ALAGAËSIA
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The Music of Alagaesia

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Post by Zetabyte 27.02.12 18:45

Hi everyone,

As of this posting MWorrall and I are the only music composers working on this project that I know of. We've been discussing the direction we'd like to take the music for the mod, however we both admit some ignorance about the Inheritance Cycle (I'm only finishing the first book now). Because of this I wanted to open the floor for any input on what Alagaesia should sound like.

Searching the Almanac, I have been unable to find any descriptions of native instruments it's inhabitants play. There are songs, but none with any kind of notation to derive a sound from. If anything comes to mind that could better inform me, MWorrall, or any other composer who works on this project, post it here.

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Post by blazingsentinal 27.02.12 18:56

i remember that the elves use harps and probably flutes and stuff like that
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Post by AspenShadow 27.02.12 19:00

I'd say that Alagaesia is a very vocal-oriented atmosphere, the Elves festivals were the entire forest is singing just emphasizes it, lots of chant, song, shout, lyrical whispers, etc.
It'll definitely need some war drums, hunting horns, some (but not too much) lute, flute and perhaps even Harp in certain areas.
As far as I'm aware they have a few native instruments, but not many are described in detail and I don't think there are ANY whose produced sounds are described.
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Post by Zetabyte 27.02.12 19:27

Good point AspenShadow, the does seem to be a LOT of emphasis on the power of words in Alagaesia (every object in the world has a TRUE name, etc.) I could try to give the impication, then, that the world itself has a voice.

The difficulty will be getting good vocal sounds. Voices and horns are among the hardest things to replicate convincingly on a computer, but I'll try.

Harps, lutes, flutes, and drum can sound much better.

If Alagaesia were a real country, which one would it be? I read in the almanac the Beor Mountain's are based on the mountains of New Zealand, but a lot of the locations in the book seem to have Germanic or Dutch sounding names. I could try deriving from those regions if we come up with one.

p.s. I was also excited to learn that Christopher Paolini is a Dune fan, naming the first dragon ridden "Bid'Daum" after "Muad'dib", the main character. I love Dune!
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Post by Failbhe dhe Alba 28.02.12 23:34

I imagined it this way. There were several different groups of people so I think it should go like this.

Urgals- Should be based on the drum and very large horns, like the didgeridoo, or the giant horns of germany.

Elves- Singing, lute, harps, you get the idea.

Dwarves- I felt it should be, besides very drum based, almost marching band drums. I felt it should be very military, and heavily based on the drums.

Northern humans- based on scottish and gaelic music. Pipes, drone notes, other such things.

Middle humans- Baroque period classical

Southern (SURDA)- I felt this should be a mix of almost middle eastern and indian styles, along with flamenco guitar. I also felt this should go for the hadarac.

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Post by Zetabyte 29.02.12 0:47

I appreciate you're input, Faibhe dhe Alba!

I think it almost goes without saying that each region should have it's own style.

Another thing I'm thinking of is having a proper "heroes theme" for our main character that grows as the character grows. I'm not completely sure how this would be implemented, but I love the idea of music that grows over time.

Lets say when you enter the elven forest for the first time, it all elven instruments and sometimes discorded (you haven't influences the area yet). As you help and gain the elves trust, your theme or instrument starts to become implemented in the music, which also becomes for harmonious, indicating you bringing peace to the area.
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Post by Failbhe dhe Alba 01.03.12 4:26

Hmmm, sort of a karma system, but for music Very Happy

Only problem is the lack of musicians in those styles. Unless you can find already recorded stuff, you're looking at 1000's of dollars in the studio for even one theme. I'd do it for free, but I'm jazz, wrong style. I think we could find a lot of stuff already recorded though. If you know any competent musicians, chat em up and befriend them.

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Post by Zetabyte 01.03.12 5:02

Haha, don't worry Falbhe. I can make due with Apple Logic for now; maybe if we actually get a budget someday we can get some real recording together, but that'll never happen. The most I could see doing in cases where I absolutely need a sound that can't be replicated digitally is approaching music communities like Indaba to record stuff, but even some of them charge a fee.

I'm pretty flexible with styles. I studied Jazz and Classical in college...and I went more the classical route. But I'm glad to meet anyone else who makes music.

Btw, have you thought about becoming a member of our mod?
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Post by Istalri 01.03.12 20:36

To maybe help out a bit here, I bring you some soundtracks from King Arthur and Camelot. I think that bits of these soundtracks fit into how I experience Alagaësia, and if you listen to them you might get some inspiration!

Camelot soundtrack by Mychael and Jeff Danna:
Camelot Main Titles
Gawain and Arthur duel
Be My Light
The Beach
Court At Pendragon (Mostly the drums)

King Arthur by Hans Zimmer:
The whole album!
+ Song of the exile (Can be found on youtube)

Though King Arthur may be a bit gloomy, I still think that some pieces fit into Alagaësia as well. Very Happy
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Post by Zetabyte 01.03.12 21:34

Thanks Istalri, I'll add it to my Spotify queue!

Fortunately, you need a broad range of emotions in any game anyway. So many styles are welcome.
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Post by Failbhe dhe Alba 02.03.12 16:18

How do you become a member? I have no idea how to script or map, but plots and music I can work with. BTW good to meet another musician.

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Post by blazingsentinal 02.03.12 17:34

apply for membership here follow that link it'll send you to the "join the team" page.
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Post by Failbhe dhe Alba 03.03.12 16:23

Thanks. I did. Now, a good way to determine the necessary music would be to determine the instruments, real and fictional in Alagaesia. Any lore masters out there who can read through the books?

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