Community:Zelda Reorchestrated

Zelda Reorchestrated (ZREO) is a fan project created in October 2004 by FireGS and owned by Eric Buchholz. ZREO's goal is to reorchestrate the greatest songs from The Legend of Zelda series using professional grade audio manipulation software. The project has created some controversy with fans, for not using a real orchestra. However, it has garnered so much attention that a strong and very loyal fan-base has been established. The uniqueness of the project has led the site to receive numerous site awards.

zreo.tk
(Oct 2004 – Dec 2004) Zelda Reorchestrated was first established under the domain http://www.zreo.tk in October 2004. It was here where ZREO began its goal of reorchestrating the complete soundtrack from Ocarina of Time.

zreo.net
(Dec 2004 – May 2005) The next step was obtaining an independent domain name without the troubles of the free .tk service. In December 2004, zreo.net was born. It was the same site, but different (and more flexible) domain. It was here when FireGS revealed that he intended on reorchestrating the music from every Zelda game.

zeldamusic.org
(June 2005 – December 2005) In April 2005, FireGS wanted to achieve a larger goal than simply reorchestrating music. He wanted to provide a more general service to the Zelda community. Zelda Music and Media (also known as ZeldaMusic, ZM, or ZM.org) was born under the domain http://www.zeldamusic.org. ZREO continued producing music, but along with that came new community forums, an online radio station (WZMR), and general information about Zelda music! The site came to a close due to financial barriers.

zreomusic.com
(December 25, 2006 – Current) HTLOZ II preserved the work of ZREO during its absence during most of 2006. ZREO relaunched Christmas of that year and currently presides under the domain http://www.zreomusic.com.

Twilight Symphony
This project aims to capture the feel of the Twilight Princess soundtrack in a new and unique way. The album is said to be approximately three hours long, and will feature a professional Hollywood choir, thanks to the contributions of loyal fans. The project has raised close to $30,000 towards the live choir--the largest fundraising event in the history of Zelda fan sites.

Twilight Symphony will also feature some live soloists as well. Aubrey Ashburn (Dragon Age 2, RIFT, Devil May Cry 4) is the featured female vocalist, Marc Papeghin on french horn, David "Docjazz4" Ramos on ocarina, and Ari Fisher on violin, viola, and cello. These performers help bring human expressiveness and realism to the songs.

No release date has been officially announced for the release of the album.

Radio Hyrule
Radio Hyrule (previously World Zelda Music Radio) is a project owned and operated by members of the Zelda Reorchestrated Team in which the purpose is to provide rising musicians an outlet to display their creative musical works while providing Zelda fans with an entertaining online radio station.

The station features the entire ZREO library, along with countless other remixes produced by members of OverClocked ReMix, Newgrounds, YouTube, and random places. Radio Hyrule also serves as a catalog, or compendium of Zelda music arrangements, covering as many quality remixes from throughout Zelda's history as possible.

Ocarina of Time - Complete
Ocarina of Time was completed on December 25, 2009, fulfilling ZREO's original goal of reorchestrating the Ocarina of Time soundtrack. The full 82-track album is available online for free and falls under a Creative Commons Copyright License.

Soundscapes
ZREO has produced three albums under the 'Soundscapes' name. The three albums feature reorchestrated themes from a variety of titles from different Zelda games. What makes these albums stand out is that atmospheric sound effects were added to them to make the listener feel as if they were in the environment itself. The best example of this, is the Soundscapes track "Market." When compared with the original, or non-soundscape version, you can clearly note the difference of overall feel and atmosphere.

Soundscapes: Volume 1 was released February 16th, 2007 - with 8 tracks to its name. This unique project earned ZREO's web site 3 million hits the week it premiered - an article on Digg captured the attention of music lovers. The music comes from the soundtracks of A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess. ZREO has sustained a high number of visitors since the release of this album.

Soundscapes: Volume 2 was released March 31, 2007. This 9-track album features music from six Zelda games, including: A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, The Minish Cap, The Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess. This album did not receive as much attention as the first, but was still received well by fans.

Soundscapes: Volume 3 was released August 22nd, 2008. It is a 13-track album featuring a prominent water theme. Music featured on this album comes from many Zelda games, including: A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess.

The Soundscapes albums rocketed ZREO into popularity and are still available online. The positive fan feedback reinforced ZREO's attempts to do something ambitious. Projects such as this have become a tradition of ZREO's. As a result of the Soundscapes albums, ZREO is one of the most-visited web sites within the Zelda community.

The team has no plans to release another Soundscapes album. Instead, they are released individually, or with the original song as an alternate version.

Open Symphony
Open Symphony is a ZREO project that has been put on hold. It features creative arrangements of Zelda music rather than orchestral covers of the original music. This is what led Open Symphony to the level of success which it received.

Open Symphony is the first ZREO project that allows fans to view the score for the songs that are released. The score is divided into all of the parts that make up the song, but the whole score is available for viewing and downloading as well. This allows the pieces to be performed live by orchestras.