Inside The Score - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Lon Lon Ranch

A yearning for good ol’ pastoral Americana amidst medieval Europe

The whole ranch saga seems like it was something that both Shigeru Miyamoto and Koji Kondo were pretty invested in. They have talked a lot in interviews about how Miyamoto wanted to convey that American western/cowboy vibe—his favorite music is country and bluegrass after all and his games always have some Western influences that make them more universal; one of the first games he worked on was even called Sheriff— With Miyamoto requiring for Link to ride a horse and a songstress living inside the ranch (Shigeru was also very particular about how every encounter Link has with a girl had to had some romantic tension). Getting to know Epona as a child and then actually managing to ride her as an adult was one of the nicest touches in this coming of age history, and the development team managed to make the ranch one of the most dynamic and memorable parts of the game, even though it wasn’t a requirement to complete it.

Hyrule Field itself was designed very open and barren just for the catharsis that players would feel when finally able to cross it by horse—it initially had way more trees but that made horse riding not as fun. So it was nice that they went into the trouble of giving a background and a world for the horse to come from. A whole ranch saga was born as another thread that the Zelda series would go on to pursue and develop in future entries such as Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess which is pretty much a Spaghetti Western in some parts; Skyward Sword also partakes of the Country ‘n’Western fun while other handheld games have ranches of their own.

This is another one of those out-of-tone pieces that Japanese developers throw all the time in their games. For the team at Nintendo it is more important the function considerations than managing a consistent tone, and an American traditional country western tune establishes the ranch sensibility even though Hyrule is closer to a medieval European kingdom—you would certainly never heard a tune like this coming from The Lord of the Rings— This gives the Zelda games that extra charm.

It is also the first of the ocarina melodies heard fully blossomed even before learning it, making the player familiar with its tune beforehand. Composed in-game by Malon’s mother, Epona’s Song is the tune Link learns in order to tame the rebellious horse of its namesake (Early in the development, Epona was called by using a reed pipe). Epona’s Song also has calming effects on the cattle and seems to be the secret for why the cows produce the best milk in town. Out-game composer Koji Kondo had to base this melody around a simple three note motif and then explore some sophisticated voice leading to dress it with an accompaniment made with characteristic country instruments.

And country and ranch music go hand in hand in the collective imaginary. Notwithstanding, this is a country western just in instrumentation and feel. The actual composition provides perhaps one of the most sophisticated chord progressions on the soundtrack, something alien to the traditional I-IV-V of country music. The arpeggios played by the guitar form different chords, they function not because some obscure harmony theory, but because they have excellent voice leading; in short they are basically a melody by themselves. The string section that enters later is also based around voice leading, having a melodic flow that would almost make them work by themselves. This is most likely how Kondo conceives a progression in his head: with a strong melodic sense. We get to hear two versions of Lon Lon Ranch, one diegetic in which the voice of Malon joins the band and one non-diegetic played as a straightforward location cue. As always, Zelda blurs the lines between what the player hears and what characters inside the game hear. Time to relax a little at the ranch.

Musical Analysis

Structure: Section 0 / Section 1 / Section 2 / Section 3 / Section 4

Time Signature: 3/4

Tempo: 85

Melodic and Harmonic Profiles: D Ionian/Major; D Aeolian/Minor

One of the longest location cues, the yearning harmony of Lon Lon Ranch will vibrate your nostalgia strings whenever you come here to rest since it is right in the middle of Hyrule Field ready to receive weary visitors.

Epona’s song is the simplest of the ocarina melodies, since its answer motif is almost the same as its question motif which is repeated twice by the player; the full ocarina melody only uses three notes. Since the main melody is very simple, Kondo plucks interest from the underlining harmony. And in this song, the voice leading is all about that chromatic descending bass line. The guitar accompaniment has that relaxed swing feel but the melody is played in straight notes, giving you that lazy good-feel vibe. The contrasting B Section ditches the Epona motif but retains its rhythmic profile.

The sound of the steel guitars is just the same sample from the electric guitars with some cuts to the attack of the notes and modified sustain properties; they feature extensive use of pitch bends to mimic that country articulation. The steel guitar’s ability to emulate singing, whining, and crying fit perfectly with the sentiments of ranchers in rural America. Koji Kondo also refrains of using a more standard banjo in favor of the twangy electric guitar.

