34 Over time, though, it has become more popular and appreciated on its own merits, and now both games have developed long-lasting legacies. Initially MM was not nearly as popular as OoT, perhaps because it was released in North America during the same week as the PlayStation 2, because it required the additional accessory of the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak, and because it was so different from previous Zelda titles. 33 It was on the heels of this success that Majora’s Mask was released as a sequel in 2000. OoT was immensely popular with both consumers and critics from the start, and it has been hailed by many as one of the best video games of all time. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (abbreviated MM) is the sixth main installment in The Legend of Zelda series but only the second to use three-dimensional graphics and gameplay, after The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo, 1998, abbreviated OoT). 19 One of the important differences is due to the interactive nature of video games. Atkinson outlines a methodology for applying topic theory to video games, discussing similarities and differences between meaning in video game and film music, as articulated by Tim Summers. 13 Ratner defined topics as “characteristic figures” and “subjects for musical discourse.” 14 Some examples in eighteenth-century Western European music include the march, military and hunt music, and “the singing style.” 15 A related concept is that of a musical trope, defined by Robert Hatten as “a manipulation of a topic through the juxtaposition of contradictory or unrelated types.” 16 Kofi Agawu and many others have applied topic theory with great depth to music of the classical Western canon, 17 but some have applied it to music for multimedia as well. Fans who interact with the original soundtrack in this way are repurposing the meaning to make it significant in new ways for their own lives.Ī different, “post-semiotic” method that has been highly influential in music analysis is “topic theory,” which started with Leonard Ratner’s book Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style. New meaning is added as well, but in the adaptations I study, musicians also keep what is signified in the original music. 3 Specifically I will argue that the creators of these adaptations pick up on semiotic meaning in the game’s original music and maintain this meaning while changing some structural features of the music and placing the original pieces into new stylistic and generic contexts. Majora’s Mask has managed to stay relevant to the Zelda fan community throughout the twenty-first century, and this article discusses fan-made adaptations of its music, including dubstep remixes, metal covers, albums that sound like the soundtrack to a horror film, and even a full-scale, classical-style opera. One of the Zelda games whose music is frequently adapted is The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (Nintendo, 2000), originally released for the Nintendo 64. When making this new content, creators “wear people’s faces” (like the protagonist Link does with masks in the game) by taking on the emotional meaning of the works and putting it into new contexts that imitate, but do not replicate, the original music. The adaptations help fans with “world building” and “organizing social life.” 1Īfter an overview of Majora’s Mask that situates it within Nintendo’s corpus, the Zelda series and its fandom, and composer Koji Kondo’s oeuvre, the article discusses and analyzes multiple adaptations of three specific pieces from the game: “Clock Town,” “Song of Healing,” and “Stone Tower Temple.” The adaptations discussed include amateur remixes and mashups, professional studio productions, covers in different genres, and a full-length opera by composer M. Remaking the music into adaptations helps fans of the game contextualize the meaning in new ways and understand how it relates to their own social and emotional circumstances. In both the original soundtrack and the adaptations, the meaning of the music is also tied to the in-game narrative context associated with it, which is often sad or anxious in emotional character. The musical meaning in the works is sometimes subtle, but it can be determined through a combination of semiotic and hermeneutic methods. This article discusses fan adaptations of music from The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (2000), arguing that the creators of these adaptations pick up on semiotic meaning in the game’s original music and maintain this meaning while changing some structural features of the music to place the original pieces into new stylistic and generic contexts.
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