The Legend of Zelda

Intro theme from the original Legend of Zelda on the NES.

(NES) Legend of Zelda - Intro

Overworld theme from the original Legend of Zelda on the NES.

(NES) Legend of Zelda - Overworld

Dungeon theme music from the original Legend of Zelda on the NES. 

(NES) Legend of Zelda - Dungeon

The Death Mountain theme song from the original Legend of Zelda on the NES. 

(NES) Legend of Zelda - Death Mountain

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

Update 3/5/2015 - Adjusted the EQ some more, added some expression to the strings.

Update 5/2/2014 - Rebalanced the instruments, adjusted some of the EQ, increased the reverb to sound like an orchestra hall, restored the bass in the timpani, maximized the sound.

This is an orchestration of the overworld theme for Link's Awakening. All instruments are from virtual libraries. For the youtube video, as well as the rest of the tracks from the game, <a href="http://youtu.be/dzWSO29dPf0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a>.

Overworld Theme - 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 - Re EQ'ed

I started experimenting with atmospheric soundscapes to make it feel like you're inside a cave that's near the ocean. The ambience fades out during the actual song so it won't clash with the music too much. The way the original music went, it was hard to tell which note was the "downbeat." I always get confused, and I had to listen to other arrangements just to make sure I was right.

Tail Cave - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

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Update 3/20/2015 - Changed the opening instrumentation so the piccolo is on top, and the trumpets are an octave lower

I prefer a boss fight music to have a bit more emotion in them. My general thinking is that the music should describe the feelings a typical player goes through when encountering a boss. First there's terror and confusion while you are overwhelmed by the enemy. Then you feel determination while you figure out the enemy pattern and outsmart it. Finally, you feel heroic and triumphant as you emerge victorious.

Like the owl piece, I treated the repeating rhythm from the original track as an intro to the hidden "main" piece that the Game Boy was not powerful enough to handle. I challenged myself to keep the rhythm untouched for most of the track while composing a song around it. I chose to use bits of the main Zelda theme, because that describes Link himself while he infiltrates these dungeons and disrupts the monsters that never faced any opposition before.

Mini Boss - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

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3/6/2015 Update - Redid the final mix. Toned down the maximizer so it doesn't sound too blown out, raised the solo violin level so it can truly soar above the boss's rage.

Following the same reasoning behind the mini boss theme, I chose to have the boss music narrate the story of the fight instead of just serving as background mood. The intro describes the tension Link must feel when he observes the boss for the first time, but he must be quick on his feet, dodging while figuring out the enemy pattern and weakness. At a certain point, everything clicks, and he (the player) fights back with resolve.

I felt that the original boss theme made for a pretty lively background rhythm. For this version, I kept the mood lighthearted, as the bosses are not as difficult. Perhaps they were caught off guard when this unknown intruder Link invaded the island. The violin solo represents Link as he soars above the chaos displaying his legendary Hyrule courage. The first chair violin sample library I used wasn't really designed for a virtuoso performance, so it took me quite some time to get it to sound almost like an expert violinist. I had a lot of fun trying to imagine how someone like Lindsey Stirling or Taylor Davis might play it, dancing around while going crazy on the articulation. The melody is supposed to sound similar to Zelda music you might have heard somewhere, but you can't quite put your finger on where. I borrowed rhythms and chord progressions from other places such as Tal Tal Heights and the Dark World from A Link to the Past, with the vaguest hint of the Wind Fish Ballad.

I have many ideas for the boss theme, but could only incorporate so much. If I had all the time in the world, I'd make one for each boss. Instead I will make a second version later on to represent the bosses in the 2nd half of the game.

Boss Theme ~Act 1~ - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

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Update 3/20/2015 - Re EQ'ed

Think of this not as one song but a collection of cues. My idea is that in a remastered version of the game, there might be multiple versions of the same tune in different passageways to fit various kinds of atmosphere.

