How to make the most epic Zelda climax even more epic

So I was listening to the "Inception" soundtrack one day and started picturing "The Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker" to appropriate parts. And now I am on YouTube. I realized this video was well within my abilities and just had to do it. I've been thinking a lot about the series, frequenting Zelda Dungeon and Kotaku, and altogether trying to collect my thoughts about everything gaming so that I can start a blog to share them publicly. Hopefully I can make good progress in that area, as this is sure to garner some attention (I hope). Afterwards maybe I can make more videos.

Indie Singer and Final Fantasy Fan

I'm pleased to present something, or rather someone, I recently stumbled upon in the music world. Kate Covington (or katethegreat19) is a singer/songwriter who creates beautiful lyric arrangements, specializing in Final Fantasy. One can find countless musicians on YouTube performing whatever they are fans of, but Kate is one of those gems who goes about her work like a professional cover artist, or rather is on the very path of being one. She directs her own choir and has successfully struggled to copyright and release her songs.

Her style is one that I have a particular weakness for, that of mystical sweetness and wonder which I cannot fully describe; here is the video I first encountered (lyrics provided in the video info):

I wish her the best of luck. (She has one of the few modern singing voices that I don't have tolerance issues with, after all!)

[Kate's YouTube channel - more links from there]

Mario Kart Love Song

Well, with over four million views, I'm considerably late; but I finally got around to watching this video of an original song about love and Mario Kart. I don't remember why I didn't watch it when I first found it, but anyway, it's pretty good. Seriously.

Falcon Punch: Kirby Remix!

During an period of brain-flushing the buried panic of school and the exhaustion of researching aluminum, I came across the following video.



Somebody sure put their time and editing skills to good use. This is meaningless, yet it had me laughing so hard!

"Advent: One-Winged Angel" Lyrics

I finally stumbled upon the lyrics, in Latin and with English translation, to Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children's remix of "One-Winged Angel." So if you're a nerd (like me) who noticed the lyrics sound different but never tracked them down to find out if they're new or just sound new because they're in Japanese (again, like me) ... here you go. Right here in the Final Fantasy Wiki. (Sounds a bit silly to not have looked someplace like this a long time ago.)

By the way, if you happen to find out why there is an "official translation" separate from a "literal translation," let me know.

And while you're there, look up "Sephiroth" and check out the "naming" section. Sephiroth (and his various boss forms) has an interesting share of biblical derivations.

OverClocked Remixes

Here I am, sitting at the computer, trying to write a lab report that's due for chemistry class on Tuesday, watching my blood sugar go back up to the high numbers that make it hard to concentrate on anything, lamenting being sick for the past two-thirds of the week, and praying that the stoichiometry stuff I still need to do will be quick and easy since I have driving class for over four hours tomorrow. It's one of those weekends that would be making me panic if it all weren't so dreary and depressing.

To provide a muffler for the noises and distractions all around me, I am listening to a bunch of fan-made remixes of video game music. And when I say "remix" I'm not talking about just rock'n'roll, techno type stuff. I'm referring to amazing arrangements of one or many VG tunes using a variety of instruments and covering a multitude of styles. Piano, trumpets, strings, some spunky stuff... Adventure, peace, fun, sadness... All made by people who do it because they can. The site (and community) that hosts them is OCRemix.org and they are called OC Remixes (big surprise). Many are synthesized; after all, how many people have a real orchestra at their command? The big deal is the quality, so unless you live by yourself and have a very good microphone, you might as well synthesize your piano pieces as well. That way all you require is the good equipment; no need to worry about keeping your breath out of the recording or anything.

So anyway, on top of everything else, I'm again experiencing the desire to make some of my own. Actually, those that I mentioned four posts ago are some. The problem is, I've needed a good program or mixer to produce them. Well, my dad found a certain Magix Music Studio at Half-Price Books for about $25, less than half of the retail $80. It looks like it could do what I need it to, but it doesn't run smoothly on our computers. Wanting to get a laptop anyway, I figured maybe the way to go would be to get a Macbook and run Windows XP on it. Time to get a job, right? But whenever that looked like a good idea, I had too much else I wanted to do.

On the other hand, since I'm making so little progress as a ROM hacker (that SMW site tells hackers all there is to know about SMW, not how to be a SMW hacker), I'm revisiting the possibility. The sooner I start, the sooner I can work my way towards something. I've realized that, while I spend so much time on various interests, there is often a lack of actual productivity in them. The way I see it, if I want to really get into these things, I need to do it with determination, with a passion. As long as I'm only exploring in such areas, I should make sure something else gets some real attention and effort.


By the way, for a good taste of the variety OCRemix has to offer, try searching for "Predetermination," "The Place We Knew," "Flight of Destiny," "Timeless," "Odyssey Beyond the Falls," "Jamming Loneliness," "Darkworld Jazz," and "A Day in the Life of a Gambler." .....Just to name a few ; ) --though if you're into rock/metal stuff, just click on anything and sooner or later you'll find what you want.

"Castlevania" music like you've never heard before

I could write a very long analysis of the parameters of video game music, but I'll save that for another time. Right now I'd like to share something truly awesome to hear: a beautiful piano rendition of the outdoor theme from Castlevania II. Never take a melody only one way you hear it. A great thing about music is its versatility, the ranges and styles that can be achieved with a single tune.

I like to work on video game piano arrangements myself. I've currently turned out a short elaboration of the title screen of Shadowgate; a rather moving piece from Solar Jetman accented with another bit from Shadowgate; and a remix that takes from Super Mario Bros., Chrono Trigger, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which will probably become more than piano once I can properly synthesize anything.

Site: Zelda Reorchestrated

I'm sure a great number of Zelda fans already know about this place, but I only found it recently, being one of those fans who doesn't browse fan sites all day. Zelda Reorchestrated, or ZREO, is dedicated to creating realistic synthesizations of Zelda music. What's different about ZREO is these people are trying to keep true to the original music as much as possible, while many other places, such as OCremix, are creating variations and medleys however they want. There are some places where I quibble with the style, and some others where the sound isn't real enough, but they are learning how to do better all the time. Considering how far ZREO has come in only a couple years of existence, I have every hope that they will one day have incredible, complete soundtracks to every Zelda title.