“Wear People’s Faces”: Fan Discussion and Utilization of
the Music in The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
Jeremy Smith
University of Toronto
April 7, 2015
The Legend of Zelda is one of the most respected and cherished video game series of all
time, and its music is beloved by fans worldwide. Aside from their emotional, non-diegetic
soundtracks that help create an atmosphere of adventure, Zelda games are known for being some
of the first to incorporate interactive, diegetic music-making into their gameplay. The interplay
between, and importance of, both diegetic and non-diegetic music is especially evident in the
2000 release, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, for the Nintendo 64. Recently, this game has
seen a resurgence in popularity, leading to the 2015 release of a remake, The Legend of Zelda:
Majora’s Mask 3D, for the Nintendo 3DS.
In this paper I show how gamers, and particularly fans of Majora’s Mask, express their
fondness for the games’ music in various ways, including: countdown videos of the games’
“best” songs on YouTube, remixes and covers of those same songs, discussion and commenting
in online forums and social media, and even one fans’ tribute to the game through the
composition of an original opera. The paper proceeds in three sections, the first of which
provides a brief overview of the literature on video-game music and on the phenomenon of
fandom, then introduces the game of Majora’s Mask and shows how it has had a recent
resurgence in popularity. The second section demonstrates how music works in the game, and
then presents and analyzes the fan discourse about, and utilization of, the games’ music in the
various manners explained above. Finally, the third section analyzes the music of the games’
most popular songs, and their in-game functions, in an attempt to show why the music may have
been so positively received.
Literature on Video Game Music
A multitude of literature in the field of ludology (the study of video games) has emerged
in the twenty-first century, with a wide variety of interdisciplinary approaches to studying this
socio-cultural phenomenon that is important to many peoples’ everyday lives. Studies of videogame music specifically have largely focused on its physiological and psychological impact on
the player.1 For example, Karen Collin’s 2013 book Playing with Sound and Zach Whalen’s
article “Play Along – An Approach to Videogame Music” show that the gamer is immersed in a
virtual world where music and sounds produce feelings of engagement, accomplishment, and
fulfillment as one “reads” through the video game as a “text”.2 The way players interact with the
music in games has also been a well-researched topic, especially regarding games in the “music
genre” such as Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Dance Dance Revolution, Rhythm Heaven, and Donkey
Konga, that were very popular in the first decade of the new millennium.3 Interaction with the
music is not only reactive, where the players physical actions directly impact the content of the
game, but also proactive, where the music “prompts the players to undertake a specific action
when it is played”.4 Other scholars have noted the connection between video game music and
film music, including semiotic and semantic functions of particular motives or songs. 5 It is
through this association that the terms diegetic and non-diegetic are transferred from film studies
to video-game studies.
This paper contributes (albeit briefly) to scholarship on video-game music using two
methods that have been somewhat neglected in the emerging field: musical analysis, and
1
Sylvie Hébert et al., “Physiological stress response to video-game playing: the contribution of built-in music”, Life
Sciences 76, 20 (2005), accessed March 14, 2015, doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2004.11.011.
2
Karen Collins, Playing with Sound: a theory of interacting with sound and music in video games (Cambridge,
Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2013), 39-58. Zach Whalen, “Play Along – An Approach to Videogame Music,” The
International Journal of Computer Game Research 4, 1 (2004), accessed February 6, 2015,
http://gamestudies.org/0401/whalen/?ref=SeksDE.Com.
3
Melanie Fritsch, “History of Video Game Music”, and Michael Liebe, “Interactivity and Music in Computer
Games”, both in Music and Game: Perspectives on a Popular Alliance, ed. Peter Moormann (Wiesbaden: Springer
VS, 2013), 31-34, and 41-62.
4
Liebe, “Interactivity and Music in Computer Games,” 47.
5
Willem Strank, “The Legacy of iMuse: Interactive Video Game Music in the 1990s,” in Music and Game:
Perspectives on a Popular Alliance, ed. Peter Moormann (Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2013), 87-88. Zach Whalen,
“Play Along – An Approach to Videogame Music”.
ethnographic studies of fandom. Some video game music has been analyzed by Whalen and
Laroche,6 but a large body of music-analytical literature is absent. In terms of ethnographic
research on how video games and their music effect the everyday lives of players, two
monographs stand out. First, Garry Crawford’s 2012 book Video Gamers addresses how games
are used in the everyday lives of players, and the social and cultural connections that gamers
create as a unified “audience”.7 Crawford also looks at fan communities, and the kinds of content
that they produce such as game mods, walkthroughs, fan fiction, and art.8 However, his book
does not extensively discuss how music plays a role in generating these communities, and how
music is (re)-produced by fans (such as remixes and covers). Another book that addresses this
aspect more specifically is Playing Along: Digital Games, YouTube, and Virtual Performance,
by ethnomusicologist Kiri Miller. In this recent book, Miller uses three ethnographic case studies
to show how playing a video game is an experience of community:
Playing Along reminds us of the collaborative nature of these practices: that they build on
(and build up) relationships among game designers, players, choreographers, dancers,
writers, composers, directors, performers, and audiences, as well as marketers, publishers,
and other commercial mediators. For instance, Grand Theft Auto is primarily a singleplayer game, but no one ever plays it alone; each player collaborates with the game
designers to turn code into virtual performance, while remaining aware that millions of
other players have engaged in the same endeavor. Common experiences of this kind
generate “sensational knowledge” that connects dispersed participants, be they video game
players, rock drummers, or yoga practitioners.9
Finally, a related book discussing fandom of music in a more general sense is Daniel
Cavicchi’s Tramps Like Us: Music and Meaning among Springsteen Fans. Cavicchi’s work
6
Whalen, “Play Along – An Approach to Videogame Music.” Guillaume Laroche, “Analyzing Musical Mario-media:
Variations in the Music of Super Mario Video Games” (MA thesis, McGill University, 2012), accessed March 30,
2015, http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/webclient/StreamGate?folder_id=0&dvs=1428357843948~469.
7
Garry Crawford, Video Gamers (London: Routledge, 2012).
8
Ibid., 15.
9
Kiri Miller, Playing Along: Digital Games, YouTube, and Virtual Performance (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2012), 5.
shows how music can be a powerful force for bringing people together, and that fans of a
musical artist form tight-knit communities with strong social hierarchies. 10 While video games
are different in that gamers are fans not specifically of one person or celebrity, but an entire
game, series, or company, Tramps Like Us shows how important the cultural phenomenon of
fandom is generally.
