The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of Goddesses

It's almost fitting that we went to this concert on Father's Day. I should have invited him, but I don't think he's really a fan of the music. I've always credited my dad with getting me into video games. He was the one who insisted that we buy a NES and SNES and he had an old Commodore 64 lying around. I have many fond memories of puzzling through various games with him and my brother. Even though his reflexes aren't nearly as good as they once were, he still really enjoys playing Zelda games. He has finished Link's Awakening and both of the Oracles games so many times - probably because they're on the Gameboy, so he could play them without disturbing anyone else. He has some of the newer games, but he gets my sister to do all of the boss battles and some of the more timing based jumping puzzles because he can't move fast enough anymore.

MrFodder is a huge fan of the music from the game. I think it's pretty great, but the last one I played was Wind Waker, and most of the songs I like are from Ocarina of Time (which is my favourite Zelda game), so I can't really comment on the music from the later games. Given all of that, going to this concert seemed like something we had to do.

I was completely blown away by the concert. I think it's the first time that I've nearly been brought to tears by music.

The concert mainly features music from Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and Breath of the Wild, with a few songs from Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past. But what made it memorable was the visual component of the show. There was no time for daydreaming about the conductor, most of the music was accompanied by gameplay footage, and whoever put the whole show together must have really loved Zelda because the music fit the footage so well, and a lot of the footage wasn't just of the game itself, but lots of the memorable moments in the games, as well as little things that people who have played the games too many times will remember (though they didn't feature the overly verbose anti-TL;DR owl from Ocarina of Time). Many times during the performance, I had to remind myself that there were people playing live; I just got completely lost in the visuals and the music.

They had a few pre-recorded segments with Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, and Koji Kondo, who all spoke about the influence music has had on the games, and how the games and the music have evolved alongside each other. In Ocarina of Time, music played an important role in the story itself, as it also does in future games, with songs being used to unlock certain events. Kondo-san also spoke about how the music can evoke emotions in you, particularly when you've just accomplished something big.

I love the themes of the game. I really wanted to dance to Zelda's Lullaby at our wedding, but Lucy said it's too slow and boring.

*spoiler alert*

I don't know if this is reaching or not, but you can hear the notes from Zelda's Lullaby (YouTube link) in Sheik's Theme (also a YouTube link).

I think the overworld themes are great.

Before it started, MrFodder and I were talking about some of the songs, and I mentioned how I hated the Ocean Theme from Wind Waker (another YT link). Not because it's a bad song, but because I hated sailing so much in that game, that hearing the song makes me so sad. But I love the shop theme from Ocarina of Time (yet another YT link). We were both talking about which is more likely to be played, and unfortunately only MrFodder was right.

The music did evoke a lot of memories - some of them funny, some of them epic. I remember first finding out that Sheik is Zelda (yes, I was one of the idiots who didn't pick up any of the clues beforehand, and so it was a shock to me). Also that boss music from A Link to the Past, especially when you fight Ganon. The first seven notes are enough to send shivers down my spine, because you hear that music going into every boss fight, but you can just feel that this is the boss fight.

I really enjoyed the concert, and although I do think a lot of the songs are great in their own right, the concert is probably more suited for people who have actually played the games.

The Consouls

Yesterday, we went to see The Consouls play. They're a YouTube video game jazz band, and have remixed (is that the term?) various video game songs in a jazzy way. They just released a new album, so that's why they're doing live performances.

Ever since I started playing World of Warcraft, my gaming has pretty much become quite limited. I have 113 games in my Steam library, but have probably only played 40 of them. So the music from some of the more recent games is completely unknown to me. Still, the music was really enjoyable, and I had a great time.

We (MrFodder and I) ended up buying their CDs:

Their latest album, Super Monday Jam, was created based on fan requests. So the way they explained it, whenever someone does things like covers of video games, there will always be comments like, "That song was great. Now can you do (song from game they like)?" So they figured, why not do the next album entirely from song requests. So they decided based on Twitch chat (always a reputable source), and I think they said they streamed part of the creation process. They covered a song from Turtles in Time, which I had completely forgotten about until we heard it last night. My brother and I played that game so much. The keyboardist, Julian Sanchez, even said, "Big Apple, 3AM" like it does in the game. My inner nerd is so happy.

