Check out my Zelda-inspired original work! Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/5kLGti6hC7KWZh6m5dMGlM?si=NByTYiu5Rq2TMxZo41A3bg Apple: music.apple.com/nl/album/open-air-i-ii-music-inspired-by-tears-of-the-kingdom/1686925944?l=en-GB
This concept was absolutely brilliant, Tim! Honestly, I couldn't help but wish that Tears of the Kingdom had the same music treatment that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet had where walking, riding and battling all had their own variations. Had it happened, it would been the best Zelda OST ever!
Ohh hi Benthoven. 👋🏻 True, I noticed as well how brilliant the battle music variations changed in every region in Scarlet/Violet. Tim could have added a crouch music part were the music is played quietly, this would have been a great addition to the atmosphere. This was really nice composition @demantim, but it felt more like a soundtrack to Genshin Impact in my opinion (although you hit the point with the musical references. Very very good!!) I guess, this would be a very interesting way to keep you in the musical flow if it is done this way. But I personally prefer cut out to new situations where completely new ost is played like in combat or other locations like sky islands or other regions. But if they return to the map but this time rebuild, it would be better fitting to create a soundtrack like you did.
This is a very interesting idea. While I don't think it fits in TotK due to there still being alot of sparseness in the world despite it being more dense, I do think this is something the Zelda composers should consider implementing for the next game, as well as something you should consider implementing for one of the games you're composing/will compose for cause you implemented this so well. Great video, Tim
Thanks Christon! For Wild Country I've worked with FMOD - it changes the mood of the dialogue tracks in there. For Tears: I agree, this is a little dense sounding. If this would've been a full OST implementation there would probably have been intensity layers *below* what's now the neutral position - something even more sparse.
@@demantim Ok, that's cool. And, yea, I agree. It would've made the music more naturally flow with the game feel. I wanted to know, do you have links to the soundtracks you've worked on so far?
@@christonadams9046 Only the Soul Stalker EP on Bandcamp, Spotify etc.. The full soundtrack for that game will come in a few months. Otherwise, all other stuff is still under wraps unfortunately!
Very true. I was skeptical at first as I thought TotK had great music (it still does) but after hearing this I am simply in awe of what could've been done.
what a nice sound to just sit and vibe to :) imo the situation music changes are a little subtle and without watching i couldn’t gauge a significant difference in intensity between different actions that you could see on screen, so any battle didn’t instill a sense of urgency or draw my attention. but i did LOVE listening! never seen to make it to your streams but i love your uploads on (music listening platform of choice). thank you so much!!
This is so striking… Nowadays I try not to dwell on what I wanted from a game, but yeah, I _really_ missed the melodic overworlds of the linear games. Awesome job with this one, Tim.
It's an awesome work Tim ! Love it =) your style really fits into the game 🙃 I think a mix beetween the calm little notes of the original game and your experimentation would be cool
I absolutely love this!!! Wow, this is so great! I wish TOTK had redone its music a bit to be slightly more lively since the world has become more alive. I really would’ve loved for them to have included stuff like what you did
@@demantim Hoping so! Because of how somber the original soundtrack was, I've used someone's music to fill in the ambiance, whether they're original soundtracks from others or some of your music. It definitely helps fill in the soft tones.
Such an incredibly well formed video in terms of narration and story telling. In my opinion, your ideas for music creation and implementation are some of the best on UA-cam, it is great to hear such a fresh yet honest opinion about the Totk soundtrack! I can't help but agree with you any more about the feeling a disconnect between the music and the world despite having completely new approach, I just couldn't quite put it into words myself. We would definitely love to see more videos like this Tim, the entire time, I was just indulged in listening to your brilliant ideas, you have such an analytical and fascinating mind, Keep up the great work Tim!
Dear Tim, this is absolutely amazing! You are clearly a musical expert (and quite possibly a genius) as you seem to have mastered what makes good Zelda music. Hopefully this culminates in a sort of recomposed TotK album, perhaps with some kickstarter support?
Thanks so much Takriel! That's a super interesting idea... At the moment the channel isn't doing very well and I'm thinking of seriously shaking things up - this might be a worthwhile avenue.
This is so cool and works phenomenally well. I wasn't sure at first but now I totally think this would have improved the game. I love how detailed you can get with the different layers changing for simple actions like flying and climbing!
This was stunning!! I'd love to hear all the themes for different regions! It'd be incredible if it all could be modded into tears of the kingdom so we could hear your gorgeous work.
Really great! I really like the layering and musical ideas. I feel like this kind of dynamic game soundtrack layering has been around since SNES Super Mario World's soundtrack added a percussion layer whenever you ride Yoshi. I would love to see it used more
Hah, yeah it's been around for a long long time! Even BotW/TotK use dynamic music - notably in Hyrule Castle. Would be great if they extended that to exploration as well for the next one
I love this concept. Zelda aside, dynamic music is already a rare feature in video games, much less a system with this much depth! The way you use these compositions adds so much impact to the game’s various moods. The additional layers of music serve both as a reflection of what the player is seeing, which contributes to immersion, and subtle personality, linking certain instruments to certain mechanics. The build up of tension and swelling in instrumentation makes combat feel truly intense. The seamless crossfade when changing moods and removing and tracks is fantastic. While I personally loved the ambient music of BotW, I think the implementation of this kind of system would be a welcome addition to many areas and situations of any modern title focused on immersive gameplay.