This paper builds on the work of Crawford, Miller, and Cavicchi, exploring how fans of
the Zelda game Majora’s Mask show their appreciation for the game’s music in various online
media, and through creating new musical content such as an opera. However, in this paper I use
the term “fan” loosely, referring not only to individuals who obsess over the game and its
contents, but to a wider range of those who like the game for any number of reasons. I will now
introduce the game in more detail and show how it has developed a strong fan community,
culminating in the 2015 remake for the Nintendo 3DS.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 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.11 Ocarina of Time (which fans refer to as OOT) and Majora’s
Mask (referred to as MM), were released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998 and 2000 respectively.
Both were extremely popular, and have developed a long-lasting legacy in the video game
community. Ocarina of Time in particular has been hailed by many as the best video game of all
time, and still to this day has the highest rating (99/100) of any game on the popular website
10
Daniel Cavicchi, Tramps Like Us: Music and Meaning Among Springsteen Fans (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1998).
11
The distinction between 2-D and 3-D Zelda games is an important one among fans. Many refer to the former as
inferior, or have not played them at all.
Metacritic.12 It was on the heels of this unprecedented success that Majora’s Mask was released
as a sequel in 2000. Majora’s Mask was also extremely popular, but not quite to the extent of
Ocarina of Time. The video game magazine Edge hosted a poll in 2013, to determine the “Top
20 games of our lifetime”, and Ocarina of Time placed first while Majora’s Mask placed
nineteenth.13 The number of units sold also shows the immense popularity of these games, with
Ocarina of Time being the fourth-best-selling Nintendo 64 game of all time, and Majora’s Mask
being the ninth-best-selling.14 Both games have now been re-released on Nintendo’s “virtual
console”, and been re-made into new versions for the Nintendo 3DS.
To help the reader understand references made throughout this paper, and in order to
explain aspects that fans are particularly passionate about, I will now provide a brief plot
synopsis of Majora’s Mask. The game is a third-person action-adventure game, where the
protagonist Link roams throughout the fantasy world of Termina trying to defeat the evil spirit
within the legendary “Majora’s Mask”. At the beginning of the game, the opening cut-scene
shows Link on his horse searching for his lost fairy companion after the events of Ocarina of
Time. He is suddenly attacked by the Skull Kid, wearing Majora’s Mask, who steals his horse,
ocarina, and turns him into a Deku Scrub, a small member of the tree-like Deku species. Link
then meets the happy mask salesman, who tells him that Link must acquire Majora’s Mask and
12
A sample of websites that show both critics and fans reception of Ocarina of Time as the greatest game of all
time includes: http://www.jjmccullough.com/games.htm, http://www.dealspwn.com/ocarina-time-game-time45694, http://www.gamefaqs.com/poll/3509-contest-bonus-final-fantasy-vii-vs-zelda-ocarina-of-time,
http://nintendoeverything.com/edge-readers-pick-the-top-20-games-of-our-lifetime/,
http://whatculture.com/gaming/6-reasons-legend-zelda-ocarina-time-highest-rated-game-time.php, all accessed
March 30, 2015.
13
“Edge Readers Pick the Top 20 Games of Our Lifetime”, October 23, 2013, accessed March 30, 2015,
http://nintendoeverything.com/edge-readers-pick-the-top-20-games-of-our-lifetime/.
14
“List of best-selling Nintendo 64 video games”, accessed March 30, 2015,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_Nintendo_64_video_games.
return it to him before the end of three days; if Link fails to do so, the moon will crash into the
earth.
After reclaiming his ocarina (the ocarina of time) in a battle with Skull Kid just before the
end of the three days, Link uses its magical powers to go back in time to when he had just met
the happy mask salesman. The mask salesman then teaches him a powerful song that can heal
souls, the “Song of Healing”. This song is one of the most popular with fans and I will discuss it
more thoroughly later in this paper. The “Song of Healing” returns link to his normal human
form, and creates the Deku mask, which Link can subsequently wear to assume a Deku form and
reach areas only accessible to that form. In order to stop the moon crashing into the earth and
defeat the Skull Kid (wearing Majora’s Mask) once and for all, Link then travels to four regions
in Termina in order to fight evil spirits within dungeons and break the curses set by Majora’s
Mask on each area. In order to reach the various areas, Link must use the “Song of Healing” to
heal two more souls, those of a dead Goron (a race of rock people living in mountainous regions)
and a dead Zora (an aquatic race), so that he can acquire the Goron Mask and the Zora Mask in
order to assume their forms as well. Breaking all the curses then allows Link to wake four giants,
who when summoned are able to hold up the moon before it crashes. Now strong enough to fight
Majora’s Mask, Link summons the giants, and travels to the moon to defeat the mask in a final
showdown.
Overall the plot is quite different from other Zelda games; the character of the princess
Zelda only appears in a dream-like sequence at the beginning of the game, and references to
other staples of the series such as the “Triforce” are also absent. Similarly, the gameplay features
the recurring three-day time cycle, with a clock even showing the exact day and hour during the
entire game (except for the beginning and ending sequences). This is something not seen in any
other Zelda game. These features, along with the game’s dark plot and bleak worldview, created
a dichotomous reception among many fans of the series of a whole, and it became a “you either
love it or hate it” type of game. However, in recent years Majora’s Mask has had a resurgence in
popularity, especially among now young adults who played it in their childhood, and now
believe that it is the most intellectual and artistic Zelda game. It strays the furthest from the
typical “save the princess” plot that other games in the series have used. A significant contributor
to the spread of these beliefs has been the popular YouTube channel known as “Game Theory”.
This YouTube channel started its flagship show “Game Theory” in 2011, where
“MatPat” (Matthew Patrick) presents research on a video game topic and creates a “game
theory” for each episode. The topics use a wide variety of games and an interdisciplinary
approach to scholarship, all packaged in an entertaining “TV show” format in fifteen minutes or
less.15 The third most popular video on the channel, with over eight million views, is “Is Link
Dead in Majora’s Mask?” released on November 9, 2013. In this episode Patrick, along with his
guest for the episode Austin Hargrave (known as “PeanutButterGamer”) who has also promoted
Majora’s Mask among fans, show how the areas in the game and the characters emotions
expressed in them correspond with the Kübler-Ross model of grief. This and other factors are
used to develop a theory that the character of Link actually dies at the start of the game and is
undergoing the grief process throughout the game. The video sparked an explosion of
controversy, with many supporters and many doubters posting multitudes of comments on the
video, and also creating their own methods of response including videos trying to debunk the
15
A sampling of video titles for the “Game Theory” series include: “Why Mario is Mental”, “Mario is a Communist,”
“How Fast in Sonic the Hedgehog?”, “Are Gamers Killing Video Games?”, “How Pidgey [a Pokémon] ‘Proves’
Darwinian Evolution”, and “Are Video Games Anti-LGBT?”.
https://www.youtube.com/user/MatthewPatrick13/videos, accessed March 30, 2015.
