New Ocarina of Time Recording Imminent

https://store.iam8bit.com/products/hero-of-time-2xlp-the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time

Just in time for The Legend of Zelda’s 30th Anniversary Celebration…

iam8bit & Materia Collective are ecstatic to present Hero of Time, an officially licensed, one-hour arrangement album based on Koji Kondo’s dynamic, epic and absolutely gorgeous score to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time .

Freshly – and exclusively – recorded by the 64-player Slovak National Symphony Orchestra for this very album, Hero of Time breaths new life into classic Ocarina of Time score, previously only available from its Nintendo 64 sound chip origins.

The album is arranged & composed by Eric Buchholz, a maestro of video game concert tours across the globe, including The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony (plus the bonus CD that shipped with Skyward Sword!!), The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses, and many more.

Any interest for this upcoming release?

I feel like we’ve heard these songs so many times that another recording seems superfluous. But Bucholz’s involvement has caught my attention.

———- Post added at 10:40 AM ———- Previous post was at 10:34 AM ———-

Apparently Kondo is conducting this, but I can’t find a legit source for that information…

Glad you’re excited! We are too.

Oh, and Koji Kondo didn’t conduct it. We had our own team for that 🙂

Yeah, I figured Kondo’s involvement was exaggerated on certain news sites. Thanks for the clarification!

Question, if you don’t mind: will a digital release be sold separately, or do they only come with a pre-order of the LP?

Thanks for bringing this music to life in a whole new way!

😯 I am very, very excited for this as well. It’ll be quite thrilling to hear this music beautifully performed – at the least that’s how I’m predicting it will sound. 🙂

Any live orchestra arrangment of any music is welcomed to me.

It’s cool and all, but you either have to order it yourself
or wait for a Vinyl Rip, because apparently Iam8Bit
only hands out lossy digital Versions for Preorders…

Yeah, that’s a bit of a drag. Maybe there’ll be a CD release or at least a separate digital download option. I have no interest in purchasing a LP; it’d be useless to me.

Yep, good news everyone: We’ll have a digital version (FLAC, mp3 320, etc) up on Bandcamp. It’ll also be on iTunes, Spotify, and all those places.

CDs: We’re doing a limited edition pressing; likely only a few hundred copies.

Vinyl: through iam8bit. 2xLP and it’ll look freaking gorgeous. There’s a digital version coming with it as well; unsure what sample rate those are running at. My bookshelf is full of iam8bit vinyl, but those are usually bought after I already have the digital OST…

Thanks for the love – will post more when we’ve got teasers and previews.

Yay!

:bearclap:

Oh hey, here’s an update on Hero of Time.

We recorded in December, edited and mixed last month, and the album’s being mastered right now. This is likely the most ambitious and financially taxing (we overshot our Kickstarter budget) fan-created cover album to date.

Here’s a preview: https://soundcloud.com/materiacollective/hero-of-time-01-title-theme-live-preview/s-ExDnt

And we have a pre-order store, in case you want in on the exclusive CDs or vinyl: https://herooftime.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Cheers all.

Thanks! Sounds magnificent. I will buy it when it’s out. I can’t wait.

Thanks for the update (and the preview!)!

Sounds wonderful! So appreciated to hear a sample of the great work you’ve all done.

I thinks it’s out there right now. I listened to some tracks. I’ve got to admit, it’s kind of disappointing that from a game music arrangement which is called Ocarina of Time, not a single time a Ocarina is used anywhere at all. (The intro for instance is played by a flute instead of a ocarina.)

That’s an alteration I’m willing to forgive. I can’t imagine an ocarina being used effectively alongside a full orchestra. The ‘Hyrule Symphony’ from ’98 or ’99 uses an ocarina in its arrangements, so if that’s your taste it’s certainly available.

Indeed, it worked fine – if not wonderful – with the Hyrule Symphony ensemble. So why shouldn’t it work with a full orchestra. It has been done before.
James Horner, for instance, used it in The Search for Spock. So if a masterful composer like James Horner AND Koji Kondo used it, why shouldn’t Eric Buchholz use it as well?

Thanks for listening! Lon Lon Ranch features Kristin Naigus on ocarina. But yup, no ocarina elsewhere – it simply didn’t work with the full orchestra. We think flutes, bansuri, sho, whistle, english horn, oboe, and some other winds were more effective.