Picture yourself in the midst of a dense forest at dawn. The chill from the night lingers and pierces through every fabric like a blade destined for the heart. The thick morning fog suppresses the power of sight and pushes against the soul like an impenetrable barrier. Auditory perception is heightened. With each step, twigs bend and snap beneath the feet producing sounds akin to thunderous pandemonium. Cool beads of sweat drip from the forehead as the mind begins to blur the lines between fiction and reality. Your breath quickens. Heart races. Surely trouble lurks around every corner.
These are the feelings that raced through my mind the first time I entered the large open areas of Twilight Princess’ Faron Woods. The poisonous fog and the enemies that hid within its barriers created a sense of dread and caution, and each step produced dangers more prevalent than the last.
As I slowly made my way towards the gate leading to the Forest Temple, something felt dissonant. The physical environment evoked the desired emotions of dread and fear, and the overworld music was lingering and eerie. While the melody was perfectly crafted for this setting, the instruments selected for the Faron Woods theme did not perfectly match the trepidation I felt inside.
The stringed instrument selected for the underlying base feels suppressed and fails to fully capture the anxiety of stepping out into the cold unknown. The combination of string and horn instruments that produce the main verse have nearly the same pitch as the base, which causes the entire melody to feel restrained and prosaic.
A lesser-known musician by the name of Joe Dulay perfectly captures the foreboding mystery of Faron Woods by using only a keyboard and homemade flute. While the musical composition remains true to the original, Dulay’s choice of instruments created tones that encapsulated all of my feelings from this section of Twilight Princess.
Notice how the underlying base from the keyboard generates a feeling of impending doom that is stronger than the original stringed instrument. In sharp contrast, the homemade flute produces a musical hue that is distinct from the base and gives off a cold, Native-American impression that urges humanity to blend with nature. While simple, Dulay’s instrument selection and presentation elicit strong feelings of cognitive dissonance that perfectly capture my underlying emotions: the fear of stepping into the fog of the unknown combined with the resolve of saving a friend.
While the Twilight Princess soundtrack remains my favorite in the series, Joe Dulay’s cover of the Faron Woods theme is a unique interpretation of an overlooked track. If you enjoy Zelda music that focuses on keyboard and wind instruments, be sure to check out everything else Dulay has to offer.
