The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by Tim Summers

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by Tim Summers

Some 22 years after its creation, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is still held in high critical regard as one of the finest examples of the video game medium. The same is true of the game’s music, whose superlative reception continues to be evident, whether in the context of the game or in orchestral concerts and recordings of the game’s music. Given music’s well-established significance for the video game form, it is no coincidence that music is placed at the forefront of this most lauded and loved of games. In Ocarina of Time, music connects and unifies all aspects of the game, from the narrative conceit to the interactive mechanics, from the characters to the virtual worlds, and even into the activity of legions of fans and gamers, who play, replay and reconfigure the music in an enduring cultural site that has Ocarina of Time at its centre. As video game music studies begins to mature into a coherent field, it is now possible to take the theoretical apparatus and critical approaches that have been developed in antecedent scholarship and put these into practice in the context of an extended concrete game example. The most extensive investigation into the music of a single game yet undertaken, this book serves three important primary purposes: first, it provides a historical-critical account of the music of an important video game text; second, it uses this investigation to explore wider issues in music and media studies (including interactivity, fan cultures, and music and technology); and third, it serves as a model for future in-depth studies of video game music.

'Summers does an excellent job of describing the soundscape of a video game within the confines of print, employing a variety of visual representations to support his prose arguments[...] The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: A Game Music Companion offers many things to many people: it is an in-depth analysis of a beloved game, a primer on ludomusicological terminology and concepts, a model analysis, a demonstration of the different things video game music can do, and an explication of how it does them. Summers’s attention to detail, wide-ranging knowledge, and affection and respect for the subject matter are evident throughout, resulting in a superb book.'

-- Sarah Pozderac-Chenevey, Journal of Sound and Music in Games

Tim Summers is lecturer in music at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is the author of Understanding Video Game Music and a cofounder of the Ludomusicology Research Group.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781789385670
ISBN 10	1789385679
Title	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Author	Tim Summers
Series	Studies In Game Sound And Music
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Intellect Books
Year published	2022-03-15
Number of pages	334
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable