Weekly Music Spotlight: Zelda Takes to the Keyboard
Posted on March 19 2015 by Jeffrey Edelstein
Hello fellow music lovers and welcome back to another entry of our (forever belated) Wednesday Weekly Feature: The Weekly Music Spotlight! Every week, we showcase a YouTube artist or two who takes tunes from
The Legend of Zelda and makes them their own, whether it be through arrangements, covers, or any other kind of altered take on the source material.
Last week, we took a listen to an artist who goes the extra mile to create fun covers without the use of a single instrument. This week, we turn in the opposite direction, and instead focus on
Zelda covers for an instrument near and dear to my heart: the piano. We’ll be showcasing two artists who make their love of the Zelda series known through a wide variety of covers and arrangements, all with the use of the single, expansive instrument.
First up is Josiah, better known by his YouTube handle, boozinwalsh. A avid gamer and musician, Josiah creates covers of games ranging from The Legend of Zelda, to Kirby, to Metroid, to Shovel Knight, to Chrono Trigger, to Earthbound, showcasing his many instrumental talents through everything from the piano to the drums.
While a sizable number of his covers involve his playing multiple instruments, his piano abilities are on full display in several of his covers of Zelda music, including favorites such The Lost Woods Theme (from A Link to the Past) and The Fairy Fountain Theme, and lesser known tunes such Tatl and Tael Meet Again (from Majora’s Mask), Richard’s Villa (from Link’s Awakening), and The Triforce Chamber (from A Link to the Past). Definitely check these our if you’re fervent fan of the piano, and be sure to check out his more extensive arrangements of other Zelda tunes, such as Astral Observatory and a Wind Waker Medley (and a second Wind Waker arrangement of the Great Sea theme! It’s especially superb.) If you’d like a taste of his music, check out his Lost Woods Cover, featured above!
Next up for today’s feature is Brian Stauffer. Relatively new to the YouTube scene, Brian already used his skills at the keyboard to create some fantastic covers of
Zelda tunes, including the Song of Healing (from Majora’s Mask), the Kakariko Village theme (from A Link to the Past), and Koji Kondo’s “Grandma” arrangement, as heard in the Symphony of the Goddesses event (from the Wind Waker). These are especially great for those who play the piano (and can read music), as Brian also has provided sheet music for his covers, found on his sheethost.com account.
For those who want a little more variety, he has also uploaded videos of his covers of various tv and anime themes(such as those from “Dexter“, “The Walking Dead“, “Battlestar Galactica“, and Cowboy Bebop), and other video games (such as Super Mario 64 and Skyrim). For a taste of his music, check out his Song of Healing arrangement above!
If you’d like to learn more about either or both of these great artists, or you’d like to support their work, please check out the links below! As a pianist and player of Zelda music myself, I’m more than a little partial for these covers. What about you? Share your thoughts about them with us in the comments below, along with your opinions about Zelda music for piano.
