With just days to go before the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo has published a brand-new instalment of their “Ask the Developer” interview series. This time around the interview was all about Tears of the Kingdom and had the likes of Eiji Aonuma answering the many questions that were out before him and other members of the development team.
During the interview, Wakai, Dohta, Takizawa and Aonuma, all weigh in on trying to find the right sound for the sky islands in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom:
Zelda Devs on Composing Music for Tears of the Kingdom’s Islands in the Sky:
Hajime Wakai: “Connecting the ground and the skies seamlessly also presented difficulties from a sound perspective.”
Takuhiro Dohta: “Yes, the sound staff often pressed the programmers to clarify where the dividing line between the surface and the skies was.”
Hajime Wakai: “Sound transitions are done seamlessly as well, but the background music in particular needs to change according to the situation. Because of this, we need to place transition triggers to indicate where the music should switch.”
Takuhiro Dohta: “I’d never needed to consider where the sky begins before, so I had to think about it.”
Hajime Wakai: “Also, it was difficult to find a fitting sound for the sky.”
Satoru Takizawa: “I guess it’s because the sky is a scene we’ve all only ever witnessed from inside an airplane, right?”
Hajime Wakai: “Exactly. I knew what ‘flying in the sky’ sounded like, but the request was for an ‘island in the sky’.”
Eiji Aonuma: After all, no one has ever been to an island in the sky.
For the full interview, why not click here to check out Ask the Developer Vol. 9, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Chapter 1.
Ask the Developer | The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Participating Developers)
- Eiji Aonuma | Senior Officer, Entertainment Planning & Development Division (Producer)
- Hidemaro Fujibayashi | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Production Group No.3 (Director)
- Takuhiro Dohta | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Programming Management Group (Technical Director)
- Satoru Takizawa | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Design Management Group (Art Director)
- Hajime Wakai | Entertainment Planning & Development Department, Sound Management Group (Sound Director)
