One man choral group performs the Legend of Zelda theme

A reader writes, "Filipino composer and gamer Diwa De Leon performs a five man a-capella and violin of the themes from Legend of Zelda."

This is my own rendition of the themes from Legend of Zelda game composed by Koji Kondo. Most of my picks came from Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past originally for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).

I'm a professional composer, arranger and violinist, and cosplaying is one of my hobbies as well as playing video game music just for fun.

Legend of Zelda medley - A Capella Voices and Violin

[#1 posted by Frenetic, January 11, 2009 1:36 PM]

Nice hats!

[#2 posted by DrSchnauzer, January 11, 2009 2:07 PM]

ooof,from a professional violinist I would expect a better intonation...
If that wasn't in the description I would've said: Awesome!

[#3 posted by Joel Johnson, January 11, 2009 2:11 PM]

Those themes always make me so wistful.

[#4 posted by FoetusNail, January 11, 2009 2:45 PM]

Yes, he seems a bit pitchey in places, but this is fantastic! Great arrangement Diwa! Thanks for the post Cory, added to favorites and Five Full Stars!

[#5 posted by Homingpigen, January 11, 2009 2:56 PM]

I can't believe people are being so nitpicky - Pitchy? intonation off? This is creative and wonderful.

I still say awesome!

[#6 posted by Alan, January 11, 2009 3:10 PM]

It took my 14 year old son 2 seconds to recognize the song.

[#7 posted by TheBlessedBlogger, January 11, 2009 3:16 PM]

I think it's really lovely and creative. Good job Diwa :)

[#8 posted by Daemon, January 11, 2009 3:31 PM]

Er... "a capella and violin" is an oxymoron. a capella means that it's pure vocals with no intruments.

Other that that particular nitpick... Well done, even if I don't have the "zelda is awsome!" gene required to appreciate the choice of music.

[#9 posted by Anonymous, January 11, 2009 3:33 PM]

I prefer this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRv8gnBMiWM

[#10 posted by Anonymous, January 11, 2009 3:38 PM]

wow, i have a large vocal range and great with synching in audacity & ableton, and never thought about this... changing clothes was a real nice touch too. i think i just found my gothic choir

[#11 posted by gadfly, January 11, 2009 4:11 PM]

one man's nitpick is another's love for accuracy - his intonation on the violin is not that great, that doesn't mean he's worthless or the video sucks. in fact i think it's pretty cool. certainly not as good as the wind waker video in post #9 but that guy doesn't play any fretless string instruments. and being a guitar player who's recently taken up the fiddle, i can attest to the truly maddening difficulty of good intonation.

[#12 posted by pinehead, January 11, 2009 4:27 PM]

Quick! Everybody start bitching! We need more criticism over here! :O

Like Joel said, stuff like this makes me wistful. That was a cool arrangement, Mr. de Leon.

[#13 posted by Takuan, January 11, 2009 4:29 PM]

don't nitpick, it's sweet and good. I really like #9 too!

[#14 posted by JArmstrong, January 11, 2009 5:07 PM]

This is a really wonderful thing you have here in your directory! Oh, the long nights... and days...

[#15 posted by PaulR, January 11, 2009 5:41 PM]

Daemon @ 8:

I came here to say the same thing, but then I realized that the four voices and violin are the same person. So when the voices were recorded, they each were a capella.

Well done!

[#16 posted by weatherman, January 11, 2009 6:09 PM]

The guy in the upper right is the best singer in the bunch. He should go solo and ditch the other losers.

[#17 posted by krylon, January 11, 2009 6:24 PM]

augh you can't play the music from link to the past (especially from the dark world) without totally making me miss the days when I played the game over and over trying to make sure i'd checked every nook and cranny

[#18 posted by scionofgrace, January 11, 2009 6:30 PM]

The heavy emphasis on "Link to the Past" themes makes me all nostalgic. I loved that game SO MUCH.

Great video.

[#19 posted by Talia, January 11, 2009 7:46 PM]

Reminds me of this, which I love dearly (might have been linked here before, I dont recall)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk5_OSsawz4

[#20 posted by Anonymous, January 11, 2009 9:01 PM]

And then there's this awesome 64 track rendition of "Thriller" that a friend just turned me onto:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFAVxaEc9JQ

[#21 posted by katamari88, January 11, 2009 9:48 PM]

lovely, lovely, lovely!!!

[#22 posted by robcat2075, January 12, 2009 12:26 AM]

screechingly painful violin.

[#23 posted by Evil Jim, January 12, 2009 12:43 AM]

Except for violin it's very nice work. Makes me nostalgic.

[#24 posted by Chipotle, January 12, 2009 8:32 PM]

#2: "ooof,from a professional violinist I would expect a better intonation..."

If you click the link to the youtube page, he says that he is 'a bit of a violinist', not a professional violinist.

You are correct to expect better intonation from a professional violinist. You are also correct to assume he is a professional violinist, because Cory quoted him as saying he is a professional violinist. I don't know the guy updated his blurb after Cory took the snippet, or if Cory just quoted him wrongly (I'll assume the former), but that's the source of everyone's confusion.

Although I do not enjoy his intonation, I am impressed. For 'a bit of a violinist' (whatever that means), he's pretty solid.

[#25 posted by failix, January 13, 2009 11:11 AM]

The post above (#24) sums it up very well for me. That's exactly what I would've said too.