabe Village melody in a minor key, anchored by the Boss Theme as the baseline. The five-note motif of the Zelda main theme, also Link’s theme, is also used to show that Link is almost turning bad. In his rage, he wishes that the nightmares returns to trap the Wind Fish into another deep sleep, so the island, the village, and Marin, can come back.

5. Link releases his tension. All his willpower cannot undo what he chose to do. In his despair, the Zelda Lullaby plays softly. Link remembers that the true most important person in his life is Zelda, and not Marin. I placed it directly after the brief Mabe Village phrase, and hopefully you can see how the opening phrases of both melodies are very similar. This suggests that Marin is actually based on memories of Zelda that were projected by Link’s subconscious while he was on the island.

6. The memory of Zelda has brought Link to his senses, so once again he can start to say farewell to Marin. The Ballad melody starts again and plays solemnly to the end. I spent a lot of time tweaking the strings to give it lots of crescendos and decrescendos. Link celebrates the experience he shared with Marin while also mourning her loss. His face is completely drenched in tears as he endures the whole process.

7. Finally, for the end, I reversed the opening three notes of the Ballad melody to use as a punctuation for this piece as well as the soundtrack in general. It’s the end of this story, but something new beckons beyond the horizon. The final note is played in a major chord to signify this.

And there you go. This demonstrates how meaningful the music can get when a true fan who is passionate about Zelda arranges the music. Passion and creativity always trumps technical skill! Hope you enjoyed the album!

Ballad of The Wind Fish ~Full Symphonic Version~ - 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 3/20/15 - Re EQ'ed

The color dungeon is a slightly slower version of the original Zelda dungeon theme with a soft section thrown in. It does not fit the rest of the soundtrack in my opinion. I originally did not want to arrange this piece because I would eventually do it when I tackle the original Zelda soundtrack (*hint *hint). I ultimately caved in so that the entire album will be thorough without any stray tracks to nag at the back of my head. That said, I will not be arranging the alternate select screen tunes from the European version.

A big thanks to everyone who has participated on this year long journey with me and all your encouraging comments. If this album accomplishes anything, it is that orchestrated music is nothing without a strong musical foundation. Taking iconic Zelda music and enhancing it with realistic instruments results in a "theoretical soundtrack" that is as good as if not better than most soundtracks today. I did not expect to get this far and am excited to move on to arranging other games!

Color Dungeon - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - Orchestral Arrangement

I make music with Musescore to create background tracks for specific places or moments in my Fanfiction.  I am trying out mixing with Reaper and it's a journey.

Wei Supercluster Region

Makkuro Kiba

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