This is actually incredible. I cannot express just how well this works for TotK and I would absolutely love to hear this kind of thing for other regions. Truly amazing work.
This is honestly so cool. Playing TotK, I didn't feel like it was missing much musically, but this totally breaks open how much better it COULD have been!
I love how you've made exploring the region more fun to experience. You've nailed that BOTW style to a tee! Now I've heard it, I wish we had dynamic music in the game. As you've shown, it can have that nice balance between sparsity and melodic as a baseline, and then build upon it as the situation demands. I hope we can have something like this in future games (along with the return of fun) I hope you do more of these for other regions, i'd love to hear your take on them and their scenarios!
Your initial explanation made me think you would try a classic "Hyrule Field theme" kind of song, but those gradual changes alredy happen in Tears of the Kingdom in some degree. Adding regional music would really improve the experience. I still think the music in the game fits the exploration in the same way it did in Breath of the Wild, at least in most cases, however adding just a tiny tone shift when you climb or ride a vehicle would be very nice. I think one problem with TotK's soundtrack is how any little monster you find can stop the music. The battle theme is good, but becomes annoying because of this issue.
Outstanding!!!! I love this concept. The music of Zelda is always a highlight and you've elevated it in a way that surprises and elevates. Just wonderful.
I find the music here fantastic and simply amazing. It warmed the ears, and the vibrated a little bit. I only have one criticism, but that's probably just me. I enjoyed the different kind of video, and I hope you get a warm and freshly baked loaf of bread in your life sometime soon.
Wonderfully stated and demonstrated, Tim! I found myself mesmerized by your re-scored playthrough here, longing for what could have been. BotW's restrained soundtrack was a stroke of genius and an excellent fit for its empty, broken, forgotten world, and I completely agree that as the world repopulated and began to prosper again, filling out the musical landscape would have made a perfectly natural fit. I'm disappointed that TotK's most powerful musical moments are mostly just really good covers and remixes of *previous* games' greatest hits. I *do* love Colgera's theme and the spooky, dramatic buildup to the wind temple, but they make such a small fraction of the larger TotK experience. It didn't help that the swooning sax they teased us with in the trailers was barely featured in the game at all. Also, wow… look at this madman composing 10 perfectly synchronized tracks just to prove a point. :D Could this be a clue that Open Air III is in development? Or were these borrowing bits from Open Air tracks that I didn't recognize? Either way, yes, please count my vote in full support of more regional compositions!
Thanks so much! Yeah, I'm really wondering what happened during TotK's development - it's a bit of a weird game... And yes, these are definitely coming to Open Air III! :D
Yeah, it would have been so nice for there to be new openworld music in TotK. I guess we now wait to see if the classic Zelda musical implementation returns with the next game.
Man, you're so talented, this gives me strong Hollow Knight/Ori vibes. The dynamic music system is really similar to Nier Automata, another game with a great OST.
I loved it! My husband wished they had a toggle for the music. So you could do the typical ambient music they have, or you could flip the switch and have them play music from previous games, like Ocarina, Skyword Sword, Twilight Princess and so on. Its kind of like some of Skyrim’s music. Very well done!
That's actually really damn impressive. Not so intense that it doesn't fit the feel of the game, but also not so down played that you barely notice it's there, the perfect balance if I do say so myself.
That's a really great concept. Music is one of the many domains TotK chose not to take risks in, but if you keep this idea going, maybe people will be able to mod this into the game !
Great compositions and demo 👏 I think they use a similar technique in combat to transition depending on the enemy group and how you hit them, most noticeably with bokos when the boko boss gets involved (a variant with drums and horn kicks in) or is killed (back to the regular combat theme). Though very subjectively I don't know if I'd be cool with very important and frequent variations in more relaxed and prolonged segments. The fact that it reacts to your current action means it may happen constantly, and if these tracks don't have time to set in it may have the opposite effect of _always_ having you on edge, but whereas this fits linear games because you're _meant_ to arrive soon enough wherever you are, in an open setting it may lack pause. I like that it's regularly silent, to reflect and take in the surrounding, and the natural sound landscape itself is kinda hypnotizing. I also happen to stumble upon more unique parts with their own themes (like towns and mini-bosses) often enough that I perceive variety and movement in the adventure. I understand that it won't play out the same for all players. In fact I'm even annoyed by the opposite: when riding the horse and I get in the zone with Zelda's ballad or the Hero's theme, it's not cool and arguably pointless to ruin the mood for a couple keese, or because the horse got stuck on a goddamn rock again so the game assumes I wanted to stop here... In segments like the ascension to the Stormwind Ark or even the Lost Woods, it's a shame _any_ enemy would interrupt the remarkable mood just to default to a "tense" situation, as if the current setting didn't already ask our attention. In Hyrule Castle they managed it better, but it's sad to still witness this "Midna's Lament" level of clunkiness.
Yes, modern games can set different trigger and fade-in times for different tracks. The Horse Riding music is definitely - still! - poorly implemented in that sense. Both variations of it are gorgeous but easily ruined by a short combat encounter. Nintendo might have to up their game on that front.
