Despite the fact that I’ve left the contest open for five years, not a single person ventured a guess as to what inspired “Garst’s Song.” I’ve even put a couple of hints on the site to help you identify what inspired the song.

One of the hints was the deliberate inclusion of what synthesized instrument was used in one of the downloads, while purposely omitting which instrument I used for the version I played myself. I used an extended range Ocarina of Time Replica ocarina that I purchased from Songbird many years ago when i was still in college earning my bachelor’s degree. While technically you can no longer get the particular ocarina I bought, it appears that the sweet potato ocarina was upgraded to include the bottom two finger holes to get it the same range as the one I bought.

The other hint I gave was the banner at the top of the site. It is the first eight notes of “Garst’s Song.” I only used the first eight notes of “Garst’s Song” to give a much less subtle hint to its origins: “Scarecrow’s Song” from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. For those who have never play Ocarina of Time, “Scarecrow’s Song” was an eight note song you would create that would summon a scarecrow to certain places throughout Hyrule to reach additional chests that would contain items that weren’t imperative to complete the game. What I did was extend the scarecrow’s song I created to make it sound like an actual song.

I am a little disappointed that no one tried to guess the solution to the contest. It would have been fun seeing all the different things people thought inspired “Garst’s Song.” For those of you who would like to record your own copy of “Garst’s Song,” I’ve included the sheet music for you.

Full Contest Solution: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time “Scarecrow’s Song”
Acceptable Contest Solution: The Legend of Zelda

There are less than 24 hours before I close this contest. Submit your guesses now if you want a chance to win.

I want to remind everyone that I am concluding this contest will be concluded at the stroke of Midnight on September 21, 2016, the six year anniversary of me running this site. If you want to try and win the contest all guess entries must be submitted by the end of the day on September 20, 2016. Any entries submitted on or after September 21, 2016 will not be valid to win the contest. As soon as Midnight (CDT) hits on September 21, 2016, the contest will be over.

I want to remind everyone that the contest is wrapping up in a month. If you want to try and win, you have until September 20th to submit guesses.

I want to remind everyone that there is less than six months before I close this contest and reveal the answer. Given that there is so little time, I do want to point out that I have made a hint a lot more obvious than when I initially gave it. Good luck.

Can you believe I started this blog five years ago? Neither can I. I thought I would struggle to keep unique picks posted long ago, but I was obviously wrong. After 1,827 posts, I think it’s safe to say that finding recent, classic, popular, and/or obscure music to keep this site fresh is quite simple. I know there’s more music in the world than any one person can ever listen to in a lifetime, but combing through it mostly myself is daunting. I have had some suggests, but I don’t think too many people have noticed the method on the side to make suggestions. Anyways, this site has gone five years and let’s see if I can keep it going another five years!

On another note, after four years of running this contest, no one has actually even ventured a guess to win. So, I’m only going to let it run one more year. At which point, I will reveal the source of inspiration that got me to write that song. Once I do that, the contest will be over.

I just want to remind everyone of the contest. No one has correctly guessed the answer and that it is still open to enter. If you want to try to win, click here.