Musical instruments from The Legend of Zelda series
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- For a full list of songs played on instruments in The Legend of Zelda series, see Songs from The Legend of Zelda series.
Musical Instruments have been featured in every The Legend of Zelda series game except Four Swords Adventures. A musical instrument will appear in Phantom Hourglass, [citation needed] but as of now it is unknown. The instruments have different powers, ranging from summoning a creature to waking a fish.
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[edit] The Legend of Zelda
In the original The Legend of Zelda the instrument is a recorder. When played in the Overworld, it will teleport Link to the entrance of one of the dungeons (in order rather than random). It is also necessary to use this flute to defeat the boss of the fifth dungeon, Digdogger. The recorder is referenced in Super Mario Bros. 3 as the Warp Whistle and as well as having a similar purpose it plays the same tune.
[edit] Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
The recorder makes another appearance in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It is used to defeat the giant spider, and is needed to access the 6th palace.
[edit] A Link to the Past
The flute gets a new design in A Link to the Past and now looks like an ocarina. It only works in the Light World. Playing it in front of the rooster statue releases a duck, which can then fly Link to a chosen location on the map.
[edit] Link's Awakening
In Link's Awakening, the flute is now called an Ocarina. Link must enter the Dream Shrine and go to sleep there, and then make his way through the shrine until he finally reaches the Ocarina. In the course of his journey Link will learn three songs: the "Ballad of the Wind Fish", "Manbo's Mambo", and "The Frog's Song of Soul". The "Ballad of the Wind Fish" is taught to Link by Marin, and is used to enter the Wind Fish's egg. "Manbo's Mambo" teleports Link to Manbo's Pond (near Crazy Tracy's Health Spa) or to the entrance of the dungeon that Link is currently in, and "The Frog's Song of Soul" restores the Flying Rooster and allows Link to enter the eighth dungeon, Turtle Rock.
Additionally, Link must collect the eight Instruments of the Sirens from the dungeons in his quest to wake the Wind Fish. These are in order of the dungeon where they are received (this is not necescarily the order of acquisition as the 4th-7th dungeons must only be half-way defeated to move on, but all must be defeated by the end):
- The Full Moon Cello
- The Conch Horn
- The Sea Lily's Bell
- The Surf Harp
- The Wind Marimba
- The Coral Triangle
- The Organ of Evening Calm
- The Thunder Drum
[edit] Ocarina of Time
Early on Link is given a Fairy Ocarina, but the key instrument in this game is the titular Ocarina of Time. Link receives it from Princess Zelda as she flees the castle with Impa. It is used much more than in previous games. Link can now teleport himself to different places (for example, the Graveyard or Lake Hylia). Link can also summon his horse and even make it rain.
In this game, the "Song of Time" is mainly used to open the door in the Temple of Time to reveal the Master Sword and the Sacred Realm. After that, it is only used to move blue blocks to help Link achieve his goals in temples.
[edit] Majora's Mask
The Ocarina of Time makes another appearance in Majora's Mask. It is stolen from Link by the Skull Kid, but is later returned to him. It has much the same functionality except for a few changes. Link now only has one teleporting song, which teleports him to different points, he has a song that awakens, a song that puts people to sleep, a song that affects sea creatures, and a song that makes copies of himself. As Link uses transformation masks namely the Deku, Goron and Zora masks, the ocarina converts itself into the "Pipes of Awakening," "Drums of Sleep" and "Guitar of Waves" respectively. The Song of Storms and Epona's Song make repeat appearances, as does the Song of Time (though it now has a different, and a more vital purpose; it allows Link to rewind, fast forward, and slow down time, as well as saving the game).
[edit] Oracle of Ages and Seasons
In Oracle of Ages and Seasons, Link receives a flute, but it only does one thing: it calls his animal friend. There are three flutes, but Link can only have one. He can receive each flute by doing a specific thing at a certain point in the game.
[edit] Harp of Ages
The Harp of Ages is a musical item used to navigate space and time in Oracle of Ages. This item was found by Link in the house of Nayru, the oracle of ages and given to him to assist him on his journey after her kidnapping by Veran. At first, the harp can only warp Link to the past (Tune of Echoes) and future (Tune of Currents) by use of specific warp points found about the country, but eventually learning new songs with it allowed the user to warp from any point in a limited fashion. A third and final song (Tune of Ages) allowed Link to warp anywhere at anytime he wanted. Like the Rod of Seasons in Oracle of Seasons, it was used to navigate the game and solve puzzles.
[edit] The Wind Waker
The titular instrument in this game, actually a baton, the Wind Waker, has the main purpose of letting Link control the winds. Later on it also lets him control statues and people (Makar and Medli), and make day into night. It is given to Link by the King of Red Lions, and was used in ancient times to conduct music for the gods. The baton itself is not really an instrument, but there are featured instruments such as the wind, the violin (Makar and Fado) and the harp (Medli and Laruto)
[edit] The Minish Cap
The Ocarina of Wind is acquired rather late in the game; it teleports Link to a chosen location as long as he has already gone to the place he is teleporting to and has smashed the Wind Crest there to unlock that destination.
[edit] Twilight Princess
In Twilight Princess, Link can make use of reeds. The reeds, which can be found in set locations and only used when picked at that location, are shaped in a manner indicating the animal they used to summon. One calls a hawk (bird-shaped) and the other, Link's horse (shaped like a horseshoe). When Link is transformed into a wolf, he can stand near grass or whistling statues and howl a tune. Unlike previous games, Link is not taught songs, nor can he howl at any time. The tune the grass normally plays is drawn in blue lines.
The music system is different as well. When howling, Link holds one of three pitches for a set amount of time in order to play the song, as opposed to playing multiple short notes. When standing in a patch of grass, Link will howl the song it plays. When standing before a whistling statue, Link will howl other songs (such as the Song of Healing from Majora's Mask) to call upon the sword instructor or produce other effects.
Later in the game, Link will receive the Horse Call, an instrument modelled after horseshoe grass which allows Link to summon his horse from virtually any location.