theory, and other new theories about the game. It is also noteworthy that out of hundreds of
videos on the Game Theory channel, the twenty-first most viewed video is related to Majora’s
Mask too.16
On the same YouTube channel (which has over four million subscribers) Patrick also
supports other, less popular video creators who have similar intentions of bringing intellectual
theories to video game fans. One of these co-hosts of the channel calls himself “Gaijin
Goombah”, and produces a show called “Culture Shock” that takes an anthropological approach
to the study of games and their content. From October through December of 2014, Culture Shock
had a three-part series on “Majora’s African Roots”, showing the African influences on the
games’ gameplay and design, including the boss enemies and the uses of various masks (in
addition to the transformation ones mentioned earlier). Each of these videos also has over a
million views, and helped further the popularity of Majora’s Mask. An interesting aspect of the
“game theory” phenomenon (including all of the new videos and channels spawned from the
original), is that the authoritative source for information regarding proven “facts” is always the
game-making company and the creators of the game specifically. Theories about games use
evidence from quotes and interviews with creators as proof for their assertions, and companies
like Nintendo have started releasing content specifically geared towards encouraging this fan
dialogue.17
One other important factor in Majora’s Mask’s resurgence of popularity was the release
of a fan-made video in June 2012 that was a cinematic-style “trailer” for a supposed re-make of
16
This can be seen from https://www.youtube.com/user/MatthewPatrick13/videos?flow=grid&sort=p&view=0, as
of March 30, 2015.
17
For the Zelda series specifically, Nintendo released the collector’s book The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia in
2011, revealing the “official timeline” of the series, and other detailed biographical and geographical information
about the Zelda world.
the game for the Wii U. At the time, the video was published anonymously and thought to be a
leaked source that Nintendo had made themselves. However, it was later revealed to be a fanmade creation, created with the intent of generating discussion about the game in order to spur
Nintendo on to create a re-make. The end of the video even contains a caption stating “remember
to like the video & share it with your friends, Nintendo will remake majora’s mask if there was a
demand for it [sic], we don’t know if this video is a legit [sic] remake or fake yet (it was a
leak)”.18 Almost three years later, Nintendo did in fact release a re-make in February 2015, but
for the Nintendo 3DS, not the Wii U. The release of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D
has generated even more positive reception for the game. In addition to the bleak and artistic plot
of the game, Majora’s Mask is also quite popular because of its gameplay, and a crucial part of
the gameplay is its music, both diegetic and non-diegetic, interactive and non-interactive. I will
now turn to discussions of the fan discourse surrounding the music of the game specifically, and
explain more about how music helps create the games’ emotional atmosphere.
Music in Majora’s Mask
There are many different types of music and sound that constitute the audio-makeup of
Majora’s Mask. Classifying sounds in video games is difficult to do precisely, but Karen Collins’
description in her 2008 book Game Sound provides a useful method: “Game sound can be
characterized broadly as diegetic or non-diegetic, but within these broad categories it can be
separated further into nondynamic and dynamic sound, and then divided further still into the
18
HassanAlHajry, “Zelda Majora’s Mask Trailer WII U Zelda Majoras mask remake HD E3 2012”, June 5, 2012,
accessed March 30, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyazYYev7Nw.
types of dynamic activity as they relate to the diegesis and to the player.”19 It can also be useful
to invoke Liebe’s distinction between reactive music and proactive music.20
While there is a wide variety of music with various functions in Majora’s Mask, the
music that fans discuss and use the most (and therefore I discuss most in this paper) is primarily
one of two types: diegetic ocarina songs, or non-diegetic soundtracks to specific locations.
Regarding the first category, in the game, Link needs to play songs in order to effect his
environment in various ways, such as calling his horse, making it rain, and teleporting. These
functions are common in many other Zelda games, but there are also songs with purposes solely
useful in Majora’s Mask. Since the game is based on a three-day time cycle, some songs also
influence the flow of time, which Link can either slow down or speed up, in addition to going
backwards or forwards in time. There is also a unique song to summon the giants at the end of
the game.
Some of the most interesting ocarina songs, however, are the four that are used to open
up pathways to the main dungeons in the game. These are particularly specialized for Majora’s
Mask because they involve having to assume other, non-human forms in order to play them to
their full effects. Firstly, the “Sonata of Awakening” must be played by Deku Link on his “Deku
Pipes” (resembling Bagpipes) in order to “awaken” (raise up from the water) the first temple in
the game. Secondly, Goron Link must play the “Goron Lullaby” on his pitched set of drums in
order to put a giant Goron blocking the second temple to sleep. Thirdly, the “New Wave Bossa
Nova” must be played by Zora Link on his fish guitar in order to raise a giant turtle out of the
19
Karen Collins, Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound
Design (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2008), 125.
20
Liebe, “Interactivity and Music in Computer Games,” 47. Liebe also describes a third type of music as “Linear”,
but this is irrelevant to Zelda games as it only occurs in games that do not have separate music for separate
playable areas.
water, who will transport him to the third temple deep in the middle of the ocean. Finally, any
form of Link can play the “Elegy of Emptiness” in order to create a statue of that form, which
can be used to hold down switches in order to gain access to the final temple. Each time Link (in
any form) plays an ocarina song, the music is diegetic, but switches from dynamic to
nondynamic after the player inputs the correct “notes” in the correct order. After the song is
input correctly, the entire succession of notes plays again, often with additional accompaniment,
and extended to form a complete, cadential phrase.
The second main category of music that fans are fond of is non-diegetic soundtracks that
provide a background to geographic areas in the game. These songs are mostly nondynamic, in
that they maintain their volume and rhythmic propulsion as the music continues in a repeating
cycle (each cycle lasts approximately two-to-three minutes) unless Link encounters an enemy or
other plot-altering situation. The player can also control when they hear certain songs, because
they can control Link’s general location. However, some areas have different background music
for the day and night time periods, and this cannot be controlled except through the ocarina
songs mentioned above. While these background songs are nondynamic, they can also be
classified as reactive in a broad sense, since the music reacts to the player’s direct actions of
entering or leaving an area, and getting near, defeating, or running away from an enemy. As
mentioned above, the two categories that fans find most useful to discuss and utilize are diegetic
ocarina songs, and non-diegetic background music for certain areas. But there are two instances
where these categories overlap: when “Epona’s Song” is used as the background music for
“Romani Ranch”, and the “Song of Healing” is used as the background music while Link is in
the “Clock Tower”.
