Ambient Sound

[IsletSound]

9/10 tracks done and working on final mixing for those.

[IsletSound]

Final mixing up for approval on 9/10 tracks. https://soundcloud.com/isletsound/sets/luftahraan-soundtrack

[Arkaash]

These are sounding really good, Anders - there's a lot of variety in here for different parts of the mod, and all of the tracks build a nice mood, as well as, where appropriate, having a memorable melody.

Good job :)

[Arkaash]

I'm also not sure why git said this was last updated today when by the looks of things it really wasn't

[IsletSound]

Great to hear it Arkaash :) Here's another track that could go as the tenth piece of music, if you like it: https://soundcloud.com/isletsound/anders-hedenholm-mountain-paths

[IsletSound]

What format do you need the music in to implement it?

[Arkaash]

I'm not actually certain what the best format is - I think it's .wav, but you might want to wait for Wheeze to reply before you go for that!

[IsletSound]

Alright, let me know when you need it. I'm also available if you need more music for some specific event or area.

[Arkaash]

If you're up for it, Anders, we could use some music for the dungeon Kumano that we plan to release as a Luftahraan teaser in the near future, much like Heimfeigr. Kumano is a sunken Akaviri Temple and might prove to be quite an interesting thing to write music for, with its mixture of Japanese, Byzantine Orthodox and soggy cave styles. If you fancy it, I'm happy to give you some more information on what we want :)

[IsletSound]

I definitely fancy it, I'll gladly do it :) And sure, I'll take all the info I can get.

[Arkaash]

Ok, great :)

The main things we're looking for are standard dungeon exploration pieces in a similar vein to those found in Skyrim, but with a bit of a Greek Orthodox and Oriental influence to them (although not too much - it should be subtle, rather than in your face). The pieces should be a little creepy but also fairly sorrowful - the Temple has seen an awful lot of death, and is haunted by the spirits of human sacrifices that have been made there for thousands of years.

In addition to those pieces, I'd also like a more upbeat, aggressive piece for the boss fight against a large Ice Atronach that is guarding the Inner Sanctum. This should maintain the same influences, but be a lot more thematic rather than ambient.

Finally, I'd like something more quiet and contemplative that will play in the Temple's library whilst the player is solving some riddles. If it helps inspire at all, you can read the script for an NPC that accompanies the player through the dungeon here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/192MfO-x3jvrH4RN78M2C8Ec8Vdb1UzCPMYCo-Pj1SJU/edit#heading=h.kl5vtlh3efri - it should tell you a little about what's going on and explain the history of the place a little.

For some musical inspiration, if you want, John Tavener's Ikon of Eros is a good example of Greek Orthodox music with a modern and Oriental twist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tEMAeD8t-k It is quite out there, though, so you'd want to tone it down a bit.

For the Oriental side of things, Jia Peng Fang's Erhu music could be a good place to start - it does quite a good job of capturing the innate sorrow of the place without ever being too depressing. Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oge5T_JiZq4&list=PLYxl14wCpbV6xIZWnSCEI8RJr4agqeYOQ

Feel free to write as many or as few pieces for this as you feel happy doing, although it is worth noting that we'd like to release this dungeon as a teaser in the relatively near future, so I'd advise working on getting a few pieces fully done rather than lots half done if at all possible.

I look forward to hearing what you come up with :)

[IsletSound]

Thanks Arkaash, sounds excellent, and nice reference music. What part of the Greek Orthodox music is it that you had in mind? The male choir? The lone violin? Gongs? About the boss fight, how long will it take the player to beat it on average? How long should the music be? Is there room for an intro or is the player assaulted by surprise?

[Arkaash]

On the Orthodox front, I'm happy to leave that up to you. I don't want the music to be too much of a departure from Skyrim's, though - it should have noticeable influences, but still fit within Jeremy Soule's style. To that end, I'd keep any choral parts to a minimum rather than having any solo choirs or anything like that. A little bit woven in here and there would be fine though.

The boss fight could take anything from around 30 seconds to 5 minutes to beat, really, depending on what mods the player has, what level they are and how they tackle it, so it's impossible to write specifically for it. I'd probably aim for 3 or 4 minutes, though, to have enough for most players. The player isn't really taken by surprise, but combat will begin fairly quickly after they enter the room in question, so there isn't much room for an introduction - perhaps 10 seconds or so. You could also use this as an opportunity to bring the choir more to the forefront, if you want - the Skyrim theme is more choral than anything else.

[IsletSound]

Sounds great, is the temple playable in the february release? Where can I find it? Sorry for being a bit out of touch with the project.

[Arkaash]

It is indeed playable - use 'coc LuftKumano' to teleport to the entrance. Don't forget you'll need to quicksave and quickload to talk to the NPC.

