ZREO: Second Quest presents Hyrule Highlands II – Music from Tim de Man, a Folk and Celtic Zelda album. A sequel to his Hyrule Highlands I (2020) album, Tim de Man is back with the same Celtic and Folk flare with studio-level care. ZREO: Second Quest worked with Tim to create each track from the ground up.
Hyrule Highlands II – Music from Tim de Man will be available on Bandcamp starting May 24th, 2022, and on all streaming platforms on June 7th, 2022.
Hyrule Highlands II – Music from Tim de Man features music from across the Legend of Zelda® franchise. Titles include Ocarina of Time®, Majora’s Mask®, The Wind Waker®, A Link Between Worlds®, Twilight Princess®, Skyward Sword®, and Breath of the Wild®.
A pianist and music teacher by education, Tim de Man is a Dutch game music composer and multi-instrumentalist. He plays piano, drums, accordion, guitars, mandolin, and tin whistle, and has a vocal range of more than three octaves. Tim finally embraced his passion for old-school melodic game music in 2016. After seeing the first Breath of the Wild trailer, Tim took the plunge into making YouTube videos. Since 2020, he’s focused only on game music, both on his channel and in his composing practice.
“I’m fascinated by how much soul is in this video game series since I saw Ocarina of Time back in 1998. The best way for me to partake in Zelda has been through its soundtracks. Game music has been the center of my musical connection from early on. Freeing the games’ music from their technical constraints with live performance is a joy.”
Instrumentalist Tim de Man
The album’s featured single, Ballad of the Goddess (from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword) is a central piece to both the original game and this album. “I wanted to emphasize the emotive character of the piece, in both its most significant and most intimate moments. The piece begins with a large-scale introduction supported by orchestrations by Second Quest’s Ari Fisher and Sam Ferrara. A half-time breakdown in the middle brings the track down to earth before taking off once again for a soaring climax.” Says de Man.
Speaking on working with ZREO: Second Quest, he continues, “Sam has completely remade my mixes with skill and respect. Sam’s mixes sound full, polished, and natural. They give the music the final push it needed by adding definition and depth. His additions to the arrangements have been subtle and tasteful. The ZREO team’s efforts have been instrumental in getting the album finished, polished, and making sure it finds its audience.”
“We approached Tim completely out of the blue. He joined our Discord, and we became friends. Shortly after our meeting, Tim came to us for a collaboration idea. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with Tim. His music is great, his talent is immense, and these arrangements are loads of fun.”
ZREO Studios CEO and mix engineer Sam Ferrara
Founded in 2004, Zelda Reorchestrated created virtual performances of music from The Legend of Zelda as it would have sounded with the warm halls and intimate expression of live players. ZREO: Second Quest continues that legacy featuring many live musicians for upcoming releases.
Samuel Ferrara, Co-Founder, CEO, is a musician, virtual instrument programmer, editor, mix engineer, and producer. Ferrara has spent most of his professional career between mediums – music, sound, photography, and videography. In 2004, he created the ambitious project Zelda Reorchestrated, intending to recreate the soundtracks to the entire Legend of Zelda™ series. Since then, he has perfected his craft in virtual orchestral mockups and orchestrations.
Ari Fisher, Co-Founder, Chief Music Director has won many film scoring competitions and collaborated on a variety of projects ranging from feature-length films to video game soundtracks. He completed the Certificate Program at the Nadia Boulanger Institute in Paris, France, and received his Master’s degree in music composition from the Jacobs School of Music. In 2015, Fisher received the Jon Vickers Film Scoring Award for his score to the 1916 silent film, The Return of “Draw” Egan by William S. Hart and performed at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in 2019.
ZREO Studios was founded in September 2020, and incorporated in July 2021 as a collaborative musical group that creates thoughtful interpretations of popular video game music while committing to musicianship and production value. ZREO: Second Quest is the first major musical project of the studio.
Album Artwork: Giz
© 2022 ZREO Studios, LLC d/b/a ZREO: Second Quest
The Legend of Zelda and related Zelda properties are © Nintendo. ZREO Studios, LLC, Tim de Man, and the ZREO: Second Quest team are in no way affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected to Nintendo concerning this release. Musical compositions are © 1998 Nintendo and are used with permission. Mechanical licensing facilitated by ESL, ASL, and HFA.
This press release was provided to The France Hopper Entertainment Group by ZREO Studios, LLC and was printed as received. It has not been reviewed for accuracy and does not represent the opinions of The France Hopper Network nor other members of The France Hopper Entertainment Group.