Fan Discussion and Utilization of Majora’s Mask Music
Almost all music for the Zelda series has been composed by Koji Kondo, including the
soundtrack for Majora’s Mask. This is astonishing given that the music of this series is some of
the most popular of any video game franchise. Indeed, many fans are attracted to the games
specifically because of their multi-faceted and emotionally powerful use of music. The legacy of
Zelda music in general can be seen in the release of a CD commemorating the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the series with a special edition of the 2011 game The Legend of Zelda: Skyward
Sword. The CD contains new orchestral arrangements of many popular Zelda songs, including a
medley composed just for the anniversary, and the music was also featured in a live concert
series throughout 2011.21 Following this, a new concert series continued and has toured the
world performing The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses”, including a performance
in Toronto on March 20, 2015. However, due to its unique ability to create the bleak and
emotional atmosphere of Termina, the music of Majora’s Mask has garnered particular attention
from fans, prompting them to discuss the songs in various ways, and use them to create new
content.
One of the most popular types of YouTube videos is countdowns, especially within the
video game community. 22 Simple searching will reveal that there are at least ten popular
countdown videos only discussing the music of Majora’s Mask, and there are many others
21
“The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses”, accessed March 30, 2015,
http://zeldawiki.org/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Symphony_of_the_Goddesses, and http://zelda-symphony.com.
22
Countdowns related to video games include titles such as “Top fifteen shocking moments in video games”,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jN3Cd_Gxds, “Top 10 most mysterious characters in video games,”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8Qmd2vM9JM, “Top 10 scariest games of all time,”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UEM98Rf7yk, and “Top 10 cheats in video games,”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYXu33-zbjo, all accessed April 3, 2015.
discussing it as part of a countdown on all Zelda music, or Nintendo music more generally. 23 The
songs that consistently place in the top, as the most beloved Majora’s Mask songs, are: “Song of
Healing”, “Clock Town”, “Stone Tower Temple”, “Pirates’ Fortress”, “Giants Theme”, “Astral
Observatory”, and “Final Hours”, with the first few in this list being cited most often as the very
best. Fans create these videos to show their opinions in a public way and debate with others in
the Zelda community; this is accomplished through the sometimes highly charged narration and
commentary that accompanies the audio and video footage. However, the creations of these
videos also spreads the popularity of the game and its music to a wider audience.
Another way that fans create new content with the music of Majora’s Mask is through
remixes, covers, and mashups of their favourite songs and parts of the soundtrack. There are
countless examples of this on YouTube and SoundCloud, and the most commonly remixed songs
are the ones that were consistently listed in the countdown videos as well, especially the “Song
of Healing”. The comments on these videos show mixed reactions, with some viewers enjoying
the fresh take on songs from their childhood, and others brandishing the new music as
inauthentic, mere copies of the original that tamper with greatness.
In addition to creating new musical content, Zelda fans frequently discuss the music of
Majora’s Mask informally on websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, SoundCloud,
BuzzFeed, Twitch, and other, more private forums. Some of the most pertinent comments appear
on the forum NeoSeeker, where there are threads on people’s favourite music from Majora’s
Mask, favourite Zelda music in general, a separate thread on the “Song of Healing”, and even an
interesting thread called “Create Your Own Ocarina Song for Majora’s Mask/Ocarina of
23
See the end of this paper for a full list of links to fan-created content.
Time”.24 The pieces that are decidedly the favourites of the fans in these forums match up well
with those mentioned in the YouTube countdowns, but the thread on “Song of Healing” reveals
even more about why this particular song is so popular, as shown in this conversation from 2010:
User: Does anyone else than me [sic] find the Song of Healing fascinating?
Respondent 1: The Song of Healing is the ultimate enemy of logic. It'll make you relax,
make you remember lost things and forget others, put you in a trance, it'll make you sad,
happy, happy and sad at the same time, it'll make you feel emotions out of nothing. Thats
[sic] what drove the mask salesman out of his mind.
Respondent 2: Majora’s Mask songs have done that to me time and time again. I can’t
explain it, it’s just a strange occurance [sic] that never ceases to amaze me. The music in
this game is just outstanding, far superior to OoT [Ocarina of Time] in my opinion.
Respondent 3: I love the Song of Healing! I also really like the Oath to Order [the song
used to summon the giants]. Anybody know any good remixes of these songs? …
[discussion of unrelated topic]. Back on topic, how do you thing [sic] the Happy Masks
Salesman learn’t [sic] the Song of Healing?
Respondent 4: Yeah, when the mask salesman gets all angry at you, he just instantly
changes his facial expression, & then instantly changes it back to a happy expression later
… it’s pretty creepy. & also, I realized that when you’re talking to him, the music changes
with his mood; when he’s happy, it plays normally, when he’s about to get upset & yell at
you & stuff, the music stops, & when he’s upset, it plays much faster than usual. That’s
pretty creepy, too, how he’s able to control the music.
Respondent 5: I agree. And the angry face reminds me of the man sitting on the bench
playing his instrument. When he gets mad, the facial expression creeps me out ALMOST
as much as the Happy Mask Salesman…. [discussion of unrelated topic].
Respondent 6: I know! The song of healing does that… I just kind of zone out…wierd
[sic]. I think the Deku Palace theme is the best, though.
Respondent 1: Deku Palace song is fantastic. You should listen to the orchestra version of
it, its [sic] even better.25
This discussion shows how fans feel the music of Majora’s Mask, and the “Song of
Healing” particular, has great power and significantly influences their enjoyment of the game. It
24
“Create your own ocarina song for Majora’s Mask/Ocarina of Time”, accessed April 3, 2015,
http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/879/t1509229-create-your-own-ocarina-song-for-majoras-mask-ocarina-oftime/.
25
“Song of Healing”, accessed April 3, 2015, http://www.neoseeker.com/forums/879/t1516270-song-of-healing/.
also shows how fans are aware of the details about how music is used within the game,
particularly during the cut-scene where Link learns the “Song of Healing” from the Happy Mask
Salesman, and he frequently changes emotions, reflected in the music as well as his text boxes
and on-screen movements. Furthermore, these forum users are highly aware of the remixes and
covers of songs that are being produced around them, and willingly share links to such resources.
The kind of community building shown in this discussion is reminiscent to that of the online
discussion groups among fans of Bruce Springsteen described by Cavicchi.26
Another online source of fan discussion is the video streaming website Twitch. This site
is used by video gamers primarily as a place for showing videos of speed runs, where gamers
complete the game as fast as possible using glitches, cheats, and highly developed strategies
within pre-established rules for several categories. One day while watching a speed run of
Majora’s Mask that was currently featuring the “Song of Healing”, I posted in the live chat “isn’t
song of healing awesome?” The first user to respond did so with a simple yet fascinating reply:
“song of healing = wear people’s faces”.27 This comment again shows that fans have a deep
awareness of, and appreciation for, the game’s music and its functions. While it may have been
made in jest, it also demonstrates that part of the reason fans enjoy the music of Majora’s Mask
so much is because of its interactive, diegetic contributions to the dark, sophisticated plot.
