The Legend of Zelda Music Encyclopedia: In-depth analysis of the theory and influences of video game music

The music of the Zelda series is some of the most memorable and influential in video games. And in some of the games it even has a prominent role, being incorporated into the gameplay and as part of a cohesive narrative.

This is the reason why i wanted to see how it is made and the cultural and game design influences that go into it. This is why I was happy to learn that the actual music from the games made during the Nintendo 64 era (and even beyond!) lives inside the games' ROM files and code. After playing around a with some tools, I managed to get the original music files used. Everything is there, from the instruments used to the instructions on how they should be played, and the note sequences. Now we can get almost perfect reproductions of the music as standard music files. Thus, i decided to do a throughout analysis of the music and get as in-depth as possible into how it is made and what went into the compositions and sound design.

For the moment, i just finished the analysis of the two games of the Nintendo 64 era; with the resources, it was easy to make music visualization videos where you can see the exact notes played and all the instrument that go into each of the tracks. you can also check out additional media that helps to point out some aspects of the music. Here is a full playlist with each entry and the analysis; my wish is also to get more contributions and comments about each piece in order to get a complete understanding of the music, along with your thoughts on the tracks: Playlist

I hope this will be great to gain more appreciation for the music and a valuable resource for musicians and audio enthusiasts. An extensive investigation went into the music and I’m sure you will find lots of interesting info, specially of you are interested in media composition and how, with limited resources, the composers of the era managed to create the music in older system.

I also want to continue with the project and perhaps start incorporating different games and consoles in order to create video game music encyclopedia that can become a good reference for music enthusiasts. There are other classic Nintendo games already in there so if you have other soundtracks where you would like a similar treatment please let me know.

The original intention was to do the project in an even more interactive way, something where you can click on the particular set of instruments you want to hear at a time, but I have not found anything out there that can do that. If any of you know some way to do it I would be glad to know. Something like this: https://streamable.com/x73wbt

In any case, a lot of care was put into the making of these games and it shows in the music. so i hope you find it interesting. Please tell me what you think and you can ask me any questions about the soundtracks or how video game music was made, I am going to try to dig a little more info. There are interesting tidbits like some of the equipment the composers used and even where they specifically got some of the sounds and inspirations” For example, for Goron City: https://youtu.be/9U2vpsgvdx0?t=103

Hi @officialmusictracks,

I watch 8 bit music theory in YT (thx to recommendation of @PeterthePapercomPoser!) and their analysis is great. You put your analysis in the comment section, so even though it’s informative, it will be less interactive and interesting, in my own personal opinion. But welcome to YC!

Henry