Midna's Lament - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Original Soundtrack

[@visualizermusictracks]

Musical Analysis: “Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin… One cannot exist without the other” Of course Zelda herself here is referring to Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker, whose lukewarm commercial reception in the West due to its cutesy graphics in the GameCube, a system that was capable of the most realistic graphics at the time (as showcased on an early demo that excited many), alongside the success of epic fantasy at the cinema, prompted the developers for a grittier and darker tone. The true successor to Ocarina of Time. No more experiments with too much water. This is once again an adult version of Link galloping-and now fighting-on his horse through the large scale plains of a traditional Hyrule Kingdom. It returns to the mould conjured by A Link to the Past of a first three-dungeon adventure, a critical middle point, and then the rest of the adventure, colored by the juxtaposition of two parallel worlds to travel back and forth, just like the light/dark world or the past/future of the previous entries. The twist now was the transformation into a wolf, which is a neat callback to the way Link also transformed into a cute bunny when he entered the dark world (which would be a bizarre sight on this new graphical engine if you think about it). The idea was, quite simply, to make the ultimate Zelda experience; huge scales all across the board. The longest one, the most expensive one, the biggest development team, biggest world, the largest amount of dungeons, the most involved story and characters. The one Zelda to rule them all. That is right. This Wagnerian approach was borrowed from the unprecedented success of The Lord of the Rings films, prompting the developers back into the more realistic approach and atmopsphere from Ocarina of Time. The music also takes a plump into this Tolkienesque sensibility-just listen to the Title Theme which is straight from those Howard Shore scores, the sacred elvish choirs singing variations on the original Title Theme opening; it is now leitmotifs all the way down. With the series being in a position of having so much history and musical legacy that it can now play around with themes, notes or callbacks. However, this new expansive world and cast of characters meant that assigned lead composer Toru Minegishi, under the supervision of Koji Kondo, has his work cut out in making brand new leitmotifs for characters and locations. The soundtrack also tinges itself in the Twilight mood, with more melancholic undertones, less happy adventure and more epic, grandiose quest-we have after all a main theme (Hyrule Fied) for the first time not be based around major profiles but instead riding closer to minor profiles like the Aeolian or Dorian-The series at this state now has a treasure trove of themes and tunes to play with, thus beginning the era of the balancing act between old and new themes. Toru Minegishi already had experience working with The Legend of Zelda, having being brought in to collaborate on the battle cues for Majora’s Mask and as one of the composers for The Wind Waker. An accomplished musician that passed the entrance examination for Nintendo-which consists on writing music based around themes given and a music reading test-Minegishi was already familiar enough with the series in order to tackle this large scale project and this balancing act of manipulating classic themes while also incorporating new muscal foundations the belong in this world..Still, games at these scales require teams of composers so he had the collaboration. He was aided by Asuka Ohta and series regular Koji Kondo, who initially considered a real orchestra for the project in order to match the ambitions of the developers; He originally envisioned a full 50-person orchestra for action sequences and a string quartet for more lyrical moments. But at the end it was opted for MIDI-like sequencing in order to preserve the interactive qualities of a game score which at the time were easier to implement than with real life recordings. In any case the Gamecube system memory allowed for more samples to be taken from an instrument-as opposed to usually one in the N64 era- granting more dynamic and rich MIDI sequencing. You no longer need to stretch a single sample all across the keyboard, you can now take one that represents how low notes sound on the instrument and another that better captures the higher tones for example, or even more. This leitmotiv approach is brought to the forefront on this delicate piano rendition known as MIdna’s Lament which plays at just one specific moment in the story, when enigmatic companion and usually haughty Midna is deeply wounded an Link has to frantically search for help. Even though game music usually leaves a mark due to its constant repetition in the locations-this is specially the case for the older soundtracks which have less tunes-this piano piece just needed one instance in order to cement its place on the series canon since it plays on a pivotal moment of the story and conveys this sense of urgency and desperation alongside the sounds of the rain and Midna’s heavy breathing (though some fans complain that the tragic, majestic music is constantly interrupted by the battle cue that plays whenever enemies are lurking). Midna herself is a character that, in typical Nintendo fashion, is born out of functional considerations and then given a proper integration to the story, being conceived as a character that rides the wolf form of Link after Miyamoto suggested that it was boring to constantly see the empty back of an animal. The mysterious, sassy Imp not only went on to become an integral part of the story and companion but even ended up connected directly with the title of the game. ......................................

[@visualizermusictracks]