One fan that has utilized the music of Majora’s Mask in a particularly devoted and
specific way is the Portuguese composer M. Bulteau.28 Bulteau has composed a three-act opera,
simply entitled Majora, that is currently in its final editing process. As a twenty-five year old
26
Cavicchi, Tramps Like Us, 15, 17, 96.
This discussion took place while watching “Thiefbug” speed run the “All Masks” category on March 24, 2015,
http://www.twitch.tv/thiefbug.
28
At the composer’s request, Bulteau’s first name is not mentioned in this paper.
27
who has grown up with a simultaneous love for Western classical music and video games, this is
his way of paying tribute to the game. Bulteau started composing the opera after playing through
the game a second time in 2011, and seeing the success of the aforementioned twenty-fifth
anniversary concert series of the Zelda Symphony.29 While the music is based on fairly strict
arrangements of Koji Kondo’s soundtrack, there are liberties taken to fit in with the plot and
time-limit of the opera (it will be approximately three-and-a-half hours long). In addition,
recitatives, arias, choruses, dances, and instrumental breaks bring the game to life musically, in a
much more forthright manner than the diegetic and non-diegetic soundtrack to the original game.
The specific adaptations of the plot and music are also designed to be accessible to fans of the
game and non-fans alike.
Interestingly, the plot of Majora does not include the game’s main protagonist Link.
Instead, the opera contains two parallel stories, with the main characters of Kafei (a tenor), and
the Happy Mask Salesman (a countertenor) working to recover their respective masks. Majora (a
colouratura soprano) is the main antagonist. The story of Kafei and Anju (a lyric soprano in the
opera) is revealed as part of a side-quest in Majora’s Mask, and has been elevated to a prominent
plot line in the opera. In the story, a thief called Sakon steals Kafei’s wedding mask, the Sun’s
mask, which must be re-united with Anju’s Moon Mask in order to confirm the marriage bond
and create the Couple’s Mask. Meanwhile, the Happy Mask Salesman is seeking to re-acquire
Majora’s Mask, stolen from him by the Skull Kid when possessed by Majora. The three acts of
29
All details about Bulteau’s intentions and background were gathered in an extensive e-mail interview on March
18, 2015. Further details and updates about the opera can be seen on its blog,
https://majoraopera.wordpress.com/, as well as the composer’s website http://www.mbulteau.com/, and his
YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1Oo0XRWJU1ACLj2qnDTctw.
the opera coincide with the three days of the games’ time-cycle, and the events of each day are
based on the very precise times that they take place in the game’s elaborate side-quest.
The detail that the game inserts regarding the personal lives of Clock Town’s residents, is
indeed one of the reasons Bulteau feels Majora’s Mask is well-suited to be the basis for an opera.
When asked why he chose to focus on the Anju and Kafei plot rather than Link’s adventures,
Bulteau replied “Simply put, I find Anju and Kafei's story to be good quasi-standard operatic
material.”30 Further elaborating, he says:
I find that a lot of Majora's Mask's story works very well in an operatic setting due to its
highly emotional and personal content. The fact that you get to know about the more private
side of characters and their routines provides a lot of material, as opposed to most other
adventure-focused Zelda titles that wouldn't suit the genre as well as this one does. The
fact that I was able to completely remove Link from the setting only made it simpler,
focusing instead on Kafei without replacing one with the other.31
Part of my interview with M. Bulteau asked about his opinions as to why the music of
Majora’s Mask is so popular with fans, and how it has helped create the game’s lasting legacy.
In response, he stated “Everyone has their personal reasons for liking what they hear. The notion
of legacy implies the passing of time, Majora's Mask is 15 years old, so whoever grew up with it
is now in a position to look back and make of it what they wish.” 32 And this is exactly what fans,
including Bulteau himself and those commenting on and closely following his work, have done
in recent years. By discussing, interacting with, and utilizing the original music from the game in
the ways described in this section, Majora’s Mask fans have promoted its legacy, and created
their own community within the larger video-game world. Why has this music, and some songs
30
E-mail interview with M. Bulteau, March 18, 2015.
Ibid.
32
Ibid.
31
in particular, affected so many people so strongly? In an attempt to discover this, I will turn to
analyzing some of the properties of the music itself, and how it is employed in the gameplay.
Musical Analysis: Case Studies
This section looks at the musical content of four popular songs from Majora’s Mask:
“Song of Healing”, “Clock Town (First Day)”, “Pirates Fortress”, and “Stone Tower Temple”.
They are presented here in the same order that they are first heard when playing through the
game. Musically analyzing these songs will reveal that certain aspects are common to these wellliked pieces, such as metric ambiguity and modal inflections. However, this section also focuses
on how each song is employed within the game, and how each player encounters them on a
typical play-through. Some songs may be more popular or memorable because of increased
exposure to the player. For example, the “Stone Tower Temple” theme provides the background
audio in the last and most difficult dungeon of the game; therefore players hear it for an extended
period of time. The musical traits of each song, combined with how they are used in the game,
will provide some possibilities as to why these particular pieces have been received so positively
by the Majora’s Mask fan community.
As already shown above, the “Song of Healing” is one of the most beloved pieces of
music from Majora’s Mask. It consistently places in the top three of almost all countdowns of
best Majora’s Mask songs, or even all Zelda songs, and fans see it as containing a certain power
over them, putting them into an almost trance-like state. There are many musical characteristics
shown in Example 1a33 that contribute to these perceptions and receptions, of which I will
33
I have transcribed all examples from the original soundtrack into western notation. While this is not ideal for
representing all the nuance of the sophisticated sound-mixing the audio provides, it gives a clear representation of
the music and additional notation has been added where necessary. Each song/transcription repeats infinitely until
the player stops in the in-game actions required for its play.
discuss a few and allow the reader to study the example in more depth.34 Firstly, the tritone is a
defining melodic interval for the song, and it is laid bare in the only melodically active line in
mm. 1-2 and 9-10. Harmonically, the static open fifths in the synthesizer part create a dark, eerie
feel to the accompaniment. But additionally, the harmonic interval of a major seventh, and its
inversion (a minor second) are also important, adding a dissonant, jazz-like sound at times. This
is especially evident in the diatonic planing of seventh chords (two of which are major seventh
chords) in mm. 17-24.
The beginning of the melody, when heard alone – and the orchestration/sound mixing
makes it quite prominent in the texture – also creates metric ambiguity, as shown in Example 1b.
If the listener assumes there will be a standard quadruple metre that is used in almost all popular
music today, they will hear the melodically significant pitch of E (breaking up the tritone of B-F)
as occurring on a strong downbeat.35 This downbeat is emphasized further because of the 3+3+2
quarter-note pattern in mm. 1-2 of Example 1b. The 3+3+2 pattern originates from the clavé
rhythm in Afro-Cuban music, and is still employed frequently in much popular music today.