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

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Update 3/20/2015 - Redone intro with prominent harp

For the cello itself, I did my best with my first chair library to make it sound as expressive as possible. Yo Yo Link.

Full Moon Cello - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

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

Leave it to Link to disrupt their business with his pot smashing. I went with an instrumentation fit for chamber music, as this track takes place only indoors. The original version is extremely soft, and for people in a hurry, they might miss the nice melodic resolution in the second half. I took it another step further and added another section based on an inversion of the main piece. It took me some effort to get the harmony unique enough because it was sounding too much like "Kids Run Around the City Corner" from Final Fantasy VI, which as one of my favorite tracks in my favorite video game soundtrack, is permanently burned in my head. Anyway, I still need to work on balancing the instruments as they sound too blurred together no matter how I adjust them.

Peaceful Villagers - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

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

Sword Search - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

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Update 3/20/2015 - Re EQ'ed

This is a combination of an English horn and a sampled conch shell. The conch shell sample I got was way too wet, so I added the English horn on top for expression.

Conch Horn - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

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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

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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

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Update 3/20/15 - Re EQ'ed

The bell sound was made using a combination of the Englehart bell and the glass marimba for the lower augmented 4th chord tone. I thought it interesting the melody is not the wind fish's theme but rather a phrase that sounds closer to For The Frog the Bell tolls. The composer probably wanted to maintain the connection with Prince Richard for the third dungeon.

Sea Lily's Bell - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

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Update 3/20/15 - used new sample library for the woodwinds, readjusted the levels of the instruments to sound more balanced and for the secondary rhythms to be clearer

The Animal Village is a cheerful, innocent village along the edge of the island. The resident animals are like children that only concern themselves with fun and the angelic voice of Marin. In adapting the original version, I wanted to keep my arrangement playful and optimistic. I treated it like each animal played an instrument, and would have jam sessions in the open field when Marin comes to visit. The various woodwind, strings and percussion instruments would all do their own thing, and hopefully still sound harmonious.

Animal Village - 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

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Update 3/20/15 - Re EQ'ed

I originally wanted to do live vocal and real ocarina recording, but ran into some issues. Basically a single ocarina only has a 1.5 octave range, and the composition I created has the ocarina go all over the place. This is consistent with the original composers' "cheating" around by having multiple harmonies in addition to Link and Marin's duet.

For my interpretation, I wanted to have a single playthrough that's just like the original version. Following that, I imagine Marin and Link both doing a little improvisation as they have a bit more fun jamming together. Marin's voice continues to climb as she grows more hopeful, and she expresses that hope in her voice. However, it's not all happy, and I emphasize again the depressing turn at the end as a foreshadow of things to come. The rhythm in the trailing section is reminiscent of the Lost Woods from A Link to the Past. I thought it would be appropriate to incorporate that here.

Ocarina Song 1 - Duet of Ballad of The Wind Fish - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral

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Update 3/20/2015 - Re EQ'ed

I always thought the original tune did not match the rest of the soundtrack with its jazz-like base line and rhythm. I originally intended to change it a bit to sound more like the forest themes from the other Zelda games with more ethereal atmospheric sounds, but decided against it. When I replayed this section, I felt a sense of mischief underlying the mood. You have these thug monsters that take up almost every screen in probably the smallest environment on the map, a raccoon that laughs and prevents you from proceeding - makes the place appear silly and comical. In that sense, the original tune actually fits the place pretty well, so I thought I'd just amplify it a bit. I added two ethnic drums that do battle with each other (African Ashiko, and Djembe), and also have the flute go "Flight of the Bumblebee" crazy in the second half to really up the tension. I also stumbled on using the Glockenspiel, which sounds very similar to the magic powder item you use for the first time in this area.

Mysterious Woods - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Orchestral Arrangement

I play Nintendo, so I only have playlists of Nintendo games, got it?

The Legend of Zelda

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