ReMix:The Legend of Zelda "The First Look at Gold" 3:22

By RebeccaETripp

Arranging the music of one song...

"Title"

Primary Game: The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo , 1986, NES), music by Koji Kondo

Posted 2018-03-17, evaluated by the judges panel


Happy St. Patty's Day! Top o' the ReMix to ya! They're magically delicious! Kiss me, I'm... Austrian-Welsh, actually. And other stereotypically event-appropriate sayings, as well! To celebrate this day of greenness & responsibly safe-yet-excessive imbibing, we've got a serene folk ballad from Ms. Rebecca E. Tripp with a Renaissance/Celtic vibe to it & a mix title that would make any leprechaun happy:

"This is my cover of the "Title" theme from The Legend of Zelda. I realize that the original theme has been done to death, remixed, performed live, and varied for 30 years! Still, I've been planning to make my own arrangement of it for a while now. I wanted to do something different, yet stick with a style that suits the theme, so I chose this pseudo-Renaissance style with Celtic and medieval instruments. Hopefully, I've managed to pour something new into this iconic theme!"

I'm sure it's somewhat "pseudo" - what isn't, right? - but I do love the general sense of authenticity, including a lack of bass, minimal percussion, and a nice blend of plucked & blown period elements. This is a style that's close to much of what Rebecca does anyway, minus the larger orchestral components & ambient stuff, and it's an effective way to breathe something new into a piece which, as she notes, has been extensively interpreted over the years. Judges did have some issues with intonation & humanization at parts; Chimpazilla addresses this in her approval:

"I think the balance is fine, considering the entire arrangement is played with higher-register instruments, my ears aren't expecting bass. The articulations could be more natural but there's nothing here that's standing out terribly for me, nothing that puts this below the bar. (I don't anticipate any listeners saying "that vibrato tho!") The arrangement is beautifully detailed and I love the interplay between all the elements."

Jivemaster concurred in his own vote:

"The progression of the arrangement in my opinion was strong - sections did not go long without changing into something new, which made the track feel short and left the listener wanting more (in a good way). I think the lack of humanization was the biggest issue here, but it wasn't as noticeable as the track went on."

It's harder to do exposed acoustic/folk stuff like this without ambient or ensemble instrumentation to augment (and even mask a little) the synthetic nature of samples, which comes through a bit more than usual... but the arrangement is unique & full of character and essentially requires this more sparse approach, so it's ultimately a tradeoff. Either way, it's the main Zelda theme in a way you probably haven't heard before, on a particularly appropriate day, so it seems pretty lucky to me - enjoy!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 4 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Souperion
on 2018-03-21 23:19:01

Innovative yet conservative, familiar yet new. A splendid arrangement that invokes thoughts of the immortal legends that Hyrule has to tell of a heroic line.

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Top Gun
on 2018-03-21 18:21:23

I agree with Mr. Pretzel: it's cool to hear a song that's been arranged a thousand times over reinterpreted in a fresh new way. Really digging this!

avatar
DimeTower
on 2018-03-18 23:58:27

Intriguing! This mix seems pretty simple and beautiful until you get to about 2 minutes, where there's some really nice concepts and beautiful floating sections, the kind that really bring out the best in the interweaving feel. Zelda purity with a touch of something ethereal - well done!

avatar
Liontamer
on 2018-03-16 12:18:41

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo , 1986, NES)
Music by Koji Kondo
Songs:
"Title"

Tags (10)


Genre:
Folk
Mood:
Mellow
Instrumentation:
Acoustic,Flute,Hand Drums,Harp,Strings,Woodwinds
Additional:
Regional > Celtic
Time > 4/4 Time Signature

File Information


Name:
Legend_of_Zelda_The_First_Look_at_Gold_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,537,269 bytes
MD5:
8c05f2675d21c92ba631e9a7d1a533c7
Bitrate:
215Kbps
Duration:
3:22

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