Ambient and Incidental music

[Rain_the_Bard]

So it's been brought to my attention that Wesnoth needs more ambient, background, incidental kind of music.

Just experimenting right now.
Don't know specifically what the aim is here... this track is probably a little bit more ambient, experimental than other Wesnoth tracks. More background-esque while also providing a lift and a complimentary? slower pace to much of the battle music we hear in wesnoth.

This an overture type of track. I could easily parse this out sectionally to provide a bit of variation depending upon need and circumstance.

I've enclosed the track in OGG form.

[Rain_the_Bard]

So I've been breaking down some of the sections and creating new variations for them. This is one of the variations. It's ambient and relaxed. It's mostly orchestral with some small band elements to make it feel a bit more chill and folksy. I included an attachment included in the first post for this 'reprisal'.

It's an extension of theme I posted in previous thread. Any sort of direction would be useful atm.

[Rain_the_Bard]

New upload. 'Wesnoth Template 1' is the new addition. It has a more traditional sense of form. It's less jrpg and probably fits with the vibe of the soundtrack better. It's got elements of hopefulness, danger, mystery, etc. It's a shorter track but can be elaborated upon if the need arises.

[Rain_the_Bard]

If it's not good, i would prefer to know why so I can make alterations. I won't bite.

[Pentarctagon]

To be honest I'm not sure if I have the right vocabulary to describe it well, but it does sound pretty different from other Wesnoth music. I'd say the third point from viewtopic.php?t=20025 in particular still applies:

What kind of music are you looking for?
We are mainly looking for orchestral music, i.e. a simulation of a contemporary large orchestra with strings, brass, winds and percussion. That means no drum kits, no electric guitars or basses or any other typical pop/rock instruments. Synths are OK if they are used for subtle effetcs within an overall orchestral context. Same goes for percussion loops; they will be tolerated if the're used tastefully. Since BfW takes place in a fantasy world resembling medieval times, early/traditional music influences and instruments are encouraged, though definitely not a requirement. Pure classicism or experimental music are less desired, but it depends. All submissions are evaluated on a case-by-case basis anyway. If in doubt, listen to the music that is in the game and aim for something similar. Or just simply post a quick demo of your idea.

I know Dalas has said to just pick a place, character, event, or campaign that you like and use that as a starting point, so maybe play through a scenario or campaign as a starting point and go from there.

[Dalas120]

Thanks so much for putting these pieces together! I've listed my opinions below: I'm not a music expert in any way, so don't feel obliged to listen to me!

To my ear, both "Brainstorm" and "Ambient variation 1" sound quite modern, maybe even futuristic? I think they could work for an unusual campaign or place, but I'm not sure what that might be right now.

"Template 1 reg" is my favorite out of the three - it's in the Wesnoth style while still differentiating itself from our existing pieces. Although something about it felt a little "muddy" to me; I had a hard time distinguishing different sounds and melodies.

[Rain_the_Bard]

That's perfect feedback, do much appreciated. Never hurts to work solely in the classical style. Maybe I've just been playing too many jrpgs lately. Lol

[Rain_the_Bard]

I think I was putting too much convolution reverb on the samples. I dialed that back and added some new sections. I think the piece "speaks" with more clarity now.

Piece is titled, 'Wesnoth Somber'

[Pentarctagon]

The instruments used sound more Wesnoth-like now. It does sound "muddy" at points though - like where it's transitioning between sections and you're getting a bit of both at the same time.

[Rain_the_Bard]

A bit of "both"? Hmm. Are you sure "muddy" and not "audio artifacts'? Like a hum or a distorted sound that feels out of place? "Mud" typically is used to describe lower frequencies, especially basses' that overpower and ghost out other frequencies causing a sort of masking.

[Pentarctagon]

Maybe I'm using the wrong word to describe it - as I said, I barely know the vocabulary to describe things musically - but one example would be from 0:07-0:11. The track starts out with a fairly low (deep?) sound, descends deeper, then at 0:07-0:11 hovers around that same deepness but the sounds making up the music don't sound as distinct from one another, and then at 0:12 it moves on. Not sure if that description helps at all.

[Rain_the_Bard]

I am trying to reclaim my ear for symphonic types of music. I guess these days it happens gradually lol

That's a double bass part. The sample itself is kinda muddy unfortunately. The instrument itself is largely used for creating oppressing types of instrumentation when doubling the melody at the lower registers. I am trying to tinker with it to get the sound I want but it's a process. Even if you can't put a finger on the lingo, it's still helpful as it helps me be more attentive to shortcomings of the samples, so thank you

[Elvish_Hunter]

Finally I found some time to listen these tracks! Sorry for being so late.
My impression (I'm not a musician, so I can't be more precise) is that Ambient, Brainstorm and Template sound somewhat too modern, yet I can see them being used in some specific situations; for example, while listening to Ambient I imagined being in front of a character builder/shop screen.
My favorite of the bunch is certainly Somber: I think that the first 10-12 seconds are a bit too deep compared to the rest of the track, but it sounds like it's going in the right direction, at least for UMCs.

While we're at it, you (or anyone else) don't happen to have a file called "WesnothTragedy5.mp3" around? I know that your old hard disk got damaged and everything got wiped from the Allacrost server, but that one was the track that began my quest to contact you, since at some point it was listed in a wiki page.

I also have a question for Pentarctagon: how do you feel about adding these tracks to the UMC Music packs?

[Pentarctagon]

If these are meant to be the final versions of them, then sure. I don't think it makes sense to upload WIPs though.

[Elvish_Hunter]

If these are meant to be the final versions of them, then sure. I don't think it makes sense to upload WIPs though.

I just contacted Rain/MaestroMayhem on Discord. He told me that he's "super busy now" and that you can go ahead with adding the tracks to the UMC Music packs; he also agreed to release them under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.