Dude, that was amazing! One of the reasons I don’t like combat in BOTW/TOTK is because the music is the same every time. I could wander around for hours with music like this.
Brilliant idea with the varying navigation layers. Usually I think of location, time, and combat status but adding locomotion to the mix is fantastic, really adds to the dynamicism.
This is mightier than even the most mighty knokbananen! You've definitely made it difficult to play TOTK knowing that we could've had wonderful adaptive music like this! I guess all we can do is see if they apply adaptive music into the next zelda game in 2030
Awesome video, convinced me that more present ost could have worked (probably would need a longer loops or breaks between different loops when walking though), really curious to see what you would do for the other regions!
Love this concept, now I’ve got another thing to complain about this game for not implementing. I feel like there’s so much that doesn’t even involve gameplay that they could have implemented to make this game feel unique - it just feels like an update of the first game.
You did an excellent job replicating the botw style while making it more melodic. I’d love to see more stuff like this. If I can recommend a region, I would love to see what you could do with the depth. I would think that out of combat exploration music would be creepy and disturbing while in combat music sounds daunting and oppressive. You could also have a Yiga clan variant of the song
The dynamic overworld musics reminds me sooo much of Hollow Knight! There aren't as many different layers in hollow knight though, it's just the low intensitiy overworld and then the combat version, but Hollow Knight also uses strings to add intensity very similarly to how you did. I highly recommend checking the Hollow Knight soundtrack out
I did! Last week on-stream even, and have since picked up the game again. Yeah, it's doing the same thing in a very cool way. Greenpath in particular has a great contrast between combat and exploration layers! And because you're going from region to region quite often it already feels quite dynamic, even though there's a max of 2 layers per region.
I absolutely love interactive music and this would've engaged me more with what i was doing!!! a neverending track on the bg would drive me nuts after 400 hours playtime, but the music being region exclusive would kinda solve that: there'd be so much variety!!my favourite part about this was the climbing bit. I did that a lot, and this music would've brought up the stakes of falling and making clinbing more engaging instead of an endless chore😂 (i rather just climbed everywhere than used time to build smth i would just discard after using it for a second) Maybe it would've been nice to have a ultrahand building music too!
At first, I was against a melodic alternative to BotW music (and I still think the ambiant music is the perfect option for BotW, but maybe not for TotK). The reason behind that is that I played Dragon Quest XI, and the fanfare (that you can usually hear in a classic Zelda overworld) was too much to hear it for 100 hours, so imagine 300h. But then I remember Just Cause 3, which has a gliding theme that starts with ambiant sounds, but then progressively goes with epicness. Unfortunately, there aren't variation, but this was a start to make me change my mind. I think your ideas are great, and your composition is insanely good. If you were the composer of the next Zelda game, that would be so great!
I might have shed some genuine tears if they implemented music like this in the game. I think I probably overhyped myself for the music in Totk before its release. Especially after the 3rd trailer, I was expecting the music to be a spiritual experience (I definitely overhyped myself). The new music that is in the game is incredible. The whole endgame sequence from Gloom's Approach all the way to catching Zelda is perfect to me. All the dungeons and boss fights are great as well. But I felt let down by the towns being ultimately the same. Especially Hateno and Kakariko. Because they had some changes, it would have been nice to reflect them in the music. Plus the game was sorely missing Kass and didn't really have a musical replacement other than the Stable Trotters who were great but they only play one song where Kass added a few different killer tunes. And like you said, the ambience worked great for Botw but wasn't as thematically relevant to Totk. I think changing up the functionality of the music in Totk would have gone a long way for me. I might have been less sad about all the story and continuity issues if they implemented some of the stuff that you are suggesting here. I really love your composition here by the way (well, I always love your compositions). I hope that you make more of these! This one video already makes me happier and want to play more Totk haha. And I know I must sound like I dislike the game. I actually really like it, but as an invested fan, I also just have too many opinions about it than is probably good for my well being😂.
You hit the nail on the head with saying the music didn't fully support the new feeling TOTK should've had. I wish they took existing themes and tweaked them ever so slightly for say, the cold theme or other 'natural ones', and then more significantly for 'plot' ones like the towns and such. As for the video, loved your demonstration! Is there any way to add in more of the game sound effects like combat, explosions, etc.? That would make your demo even more immersive!
Wow, the way you made the pieces flow together was incredible! It definitely made the two or three battle pieces in totk look boring by comparison 😂 And don't sell yourself short, you could definitely work as a paid composer!!
Wow. I love this! But I don't fully agree with you on the world being fuller than it was in breath of the wild. It felt like about the same density to me. But it probably feels a bit denser because you move around faster because of the vehicles and skyview towers, and the fact you are already familiar with the map. I would have liked more new music too though.
I know I'm a little late, but I am begging you to release a piano tutorial of how to play the music from your Orchestral Extension of the TOTK 2019, 2021, and 2022 trailers.
yoooo tim, how you doing? sorry i couldn't show up to the recent streams, i have (ironically enough) piano practise exactly when you decide to appear, so no stream for me. anyways, i kinda like this video format from you, i'd love for you to make more videos like this!
Hey Tim, do you think that you could explain a bit of your process of composing melodies here? Even though you said that this piece would be more melodic it felt like there was not much of a single melody/tune, it felt like the piece just had moving harmonic passages in some parts, where the melody just fades a way for a bit. I hope you know what I mean regardless of my limited musical terminology, but I have noticed a disconnect between trying to create distinct melody lines that also work as game music.
