Game:

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

Duration: 1:39

1,186 views

25

Music: GANON
Composers: Koji Kondo
Platform: Nintendo 64 / Nintendo 3DS

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Original Soundtrack

Music theory analysis and piano cover visualization project made with the actual audio tracks from the original Nintendo 64 game. Extracted with a specialized audio software, we can now dig inside the score for the first time; offering us a glimpse for how each instrument contributes to the whole.

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Musical Analysis:

Structure: Section 0 / Section 1 / Section 2 / Section 3
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: 148 (72 in section 0)
Melodic and Harmonic Profiles: E Phrygian Major; F# Octatonic

A battle for the ages. The last confrontation is presented as a scene coming directly from mythology; a clash of true epic proportions that will be forever engrained into the legend of the tridorce. There are more magic tricks or pyrotechnics, here the demonic beast known as Ganon will crave the blood with its own blades in a duel with a hero of time that is not able to retrieve the master sword. The flames, the screams of Zelda, the courage of Navi, and the entire darkness engulfing the scene, where just the two glowing eyes of the beast are all that is seen between small glimpses provided by lighting bolts creates the climax of the exponential curve Ocarina of Time has expertly been building up. The score of course could not stay behind, with Kondo opting for a piece to match the atmosphere of these apocalyptic stakes; the music truly feels like a hero using the last of his strength to fight an insurmountable foe. The usual combat music with high octane brass sections and ultra fast ostianos does not work anymore for two figures that have transcended human status. Everything is at stake here, it’s good vs evil in musical form.

The intro could perfectly be a separate cue whose purpose is to musicalize the transformation into Ganon. It is a follow up both literally and thematically to the 'Enter Ganondorf' cue that worked as a leitmotif for the appearances of Ganondorf—its name would be of course “Enter Ganon”— Slower, heavier and more chromatic; here we have a standard dissonant fanfare for a big bad monster using the diminished seventh chords known for fusing together the unsettling characteristics of the tritone, the perfect fourth and the minor second all at the same time.

After that, we perceive the first tinges of heroism dwelling deep within the low end of the track, where the typical connotations of the perfect fourth and Ganondorf are replaced with the more triumphant perfect fifths, supporting the hero in the same way that Zelda and Navi do. They still move in chromatic fashion and slowly though, reminding the hero that he has to be cautious and that there remains a chance of failure. The upper strings are layered on top playing sus2 chords and perfect fourth intervals; the music itself is also having a clash of its own between the forces of the perfect fourths and those of perfect fifths. At the end of the phrases the upper strings finally play the perfect fifth, triumphing over the perfect fourth; there is hope for Link, the combination of the strings even manages to sound a major chord (E major)…. but then the even more evil tritone appears in order to clash against the perfect fifth, and just after that an F major chord fights back. The battle between consonance and dissonance goes on and on throughout the track; perfect fourth against perfect fifth, augmented vs major, in the end the piece clearly favors the major chord, with three consecutive ones predicting the outcome of this battle. As seen on the visuals,The low strings playing the perfect fifths are doubled note for note by the horns; Link has the support of his friends and the entirety of Hyrule.

This instrumental section can be heard isolated here:
https://soundcloud.com/user-989158403/ganon-final-battle-instrumental?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The instruments are reinforced with choirs that are aways called to give gravitas to any situation. showing that this is truly a battle of legend or might even point out to a conflict between goddesses and demons. In any case nothing screams grand finale more than a potent choir chant.

The only remnant of conventional battle music is the driving percussion section propelled by the snare drum combined with over the top timpani and orchestral cymbals all over it for enhancement.

Link does not manage to eliminate the beast, the only option left is to use the power of Princess Zelda, the sages and the master sword to seal Ganon. The fate of Hyrule was decided on top of the ruins of Hyrule Castle, now it is time to celebrate and say some goodbyes.


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