Over the Northern Mountains (Cold :P)

[West]

At the risk of appearing to be brainless myself, I thought of Pirates of the Carribean when I heard it.

Tsk, tsk.

While I have seen those movies, I can't say they were an inspiration. Quite frankly I don't remember what the music in them was like, and I certainly don't recall any celtic-ish tunes. I liked the first one, which was a fun oldschool matinee flick, but then The Matrix Syndrome happened. Also known as the WCNHGTMWBAHSLMTDSAPIWMTBATAA* Disease.

* We Could Never Have Guessed This Movie Would Become A Hit So Let's Make Two Dumb Sequels And Pretend It Was Meant To Be A Trilogy All Along

[West]

Something about space fighters called Vipers and evil robots that want to destroy humanity.

OMG. Associations are really running amuck here.

[turin]

While I have seen those movies, I can't say they were an inspiration. Quite frankly I don't remember what the music in them was like, and I certainly don't recall any celtic-ish tunes.

I only know what the music from the movie sounds like because when I was in 9th grade orchestra one of our pieces was a medley from Pirates of the Caribbean. I could still probably pick up a cello and play "du-du-dum-dum du-du-dum-dum du-du-dum-dum du-du-du-du" if I wanted to (though I don't).

Anyway, that experience unfortunately makes me unable to listen to your song without hearing a few sequences of notes that are somewhat similar.

I liked the first one, which was a fun oldschool matinee flick, but then The Matrix Syndrome happened. Also known as the WCNHGTMWBAHSLMTDSAPIWMTBATAA* Disease.

* We Could Never Have Guessed This Movie Would Become A Hit So Let's Make Two Dumb Sequels And Pretend It Was Meant To Be A Trilogy All Along

Yeah, pretty much.

[yobbo]

nice piece .

It sure does feel cold to me.

But what it doesn't feel is "open". It feels entirely enclosed, like it's being listened to inside a (fairly large) room, with relatively soft walls. Musically it seems to fit well with a journey over snow-bound mountains, but the lack of an "open" feel makes it hard to imagine while listening to it.

I'm not really sure what gives it that feel. I assume it's the reverb settings you're using but I don't have much idea how to make something sound "open" or "unenclosed".

There's also no feeling of air or wind, which I would expect in a mountain setting. Again I have little idea why.

Sorry for my somewhat inadequate criticism .

(btw... no pirates here! But then I only ever saw the first PotC movie).

[Jodwin]

But, it sounds good to me anyway. I'd expect something slower and more majestic feeling from a stroll along mountains. Something like what you hear in this after 1:04.

I'm sorry, I don't see any song on that page... or am I being dumb/blind/both?

Click on the download "tab" under the song title.

[Espreon]

*sniff* *sniff* Its so beautiful that it left me in tears! I would use this in my campaign to play while the scenario's objective is to scaling a frigid ,dangerous mountain which is in my campaign which a palace resides on said mountain...

[jeremy2]

Also known as the WCNHGTMWBAHSLMTDSAPIWMTBATAA* Disease.

* We Could Never Have Guessed This Movie Would Become A Hit So Let's Make Two Dumb Sequels And Pretend It Was Meant To Be A Trilogy All Along

That is awesome!

[marcusvinicius]

Good sound west, but remember me also a Pirates sound because of the articulations from the instruments sound.

[Red_Wraith]

Your theme would perfectly fit for a sea campaign, IMO. It sounds nice.

[Gauteamus]

Also known as the WCNHGTMWBAHSLMTDSAPIWMTBATAA* Disease.

* We Could Never Have Guessed This Movie Would Become A Hit So Let's Make Two Dumb Sequels And Pretend It Was Meant To Be A Trilogy All Along

Somehow Peter Weir managed to resist this temptation, even with 20 (!) Aubrey-Maturin novels backing him.

Re: Pirates vs. Cold Mountain
I totally agree with you West, to me this piece associates a nice mixture of Massacre of Glen Coe and the Beacons of the White Mountain sequence in LotR (somehow the book gives me the shivers in a better way than the film).

[hagger]

I'm definitely liking the bagpipes here... reminds me of bonnie scotland! Very much a climax piece, although one part kinda jars a bit... not being a musician, I can't describe it very well. At around halfway, there are a few lulls of one bar, with a string note on each quater, I think? Perhaps it just doesn't sound polished yet... still, its only a minor personal thing, and I do really like the song overall.
I believe the bagpipe part in the second quater is quite similar to a track in one of the PoC movies, hence the comparisons... still, just because the movie was a let down doesn't mean the music wasn't good. It's very much a "lets all go on an adventure!" track, and I mean that in a positive way.

Having listened to it a couple more times, I'm growing to like the lulls, but now am not so sure about the end... bringing back the motif (i think thats the term) is great, but I think it needs a bit more emphasis, perhaps with some more volume or instruments. In any case, the piece really takes you on an adventure, which is great for a fantasy game! Nice work!

[TheBladeRoden]

This music was taking me to a lot of places, so I listed them in order

LOTR Mountainy intro shot
Scottish highlanders to arms
Elven forest jig
somethings
the flagship approacheth!
more royal ships approacheth
homey scene with the crew inside the cabins, like of those "last get together before we all die" kind of scenes
a messenger cometh but then gets shot dead abruptly

[West]

... pirates... and stuff

OK, just to put this back on track, I appreciate that more people has dropped by to comment. After all, I asked for it, and it's great to see that people actually are interested in the music. But -- but! This is not about "I think it sounds like this or that". If I may be so bold as to quote myself:

But after all, it doesn't matter what I had in mind while composing. All that's important is how people use the music. I just need some mental image to work from, or I'll just get lost. So it's not critical that everyone sees the same thing as me when listening.

So with that in mind, can we please stop talking about pirates and whatnot, and focus on if this piece might be useable in Battle for Wesnoth?

...

Having listened to it a couple more times, I'm growing to like the lulls, but now am not so sure about the end... bringing back the motif (i think thats the term) is great, but I think it needs a bit more emphasis, perhaps with some more volume or instruments. In any case, the piece really takes you on an adventure, which is great for a fantasy game! Nice work!

Hrm. It's not finished. What you're hearing as lack of emphasis is probably just... stuff missing. I have stopped saying "THIS IS NOT FINISHED SO DON'T BOTHER COMMENTING ON OBVIOUS THINGS" when posting new pieces, as I thought people would get that anyway, by now.

So. At the risk of sounding rude or hostile... yes, please, do keep commenting on the music, even if you're not a musician. But spare me (us) the off-hand comments. If you're gonna comment, familiarize yourself with how commenting is done around this part of the forum first. Random blurbs about this or that is just... noise. One or two "hey, that sounds like... !" can be fun, but it's not constructive in the long run.

That said, I'm very glad that the majority seems to like this piece and I thank you for your kind words. I haen't been in a music mood for a couple of weeks now, but this piece has top priority once I get back into gear.

[Thrawn]

I like it so far. It has a sense of urgency (or at least I feel one), but at the same time sort of exhilarating, rather than any other type of urgency (serious, depressing)...

Just my $0.02

[Rain]

West. Your sound has really been getting more powerful. Production sounds good, cool instrumentation going on as well

. I like this recent mix but I would also like to point out that your current reverb might not be doing the music any favors. It seems like the reverb is closing the music off instead of opening it up, to paraphrase someone else. UP UP UP AND AWAY!!!!!

I've recently acquired a pretty kickarse verb plug in. Easy to use and great warmth sound. But we can discuss this later.

I'll be sure to critique the piece as it continues to grow.