This! Wel I certainly do like most new music pieces in tears of the kingdom such as the boss battles, the temples and of course the magnificent main theme that is brilliantly renditioned in the final act of the game. However, when I was just roaming the overworld, I found it continuously disappointing that there was no new music for this. The ambient piano pieces introduced in Braeth of the Wild were perfect for it's setting. It represented the broken, lonely and wild Hyrule perfectly. In Tears of the Kingom, the residents of Hyrule were more present throughout the world in my opinion and it felt more lively in general due to the upheaval. Well I do think your music piece in this video is a bit too extreme for a constant overworld music loop in this game (Hyrule is still very broken and wild) the different intensities and flying and combat changes are literally magnificent. And if implemented correctly, could come a long way to distinguish THIS Hyrule more from the one of Breath of the Wild. Excellent work Tim, keep up making great music! P.S. and you're right that new music for the times should also have been made. Like a simple rerendition of the main melody could come a long way.
Thanks for the kind words! And yes, my implementation would definitely need quite a bit of iteration because I agree that it may be a bit too in-your-face right now.
I feel as if tears of the kingdom’s map is still super sparse, and would need like three lower layers of intensity for most of it. Love the song, it feels too emotionally full for the setting of roaming around. Maybe would suit better at some ruins in that area.
I love this music so much, it sounds so good, but like another comment says, i dont think it really fits totk I still think it sounds really pretty though! Is there a way to listen to this on it's own video? As well as the one at the end of the video
The one at the end is Soaring on High and it's on UA-cam - just check out my Portfolio UA-cam playlist or Spotify. The other one is currently comprised of separate stems but will stitch it together for soundtrack release in the future when I've collected a few!
i’m starting to agree on your perspective on totk’s music, i can see how you’d be disappointed. for me, i honestly wish there was an option to turn off the ambient music all together and just have the sounds of the world be the soundtrack.
This is fantastic! Not to be too negative, but TOTK was a disappointment to me, but I think something like this would have made it better. Just given it a bit of soul I felt it lacked.
I was shocked when I realized that they just straight up reused tracks from botw in totk. The first dungeon quest I did was Rito village. When I first got there, the music was very slow and somber because the village was freezing over. When I noticed the new track for the freezing village, I got really excited to finish the dungeon and hear the new music for the restored village. But then I do the dungeon and get met with the exact same track from botw. Might have been the most disappointing moment in the entire game for me.
![Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom / Breath of the Wild 2 Orchestral Main Theme [E3 2021 Trailer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-_3r-hqcSxA/mqdefault.jpg)
![Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom / Breath of the Wild 2 Orchestral Main Theme [E3 2021 Trailer]](/img/tr.png)
Check out my Zelda-inspired original work!
Spotify: open.spotify.com/album/5kLGti6hC7KWZh6m5dMGlM?si=NByTYiu5Rq2TMxZo41A3bg
Apple: music.apple.com/nl/album/open-air-i-ii-music-inspired-by-tears-of-the-kingdom/1686925944?l=en-GB
❤❤
This concept was absolutely brilliant, Tim! Honestly, I couldn't help but wish that Tears of the Kingdom had the same music treatment that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet had where walking, riding and battling all had their own variations. Had it happened, it would been the best Zelda OST ever!
Ohh, that's interesting! Might be cool to check out for the Pokemon Music Reaction/Analysis Stream!
Ohh hi Benthoven. 👋🏻
True, I noticed as well how brilliant the battle music variations changed in every region in Scarlet/Violet. Tim could have added a crouch music part were the music is played quietly, this would have been a great addition to the atmosphere.
This was really nice composition
@demantim, but it felt more like a soundtrack to Genshin Impact in my opinion (although you hit the point with the musical references. Very very good!!) I guess, this would be a very interesting way to keep you in the musical flow if it is done this way. But I personally prefer cut out to new situations where completely new ost is played like in combat or other locations like sky islands or other regions. But if they return to the map but this time rebuild, it would be better fitting to create a soundtrack like you did.
Oh this is brillaint!
One could only imagine what themes you could come up with for the other regions.
Would love to do that! Depends on the amount of views this gets, it's a bit of an experiment ;) .
This is a very interesting idea. While I don't think it fits in TotK due to there still being alot of sparseness in the world despite it being more dense, I do think this is something the Zelda composers should consider implementing for the next game, as well as something you should consider implementing for one of the games you're composing/will compose for cause you implemented this so well. Great video, Tim
Thanks Christon! For Wild Country I've worked with FMOD - it changes the mood of the dialogue tracks in there. For Tears: I agree, this is a little dense sounding. If this would've been a full OST implementation there would probably have been intensity layers *below* what's now the neutral position - something even more sparse.
@@demantim Ok, that's cool. And, yea, I agree. It would've made the music more naturally flow with the game feel. I wanted to know, do you have links to the soundtracks you've worked on so far?
@@christonadams9046 Only the Soul Stalker EP on Bandcamp, Spotify etc.. The full soundtrack for that game will come in a few months. Otherwise, all other stuff is still under wraps unfortunately!
