The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: A Game Music Companion(Studies in Game Sound and Music)

Critical analysis of the music of the iconic 1998 Nintendo 64 video game.  More than twenty years after its creation, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is still held in high critical regard as one of the finest examples of the video game medium. The same is true of the game’s music, whose superlative reception continues to be evident, whether in the context of the game or in orchestral concerts and recordings of the game’s music. Given music’s well-established significance for the video game form, it is no coincidence that music is placed at the forefront of this most lauded and loved of games. In Ocarina of Time, music connects and unifies all aspects of the game, from the narrative conceit to the interactive mechanics, from the characters to the virtual worlds, and even into the activity of legions of fans and gamers, who play, replay, and reconfigure the music in an enduring cultural site that has Ocarina of Time at its center. As video game music studies begins to mature into a coherent field, it is now possible to take the theoretical apparatus and critical approaches that have been developed in antecedent scholarship and put these into practice in the context of an extended concrete game example. The most extensive investigation into the music of a single game yet undertaken, this book serves three important primary purposes: first, it provides a historical-critical account of the music of an important video game text; second, it uses this investigation to explore wider issues in music and media studies (including interactivity, fan cultures, and music and technology); and third, it serves as a model for future in-depth studies of video game music.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1. Introduction Chapter 2. The music of Ocarina of Time in context Nintendo’s game franchises The Legend of Zelda Kondo’s approach to music in The Legend of Zelda Music on the Nintendo 64 Music in Ocarina of Time Chapter 3. The ocarina and Link’s musical performances The ocarina Why an ocarina? Playing Link’s ocarina Beyond the four notes Learning the ocarina songs The songs Plot-advancing and assistance melodies Warp songs The Scarecrow’s song and other performances The Fabulous Five froggish tenors The Skull Kids Musical performance in Ocarina of Time The function of musical performance in games Chapter 4. Location cues Part I. Hyrule Field A familiar tune Introduction Day tags Reflective tags Battle tags Music, the player and geography Part II. Location cues featuring ocarina songs Epona’s song and Lon Lon Ranch – Associations of ranch life The Temple of Time and the Song of Time – Cathedral soundscape Windmill and the Song of Storms – Strange circularity Saria’s song and the Lost Woods – Jolly repetition and misdirection Part III. Dungeon cues Inside the Deku Tree – Organic timbres Dodongo’s Cavern – Audio textures of metal and stone Inside Jabu-Jabu’s belly – Fishy rumblings Forest Temple – Sounds of the forest Fire Temple – Voices heard and unheard Ice Cavern – Crystalline chimes Water Temple – A dungeon on the Danube? Shadow Temple and the bottom of the well – Voices and drums from the depths Spirit Temple Ganon’s Castle Part IV. Towns Kokiri Forest – Optimism and ornamentation Castle Town market – Evoking European traditions Kakariko Village – A wistful safe haven Goron City – Sounding the materials of the mountain Zora’s domain Gerudo Valley – Hispanic traditions in the desert Part V. Recurring types of location Shops – Hyrule’s consumer soundtrack Sideshow minigames – The fairground connection Houses – A musical starting point Potion shops, ghost shops and lakeside laboratory – Little shops of horrors? Fairy Fountain/start menu – Angelic harps Music for locations Chapter 5. Character themes and cutscenes Part I. Character themes Zelda’s theme – Lilting lullaby Ganondorf’s theme – Alarming chords and brooding sequences Sheik – Atypical warrior’s theme Kaepora Gaebora (the great wise owl) – Authority and levity Great Deku Tree – Ancient uncertainty Koume and Kotake A noticeable omission Part II. Other cutscenes Opening – An unexpected start Flying – Musical sequences for beating wings Legends, spirits and goddesses Rewards and milestones  End credits – Finale ultimo Ocarina of Time 3D Music for cutscenes Chapter 6. Ludic cues Part I. Combat music Musical features of combat cues Implementation in the game Boss victory cue Part II. Cues for treasure and challenges Acquisition cues Music for puzzles  Music for losing – Game over Minigames – Frivolous fun Special sequences Aestheticizing the Ludic Chapter 7: Interfaces and sound effects Earcons for interfaces Menus and dialogue Targeting system Musical sound for interfaces and information Musicality and magic Sound and motion Enemy sound effects Conclusions Chapter 8. Ocarina afterlives Later games Parallel world – Majora’s mask Selective franchise continuity Decontextualizing sound A multi-valent musical medium

About the Author :
Tim Summers is lecturer in music at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author of Understanding Video Game Music and a cofounder of the Ludomusicology Research Group.

Review :
'Summers does an excellent job of describing the soundscape of a video game within the confines of print, employing a variety of visual representations to support his prose arguments. [...] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: A Game Music Companion offers many things to many people: it is an in-depth analysis of a beloved game, a primer on ludomusicological terminology and concepts, a model analysis, a demonstration of the different things video game music can do, and an explication of how it does them. Summers’s attention to detail, wide-ranging knowledge, and affection and respect for the subject matter are evident throughout, resulting in a superb book.'