The Original Sample Libraries Used in Ocarina of Time

It’s well-documented that Koji Kondo used various sample CDs to make the Ocarina of Time soundtrack. And over the years, many dedicated fans have found most of those original samples.

You can use these sounds to recreate the Ocarina of Time soundfont, or make something entirely new. When possible, I’ll link to modern alternatives that are easier to find and cleared for commercial use.

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Quick Look: The Original Instruments and Sample Libraries in Ocarina of Time

Here’s a look at just some of the instruments and sample libraries Koji Kondo used for Ocarina of Time. Keep scrolling down to learn more about each product. For a more comprehensive list, check out the spreadsheets on the HCS64 forums.

Please note that some of these products are now considered abandonware and may not be cleared for commercial use.

Best Service Ultra Gigapack

The Ultra Gigapack was a set of CD-ROMs made for Roland samplers. It contained plenty of orchestral, percussion, and choir samples.

Some of Zelda’s most iconic sounds come from this library, including:

• Gregorian Choir — The main choir sound in the Temple of Time.
• Female (Nuns) Choir — Used in the Fire Temple, Shadow Temple, and other locations.
• Electric Guitar — The main guitar riff in Lon Lon Ranch.
• Harp — Used throughout the game.
• Solo Violin — Played during the Horse Race in Lon Lon Ranch.
• Various Synths — Used in places like the Forest Temple, Zora’s Domain, and the Water Temple.
• Various Percussion — Including bells, congas, and cowbell in miscellaneous tracks.

The Gigapack series are no longer available. That said, there is an archived version over on the Internet Archive.

Best Service Voice Spectral

Voice Spectral was a sample library with over 1000 pre-recorded dance hooks, gospel choir clips, shouts, screams, and other vocal phrases. It’s been used in several other Nintendo and Sega games throughout the ‘90s and early 2000s.

This sample library is rather infamous. In early prints of the game, the Fire Temple used snippets of Islamic prayers found in this pack. Later builds would replace them with other choir samples, most likely to avoid controversies.

I’ve covered this library more extensively before. Go check out my deeper dive on Voice Spectral.

As of this writing, there’s no official way to get the Voice Spectral sample library. But again, you can find an archived version of it online.

Digidesign Sample Cell II Factory Library

Created by Digidesign, Sample Cell II was a computer hardware and software package released in the early ‘90s. The included CD-ROM contained hundreds of “factory library” sounds, many of which appeared in other 1st-party N64 games like Super Mario 64 and Star Fox 64.

Read More: Exploring the Sounds of Digidesign’s Sample Cell Library

Only a handful of SampleCell’s sounds appeared in Ocarina of Time:

• Trumpet
• Snare hits & rolls
• Strings

There’s no official way to get these sounds today. That said, they’ve been preserved on the Internet Archive.

E-MU Proteus/2 XR and Proteus/3 XR

Proteus was a line of rackmount synths created by E-MU Systems. Two of the more popular models included the Proteus/2XR and the Proteus/3XR.

Some notable sounds were sourced from these two instruments:

• Pizzicato Strings (2XR) — Opening a treasure box, Hyrule Castle Courtyard
• Clarinet (2XR) — House, Hyrule Field
• Tuba (2XR) — Boss Battle
• Steel Drum (3XR) — Zora’s Domain

Modern Alternative: E-MU Proteus Legacy

The original E-MU Systems company no longer exists. But the assets have been scooped up by other companies.

Thanks to Digital Sound Factory, you can pick up the Proteus Legacy Library, which includes Kontakt versions of the Proteus synths.

Korg 01/W 

The Korg 01/W was a range of workstation synthesizers released in the early ‘90s.  They came loaded with hundreds of sounds ranging from synth presets to acoustic and orchestral instruments. 

Koji Kondo had the 01R/W in his studio, which was a rackmount version of the same synthesizer.

Many of these Korg samples were in the N64 development kit. So unsurprisingly, they showed up in Ocarina of Time as well:

• Fox Hunt (nasally sounding trumpet) — Hyrule Field, Kokiri Forest, Mini Games
• 16′ Piano — Title Theme, Boss Battle
• Harmonica — Kakariko Village
• Harp — File Select, Fairy Fountain
• Timpani — Hyrule Field
• Bassoon — Castle Town

Modern Alternative: Korg M1 Software Synthesizer

The Korg 01/W was a follow-up to the popular M1 synthesizer and shared many of the same sounds. Today, you can get the Korg M1 software synth to use in your DAW.

Korg XSC-06 Ethnic Expansion Card

Similar to Roland, Korg released several expansion cards for their synthesizers. The Korg XSC-06 Ethnic card gave the 01/W loads of world instrument sounds.

This expansion provided a few notable samples used in Ocarina of Time:

• Ethnohouse — One of the percussion samples in Goron City.
• Bambremoro — The distinct bamboo instrument that fades in and out during the Forest Temple soundtrack.

Modern Alternative: Korg M1 Software Synthesizer

Mentioned above. In addition to the original M1 sounds, it features sounds from its many expansions.

Rarefaction A Poke In The Ear With a Sharp Stick

Rarefaction describes their Poke samples with words like “mayhem”, “twisted”, and “sonic mind breaker”. Most of them are organic recordings that have been heavily spliced and edited.