@@demantim That's fine, thanks for letting me know
I agree with this
Goes to show you never know what you're missin' until it's shown to you. Love the score and concept!
Very true. I was skeptical at first as I thought TotK had great music (it still does) but after hearing this I am simply in awe of what could've been done.
That is super nice good job
what a nice sound to just sit and vibe to :) imo the situation music changes are a little subtle and without watching i couldn’t gauge a significant difference in intensity between different actions that you could see on screen, so any battle didn’t instill a sense of urgency or draw my attention. but i did LOVE listening! never seen to make it to your streams but i love your uploads on (music listening platform of choice). thank you so much!!
This is so striking… Nowadays I try not to dwell on what I wanted from a game, but yeah, I _really_ missed the melodic overworlds of the linear games. Awesome job with this one, Tim.
It's an awesome work Tim ! Love it =) your style really fits into the game 🙃 I think a mix beetween the calm little notes of the original game and your experimentation would be cool
Yeah, perhaps an even more calm "neutral" track would be fitting as a base.
That was really interesting Tim,
If I ever get an indie game going your definitely on my list of composers I would look for
When the Music in Action started I immediately got goosebumps!
This is amazing!
You should definitely do this for the depths. I would watch the hell out of a series of these for different regions.
Thanks so much, would love to do more...!
Wow, you always go above and beyond with your arrangements and ideas and this, as always, is amazing. Great Job Tim, you're de man.
I absolutely love this!!! Wow, this is so great! I wish TOTK had redone its music a bit to be slightly more lively since the world has become more alive. I really would’ve loved for them to have included stuff like what you did
Absolutely amazing! Love this new style of video!
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the music could've been different, more up and intense and so on. Brilliant stuff, Tim!
Thanks a lot! I'd honestly kinda expected them to go a similar route, hopefully the next one...
@@demantim
Hoping so! Because of how somber the original soundtrack was, I've used someone's music to fill in the ambiance, whether they're original soundtracks from others or some of your music. It definitely helps fill in the soft tones.
Such an incredibly well formed video in terms of narration and story telling. In my opinion, your ideas for music creation and implementation are some of the best on UA-cam, it is great to hear such a fresh yet honest opinion about the Totk soundtrack! I can't help but agree with you any more about the feeling a disconnect between the music and the world despite having completely new approach, I just couldn't quite put it into words myself. We would definitely love to see more videos like this Tim, the entire time, I was just indulged in listening to your brilliant ideas, you have such an analytical and fascinating mind, Keep up the great work Tim!
Dear Tim, this is absolutely amazing! You are clearly a musical expert (and quite possibly a genius) as you seem to have mastered what makes good Zelda music. Hopefully this culminates in a sort of recomposed TotK album, perhaps with some kickstarter support?
Thanks so much Takriel! That's a super interesting idea... At the moment the channel isn't doing very well and I'm thinking of seriously shaking things up - this might be a worthwhile avenue.
This is so cool and works phenomenally well. I wasn't sure at first but now I totally think this would have improved the game. I love how detailed you can get with the different layers changing for simple actions like flying and climbing!
Yeah, I'd love to go even more bonkers with it! :D
This was stunning!! I'd love to hear all the themes for different regions! It'd be incredible if it all could be modded into tears of the kingdom so we could hear your gorgeous work.
Yes that'd be amazing! :D
This is such a great idea! I would have loved a bit more variety in totk's music. Good job, Tim!
Really great! I really like the layering and musical ideas.
I feel like this kind of dynamic game soundtrack layering has been around since SNES Super Mario World's soundtrack added a percussion layer whenever you ride Yoshi. I would love to see it used more
Hah, yeah it's been around for a long long time! Even BotW/TotK use dynamic music - notably in Hyrule Castle. Would be great if they extended that to exploration as well for the next one
I love it!
Hope you do a strom/raining theme
Companies who need music for their media need to hire this man! ❤🙌
I love this concept. Zelda aside, dynamic music is already a rare feature in video games, much less a system with this much depth!
The way you use these compositions adds so much impact to the game’s various moods. The additional layers of music serve both as a reflection of what the player is seeing, which contributes to immersion, and subtle personality, linking certain instruments to certain mechanics. The build up of tension and swelling in instrumentation makes combat feel truly intense. The seamless crossfade when changing moods and removing and tracks is fantastic. While I personally loved the ambient music of BotW, I think the implementation of this kind of system would be a welcome addition to many areas and situations of any modern title focused on immersive gameplay.
A Tim de Man Video Essay?? This is amazing!
Haha, every once in a blue moon!
Gorgeous work, Tim! The amount of effort you put into this is STAGGERING, and the music itself is beautiful! You're such an inspiration!
Please do more of these! You really managed to capture the right style of the games while making the music more melodic and memorable.
This is actually incredible. I cannot express just how well this works for TotK and I would absolutely love to hear this kind of thing for other regions. Truly amazing work.
This is honestly so cool. Playing TotK, I didn't feel like it was missing much musically, but this totally breaks open how much better it COULD have been!
Awesome video, Tim! I think you should continue this for other regions!
I love how you've made exploring the region more fun to experience. You've nailed that BOTW style to a tee!