Finally, the tonal centres and modes employed in the song are pleasurably ambiguous.
The first four measures imply a Phrygian cadence in A minor, even though no tonic is present,
and the dominant chord lacks a leading-tone. Then, surprisingly, at m. 9 the bass line continues
descending down to C, making this the new temporary tonic and resting place twice in this
section (mm. 11-12 and 15-16). The first sixteen measures can be interpreted as being in the
diatonic mode with no sharps or flats, i.e. all white-keys on the piano, and specifically the first
34
Examples 1a and 1b are transcribed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G_aaak-tDE, accessed March 30,
2015.
35
Metric Preference Rule 3 in Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoff, A Generative Theory of Tonal Music (Cambridge:
MIT Press, 1983), 76-78.
eight measures imply A Aeolian mode, and the next eight imply C Ionian mode (C major). At
measure 17 the bass then continues its descent even further, now traversing into a new diatonic
space with one flat, and leading to a quasi-cadence in F major at m. 24. After starting this fourmeasure motion again, the composer Kondo evades the cadence in F major and instead brings
back B-natural to instigate a half-cadence in the original implied key of A minor, with a
complete dominant chord this time.
In terms of its use in the game, the “Song of Healing” does not gain its expressive power
from one extended hearing, as in other non-diegetic background pieces. Rather, it is heard for
only a short time, but at multiple times throughout the game (at least three times, but several
more if the player completes all the side-quests). Furthermore, these moments are significant to
the game’s plot, and are quite emotionally charged. When Link plays the “Song of Healing” for
the dying Zora Mikau in order to obtain the Zora Mask, Mikau is shown moving through a deep,
dark void, before he re-unites with his band members and holds his girlfriend’s hand as they
walk together, accepting the inevitability of death.36 This cut-scene is one of the most widely
praised by fans, as evidenced by the discussion in Twitch chat rooms when speed-runners come
upon it.
36
CountBleck2009, “Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask: Zora Mask”, February 7, 2009, accessed April 5, 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-jTtwPaFlY.
Example 1a: “Song of Healing”
Example 1b: “Song of Healing” in 4/4
A much happier, yet also greatly admired song, is the non-diegetic background track
“Clock Town (First Day)”, shown in Example 2a.37 The track is strictly diatonic in the key of D
major, and repeats a simple, closed harmonic progression every eight measures. Melodically,
there are three distinct themes, each lasting sixteen measures. In many ways, the pitch structure
of this song is unremarkable, but the rhythm and metre make this an enjoyable, dance-like tune.
This is partly due to the added drum line, with its syncopation creating rhythmic interest. But
part of the rhythmic interest is also due to the metric ambiguity in the melodic line, seen in
Example 2b. As in “Song of Healing”, the metric ambiguity only occurs in the first melodic
section. When heard in 3/4 time, the second beat of Melody 1 is emphasized through an octave
leap in measures one and five, and repetition in measures seventeen and twenty-one.38 The fast
tempo of the song also helps the metre become more ambiguous.
The function of this song in the game is one that creates a sense of home. “Clock Town”
is an area that Link returns to frequently, and it contains many merchants, stores, a hotel, a bar,
and even a bank. In addition, Link returns here automatically each time he resets the time-cycle
(which also saves the games progress), and the music for “Clock Town (First Day)” starts up
again. As with “Song of Healing”, the exposure to this track is often not for extended periods of
time, but the sheer amount of times that the player must hear this track in order to complete the
game must make it memorable, if nothing else.
37
Examples 2a and 2b are transcribed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtz-qGWKNOw, accessed March
30, 2015.
38
Metric Preference Rule 5, Example 4.31 in Lerdahl and Jackendoff, A Generative Theory of Tonal Music, 83-84.
Example 2a: “Clock Town (First Day)”
Example 2b: “Clock Town (First Day)” in 3/4
A third song that fans consistently list as one of their favourites is the theme from the
“Pirates’ Fortress” area (Example 3).39 This is encountered as a mini-dungeon that the player
must complete on the way to the third main dungeon in Majora’s Mask. While only a prelude to
the larger “Great Bay Temple”, the “Pirates’ Fortress” is still a puzzling and technically
challenging location to make it through, and if players are not careful to avoid the guards (who
reset Link’s position to the beginning of the area each time they see him), they could be listening
to this music for a prolonged period of time. This slow background tune provides a foreboding
atmosphere to the fortress, partially due to the distinctive timbres of the trumpet and snare drum
that are reminiscent of marching bands. The strong timpani heard every second measure also
contributes to the malevolent feeling of the music.
A first distinctive feature of this song is that the bass line and most of the accompanying
harmonies are in the mode of A Phrygian, while the melody and the occasional woodwind
figures are in A Aeolian. This means that B-flat conflicts with B-natural at several points such as
measures six, eight, twelve, and fourteen. Another unique aspect of this song is its prominent use
perfect fourths in quartal harmonies. The conflict of B-flat versus B-natural, combined with the
quartal harmonies, create enough dissonance to generate an interesting, memorable sound, yet
not enough dissonance to cross the line between tonality and atonality: a line most casual players
would not be thrilled to cross. This is most evident in mm. 16-18. Similarly, there is also metric
ambiguity throughout this piece, specifically that of recurring hemiola (groups of three versus
groups of two). In fact, the trumpet line could easily be written in a different time signature than
all the other instruments, in the compound metre of 12/8.
39
Example 3 is transcribed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSebXkNl5H0, accessed April 5, 2015.
Example 3: “Pirates’ Fortress”
The final piece I will examine in this paper is the theme accompanying the game’s final
dungeon, “Stone Tower Temple” (Example 4).40 This dungeon has been highly acclaimed by
many as one of the best in the whole Zelda series, and imitates the Tower of Babel in its design
and story of creation. As mentioned previously, this music provides the background for the
longest and most difficult dungeon in the game, so players will inevitably hear it for a long time.
In terms of pitch structure, the composer Kondo carries out very similar moves to those used in
“Pirates’ Fortress”, with an accompanying harmonic line of parallel fifths in A Phrygian mode,
and melodies in A Aeolian. Interestingly, this time an accompanying figure in the bassoon
provides a neutral, mediating space between the Phrygian and Aeolian modes, as it contains
neither B-flat nor B-natural. However, there is still prominent dissonance between the B-flat in
40
Example 4 is transcribed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNDLoncWz30, accessed April 5, 2015.
every other measure of the bass line, and the recurring A in the bassoon line. In a similar
technique to the “Clock Town (First Day)” theme, three successive melodies are used, though
they are shorter here. Only the second of these contains direct homophonic accompaniment, in
the form of modal parallel fifths in mm. 19-20, then tonal parallel sixths in mm. 21-26. While the
“Stone Tower Temple” theme does contain some syncopation in melody three, it is the only
piece of the four shown in this paper that does not contain any metric ambiguity. I will leave the
final word on the music of “Stone Tower Temple” to a fan who listed the dungeon as the best in
all of the Zelda franchise in a top-ten countdown video.
