ReMix:The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening "Full Moon Cello" 5:49

By Theophany

Arranging the music of one song...

"Level 1 - Tail Cave"

Primary Game: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo , 1993, GB), music by Kozue Ishikawa, Minako Hamano

Posted 2010-12-13, evaluated by djpretzel


Friends, Hylians, countrymen (and women)... I'm proud to announce the release of our 20th album, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening: Threshold of a Dream!!

You can download the whole album or check out individual tracks over at http://threshold.ocremix.org, or just grab the torrent and get seedin' forthwith. As always, we rely on your courage, bravery, and willingness to shamelessly assist us in promoting this album throughout Koholint Island, including the towns of Twitter and Facebook and the village of Wherever Else You Think Appropriate. Project director Bradley Burr worked long and hard to save this album from the brink of extinction, and the many artists that have contributed (over the many years) have done a great job in creating a dark, brooding atmosphere. Unlike recent albums, the direction here was specifically to maintain a certain style & aesthetic, keeping things (relatively) ominous and mysterious. The album also represents a number of personal and public firsts - Brad writes:

"This project includes several firsts, including my first project song ever completed. It's also the first project for Lashmush, sloopygoop, Sound Test, Artem Bank, and Ten19. It represents the first OCR album focused solely on a handheld game, and the first based on the Game Boy. Lastly, it represents the first official remix project based on the iconic Zelda series."

Very cool. Brad wasn't the original director for Threshold, but he saw it through to completion and I think the end result is a compelling, cohesive journey. Props also to Caleb Winters on the lovely website, José the Bronx Rican on the splendiferous trailer, Aetherius on the original concept, and Larry as always for helping with the release & logistics. Of course, that would all be moot without the music; a great blend of familiar artists & fresh faces came forth to do battle against Dethl, and the first of three debut mixes up today is from Theophany, whose sole previous mix dates from way back in April of 2004. Jason writes:

"Tail Cave isn't the easiest, most melodic track to remix, it's kind of nebulous and slow moving, so it was surprisingly cool to see Scott Peeples made a dance track out of it. I think it's hard to compete with a dance/trance oriented track when you're going for an ambient or chilled out kind of feeling, but on the flip side, I kind of feel like there's quite a lot of electronica and energetic work on the site already, so hopefully people who aren't into that as much will really appreciate this album, and our takes on the source material. I certainly will."

And so will I - very open, almost Zen space created by the intro, with chromatic percussion and rhythmic, cross-panned percussion droplets. An acoustic kit doing some nice funky jazz patterns enters along with cello and violin on melody, and the overall vibe is expansive, contemplative, and cinematic. It's an interesting pairing of assorted percussive attacks with classical instrumentation, and then loose, groovy drums, painting a picture that's dark overall but has a serene dignity and rhythmic animation to it. Brad comments:

"I really enjoy this track, every time I hear it. For those who are wondering why there are a total of three Tail Cave tracks on this project, it's because after years of no one touching that track, three people submitted a first WIP within a week. I held an open competition as to who could make the best track, and I felt that this was clearly the best of the three, both in fitting into the genre guideline and in the journey it takes you through. I'm particularly a fan of the drum programming and effects."

I think this mix speaks well for the album; it's not instant gratification in terms of being particularly danceable electronica or forceful metal, but it explores the source and creates this really uncertain, suspenseful atmosphere, not unlike the transitive state between wakefulness and sleep - as the album title suggests. Great to see Theophany back on OCR, and great to see Threshold of a Dream finally become a reality!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
OA
on 2014-07-31 10:25:43
I hear dat devil's interval, though I'm not really bothered by it; for me the dissonance stopped at 2:00. :)

yeah, it sortof resolves, it just doesn't have any harmonic support so it just sounds to me like a few wrong notes. No big, there are plenty of other songs to listen to on the site for me, and I am sure there are plenty of people who enjoy this song. :-)

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timaeus222
on 2014-07-30 16:21:53
I didn't even notice anything there. Doesn't even sound like you're listening to the correct track. :lol: Nothing but smooveness here.

I hear dat devil's interval, though I'm not really bothered by it; for me the dissonance stopped at 2:00. :)

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Liontamer
on 2014-07-30 15:34:38
I was jammin until 1:55 - definitely not digging the dissonance there. Gross. :-(

I didn't even notice anything there. Doesn't even sound like you're listening to the correct track. :lol: Nothing but smooveness here.