Now I've heard it, I wish we had dynamic music in the game. As you've shown, it can have that nice balance between sparsity and melodic as a baseline, and then build upon it as the situation demands. I hope we can have something like this in future games (along with the return of fun)
I hope you do more of these for other regions, i'd love to hear your take on them and their scenarios!
Your initial explanation made me think you would try a classic "Hyrule Field theme" kind of song, but those gradual changes alredy happen in Tears of the Kingdom in some degree. Adding regional music would really improve the experience. I still think the music in the game fits the exploration in the same way it did in Breath of the Wild, at least in most cases, however adding just a tiny tone shift when you climb or ride a vehicle would be very nice. I think one problem with TotK's soundtrack is how any little monster you find can stop the music. The battle theme is good, but becomes annoying because of this issue.
This sounds great! It kind of sounds like the approach that 'A Short Hike' does with its music.
Ohh still haven't played that, should give it a go!
I really enjoyed this! I’d love to see what you come up with for the other regions. The base song for this one was pleasant to listen to on loop.
I loved this. Everything was so original and fitted the situation perfectly. Would love to see a part 2!
I love this, thanks Tim!
What incredible work!! It always peeved me that the overworld had the same music as before! You’re just amazing at this stuff
Thanks so much FanaticChain! :D
Outstanding!!!! I love this concept. The music of Zelda is always a highlight and you've elevated it in a way that surprises and elevates. Just wonderful.
I find the music here fantastic and simply amazing. It warmed the ears, and the vibrated a little bit. I only have one criticism, but that's probably just me.
I enjoyed the different kind of video, and I hope you get a warm and freshly baked loaf of bread in your life sometime soon.
Glad you like it when I do new stuff! :D
Wonderfully stated and demonstrated, Tim! I found myself mesmerized by your re-scored playthrough here, longing for what could have been. BotW's restrained soundtrack was a stroke of genius and an excellent fit for its empty, broken, forgotten world, and I completely agree that as the world repopulated and began to prosper again, filling out the musical landscape would have made a perfectly natural fit. I'm disappointed that TotK's most powerful musical moments are mostly just really good covers and remixes of *previous* games' greatest hits. I *do* love Colgera's theme and the spooky, dramatic buildup to the wind temple, but they make such a small fraction of the larger TotK experience. It didn't help that the swooning sax they teased us with in the trailers was barely featured in the game at all.
Also, wow… look at this madman composing 10 perfectly synchronized tracks just to prove a point. :D Could this be a clue that Open Air III is in development? Or were these borrowing bits from Open Air tracks that I didn't recognize? Either way, yes, please count my vote in full support of more regional compositions!
Thanks so much! Yeah, I'm really wondering what happened during TotK's development - it's a bit of a weird game...
And yes, these are definitely coming to Open Air III! :D
Yeah, it would have been so nice for there to be new openworld music in TotK. I guess we now wait to see if the classic Zelda musical implementation returns with the next game.
Man, you're so talented, this gives me strong Hollow Knight/Ori vibes. The dynamic music system is really similar to Nier Automata, another game with a great OST.
I loved it! My husband wished they had a toggle for the music. So you could do the typical ambient music they have, or you could flip the switch and have them play music from previous games, like Ocarina, Skyword Sword, Twilight Princess and so on.
Its kind of like some of Skyrim’s music. Very well done!
Thanks Stephanie! I think Skyrim finds a nice balance between melody and ambience, despite it not really being dynamic.
@@demantim Sorry, I should have specified, your music in this video reminded me of Skyrim. I’d love to hear more of it!
That's actually really damn impressive. Not so intense that it doesn't fit the feel of the game, but also not so down played that you barely notice it's there, the perfect balance if I do say so myself.
That's great to hear, thanks! :D
That's a really great concept. Music is one of the many domains TotK chose not to take risks in, but if you keep this idea going, maybe people will be able to mod this into the game !
Great compositions and demo 👏
I think they use a similar technique in combat to transition depending on the enemy group and how you hit them, most noticeably with bokos when the boko boss gets involved (a variant with drums and horn kicks in) or is killed (back to the regular combat theme).
Though very subjectively I don't know if I'd be cool with very important and frequent variations in more relaxed and prolonged segments. The fact that it reacts to your current action means it may happen constantly, and if these tracks don't have time to set in it may have the opposite effect of _always_ having you on edge, but whereas this fits linear games because you're _meant_ to arrive soon enough wherever you are, in an open setting it may lack pause. I like that it's regularly silent, to reflect and take in the surrounding, and the natural sound landscape itself is kinda hypnotizing. I also happen to stumble upon more unique parts with their own themes (like towns and mini-bosses) often enough that I perceive variety and movement in the adventure. I understand that it won't play out the same for all players.
In fact I'm even annoyed by the opposite: when riding the horse and I get in the zone with Zelda's ballad or the Hero's theme, it's not cool and arguably pointless to ruin the mood for a couple keese, or because the horse got stuck on a goddamn rock again so the game assumes I wanted to stop here... In segments like the ascension to the Stormwind Ark or even the Lost Woods, it's a shame _any_ enemy would interrupt the remarkable mood just to default to a "tense" situation, as if the current setting didn't already ask our attention. In Hyrule Castle they managed it better, but it's sad to still witness this "Midna's Lament" level of clunkiness.