It is worth showing the chord progression, remembering that it works because of its melodic flow and not its harmony rules

Section 0: D – G – D – G

Section 1: D – C#+ – F#dim – G – Bb+ – D – G – A7 – (D)

Section 2: [Bb – C7 – F – Dm – Gm7 – C7 – F6 – F7] – [Bb – C7 – F – Dm – Gm – Bb/F – Em7 (b5) – A7]

The I to IV vamp is a favorite of Koji Kondo across the Mario and Zelda series whenever he wants to invoke a nostalgic sense. The long progression allows for a long form melody. The piece transitions to the relative major profile for Section 2. All progressions end on the dominant chord to prepare that perfect cadence into the D of the loop. The outro where the fiddle improvises uses the same progression as the intro.

Talon picks up the electric guitar—and probably forces Ingo to play the steel guitar—while we hear in-game Malon’s own voice singing Epona’s Song.

We make a short stop at the ranch on our way back to the Kokiri Forest to pay a visit and see what Malon and her dad are up to. Inside the ranch we see the music now has a different color; a voice, which gets louder the more we get close to the paddock, replacing the fiddle that played on the cue and bringing the Lon Lon Ranch theme into the diegetic realm. It’s of course the real Epona’s song.

The charmingly synthetic sounding vocals of Malon have become one of the most remembered sounds from the Nintendo 64 era; used again on Majora’s Mask and on Twilight Princess. It seems they just sampled a single note and stretched it across the keyboard, playing with pitch bends to get the effect of a vocal performance. There is no information out there about the origin of the sample used for Malon; my guess is that it could be a random Nintendo employee or the voice actress herself (Jun Mizusawa, also the voice of Saria, Zelda and Ruto) who was asked to sing a note for use on the music. If someone has information about a sample library that contained the voice of Malon or what could be its source please let me know.

As we will see, the expansive reverb effect is accomplished in the same way as in the Temple of Time cue, two vocals panned in opposite sides with a slight delay to the right track.

The concept of having a singer inside the game was pushed by Zelda’s creator Shigeru Miyamoto, who is a big fan of cowboy-western iconography and country music, and since they had a reference from the character Marin from a previous Zelda game, it was decided to synthesize all this into the character of Malon. It goes without saying that Talon and Ingo are meant to represent the appearance and dynamic of Mario and Luigi; they are New Yorkers after all so it is fitting that you find them in America.

I’ve always been a fan of country music, including people like Emmylou Harris so I insisted on having a songstress in the game.I changed the ranch girl Malon into a songstress, so the horses were attracted to her because of her song. However, this didn’t really suit her dialogue at the time. Originally we had her singing alone in the middle of the ranch, but halfway through we changed it so she went to the castle, but then she didn’t sing anymore. It was kind of fun to consider those kinds of things. So, that was mostly my part in creating the music
Shigeru Miyamoto

As a bit of obscure trivia, Epona’s song actually has officially sanctioned lyrics by Nintendo—presumably written by Miyamoto— which were used on the soundtrack CD ‘Ocarina of Time Re-Arranged Album’.

Here they are in English:

Epona, Epona, come to my side

If we’re together there’s no loneliness

Because, Epona, you’re here with me

I’ll protect only you

Standing here, I remember

The dawn of that day

The moon sinking, you were born

With the rising sun

Epona, Epona, come to my side

If we’re together there’s no sadness

Because, Epona, you’re here with me

Keep listening to my song

Too loo loo

Too loo loo loo loo

Standing here I remember

That time when

My mother wrote for you

This song

Too loo loo

Too loo loo loo loo

If we’re together there’s no sadness

Too loo loo

Too loo loo loo loo

Never forget this song

This song

The track blossomed into the country song it was always meant to be

After this much Americana it is time to return to our European setting in full force by actually reaching a town straight from a Germanic village in the quintessential medieval European setting, the fortress known as the castle.

The Lon Lon Ranch track went on to be reused again in the sequel and its spiritual succesor can be found in Skyward Sword.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTldgrG5avc

Ranches opened other types of quest in the Zelda series other than standard medieval fantasy fare