Only one Poke sample was used in Ocarina of Time, which was the Cruch Roar sound from Volume II. You can hear it in Jabu Jabu’s belly.

The Rarefaction website is still up and you can still buy all the samples. But the site is super outdated and looks like a relic of the ‘90s — you might have trouble navigating it at first.

Roland JD-990 (or Roland JD-800)

At one point, Koji Kondo also had a Roland JD-990 in his studio. This instrument was essentially a rackmount version of the JD-800, one of Roland’s more popular synths from the ‘90s. Both had the exact same sounds and features.

The 990 provided the Nylon Guitar sample used in tracks like Kakariko Village, Zora’s Domain, and Gerudo Desert.

Modern Alternatives: Roland JD-800 Software Synth and Roland JD-08 Sound Module

Today, you can get a VST version of the JD-800 that runs entirely in your DAW. You can also get the Roland JD-08 Sound Module, a micro-sized hardware recreation of the JD-800. Both products contain all the original presets from the JD-800 and JD-990.

Roland Sound Canvas SC-88

The SC-88 was the “general MIDI sound” and a staple in many classic N64 games. A few patches were used for Ocarina of Time:

• Bandoneon —  An accordion sound used for the Windmill Hut, Shooting Gallery, and Shop music.
• Glockenspiel — Used throughout the soundtrack.
• Piccolo — Prominently used in Hyrule Field and Kokiri Forest.

We’ve covered this module before. Check out our Roland SC-88 overview to learn more about it.

Modern Alternative: Roland Sound Canvas VA

The easiest way to get the SC-88 sounds today is to pick up the Roland Sound Canvas VA. This software instrument includes sounds from the entire Sound Canvas product line.

Sound Ideas Sampler Library

Nowadays, Sound Ideas is mostly known for its massive library of stock sound effects. But back in the day, they also produced libraries made for sampler instruments.

The Sound Ideas Sampler Library had over 3,000 samples that included orchestral instruments, synth sounds, and other sound effects. Here’s what showed up in Zelda:

• Bazooki — Used in Castle Town, the Pharmacy, and Kotake & Koume’s Theme
• Harpsichord — Heard in Kokiri Forest.
• Banjo — Played during the Horse Race in Lon Lon Ranch.

There’s no official way to get the Sound Ideas Sampler Library. But like other products on this list, it’s been preserved on the Internet Archive.

Spectrasonics Distorted Reality & Bass Legends

Koji Kondo used a few Spectrasonics libraries for the game. First, was Distorted Reality, which focused on atmospheric textures and soundscapes. Here are a few of the ones used in Ocarina of Time:

• ENIGMATIC — An ethnic flute sample. This was pitched down for the Great Deku Tree.
• TRIP-HOPPIN — A drum loop used in Jabu Jabu’s Belly
• ANCIENTS — Droning atmospheric sound heard in Dodongo’s Cavern.

The other Spectrasonics library used was Bass Legends. It featured multi-sampled basses, plus some loops and phrases performed by top session players at the time.

The only Bass Legends sample used in OoT was the BERTHA AC.BS sample, which was carried over from Super Mario 64.

Surprisingly, you can still special order CD-ROM versions of these products to use with vintage Akai and Roland samplers.

Modern Alternatives: Omnisphere and Trilian Total Bass Module

Most of Spectrasonics’ legacy products were recycled into modern plugins. The current version of Omnisphere includes Distorted Reality, while Trilian Total Bass Module contains Bass Legends and other old-school bass libraries.

Zero-G Ethnic Series

Zero-G produced several sample libraries that were popular among media composers in the ‘90s. The Ethnic series in particular has shown up in multiple Zelda titles, along with other games, movies, and TV shows.

The first set of sounds come from Ethnic 1 & 2, and Ethnic Flavours:

• Flute+Voice (Ethnic 1 & 2) — African chanting & flute sounds heard in the Forest Temple.
• AlRhythm 26 (Ethnic 1& 2) — Percussion loops used in the Fire Temple.
• Djembe Groove 4 (Ethnic Flavours) — Percussion loop used in the Shadow Temple.

Ethnic Flavours is still readily available for purchase. And while the original two volumes aren’t available for standalone purchase, many of their samples have been recycled into the Zero-G World Pack.

Unknown: The Ocarina

It’s funny that of all the sounds in Ocarina of Time, no one’s identified exactly where the ocarina itself comes from.

However, there are some possible candidates:

• Yamaha VL1 — This was a workstation synth Koji Kondo had in his setup, as seen in the photo from 1up.
• E-MU Proteus/3 — Mentioned above, a few other sounds came from the E-MU Proteus/2XR and 3XR. So it’s entirely possible the ocarina also came from here.
• Roland SR-JV80-05 World — Roland expansion boards were used in other Nintendo games at the time.

Modern Alternatives

The Yamaha VL1 unfortunately doesn’t have any modern alternatives. But thankfully, you can find software versions of the E-MU and Roland products with recycled sounds.

Find Samples From Other Nintendo 64 Classics

As a fan of video game music, I’ve been digging around to find sounds from my favorite games. Here are a few others you can explore:

• Banjo-Kazooie
• GoldenEye 007
• Super Mario 64

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Source: This article wouldn’t be possible without the previous work of members from the HCS64 Forums.