[MorganRobinson]

on the greek track i really like the 4:20 part :)

[IsletSound]

Nice Arkaash, impressive temple! The scene when you first see the temple entrance, looking down on it from the tunnel exit, is really nice. Is it possible and a good idea to put a music trigger at that moment? It'd be nice to make a short subtle intro to a track for that moment. An intro subtle enough to not be off putting if triggered in some other location.

The boss music, is it meant for the room with all the atronachs? And then the puzzle music triggers after the fight, as the players go upstairs to the '17285' puzzle?

Game crashes for me after the skull puzzle, when trying to enter the door at the top of the spiral staircase, otherwise everything seems smooth to me.

[Arkaash]

Yup, the trigger on the reveal of the temple entrance would be a good idea, and definitely possible.

The boss music is meant for the room with the big frost atronach just before the 17285 puzzle, yeah, and the puzzle music is meant for whilst the player is solving it (in the same room, but after the boss dies).

Obviously the game is not supposed to crash there - I'll look into it. Thanks for the beta test! :)

[IsletSound]

Sounds great!

Morgan I agree, I really like that part too.

[MorganRobinson]

Yeah i love the build up of violins, they always make me cry which is probably appropriate for this dungeon :)

[IsletSound]

Here's a WIP exploration piece, for the temple entrance. Probably won't make anyone cry but I hope it's coming along in the right direction. https://soundcloud.com/isletsound/kumano-temple-entrance

[Arkaash]

That's really good, Anders - creepy as hell :D

I can definitely see this playing in and around Kumano - particularly the cave sections before actually entering the temple. Good job :)

[IsletSound]

Thanks! I'll work some more on it and then upload again. Got a few other pieces in the works as well.

[IsletSound]

Having a go at the beginning of some puzzle music: https://soundcloud.com/isletsound/anders-hedenholm-kumano-temple-secrets

[Wheeze201]

You're doing really nice work Islet! keep it up

[IsletSound]

Thanks!

[IsletSound]

Do you mind if I put tracks up on twitter? (Not that lots or even any people take notice) Or would you like to keep stuff hushed until release?

Also, Wheeze, do you want me to prepare .wav files for implementation? is .wav what's needed?

[IsletSound]

https://soundcloud.com/isletsound/kumano-temple-boss-wip

First minute of a draft for boss music. Never mind the volume and mixing, it's terrible. Just want to check in to see if you like the direction.

[Arkaash]

Yeah, that's sounding good Anders - I think it could definitely do with breaking into a perhaps a little more melody-focused crescendo, but I imagine that's still to come in the 'not-a-minute-long-version' :D

[IsletSound]

Great! More melody, I'll see what I can do ;)

[IsletSound]

Hey guys, sorry for the long, long silence. Spring was busy. I'm not making good progress with the battle theme I'm afraid and I think you'll do better with Gerritt's music there. I don't mind working on more ambient pieces for the temple though if it's needed. Best wishes.

[Yurtex]

Project is a "contribute what you can" so don't worry

[Arkaash]

Hi IsletSound - no worries with the battle music; it's best to focus on what you're best at.

Any music that you can provide for us will be useful, but I think ambient dungeon exploration music for Kumano or Arkngzul would be the most useful at the moment.

[IsletSound]

Thanks guys, Sounds good Arkaash, any pointers for Arkngzul music?

[MorganRobinson]

dwemer, and grand?

[Arkaash]

Haha, what Morgan says I guess!

But yeah, grand, ancient, lost are good words to describe it. If it helps, here's a piece Stephen Webster did for Arkngzul:

https://soundcloud.com/stephen-webster-2/into-arkngzul-luftahraan-original-soundtrack?in=stephen-webster-2/sets/luftahraan-ost

A similar style to that would work well if you think that's achievable?

[IsletSound]

Great, I'll give it a shot!

[IsletSound]

Ah, these periods of silence of mine... These last few months went by real quick. I've got a few demos in the works but none of them are worth showing at this point, hopefully I'll have something soon.

[MorganRobinson]

aww its ok! hope you are still enjoying doing music for us

[Wheeze201]

Typical islet! Radio silence for 6 months and come back with awesome tracks. Nice work :)

On Mon, Oct 12, 2015 at 5:23 PM IsletSound notifications@github.com wrote:

Ah, these periods of silence of mine... These last few months went by real quick. I've got a few demos in the works but none of them are worth showing at this point, hopefully I'll have something soon.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/Wheeze201/Luftahraan/issues/50#issuecomment-147467406 .

[IsletSound]

I enjoy it a lot!

[IsletSound]

Here's a Arkngzul WIP for your consideration: https://soundcloud.com/isletsound/anders-hedenholm-into-arkngzul

edit: ah, removed it, didn't work.

[IsletSound]

Hello all, hope you're doing well. I actually made a new track. Here it is: https://soundcloud.com/isletsound/anders-hedenholm-luftahraan-untitled-wip It's not made with any of the dungeons in mind I'm afraid, though you can use it for those if you wish of course. I just wanted to post something new.

Best wishes, Anders.