As Toru the composer says, the cue is a variation and arrangement of the Hyrule Field theme-which was the cue that originally was to be featured here first but the tempo changes and instrumentation are more difficult to convert to MIDi from the files- that is alternated with the Midna’s Theme as cries for help. Both themes were originally in quadruple meter, the main theme reflecting the tempo of a horse riding. The piano piece is now in sextuple meter and its arpeggio based composition works for the pace of the wolf sprinting and the rain falling all around. It was meant to represent the connection between the two characters. So there are two themes played here, the main theme and Midna’s. The direct request for 'Midna’s Theme' was for a cue that was sad and ominous at the same time, a tune that is both familiar and elusive, reflecting the condition the princess turned into a monster finds herself in. The familiarity part is reflected in how Midna’s theme takes from its opposite, Zelda’s Lullaby, using the same pattern of: Three note question, repeat it, then repeat the first two notes and go into the tail of the melody, the answer to the question. That is how you can even envision Midna's Theme as an ocarina melody that the player would have been required to play, since those were based precisely on that particular question-answer pattern; it ends up as a twisted version of Zelda’s Lullaby, the last note of the question motif serving perfectly as the first note from Zelda’s Lullaby and vice versa. As an example: Zelda’s Lullaby question: D - F - C Midna's Theme question: C - G - D They are opposite themes reflecting the dual natures of the characters they represent. Apparently the theme exists in-world since Midna herself is known to hum it. Then there is the Hyrule Fied theme which represents Link on this game, another multipart piece inspired by the way that the Ocarina of Time field was sequenced; the parts reflect the action the player is currently taking, from standing around, to walking, to horse riding, to engaging enemies. It does not have as many sections as the Ocarina of Time but it still incorporates all kinds of leitmotifs related to Link and other cues that appear throughout the game, like the main theme of the series, the cue that plays whenever Link is about to defeat a boss or the ‘Courage’ cue. Thus it creates musical cohesiveness and sounds Zelda even though it uses minor profiles (Dorian/Aeolian) as opposed to major ones (Mixolydian/Aeolian dominant); it stil features emphasis on modal mixture as per the Zelda style. Considering all the themes that it incorporates, it was a later addition to the soundtrack since initially there was as a tempt track as a placeholder. It was a version of the Ocarina of Time Overworld: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3PbqaWGi5qAsKs Original Hyrule Fied sounded something like this. Way more heroic and using major profiles as opposed to the final version which is more epic and majestic. Then Midna’s lament, being an actual musical form employed during the romantic period, are those same themes expressed in the language of grief and sorrow. The lament is typically a set of harmonic variations in homophonic texture as heard here, the unrelenting arpeggios conveying the unrelenting rain on the left hand combined with single line melodies played by the right hand and later the strings. It transposes the Hyrule Field theme which is mostly in Em profiles to Dm ones, specially D Dorian We get the first part of the main theme played with interjections from the question motif of Midna’s theme calling for help, her theme also weakened and broken since the answer to it comes much latter. The harmony during this part is full of extended chords, which began appearing with more frequency after the impressionistic and romantic periods, making the piece sound like something out of the Chopin mixtape. It feels like a true real life composition made specifically for the piano. Chords from A Section would be: Dm7/9 Ebmaj7/9 - Abmaj7 - A7 B section of the theme also comes from Hyrule Field, which is now playing with the descending bass that is based around the Zelda Andalusian cadence. Am(b13) - G6 - F6 - Em(b13) F6 - Gbdim7 - G6 - Abdim7 Am7/9 The piece taking the color of the A Aeolian/Minor profile-which is the sister scale of D dorian as they consist of the same notes. For the last part, even though it originally comes from the Main Theme- where the melody plays a classic motif from the series main theme- the piece creates a sense of even greater urgency for the state that Midna is in, climbing chromatically through more dissonant shorts while her theme is repeated more frantically and transposed to higher and higher registers. Link must act quick. Majora's Mask Field theme also ends in similar chromatic, dissonant fashion. As you can visualize, the original piano sequences were not made with a sustain pedal or such command in mind. instead, the composer had to manually put the full length of each note in order to simulate the effect of that piano pedal. The delay effect of the two melodic pianos combines creates a sparkly sound that gives the piano an otherworldly sound. The realistic ambitions and grand scales of the series were executed to high standards on what was to be the swan song for the Nintendo Gamecube, and the assurance for the traditional gamer in the more casual directed era of the Wii.-as a fun fact, Minegishi was also the guy that created the hardware startup sound for the system, selected among many submitted-creating the realistic Zelda that fans were clamoring for since Ocarina of Time dropped. It is the only Zelda title that has gotten a T rating by the ESRB for more mature themes and imagery. ♫ Support the Channel: www.buymeacoffee.com/musictracks ♫ Media files and support for future interactive tools: bit.ly/officialmusictracksmedia Or Join as a member.

[@NotekinsFan2001]

RQ:Do Wii Fit Plus Ost

[@antonindocquir9021]

Ohw thank you very much !!!! I asked you a few weeks ago, and you did it !!! Thank you so much !

[@NazeldaHyrule]

YAYYYY TWILIGHT PRINCESS

[@RealTG64]

It would be really awesome if you made a video/analysis on something from Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg. No pressure, just a suggestion.

[@visualizermusictracks]

this is the first time hearing about that particular game. Did not even know if was for the GameCube. Will need to check out the music

[@tarnw3301]

Great analysis, as always

[@thebro4994]

Yay, new video ^^ And did you loop the theme two times? That's fricking cool 😎

[@visualizermusictracks]

not really. That is how it originally was written. I just added the very last note to have an ending that is not abrupt

[@SonOfAuriEl]

Nice one! Request: The Hyrule field theme from Twilight Princess?

[@visualizermusictracks]

that was even the original plan, to cover the hyrule field theme first. But the conversion got too complicated since most instruments sounded weird and the tempo changes are not translated accurately. I will need to look more into it and see if i can manage to pull it all together since it is a big piece

[@arjayramjohn884]

Can u do the Donkey Kong 64 ost?

[@visualizermusictracks]

I was actually thinking of having a famous track from it next. Fingers crossed that the sequences and instruments play correctly since Rareware games sometimes had a different method of doing the music

[@LeminationOfficial]

:)