Yes, modern games can set different trigger and fade-in times for different tracks. The Horse Riding music is definitely - still! - poorly implemented in that sense. Both variations of it are gorgeous but easily ruined by a short combat encounter. Nintendo might have to up their game on that front.
I LOVE TIM DE MAN
This was delightful
Dude, that was amazing! One of the reasons I don’t like combat in BOTW/TOTK is because the music is the same every time. I could wander around for hours with music like this.
Brilliant idea with the varying navigation layers. Usually I think of location, time, and combat status but adding locomotion to the mix is fantastic, really adds to the dynamicism.
This is so sick! Would each region have their own unique theme? I would love to see more videos like this! I could watch it for HOURS
This is mightier than even the most mighty knokbananen! You've definitely made it difficult to play TOTK knowing that we could've had wonderful adaptive music like this! I guess all we can do is see if they apply adaptive music into the next zelda game in 2030
Woaaah that sounds so good, would have loved to hear these in game aaah
Great job !!!
This is Amazing!!! You're such an inspiration. I can't believe how well this fits its absolutely brilliant
This is sooo interesting, i love this adds soo much more depth to the game if it did include this.
Also huge fan of this video format❤
They BETTER use this concept in the next Zelda
Awesome video, convinced me that more present ost could have worked (probably would need a longer loops or breaks between different loops when walking though), really curious to see what you would do for the other regions!
I wish I could've played ToTK like this. This is amazing and you are so talented!
Very nice! I would like also to see the 'recipes' to make such musics, so that they reflect a particular feeling, ambiance.
Really great work!!! You should do more of those!
these arrangements/compositions are magical ✨
Thanks TemmaTea! :D
This is actually so amazing!!! Great job!!!
Love this concept, now I’ve got another thing to complain about this game for not implementing. I feel like there’s so much that doesn’t even involve gameplay that they could have implemented to make this game feel unique - it just feels like an update of the first game.
You did an excellent job replicating the botw style while making it more melodic. I’d love to see more stuff like this. If I can recommend a region, I would love to see what you could do with the depth. I would think that out of combat exploration music would be creepy and disturbing while in combat music sounds daunting and oppressive. You could also have a Yiga clan variant of the song
Cool idea and great music, Tim!
Thanks Smallest Taz! :D
The dynamic overworld musics reminds me sooo much of Hollow Knight! There aren't as many different layers in hollow knight though, it's just the low intensitiy overworld and then the combat version, but Hollow Knight also uses strings to add intensity very similarly to how you did. I highly recommend checking the Hollow Knight soundtrack out
I did! Last week on-stream even, and have since picked up the game again. Yeah, it's doing the same thing in a very cool way. Greenpath in particular has a great contrast between combat and exploration layers! And because you're going from region to region quite often it already feels quite dynamic, even though there's a max of 2 layers per region.
I absolutely love interactive music and this would've engaged me more with what i was doing!!! a neverending track on the bg would drive me nuts after 400 hours playtime, but the music being region exclusive would kinda solve that: there'd be so much variety!!my favourite part about this was the climbing bit. I did that a lot, and this music would've brought up the stakes of falling and making clinbing more engaging instead of an endless chore😂 (i rather just climbed everywhere than used time to build smth i would just discard after using it for a second)
Maybe it would've been nice to have a ultrahand building music too!
At first, I was against a melodic alternative to BotW music (and I still think the ambiant music is the perfect option for BotW, but maybe not for TotK). The reason behind that is that I played Dragon Quest XI, and the fanfare (that you can usually hear in a classic Zelda overworld) was too much to hear it for 100 hours, so imagine 300h.
But then I remember Just Cause 3, which has a gliding theme that starts with ambiant sounds, but then progressively goes with epicness. Unfortunately, there aren't variation, but this was a start to make me change my mind.
I think your ideas are great, and your composition is insanely good. If you were the composer of the next Zelda game, that would be so great!
I might have shed some genuine tears if they implemented music like this in the game.
I think I probably overhyped myself for the music in Totk before its release. Especially after the 3rd trailer, I was expecting the music to be a spiritual experience (I definitely overhyped myself). The new music that is in the game is incredible. The whole endgame sequence from Gloom's Approach all the way to catching Zelda is perfect to me. All the dungeons and boss fights are great as well. But I felt let down by the towns being ultimately the same. Especially Hateno and Kakariko. Because they had some changes, it would have been nice to reflect them in the music. Plus the game was sorely missing Kass and didn't really have a musical replacement other than the Stable Trotters who were great but they only play one song where Kass added a few different killer tunes.
And like you said, the ambience worked great for Botw but wasn't as thematically relevant to Totk. I think changing up the functionality of the music in Totk would have gone a long way for me. I might have been less sad about all the story and continuity issues if they implemented some of the stuff that you are suggesting here. I really love your composition here by the way (well, I always love your compositions).
I hope that you make more of these! This one video already makes me happier and want to play more Totk haha. And I know I must sound like I dislike the game. I actually really like it, but as an invested fan, I also just have too many opinions about it than is probably good for my well being😂.
Great stuff
This is awesome!
Absolutely stunning musicianship. I only wish there was a way to mod this into my own copy of TOTK
You have to make a cover version of this track, it’s amazing
It's an original composition, will release it on Open Air III whenever I have enough for that!
