Yokota Adds Single Live Orchestra Track to Ocarina of Time 3D, Won’t Say Which Song

A few days back we reported on the release of the latest Iwata Asks interview, which involved the two major composers for Ocarina of Time 3D: Koji Kondo and Super Mario Galaxy‘s Mahito Yokota. We caught wind of a mention of “orchestral” sound in the original Japanese interview, but without a solid translation it was hard to say what to make of it. Now the official translation has been released, and we can say for sure that Ocarina of Time 3D is going to feature live orchestral music… sort of.

Apparently there is one musical track that has been re-orchestrated using live instruments – but Yokota won’t reveal which one it is. The implication seems to be that it’s an older song – apparently Yokota planned on giving a good portion of the soundtrack a similar treatment, but the idea was vetoed by Kondo, who insisted that the 3DS remake remain faithful to the original N64 sound. We have a real mystery on our hands! Check out the full quote along with some other highlights below:

Iwata:

This time, you dedicated yourself to recreating several songs that Kondo-san had made over 10 years ago.

Yokota:

Yeah. But I also put in a song recorded with an orchestra. Only one, though.

Iwata:

As Nintendo’s head man in charge of orchestral music, you just couldn’t hold yourself back?

Yokota:

Yeah…you got me. (laughs) You’ll have to play the game to find out which song it is, though.

Iwata:

You have the job every game fan can dream of!(laughs)

Yokota:

Yeah, thankfully! (laughs) The orchestra sounds great on the Nintendo 3DS system, so I want people to hear it.

Yokota:

Earlier, we talked about how back then games could only stream sound in most cases, and we were under technological constraints this time, too, so at first we decided to stream it. It was difficult technologically to change the music in realtime to fit different game situations.

For that reason, at first I decided to spruce it up by arranging slightly more up-to-date music. But when I’d done about half, Kondo-san suddenly said, “Make sure you stay faithful to the Nintendo 64 sound.”

Kondo:

The song during the ending credits! It looks like the images have been set to the music, but actually it was the other way around.

Iwata:

Huh? You didn’t come up with the music first?

Kondo:

No.

Iwata:

You matched the music to the pictures?

Kondo:

We put in the music later. So when that girl shows up, we put in her vocals. I forgot her name, though. (laughs)

Yokota:

Malon. She sings Epona’s song.

Kondo:

Right, right! Malon! Malon shows up, and you hear her sing. Gorons appear, and drums pound. I arranged each strain that way.

Iwata:

Now that’s surprising!

Yokota:

Kondo-san, sorry. We may need to cut this part.

Kondo:

Oh, really? Because it’s the ending song?

Yokota:

No, we’re making the final adjustments and it just doesn’t fit right.

Iwata:

You’ve got to put that in, Yokota-san. It’s one of Kondo-san’s three favorite songs.

Yokota:

Oh, right, I suppose so… It’s just that on the Nintendo 3DS system, it loads during the ending, too, and there’s a problem with it being off a little, but…well, I’ll make it work somehow! I will!

Source: Iwata Asks: Ocarina of Time