Music is a quintessential part of the Zelda series. And some of Zelda’s most iconic melodies go all the way back to the original game, on the Nintendo Entertainment System. These tunes were born in an age of 8 bits, and 5 lo-fi channels of audio. But those limitations forced composer Koji Kondo to make them as distilled and powerful as possible. Featuring Thomas of Thomas Game Docs, and Kirk Hamilton of Strong Songs.Follow Dallas on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn.Watch our video shorts on YouTube, and join the discussion on Reddit and Facebook.Sign up for Twenty Thousand Hertz+ to get our entire catalog ad-free.If you know what this week's mystery sound is, tell us at mystery.20k.orgSubscribe to Thomas Game Docs, on Youtube.Subscribe to Strong Songs wherever you get your podcasts.Check out more work by DragonDePlatino, who composed the 8-bit version of Boléro.Go to indeed.com/hertz to start hiring today.Visit babbel.com/20k to get 55% off your subscription.Find the right doctor, right now with at zocdoc.com/20k.Visit shopify.com/20k and sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period.Support us by supporting our sponsors at 20k.org/sponsors.Episode transcript, music, and credits can be found here: https://www.20k.org/episodes/zeldabeep Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Renowned video game composer Koji Kondo is the guest. They discuss Kondo's nostalgic gaming music, the influence of ragtime on his compositions, his use of fourth harmonies, and the sound design of early Nintendo games.