I hadn't even heard of the band before someone from SEE invited us to go and see them with him, so I didn't watch any of those streams, but it seems like a pretty interesting concept, so I will probably check out their videos once I have some time (they're over an hour long)! But while I'm making my apple tart, I'm going to listen to their CDs.

Au revoir!

The Sound of Music

We were shopping for CDs again in Shibuya when we heard what sounded like a live band playing. We went to see what was going on, and it seems like there's a stage on the 4th floor of Tower Records where bands will sometimes play. We got to see a band called Sex Machine, and they were a really energetic band to watch.

I don't really listen to live music often, so I've never really experienced the difference between listening to someone play in front of you compared to listening to a recorded track (the only person I can think of that I've seen live is That One Guy but I had never listened to any of his music before that). We were able to feel the energy from the crowd and get into the music. MrFodder got the Mr Jones treatment again and got singled out by the lead singer. However, he didn't speak much English, so he wasn't able to say anything to us other than thanks for coming, which he followed by apologising in Japanese for not being able to say anything else. He continued with something else in Japanese, and the crowd was laughing, but we have no idea what it was. Throughout their performance, the lead singer kept saying that it wasn't their band, but our band, and that everyone in the audience is what brings the music to life. I'm not sure if that's something cheesy that all bands say, but I thought it was nice.

It's interesting how music, even music with lyrics, can still transcend the language barrier. We stayed to listen to three songs, and they all sounded fairly upbeat, so it was fun to dance and clap along with the crowd. I guess they could have been singing about throwing puppies into the river, or making fun of people with cancer, and we would have had no clue, but I'm guessing from the reactions of the crowd, that's probably not the case.

We ended up buying their CD, and got it signed. They were really nice about it, thanking us for supporting their music.

Anyway, we have finished shopping for omiyage, and are now on our way home.

The Piano Man

My sister wants to make room for her boyfriend to put a computer in her bedroom so they can game together (I'm so proud), so she wanted to get rid of the piano, and we offered to take it. It's the piano I played on when I was a kid, and used to be in my bedroom before I moved out of home.

I took lessons for a long time, but I think I stopped around mid-high school, as I found playing to pass exams boring, and would rather just play whatever song I wanted. Not that I was ever skilled enough to do that, but sometimes I persevered long enough to play all of a song.

I've never considered myself particularly musical. I don't generally listen to music. I started to listen to music at work, in order to try and be more productive, but I realised that simply putting the earphones into my ears had the same effect (it seems to be a visual "Do not disturb" cue). That's not to say I don't enjoy music, with classical and jazz being my favourite genres.

Olek recommended a couple of jazz CDs, which I bought, and the songs are part of my regular playlist. While listening to them, I always wonder if I genuinely enjoy jazz music, or if I like it because it reminds me of someone important to me.

There was that period of my life where things were quite dark, and I was seeing a psychologist to help deal with some issues (yep, I was the typical emo teen). One part that always stood out was my weekly piano lesson. I wouldn't say that I was in love with my piano teacher, but there was a pretty big crush going on. He was really into jazz music, but he was also incredibly into music in general. He was so passionate about music and it was contagious.

I was never any good at playing the piano, and it really showed while I was learning. Eventually, I'd learn to play via muscle memory, but there was never any heart in my music, and it was often quite mechanical. Then I was introduced to jazz music, and I think the unconventional nature of it made playing so much fun. Just the feeling of hitting the notes, even if it wasn't perfectly in time. He made me feel that this music wasn't about playing perfectly, and there was just something so relaxing about that. When my piano teacher played jazz, he transformed into a completely different person. I could never manage to mimic the amount of expression he put into his music. Even when we were both playing the same song, and it was one I had practised for hours, there was always this lightness and sense of mischief in his music that I could never capture.

It has always made me wonder if I enjoy jazz music, or I enjoy the memory it brings of him.

After the piano was tuned, I played a bit, but I've forgotten nearly everything. Where I was once able to just sit down at the piano and play, my hands felt so lost, and clunky at the keys. It's going to be a long climb to get back to where I was.