Brawl music: The Ocarina of Time medley
March 29, 2009
In my first Cruise Elroy post I argued that the real legacy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl is its curatorial treatment of Nintendo’s history. It’s high time we peeked inside that museum, and where better to start than with the music?
Here’s the beginning of the Ocarina of Time medley, arranged especially for Brawl:
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The two main pieces excerpted here are, of course, “Zelda’s Lullaby” and “Song of Storms,” but right now I want to talk about this little transitory section:
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There are actually references to three additional Ocarina songs embedded in this ten-second sample. Let’s dig them out.
First is the coda from “Minuet of Forest”:
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Compare 0:08 in “Minuet” with the beginning of the transition section above; the melody from measures 5-6 is played twice. You may notice that the second instance is higher in pitch than the first; this is what music theorists call a sequence.
The second piece is “Bolero of Fire”:
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Compare 0:05 in the transition above to the opening motive in “Bolero.” The context is different and the specific intervals have changed; however, the piece is still identifiable because it maintains the same melodic contour and is similarly sequential.
The third reference involves that quick piano snippet at 0:09 — t’s a passing allusion to the piano ostinato in the Ocarina boss battle theme:
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The medley ups the tempo significantly, but the allusion is unmistakable — both feature the same chromatic descent, in the same range, on the same instrument.
More to come on Brawl music as I discover more of its nooks and crannies. (If you’d like to read more about Ocarina of Time music, head into the archives!)
6 comments
Wow, I never paid enough attention to notice all of the Ocarina songs crammed in just ten seconds. The snippet with the boss battle theme was a clever inclusion by the arrangers – it wasn’t as obvious to me until you isolated that theme.
Of course, it goes without saying that in the medley, the “Sun’s Song” plays in counterpoint to “Zelda’s Lullaby” at 0:22 in the section right before the transitory section.
I believe the entire medley also alludes to “Lon Lon Ranch”, “Song of Time”, and “Lost Woods”.
by Rafi on March 30, 2009 at 12:45 am #
I always thought the Ocarina of Time medley in Brawl was very nicely done, but I was unaware of just how much of a medley it actually was. Good ear! =P
by JPLC on March 30, 2009 at 10:55 am #
Rafi: Right you are, on all counts. Good ear and good memory!
JPLC: Thanks! It is a very cool little piece. It’s easy to make a bad medley — there are others on the Brawl soundtrack, in fact — but this one stands out.
by Dan Bruno on April 12, 2009 at 11:48 am #
I’m really surprised. I noticed all the other, longer songs as well as the “Minuet of Forest”-theme, but I thought that the “Bolero of Fire”-Passage was improvised. Now I’m even more fascinated of this medley. Thanks for that.
By the way: I really like your blog. Keep on working and analyze the Majora’s Mask-Themes, too.
by darkIkarus on October 3, 2009 at 10:50 am #
The quick nylon string guitars also recall the gerudo fortress areas of the map.
by lateralalice on March 4, 2010 at 2:03 am #
Dang! That’s an amazing find! And I thought I was cool for noticing the Sun Song playing contrapuntally against Zelda’s Lullaby. lol
Seriously, this site is amazing though! I never thought I’d stumble upon a site where we get to go into a deep analysis of video game music!
by Jeremy on July 20, 2010 at 3:34 am #