[Lynk Former]

Let's put aside all of the midi soundtracks for all of the older games for a moment. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about newer more recent games using midi in some very interesting ways.

The best example I can think of is are the 3D Legend of Zelda's which all feature brilliant midi soundtracks. Though recently with Twilight Princess I found that a lot... A LOT of people didn't like the fact that the soundtrack wasn't pre recorded orchestrated material. I mean, yeah, sure, huge orchestras sound awesome and all, but once you start going down the pre recorded path you lose some very cool things that midi can do and that the 3D Zelda games have made good use of.

I'll give you some examples so you know what I'm talking about.

In Twilight Princess, whenever you're in Hyrule Field you have the music playing, however this music changes depending on the situation and actions that you're in the middle of while you're in Hyrule Field.

If you're running through Hyrule Field on foot the music is pretty subdued compared to when you're on your horse. The instruments are soft but the feeling of travelling over Hyrule is still there. As soon as you get on your horse, things change in an instant. Some of the instruments change and more instruments are added.

Not only that, but whenever you stop on your horse or on foot, the music changes yet again. The theme keeps going but many of the instruments stop playing until you're left with the instruments that keep the beat going.

Not only that but during a rain storm or thunder storm or during a fog the music changes slightly again.

Oh but it doesn't end there. When you transform into Link's wolf form the music changes yet again

Then when the sun sets, the music fades and then the Hyrule Field night theme starts playing.

And all through these different versions of the Hyrule Field theme, whenever you approach an enemy, the music changes and mixes with a hazardous sounding enemy theme to create a hybrid theme. The way it mixes also changes depending if you're on foot or on your horse or are travelling at night.

On foot and horse the Hyrule Field theme morphs into an enemy theme keeping the same instruments and not skipping a beat at all and when an enemy is defeated the music quickly changes back to the Hyrule Field theme, again without skipping a beat, but done in such a way that it feels like one continuous track all the way through. The biggest difference between how this sounds on foot and while you're on your horse is how grand it sounds. Horseback battles with enemies sound faster and the instruments used a lot more hard hitting and grand rather than foot battles which are toned down.

During the night whenever you're near an enemy, the instruments of the Hyrule Field night theme are pushed to the back and changed slightly to match the mood and tempo of the enemy theme.



Now what I just described related to the music in Hyrule Field only. There were a lot of other places where the music would change dynamically around Twilight Princess yet a lot of people still demand pre recorded orchestrated works.

I mean come on, the brilliance of what Koji Kondo put into Twilight Princess SHOULD shut everyone up.