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OA
on 2014-07-30 12:50:17

I was jammin until 1:55 - definitely not digging the dissonance there. Gross. :-(

Otherwise nice simple piece, not bad.

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Crulex
on 2012-10-03 10:59:58

Man, this really screams out "dark, dripping cave" with the echoing bells and the haunting cello/violin combination. While it does go on a bit long for me, it's a great tune for backgrounding while you working as well as opening an album up. Not bad at all.

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DarkSim
on 2010-12-17 14:45:13

Just listened to the album through for the first time, and am now commenting on all the posted mixes. I was a little surprised it didn't kick off with the classic Zelda theme present in Threshold of a Dream, but after that first listen through I see that this is a perfect choice for an opening track.

It does go on a little long (for an opening album song - so I don't hold that against it on its own), but that's no bad thing really when it's so meticulously constructed and interesting to listen to, whilst still being ambient enough to switch off to. A very intriguing track indeed.

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Mustin
on 2010-12-15 10:55:41
i'm not hearing the dissonances that you guys are mentioning - particularly considering i've listened to this track over two hundred times, according to my iTunes. i think what you're saying is dissonance is simply suspensions and other tension tones. expand your ears : it's those color tones that give the track so much character.

No, dude, there's dissonance. There's no need to be so defensive about it. I don't need to "expand my ears" any more than I strive to do daily.

Assumptions about open mindedness are rude.
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JenZ
on 2010-12-14 14:19:13

Theophany is finally shining! ^_^ I can't wait until you guys hear his songs from the Wild ARMs project. IT'S FIRE.

I love this song, though. You did a great job again man!

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evktalo
on 2010-12-14 05:49:35

Assumptions about open mindedness are rude. I've heard better use of dissonance. Actually, I think it's extremely well used around 02:30-03:00, I was just too turned off by the beginning to notice much anything else (except the very good instrumentation).

--Eino

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42
on 2010-12-13 21:04:17

Holy...

Wow, this is amazing! The atmosphere put forth here is so rich and vivid; it really feels like I'm listening to this in a cave. I can almost swear that I hear actual cave-esque sound effects scattered throughout this track.

I can definitely see why this was chosen to lead off the album.

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Theophany
on 2010-12-13 16:57:29

Dissonance: haters gonna hate.

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prophetik music
on 2010-12-13 16:11:16

i'm not hearing the dissonances that you guys are mentioning - particularly considering i've listened to this track over two hundred times, according to my iTunes. i think what you're saying is dissonance is simply suspensions and other tension tones. expand your ears : it's those color tones that give the track so much character.

avatar
evktalo
on 2010-12-13 15:33:56

I hear the dissonance WillRock is talking about. The arranged chords and the original melody don't totally work together. To me it sounds like the vibraphonist is messing up the take, while the rest of the ensemble sounds absolutely great.. and that just ruins it for me, frankly. Happily, other people are able to enjoy it, but if the parts worked better together, I'm sure they would enjoy it more too.

--Eino

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Saragon
on 2010-12-13 15:03:19

For shame, djpretzel: You completely missed the fact that this was remix #2,000 in the "All Remixes" list.

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Emunator
on 2010-12-13 14:56:08

How's it feel to finally get another mixpost after 6 years, Jason? ;-) This track is really incredible, it tackles the ambient feel of the original but beefing it up tenfold with pristine bells and percussive sounds, and some very cool acoustic drumkit work that you wouldn't necessarily think would work as good as it has. I feel like the arrangement does drag on for a little longer than it needs to, but it's great for ambient listening and such.

Congrats on the mixpost; to everyone reading, rest assured that this isn't the last you'll hear from Theophany in the near future, he's got some absolutely stunning stuff coming down the pipeline! :-D

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo , 1993, GB)
Music by Kozue Ishikawa,Minako Hamano
Songs:
"Level 1 - Tail Cave"

Tags (5)


Genre:
Ambient
Mood:
Dark
Instrumentation:
Cello,Orchestral,Strings
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Legend_of_Zelda_Link's_Awakening_Full_Moon_Cello_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
10,313,307 bytes
MD5:
68b15e917235d4858a844d0887312c40
Bitrate:
234Kbps
Duration:
5:49

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