@@demantim yeah I meant like a regular soundtrack release
You hit the nail on the head with saying the music didn't fully support the new feeling TOTK should've had. I wish they took existing themes and tweaked them ever so slightly for say, the cold theme or other 'natural ones', and then more significantly for 'plot' ones like the towns and such.
As for the video, loved your demonstration! Is there any way to add in more of the game sound effects like combat, explosions, etc.? That would make your demo even more immersive!
Amazing!
Wow, the way you made the pieces flow together was incredible! It definitely made the two or three battle pieces in totk look boring by comparison 😂
And don't sell yourself short, you could definitely work as a paid composer!!
Thanks Angel of Grace! I've been very fortunate to have an active composing practice since last year, and hope I can continue work in the field.
Wow. I love this! But I don't fully agree with you on the world being fuller than it was in breath of the wild. It felt like about the same density to me. But it probably feels a bit denser because you move around faster because of the vehicles and skyview towers, and the fact you are already familiar with the map. I would have liked more new music too though.
Love love LOVE
Such a great (video) idea!
one day you will make zelda tears of the kingdom final boss the dragon demon please ❤❤❤
Absolutely!
I know I'm a little late, but I am begging you to release a piano tutorial of how to play the music from your Orchestral Extension of the TOTK 2019, 2021, and 2022 trailers.
There's one for the 2021 already! ua-cam.com/video/bfGQLVK6ZXQ/v-deo.html
What a beautiful remaster of the OST. Give me a lot of will of the wisp vibes
That's a great compliment, thank you! :D
yoooo tim, how you doing? sorry i couldn't show up to the recent streams, i have (ironically enough) piano practise exactly when you decide to appear, so no stream for me. anyways, i kinda like this video format from you, i'd love for you to make more videos like this!
Hey Tim, do you think that you could explain a bit of your process of composing melodies here? Even though you said that this piece would be more melodic it felt like there was not much of a single melody/tune, it felt like the piece just had moving harmonic passages in some parts, where the melody just fades a way for a bit. I hope you know what I mean regardless of my limited musical terminology, but I have noticed a disconnect between trying to create distinct melody lines that also work as game music.
Amazing
This! Wel I certainly do like most new music pieces in tears of the kingdom such as the boss battles, the temples and of course the magnificent main theme that is brilliantly renditioned in the final act of the game. However, when I was just roaming the overworld, I found it continuously disappointing that there was no new music for this. The ambient piano pieces introduced in Braeth of the Wild were perfect for it's setting. It represented the broken, lonely and wild Hyrule perfectly. In Tears of the Kingom, the residents of Hyrule were more present throughout the world in my opinion and it felt more lively in general due to the upheaval. Well I do think your music piece in this video is a bit too extreme for a constant overworld music loop in this game (Hyrule is still very broken and wild) the different intensities and flying and combat changes are literally magnificent. And if implemented correctly, could come a long way to distinguish THIS Hyrule more from the one of Breath of the Wild.
Excellent work Tim, keep up making great music!
P.S. and you're right that new music for the times should also have been made. Like a simple rerendition of the main melody could come a long way.
Thanks for the kind words! And yes, my implementation would definitely need quite a bit of iteration because I agree that it may be a bit too in-your-face right now.
Small thing but botw released in 2017 not 2016 at 0:50
Haha yeah, should've clarified that was it's reveal year at E3 ;) .
Oh this is amazing
Nice Video ! Sub & Big Like ! And Love Zelda Music !
I feel as if tears of the kingdom’s map is still super sparse, and would need like three lower layers of intensity for most of it. Love the song, it feels too emotionally full for the setting of roaming around. Maybe would suit better at some ruins in that area.
I can see that!
✅
I love this music so much, it sounds so good, but like another comment says, i dont think it really fits totk
I still think it sounds really pretty though!
Is there a way to listen to this on it's own video? As well as the one at the end of the video
The one at the end is Soaring on High and it's on UA-cam - just check out my Portfolio UA-cam playlist or Spotify. The other one is currently comprised of separate stems but will stitch it together for soundtrack release in the future when I've collected a few!
An interesting idea with beautiful music ,but I think its a bit too “musical “ so it doesn’t really fits to the game,maybe adding more edm ?
Do you think that you will design your own game with your original music one day?
I'm not a game designer and have no experience in that field, but working together with great game developers more often would be great!
sounds a bit like hollow knight music
i’m starting to agree on your perspective on totk’s music, i can see how you’d be disappointed. for me, i honestly wish there was an option to turn off the ambient music all together and just have the sounds of the world be the soundtrack.
Wasnt botw released 2017?
Yes, but reveal was in 2016! Earlier drafts talked more about the E3 206 trailer, but I scrapped quite a bit of intro during editing.
This is fantastic! Not to be too negative, but TOTK was a disappointment to me, but I think something like this would have made it better. Just given it a bit of soul I felt it lacked.
I was shocked when I realized that they just straight up reused tracks from botw in totk. The first dungeon quest I did was Rito village. When I first got there, the music was very slow and somber because the village was freezing over. When I noticed the new track for the freezing village, I got really excited to finish the dungeon and hear the new music for the restored village. But then I do the dungeon and get met with the exact same track from botw. Might have been the most disappointing moment in the entire game for me.
Yes, I had a similar feeling...