Fan Album “Zeldawave: Temples” Remixes Ocarina of Time’s Classic Soundtrack
Posted on July 07 2023 by John Furby
Since the series’ start in 1986, the music for The Legend of Zelda has become iconic fanfare for the franchise. Created through sheer necessity, due to copyright concerns, Koji Kondo in the span of a day composed the main theme still heard in the games today. Over the years, there have been a multitude of remakes, covers, and send-ups of the entire Zelda music library, from 8-bit retro “demakes” to full-blown symphony orchestra compositions. In recent years, the synthwave movement has entered the already crowded field. Synthwave is a generally instrumental genre, relying heavily on synthesizers and drum machines to harken back to the music of the 1980’s, creating a nostalgic sound of perceived simpler times of childhoods long gone.
Artist Marble Pawns has taken those audio ingredients and sprinkled them onto the music from Ocarina of Time in their new fan album Zeldawave: Temples. Focusing on the Sage Temples from the “Adult Link” half of the game, they’ve remixed the themes of those dungeons, adding synth and drum beats to create even more nostalgia on top of what is already an integral musical score for fans of the series. Coupled with video straight from the game running through the main story points centered around those dungeons, adding in the ocarina temple warp songs and the creation of Hyrule as told by the Deku Tree, Marble Pawns’ arrangements create an immersive narrative experience with a twist on the game’s soundtrack. The visual style is even reminiscent of playing the game on an old CRT TV, complete with scan lines and static snow.
Some standouts of the musical selections chosen are “Forest Temple,” adding to its ghostly mysteries, and “Shadow Temple,” with its minimal creepy ambience enhanced by a deep, dark, drum machine.
Marble Pawns has a library of other “Zeldawave” music videos and original music, and their love of the franchise is very apparent in the art they’ve created. You can check them out on YouTube here and on Bandcamp here.
Are you a fan of these remixes of The Legend of Zelda music? What were your favorite tunes from the album? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Zeldawave: Temples
John Furby joined the Writing Team at Zelda Dungeon in mid-2023, and has been a Zelda fan since the age of four in the distant past of 1988. He graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Film/Video with a concentration in Screenwriting. When he’s not spending his free time traveling through the newest incarnation of Hyrule, he raises a sassy and powerful daughter. Somehow he also finds time to collect video games, action figures, comics, VHS, vinyl and cassettes, LEGO, Nintendo Power magazines, and old fancy phones, all while golfing, writing screenplays, editing video, and enjoying a snifter of port at Christmas.
