EB Music Preview
Greetings Europa Barbarorum fans.
As briefly seen and mentioned in our previous preview, EB v0.8 will feature new music for our different culture groups. We have replaced *all* the music from the vanilla version of the mod at this point with new music from our composers. For a long time, we have tried to work with composers to create a soundtrack that we thought better reflected what we were doing with the mod as a whole. Many of us still really enjoy the music written for RTW itself and Jeff van Dyck did a wonderful job with that aspect of the game we believe. But we have added so much new material to the mod and we have given entire culture groups so much new material that it seems a shame to force them to share one of three basic themes: "roman" "barbarian" and "eastern"). Now we have (to generally label them) Roman, Greek, Barbarian, Nomadic, Carthaginian, Eastern, and Eastern Greek cultures. Each culture group has their own graphical user interface (GUI) and their own set of traits and units and buildings (though there is much overlap also in some of those areas). Giving each culture group its own musical style was also something we have long hoped for, but it was something until quite recently that we thought we would probably never achieve. But a few months ago we began a conversation with Morgan Casey that would ultimately lead to a collaberation with her and Nick Wylie whose results we are absolutely ecstatic about.
Morgan and Nick worked with our historical advisors each step of the way - trying to come up with a soundtrack for each culture group (as well as a few general pieces that would have to serve for all culture groups) that would reflect different aspects of that culture while still remaining enjoyable for modern ears and audiences. If anyone has heard reconstructions of ancient Greek music, they probably understand that a 100% authentic reproduction (even *if* it was able to be achieved, and it probably wouldn't) would simply not work in the context that we needed: that of an accompanying set of themes for a computer game in today's world. As Morgan and Nick primarily work with soundtracks (take a look at their lists of influences on their myspace.com pages and you will notice many modern movie score composers), they used our advisors' suggestions of everything from instruments, to rhythms, to vocal accompaniement to create compositions that work well within the parameters of the game, but still reflect as much as we can different aspects of that culture in the music. As an example, one member recently described the Carthaginian theme's similarities to the different source music and information provided about the culture group in this way (btw, Carthaginian music itself is so difficult to reproduce that music of other similar peoples in the Levant was also heavily considered): "you will recognize a bunch of elements: the simple harmony, the rhythm, the ney-like flute, the qanun-like stringed instrument and even the un-measured section at the end. The thing, I believe, is that the composer (as he has consistently done before, btw) has produced a very successful fusion with more "western" elements, so that the music does not strike an "average listener" as "wierd". But the touches of color and, more importantly, the ethos are there, IMO. Listen to the theme once more, now picture sunset and a long line of dromedaries slowly winding their way down the sand dunes towards a distant oasis (with EB palms of course)."
This area of the mod finally having come to fruition is something that we are all so very very pleased with that we want to share a little more of it with the fans and free up some songs that Morgan and Nick can place on their websites (before the release of 0.8 - which will include all of the new music). Needless to say, we are really happy for the music composed for us by Morgan Casey & Nick Wylie and we are very happy to suggest that folks out there take a closer look at their other work on their websites and their myspace.com pages too.
The speed at which they have written new music for us has been amazing also, especially considering our prior situation and how hopeless we thought the situation was. The entire EB team will always be grateful for the excellent music they have produced. It fits so well with what we have been wanting to do with EB on the whole and with what we can expect our players and fans to enjoy in the mod. We wanted to express our thanks openly and give everyone a chance to hear this for yourself! On behalf of EB, thanks again to our composers for adding this crucial element to the mod that we have been hoping for for such a long time.
Here are some buttons to link to (individually for the songs):
Roman Music Set:
Eastern Greek Music Set:
And to freshen your memories:
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Thanks to Teleklos Archelaou for making the graphics for this preview.
We hope you have enjoyed this music preview.
As always, if you have questions or comments, the best place to post them is here, where the EB team is most active:
Europa Barbarorum ORG forum
Europa Barbarorum TWC forum
We give special thanks to Imageshack that provides us with a simple, foolproof, and free way to show you all these pictures each week.
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
The Europa Barbarorum team.
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Originally Posted by Musopticon?
