Breath of the Wild The Music

[Dio]

Apart from the trailer music there has been nothing really standout in this game. It all just seems a bit wishy washy with no themes you can really get into. The enemy music does not inspire any terror even the Steppe Tallus theme is forgettable. I know. I've forgotten what it sounds like.

 

[Alita the Pun]

ok, i voted for the second option. and here's why. i am simply in love with every zelda song. so by default, this music is good. my only concern is this: in the trailer, the music never really changes too much. maybe this is just my lack of research. think back to the older zelda games, Oot for example. when you enter hyrule field, you are greeted first by an annoying owl but then by great swooping glorious music. when link approaches an enemy however, the music smoothly changes from cheerful field music to suspenseful fight music. this really contributes to the mood and the suspense of the game. it gets your adrenaline flowing and your heart racing. if BotW has the same melodic music the whole time, no matter how good it is, it will make fighting and such become boring with no suspense. idk, this is just my rant, im probably wrong... but i havent seen any real fight music from BotW yet.

 

[Nicolai]

ok, i voted for the second option. and here's why. i am simply in love with every zelda song. so by default, this music is good. my only concern is this: in the trailer, the music never really changes too much. maybe this is just my lack of research. think back to the older zelda games, Oot for example. when you enter hyrule field, you are greeted first by an annoying owl but then by great swooping glorious music. when link approaches an enemy however, the music smoothly changes from cheerful field music to suspenseful fight music. this really contributes to the mood and the suspense of the game. it gets your adrenaline flowing and your heart racing. if BotW has the same melodic music the whole time, no matter how good it is, it will make fighting and such become boring with no suspense. idk, this is just my rant, im probably wrong... but i havent seen any real fight music from BotW yet.

I can't help but disagree. The trailer, even though it uses the same couple of melodious, has a different character with each section, which is impressive considering its just one song (though it may be a few spliced together, not sure). And even then, there's no way there isn't going to be a whole soundtrack full of dedicated fighting music and dungeon music in a completely different style. Every adventure game does.

 

[Alita the Pun]

I can't help but disagree. The trailer, even though it uses the same couple of melodious, has a different character with each section, which is impressive considering its just one song (though it may be a few spliced together, not sure). And even then, there's no way there isn't going to be a whole soundtrack full of dedicated fighting music and dungeon music in a completely different style. Every adventure game does.

Well, that may be. I haven't done a lot of research.

 

[Carol Lepoudre]

Always have loved Zelda music. Looking forward to hearing more from Breath of the Wild.

 

[Steve The Pirate]

I be Thinkin the Music should be somthin More Relevant to the Story. Yarr

 

[Spirit]

Ive liked what ive heard so far even though the main theme sounds terribmy cut together between the slow intro and the more lively second half.

The new Life in the Ruins trailer has some of the best music ive heard for a Zelda game. Ive not loved music this much since the Wind Waker brought fresh life for me. It so sad and really sells the dire yet still beautiful state of Hyrule.

Im excited to hear the rest.

 

[Carol Lepoudre]

Nice to see more at the Game Awards.

 

[Nicolai]

Did you all catch that quote in the trumpet between 0:53 and 1:08? Sounded a lot like the original Zelda theme! ...sorta.

https://youtu.be/vDFZIUdo764&t=0m53s

 

[Time's Quill]

A German composer breaks down the different themes we hear in BotW, how they relate to some past Zelda music, and what the cords and keys signify. It's really interesting, especially if you go in with (at least a little) music knowledge. He does a good job explaining it, and it makes me appreciate the music I heard in the trailer more.

 

[Adventurer of Hyrule]

People need to stop the 'remember it' nonsense. Remembering a piece of music doesnt make it good, in fact often its quite the opposite. Quality melodies are not always memorable, they are there to emphasize a scene or moment and carry its narrative, not to be its own thing. BotW seems to have an outstanding musical score so far.

 

[Nicolai]

A German composer breaks down the different themes we hear in BotW, how they relate to some past Zelda music, and what the cords and keys signify. It's really interesting, especially if you go in with (at least a little) music knowledge. He does a good job explaining it, and it makes me appreciate the music I heard in the trailer more.

As a music student, there have always been a few things in his analysis that bother me.

1) 1:50 He says Impressionism comes inbetween Romantic and Modern, which is a good timeline placement for it, but it's a bit more complicated than that. It's important to note that Impressionism by no means succeeded Romanticism, but rather lived in its shadow, only gaining popularity within certain circles of France, and never reaching the same influence as German romantic giants. Actually, the very late 1800s spawned loads of different kinds of movements as a response to Romanticism, but none ever really overtook it until after WWII, when the world was shaken into disbelief by such horrible events, and turned to the modern era to reflect an emptiness that followed.

2) 4:30 What he calls "Theme B" is actually just "Theme C" note for note, but starting on the third measure. He calls it a natural progression, but I would just call it Theme C.

3) 6:56 I wonder from what footage he got the Lon Lon Ranch quotes.

4) 7:48 I'm not entirely convinced that that is an actual quote of the original Zelda theme. The 5 high notes are, because they're quick and in the same time, but I don't think the main melody is. You can find 5 ascending notes from 'do' to 'sol' very commonly in music.

I'm not saying its a bad analysis by any means, I'm just saying I would have done it differently. Honestly music analysis is one of the most imprecise; you'll find thousands of different methods people have devised to try to analyse music, all being pretty inconsistent with each other, so I can't really say this man is wrong. One of my teachers at my school famously says "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture." Still, it's really cool to see someone's take, and he's points out some things I've never noticed before, such as the similarities between the BotW main theme and Lon Lon Ranch. I wonder if he'll do more when the game comes out.

Also, 5:03, he looks like Matpat!

 

[FrozenDragon]

I really love the music so far, I'm somewhat concerned about the enemy music, as I expect something more intense, but I'm confident there'll be more pieces for different enemies or something.

The Life in the Ruins music though, that's just magical and awesome, definitely one of my favorite video game pieces overall.

I think the focus on piano helps a lot, it evokes so many idkwhattheyare feelings on me, it's just wonderful <3

 

[Guest-2]

I'm a big fan of how it's not really there. It makes the music feel large and open just like the rest of the game.