The soundtrack for the Stone Tower Temple is similar to that of the entire area, and
contains one theme that is prominent: death. Now, in the world of Majora’s Mask
everybody is living in fear, and by the time you reach this dungeon, Link’s thoughts would
be along the lines of “What’s the point? I just can’t do this anymore.” And then you hear
the flute [ocarina] appear in the track, and the flute symbolizes hope, and the chance to
succeed. And as you hear the flute, you are ready to finish what you started, and you go
through the temple and you do succeed.41
41
Billybo10000, “Countdown: Top 10 Zelda Dungeons”, August 23, 2013, accessed April 6, 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx3_2abMy34.
Example 4: “Stone Tower Temple”
Conclusion
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask continues to develop an ever increasing fan
community due to its resurgence in popularity, and one aspect of the game that is important to so
many fans is the music. This is partly due to the unusual (for adventure games) importance
placed on music by the creators of the Zelda series, especially Majora’s Mask. Music plays an
important role in the game, both diegetically and non-diegetically, in setting the tone for the
bleak world of Termina. The “Song of Healing” in particular helps in-game characters deal with
grief, and the loss accompanying death, and fans have discussed it having the same effect on
them in real life. This song, along with “Clock Town (First Day)”, “Pirates’ Fortress”, “Stone
Tower Temple”, and others have been embraced by fans and, as shown in this paper, been
widely discussed and praised by fans through online discussion on various social media websites.
In addition, fans have utilized the original music to create new content such as YouTube
countdowns, remixes, covers, mashups, and even a full-fledged opera. Musical analysis has
shown that some reasons for this high praise could be metric and modal ambiguity, dissonant
melodies and harmonies - often moving in parallel motion, yet within a tonal-hierarchical
framework - and forward driving drum rhythms.
Future research on the fandom of video-game music could focus on the personal
connection gamers in a more in-depth, ethnographic way. This paper looked at how fans discuss
and use the music after playing through the game, but how do fans feel about music during a
play-through of the game? Studies in cognition could also help answer this question. In addition,
fans should be asked what specific points in the music are their favourites and why? Following
this, a music theorist could delve into the properties of the music and discover what fans
consistently label as the most musically powerful or evocative techniques.
Studying video-game fan-culture is important since it is unique from other kinds of
fandom. Users interact with the product and its contents in a distinctive way, and do not usually
come into direct contact with any creators of the content. Someone can be a Nintendo fan, or a
Zelda fan, without ever seeing series creator Shigeru Miyamoto, for example. Yet many levels of
interaction exist in a more invisible way between those playing, designing, and marketing the
game.42 Still, video games are not “performed” by anyone except their players, and so fan culture
surrounding them and their music is less hierarchical than that of a rock star, as shown in the fan
discussion and utilization of the music from Majora’s Mask.
42
Miller, Playing Along, 5.
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Appendix: Transcript of E-mail Interview with M. Bulteau (March 18, 2015).
1) JS: How old are you?
MB: I’m 25.
2) JS: Where are you from? Have you lived there your whole life?
MB: I'm from Portugal, and I've lived here my whole life. I've traveled and I do not intend to
stay.
3) JS: What is your musical background? What instruments do you play? Where did you
study music and when, with whom? How long have you been composing?
MB: My earliest memory of music is For Unto Us A Child Is Born from Handel's Messiah
oratorio blasting through garden speakers in a summer day. Music at home was mostly classical,
folk of various kinds, and a bit of rock, blues, and pop; video game music became part of that
background very early on, at 4 years old, when I got my first console: a Sega Genesis.
I learned to read basic music notation in middle school, and had piano lessons between the ages
of 11 and 15. One of my teachers understood what I wanted was composition rather than being
an interpreter, so he gave me Walter Piston's book on harmony, and advised me other works that
would help, like Berlioz's treatise on orchestration. I stopped having lessons and taught myself
how to compose for the four years after that. Some of what you hear on my website was
composed during that time. When I was 19, I was advised by a friend to go to a music academy
in Lisbon, where I filled some gaps in my knowledge, but I wouldn't say it changed my music in
any way. The most important effect it had for me was getting to be surrounded daily by
fellow musicians for the first time.
4) JS: What is your background with video games? Have you been a lifelong player? Would you
consider yourself a Zelda fan and is Majora’s mask your favourite game?
MB: I got a Sega Genesis with Sonic the Hedgehog when I was four years old. From then on,
video games became a constant in my life. Along with the Genesis I got an NES, Gameboys (the
"brick," pocket, and color), and the N64, and played mostly platformers
(Sonic, Mario, Mega Man, Wario, Kirby, Banjo-Kazooie) and Nintendo variations on
their Mario franchise (Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, etc). Top down games were rare, but
despite my lack of patience for JRPGs, Pokémon definitely gripped me.
My first Zelda game was Link's Awakening, and my understanding of English was poor the first
time I played it, so a lot of its depth escaped me. That didn't prevent me from growing to love it.
Ocarina of Time came next, then Majora's Mask.
I started playing games on PC when I was 12, and with that discovered emulation. Since I had
never had an SNES, I decided to take a peek at Link to the Past, but it didn't manage to
engross me. I do like Zelda games, but I was never sure of what requirements one would have
to meet to be considered a fan of anything.Majora's Mask is definitely at the top of the list for
favorite Zelda games, along with Link's Awakening and Wind Waker.
PC games became my only source of gaming for a while, of which Neverwinter Nights stood out
immensely. Strategy games also caught my attention, from Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds
(nothing more than a slightly improved clone of Age of Empires II), to Imperium Galactica II,
Rise of Nations, SimCity. Later on I became enamored with grand strategy games like Europa
Universalis and Crusader Kings, but I eventually covered a wide range of genres for PC,
including action, adventure, and puzzle games.
My transition to PC can be considered permanent so far, as I undertook a long hiatus from
console games until a friend lent me his Gamecube in 2010 so I could play Wind Waker and
Twilight Princess. Later on in 2013, as thanks for the opera, that same friend offered me a Wii,
which I mostly use to play oldies on the Virtual Console.
5) JS: Explain a bit about the project of “Majora” the opera, why you started it, how it came
about, how it is progressing, your hopes for the project etc. Who is working on it with you and in
what capacities?
