Community:Zelda Reorchestrated

Zelda Reorchestrated (ZREO) is a musical project that originated in October 2004. It was created by FireGS. ZREO's goal is to transcribe and reorchestrate every song in The Legend of Zelda series using digital sequencer synthesizers. The project has created some controversy with fans, for not using a real orchestra. However, the project has garnered so much attention that a strong and very loyal fan-base has originated. The uniqueness of the project has led the site to receive numerous site awards.

History
ZREO has experienced quite a bit of change during its short lifespan. It can be separated into four distinct phases.

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 first 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 much 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. ZREO's goals include reorchestrating the music from The Legend of Zelda games, re-establishing the community forums, and providing a vehicle for budding artists to present their work to the world! The WZMR project from the zeldamusic.org era is now its own spin-off site.

The Heavens Accusations
(April 2007) Forum members who operated under the name 'The Heavens' boldly accused the ZREO Team for exploiting MIDIs to make their music. The entire event took place on the HTLOZ II forums and resulted in the split of the three entities involved. It led to a false announcement that ZREO was going to shut down, a decline in ZREO's reputation, and the removal of the ZREO Forums from the HTLOZ II Boards. All three groups have since amended their differences and have good relations with one another.

Art
In 2005, Master of Zelda began producing CD art for the various soundtracks being reorchestrated by ZREO. These art pieces were made using Macromedia Fireworks MX.

During 2006, the year of ZREO's absence, HTLOZ II preserved the songs and art files from ZREO. It was during this time when MoZ released a few more covers to improve upon his previous work.

In 2007, a whole new set of CD covers and wallpapers were produced by Master of Zelda, synonymous with the site's relaunch.

World Zelda Music Radio
(June 2005 - September 2005) For a short time, World Zelda Music Radio was synonymous with Zelda Reorchestrated during the ZeldaMusic.org era. WZMR was one of the most unique projects of ZREO at the time. It is an online radio station that once acted as a channel for DJ's to host radio shows, interact with listeners, and air the music produced by ZREO. Often, new songs were aired on WZMR before they were available on the site for download. The excitement of new music and interaction led WZMR to be one of ZREO's biggest successes. Unfortunately, three short months later it was shut down due to financial instability.

After many years of struggle, the station is currently functioning as a spin-off site of Zelda Reorchestrated, nearly separate in staff. WZMR streams Zelda music continuously online. WZMR pays homage to its roots by streaming some ZREO songs, accompanied by many other fan-made remixes over the continuous online broadcast. ebuch is currently director of the project, doubling as a member of the Zelda Reorchestrated team. Alpha_Link hosts the main sever.

Redux Tracks
With ZREO's relaunch on December 25, 2006, FireGS had set a new quality standard for music produced for the site. Certain songs previously released that do not meet these new quality standards are identified and reprized as REDUX tracks.

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, Masjora'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, Masjora'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, Masjora'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 the newest project that brings in a little bit of original composing talent into the ZREO community. Mathazzar is the individual in charge of arranging various Zelda songs, as well as adding a bit of his own flavor by incorporating various melodies, and counter-harmonies to make a song with a Zelda flare like no other.

This 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.

One of the other ideas for the project is to make it so that a live orchestra can perform the movements if they choose to. This is the case for two youth orchestras in Texas, US. Mathazzar has been contacted by the orchestras, and they have agreed to perform and record some, or all, of the movements composed by him. It is likely that the recordings will be available for download by the end of 2008.

For downloading these songs, just visit the ZREO downloads page. If you are interested in viewing/printing the score or individual parts, you have to go to the ZREO projects page, and click on Open Symphony. New songs are scheduled to be released once a month.

Zelda Battlescapes


This project of a much darker nature and tone, was once going to be a part of the 'Soundscapes' series. This ZREO project is a large scale audio fan-fiction created by Master of Zelda. The project is being directed by Master of Zelda and produced by FireGS. Zelda Battlescapes is currently in pre-production.

The story is yet to be revealed, but the project is to be based on officially released Zelda titles. According to the Zelda Battlescapes web site, the project is a story told through voice acting, music, and sound - similar to the 'Soundscapes' series, but more reminiscent of old radio shows of the 50s. A 78 page script has been written and professional voice actors will be cast to portray the legendary characters. In an interview with Rough Gem Gaming, FireGS stated there will be no Link in Battlescapes. There is currently no word on when the project will be released to the public.

The project has an official site at ZeldaBattlescapes.com.

Production Staff
Michael Loyd (Master of Zelda) - Creator, Director, Lead Writer, Lead Editor, Concept Design

Sam Ferrara (FireGS) - Producer, Music Director, Writer, Editor, Sound Designer, Concept Design

Peter Flanagan - Writer, Concept Design, Editor

Bilal Qureshi (Qureshi Sahab) - Writer, Concept Design, Editor

Ian A. Hathaway - Writer, Concept Design, Editor

Jackie Goehner - Writer, Concept Design, Editor

Sean Sweeney - Writer, Editor

Lorena Wolfe-Flanaga - Concept Design, Editor

Victor Schuler - Concept Design

Donny Schell - Concept Design

Cast
Robert Jadah as Ganondorf

Ocarina of Time
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.

Forums
ZREO also has their own forums, originally hosted by HTLOZ II. ZREO and HTLOZ II separated in 2008 and today the forums are hosted by Zentendo. The address for the new forums is: http://www.zentendo.com/forums/index.php?board=67

The ZREO fan base is forever growing and they have some very active members. Some of the members have even post their own projects and re-orchestrations - some of whom are incredibly talented. The forums also boasts a variety of topics and is open to new threads, ideas, comments, and especially users.

Current Members

 * ebuch,
 * FireGS,
 * F3,
 * Jeron,
 * Master of Zelda,
 * Mycro_chip,
 * Slur,
 * Stephen,
 * Vruliic

Past Members

 * The Inspector
 * TheodorKrueger
 * Fusion2004
 * IpsoPhatso
 * Joseph Burrell
 * Kanjika
 * Lance9384
 * Dave
 * Advent Goddess
 * ArmyofOne,
 * B1itz Lunar,
 * Fruityfire,
 * Mathazzar,
 * Shadow-AH,
 * Starerik,
 * Enzuru