Skyward Sword Did You Like the Orchestration?

[Ventus]

Quite an obvious thread here. Did you like SS' orchestration? What about the music did you love? I personally loved the quality - for example with the Sky theme I genuinely *felt* the music as if I were at the orchestra front row seat. And I'd love for that to return int he future; Nintendo would be foolhardy to revert to MIDI style!

 

[Mangachick14]

I loved the music from Skyward Sword. Some of the music was really grand (Like the previously mentioned Sky Theme), but a lot of it was also very slow and sweet and it just sounded really lovely. I honestly think the SS rendition of Zelda's Lullaby is my all-time favorite song in the series, and it fit the mood of when it was used so well.

 

[DarkestLink]

Eh...there were some good tracks...but I prefer MIDI for video games. It's harder to make memorable pieces of music with orchestra because so much of it has already been done. I'd consider SS's music the opposite of the other 4 3D titles...and that's a good thing and a bad thing depending on how you look at it. In the other 3D titles, the music is great to listen to in the game, but it's not something you'd go out to look for. For SS, the music is something that sounds great on its own, but often times doesn't match the game.

 

[Beauts]

As has been said, the Sky Theme is amazing. It does take the sting out of flying, which can be annoying, because you feel like you're on a mission. I also loved the softer tones, such as the Skyloft theme. I do tend to prefer mono music for games, but Zelda deserved an orchestra. Music has always been quite a big part of the gaming.

 

[Mudora]

Oh indeed I did. I not really sure how to describe it, it was just the feeling the pieces gave me. Each note held power behind it. It was simply incredible.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

I absolutely love the music in Skyward Sword. It was so vibrant and quite a large chunk of it was memorable for me. Plus it has a lot of mood-setting music which did more to establish the feel of the game and to empower certain key moments in it, rather than be independently catchy like a lot of Zelda music is. And I really like that. The sound fidelity and quality was much greater here than in other games, and I want that to come back in future Zelda games.

 

[Azure Sage]

I absolutely loved it. Skyward Sword's soundtrack quickly became one of my favorites in the series. The music, particularly in boss battles and regions, really worked well as an immersion factor. It was just another way to become drawn into the game's world. Not just the sound quality, but the music itself as well; it was phenomenal. I definitely want orchestration to return. It really helped the game a lot.

 

[LittleGumball]

Real instruments>>>>>>>>>electronic sounds EVERY TIME.

There's just something magical about symphonies/orchestras. They have an element that MIDI tracks don't - LIFE. Real players feel the music. They know what sounds good with dynamics and can put more emotion into their music rather than electronics just playing it straight through. Also really good players can put vibrato into their instruments, which sounds beautiful if they know what they're doing.

Slightly off topic, I was listening to an FF orchestra and a trumpet soloist had vibrato in pretty much the most emotional part of the song. That's what I'm talking about. A key pressed on a keyboard doesn't emit the same feelings that a real player can, it just does what it's told. But a person can create something with the way they play.

 

[Random Person]

Did I like the music in SS? Yes, "like" being the definitive term. (As if I know what "definitive" means). This isn't good though as most Zelda games make me LOVE their music. The only music I fell in love with was the Goddess theme and the forest theme that Fi sings as Link plays it on the harp (I cannot remember the name of it right now). Because the thread specifically asked what I liked about the music, I'll leave negative Nancy at the door. I enjoyed that the music was Orchestrated and that it was there. (With the exception of the opening treasure chest theme).

 

[Yeti]

The quality of the music in Skyward Sword was amazing. My ears were happy campers when I was playing that game.

Still, there weren't that many super memorable pieces that I could hum off the top of my head. It was mostly atmospheric tracks, which have their place in any game, but sometimes you want areas to have a distinct catchy tune playing in the background. So even though the sound quality was better from a technical point of view, I still prefer the soundtracks from Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker. Then again, the Dragon Roost Island theme alone pretty much trounces every song in every video game ever made combined. It's definitely a tough act to follow.

I'm not saying that orchestrated music isn't better than MIDI music. As LittleGumball said, nothing can beat the expressive sound of real instruments. I'm also certainly not going to bash Skyward Sword for its music. Overall, I would say it was really good, and some tracks stood out as exceptional. The theme for Faron Woods was enjoyable to listen to and the Earth Temple's theme had a good flavor and beat to it. "Staff Roll" was a really good piece as well, with a nice mix of epic and serene moments.

 

[The Jade Fist]

Relevant: Skyward Sword 8-Bit Remix [FamiTracker] - YouTube

 

[Sir Quaffler]

I guess while we're on the topic of old-school remixes of SS songs, here's a few I liked:

SNES remix of Fi's Farewell

SNES remix of Ancient Harbor

 

[Salem]

Nintendo would be foolhardy to revert to MIDI style!

Sorry Ventus I disagree there, there's so much more Nintendo can do with MIDI/Electronic instruments in Zelda that orchestral music can't do no matter how good it sounds.

Eh...there were some good tracks...but I prefer MIDI for video games. It's harder to make memorable pieces of music with orchestra because so much of it has already been done. I'd consider SS's music the opposite of the other 4 3D titles...and that's a good thing and a bad thing depending on how you look at it. In the other 3D titles, the music is great to listen to in the game, but it's not something you'd go out to look for. For SS, the music is something that sounds great on its own, but often times doesn't match the game.

I also liked SS's music but, orchestral music is done everywhere it doesn't sound "unique" enough if that even makes sense.

Relevant: Skyward Sword 8-Bit Remix [FamiTracker] - YouTube

I guess while we're on the topic of old-school remixes of SS songs, here's a few I liked:

SNES remix of Fi's Farewell

SNES remix of Ancient Harbor

Guys, those remixes are awesome.

arguably, the only good things that came out of fi is the jokes and her theme song.:S

 

[JoeDeLait]

The music is aweeeesomeee, and full orchestration is brilliant. However, it does mean that ZREO can't really arrange their own versions which I usually prefer, especially Twilight Symphony.

 

[BlitzPlum]

orchestral music is done everywhere it doesn't sound "unique" enough if that even makes sense.

Well, this really annoyed me. Orchestral music is done everywhere, I agree with that. But that's because it's grand and has power to it. I'd rather have orchestral music like SS than MIDI trying to be orchestral like in TP. The composition was great in TP, but it sounded awful at times.

About uniqueness, music can use the same instruments but be a different style. Zelda music has a really nice feel to it, something that you don't really hear anywhere else. The music is grand, but always has a connection to you because it's not overly grand, because you're just a kid. Take Skyrim for example, you're the Dragonborn, you know you're powerful so the music reflects that. Link is a character that has just been told to do all these things, so the music often feels like that too. It's quite hard to explain, but I feel it when I play and hear the music.