MB: Ideas for having Majora's Mask turned into an opera had briefly crossed my mind after a
playthrough of the game a long time ago, but I don't remember why I didn't act on them. Later in
2011, after another playthrough, those ideas returned to me, and this time the Zelda Symphony
was a thing. So I thought why couldn't an opera be a thing too?
I am writing the whole opera myself, but the very final version of the score requires
assistance. My right arm in the project, Miguel Jesus, a guitarist and fellow composer I met at the
academy, is helping as an engraver, advisor, and demo recording producer. Then there's Liam
Greenough who joined us in 2013 (my left arm in the project, if you will), an Australian
percussionist and composer who is helping as a percussion and libretto advisor.
The people who sing, appear as shadows in the demos, or help with anything else from assistance
to art and/or animation are very kind volunteers who are aware of the current stage of the project.
They range from ex-colleagues at the academy to people from overseas who reach out to us of
their own volition, or are contacted either by us or by other people interested in finding
volunteers to help finish the recording of the demo showreel, which totals 9 demos (some of
which require makeovers, as indicated on the videos themselves) made to partially show how
different sections of the work would sound, still in draft stage.
The score of the opera's 3 acts is currently under revision. Two weeks ago, Liam Greenough
arrived from Australia and is staying for a month, joining me and Miguel Jesus in the final
process of revision.
The work is very definitely intended to be staged.
6) JS: It is interesting that you decided to make the plot emphasizing the famous Anju and Kafei
side quest, why did you make this decision? For dramatic reasons? Musical reasons? Why do
you like the story of this side quest and why do you think fans like it?
MB: I find that a lot of Majora's Mask's story works very well in an operatic setting due to its
highly emotional and personal content. The fact that you get to know about the more private side
of characters and their routines provides a lot of material, as opposed to most other adventurefocused Zelda titles that wouldn't suit the genre as well as this one does. The fact that I was able
to completely remove Link from the setting only made it simpler, focusing instead on Kafei
without replacing one with the other.
Simply put, I find Anju and Kafei's story to be good quasi-standard operatic material, and
different peoplemight like it for all sorts of different reasons. I must confess that although they
are the effective focus of the opera, they are not my personal focus, hence the parallel incursions
into Majora and the Happy Mask Salesman. After all, the opera is called Majora, not Kafei &
Anju.
7) JS: What is in the instrumentation of the work? What are the main dramatic/vocal roles (and
for what voice types?)
MB: The work is scored for full orchestra: 1 piccolo, 2 flutes, 1 set of bagpipes, 2 oboes (1
doubling english horn), 2 clarinets (1 doubling bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (1 doubling
contrabassoon), 4 french horns, 2 trumpets, 2 tenor trombones, 1 bass trombone, 1 tuba,
percussion (1 tambourine, 1 snare drum, 1 bass drum, 1 triangle, 2 woodblocks, 2 pairs of french
cymbals, 1 suspended cymbal, 4 chinese opera gongs, 1 tam-tam, 1 wind machine, 1
benchophone), timpani, 1 xylophone, 1 marimba, 1 cimbalom, 1 celesta, 1 harp, 1 hurdy-gurdy,
16 violins I, 14 violins II, 12 violas, 10 celli, and 8 double basses; 13 solo singers,minimum 27person choir, and minimum 10 dancers/actors. Because the score is under revision, this
instrumentation may not be the definitive one.
The main vocal roles are Kafei (tenor leggero), Anju (lyric soprano), the Happy Mask Salesman
(countertenor), and Majora (coloratura soprano). Skull Kid is the main dancing role.
8) JS: How are the acts and scenes constructed? Can you give a plot synopsis?
MB: There are three acts, and each encompasses one day and night. There are two parallel plots,
with Kafei and the Happy Mask Salesman working to recover their respective masks.
9) JS: How is the score constructed musically? Are there arias, recitative, any speaking parts?
Orchestral interludes? Overture etc.?
MB: There is an overture, a prologue in recitativo, then the three acts are a mix of arias,
recitatives, choruses, dances, instrumentals, and the occasional dialogue.
10) JS: How did you decide which music from the game’s soundtrack to include/arrange and
which parts would be original? Were there particular songs you wanted to include from the
game’s soundtrack? Why?
MB: As a tribute to the music of Mr Kondo and Mr Minegishi, I mostly adopted a structure of
faithful arrangement -> my organic development therefrom. This isn't always the case, simply
because some themes from the soundtrack, although relevant to characters or settings, did
not match the mood. For example, you'll certainly not hear the Ballad of the Wind Fish as swing
jazz, and you'll hear a development of Stone Tower before you actually hear the game's original.
These decisions are made on a case-by-case basis.
I have pretty much included all the themes I personally prefer, except for Kotake and Koume's,
which I think would have made for a great duet. There is also the case of Romani Ranch, which
had to be completely omitted from the opera due its tangential nature. This could be better
accommodated with a closer observance of canon, especially if Kafei did not roam so widely.
The very reason I have made him so is to display the richness of Termina, the loss of which
would be more greatly felt than the mild liberties taken with canon. Because of this, there is little
room for tangents like Romani Ranch. Although it pains me not to show the aliens, it would not
have lent to the cohesiveness of the narrative, which is already quite dense and fragile. Simply
put, you would either see most of Termina and not the Ranch, or just Clock Town, the Ranch,
and Ikana.
11) JS: Why do you think Majora’s Mask (and its music in particular) is so popular, and why do
you think the music of the game (both diegetic and non-diegetic) has a lasting legacy with fans?
MB: Honestly, I wouldn't know. Everyone has their personal reasons for liking what they hear.
The notion of legacy implies the passing of time, Majora's Mask is 15 years old, so whoever
grew up with it is now in a position to look back and make of it what they wish.
12) JS: How have fans of the game/series received your project? How do you communicate with
them? Why do you think people will like and support this project?
MB: Most feedback I've gotten has been positive. The very first demo got featured in Kotaku and
spiked at 4000 views in under 20 minutes, which I assume was simply because the concept was
unheard of.
People leave comments at the blog, on YouTube, on Facebook, to which I reply if need be. There
were text-based Q&As at the blog, and there are now several video Q&As on YouTube that
answer many questions posted in comments as well.
There are people who like Majora's Mask, there are people who like opera, there's probably a
crossover somewhere in between.
13) JS: How have you pre-empted any legal issues that may arise? Have you been in contact
with representatives from Nintendo?
MB: The only thing that is 100% in my power at this point is the completion of the score, which
will likely total over 600 A3 pages for 3 and a half hours of music. Only when the score is
complete will I be focusing entirely on contacting Nintendo for permission to stage the work, as
something of this magnitude cannot be set up without funds, and I don't intend to have it
officially performed at only a fraction of its potential.