ZD Top 5 – Instruments

Beyond Link, Zelda, Ganon, and the Triforce, music is the bread-and-butter of the Zelda series.  Throughout its constituent titles, Link, along with those he meets on his journeys, has played many instruments, giving the player access to the beautiful music that has become the stuff of modern symphonies.  This week, Zelda Dungeon staff celebrated the music of the series by ranking their Top 5 Instruments.

Which instruments did you most enjoy playing?  What songs did you find most memorable?  What instruments might you like to see featured in future games?  Post your thoughts in the comments!

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Thomas Jacobs – https://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/User:ThomasJacobs

5. Ocarina of Wind (The Minish Cap)
4. Strange Flute (Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages)
3. Recorder (The Legend of Zelda)
2. Ocarina of Time (Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask)
1. Harp of Ages (Oracle of Ages)

The Ocarina of Time is pretty cool with its selective time travel, teleportation options, utility songs and its importance to the series. But my favorite would be the Harp of Ages from Oracle of Ages. This is an instrument whose tunes allow you to travel centuries back and forth in time. That’s far better than the Ocarina of Time’s dingy 12 hours forward or up to 3 days backwards, making it the instrument of choice for time travelers. Furthermore, consider its name: the Harp of Ages. That’s an instrument that you bear against a great rampaging evil, instrument will lay low even the most eldritch of evil through the sheer force of its saga-inspiring tunes. I mean, the Harp of Ages — that is a name on which legends of rock are built. Lower on the list is the Recorder from the first game; it can either play music so awesome it makes enemies explode, and can also teleport you around the world map. Fourth is the Strange Flute, which can summon a kangaroo, flying bear or Dodongo to your location in most places on the map. Finally there’s the Ocarina of Wind from The Minish Cap. Much like the Flute from A Link to the Past, it can teleport you to specific locations across the map, the difference being that you need to unlock these places first. This plays into a sense of exploration in the game. When you find a new teleport location you feel like you unlocked something great: the ability to quickly travel from one location to the other. This is something that the Flute lacks, because it drops you off at certain spots without any rhyme or reason (or perhaps because the flute boy’s bird knows more than it lets on, that clever little fellow).

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Name: Alasyn Eletha – https://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/User:Alasyn_Eletha

5. Pipes of Awakening (Majora’s Mask)
4. Grass Flute (Twilight Princess)
3. Ocarina of Time (Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask)
2. Goddess Harp (Skyward Sword)
1. Makar’s Violin (Wind Waker)

I don’t technically count Link’s other instruments in Majora’s Mask as the Ocarina of Time and I’ve always really enjoyed the sound of the pipes when wearing the Deku Scrub mask. Also, I know that Makar’s violin isn’t one of Link’s playable instruments, but as a violinist, I find the music Makar plays throughout The Wind Waker absolutely beautiful! My goal is get better at playing so I can play “Makar’s Prayer” some day — or any other Zelda tune, for that matter.

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Name: Jon Lett – https://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/User:Colonel-Majora

5. The Goddess Harp (Skyward Sword)
4. The Windmill Man’s Music Box (Ocarina of Time)
3. The Flute (A Link to the Past)
2. The Wind Waker
1. The Ocarina of Time

While I was tempted to say The Wind Waker was #1, the classic Ocarina of Time has many more songs, and the songs themselves seem more relevant to the game. The normal songs, meant to affect the world around you, are helpful throughout the game, in many different ways, and the longer Sage songs are not only beautiful, but also meaningful in their respective contexts. Sheik’s speeches she gives before teaching you these songs are quite poetic, and learning the songs while in their special areas really suits the game’s mood at the time. The Ocarina will always be a true classic — both the instrument itself, as well as the game that made it famous.

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Alexis Anderson – https://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/User:Triforce3

5. Guitar of Waves (Majora’s Mask)
4. Harp of Ages (Oracle of Ages)
3. Ocarina of Time (Ocarina of Time)
2. Eight Instruments of the Sirens (Link’s Awakening)
1. Goddess’s Harp (Ocarina of Time)

I am absolutely enchanted by Sheik’s Theme, and every time I hear it I can’t help but picture the Sheikah warrior plucking at that Goddess Harp. It was really incredible seeing what is supposedly the same harp appear in Skyward Sword, especially because the player got to strum on it that time! Additionally, the “Ballad of the Windfish” is a powerful song; I couldn’t settle on just one of its instruments, so I had to resort to all eight for the composition.

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Kevin O’Rourke – https://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/User:Kevin

5. Pipes of Awakening (Majora’s Mask)
4. Guitar of Waves (Majora’s Mask)
3. Eight Instruments of the Sirens (Link’s Awakening)
2. Flute (Link to the Past)
1. Ocarina of Time (Ocarina of Time, Majoras Mask)

The flute from Link to the Past has such a catchy tune, but the Ocarina of Time takes the cake as the best instrument in the Zelda series. Having a lot of different songs to play was fun, and even if some of the songs aren’t played too often in the game, they are still incredibly memorable. Expanding upon the Ocarina of Time was the inclusion of unique instruments for the different forms that Link could take in Majora’s Mask. The Eight Instruments of the Sirens gets a high place on this list because of the “Ballad of the Wind Fish.”

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