goddammit it works every single time, this OST is sooo good, it's from another world
Been listening to the first game's soundtrack quite a lot since I upgraded my PC's audio components (sound card/dac/amp + new headphones) and realized that CDPR had uploaded the OST in lossless format on GOG.
Eargasmic. The only word to describe the feeling when I'm listening to it. It has never sounded better.
Eargasmic. The only word to describe the feeling when I'm listening to it. It has never sounded better.
Very nice tracks. :sweat: So much of TW1 feel.
[video=youtube;-ygY6qG2agg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ygY6qG2agg#t=18[/video]
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And something new from Percival.
[video=youtube;-ygY6qG2agg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ygY6qG2agg#t=18[/video]
---------- Updated at 02:54 PM ----------
And something new from Percival.
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I'm listening to the soundtrack... it's so beautiful...Very nice tracks. :sweat: So much TW1 feel.
[video=youtube;-ygY6qG2agg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ygY6qG2agg#t=18[/video]
---------- Updated at 02:54 PM ----------
And something new from Percival.
I have not listened to any of the OST of witcher 3 so far.
I want to connect the music to the game and the feelings i had when the music played, the places i've been, so I wait for the 24th of february to come^^
Also haven't seen the opening cinematic thus far, will do on 24th
I want to connect the music to the game and the feelings i had when the music played, the places i've been, so I wait for the 24th of february to come^^
Also haven't seen the opening cinematic thus far, will do on 24th
I would listen every language version of Witcher audiobook, if it will have soundtrack like that. :yesI'm listening to the soundtrack... it's so beautiful...
Yeah we need this at night somewhere in TW3 definitely , sounds so eerie
It’s a rather late reaction on my part, but I agree.I think the vocals in Bonnie at Morn are a mistake. It just seems too deliberate or illustrative when the scene should take priority. I hope no other tracks put the vocals front and center like that.
Edit- ok so it's designed to be looped...not good. It will break immersion badly and the English VOs are out of place. I hate to sound ruthless but if this pops up while I'm exploring I won't be able to get visions of Julie Andrews out of my head.
Having understandable lyrics in the soundtrack during gameplay is in general not a good idea. There’s a place for it during cutscenes, an in-game musical performance, inns etc but not during ‘regular’ gameplay. It’s either distracting, doesn’t fit the mood or the player tries to ignore it. From pen & paper RPG sessions I know it can be irritating as hell, but it does work to great effect in a more tightly directed scene.
Apart from this general problem, Skellige is a region which, based on the available information, seems to be based on early to high medieval Scandinavian and Gaelic influences (latter mostly some names, including Skellige itself), but with the Scandinavian stuff dominant. It’s medieval Vikingland with perhaps a Gaelic edge to it*.
‘Bonny at morn’ is a song from northern England, first attested in the early 19th century. Some of the lyrics I’ve seen seem to be a bit more archaic or perhaps in a more pure Northumbrian dialect than what we hear in the song, which itself is performed in a very ‘dominant’ and modern-sounding manner.
This is another song from 'Northumbrian Minstrelsy', a 1964 recording that included the earliest recorded performance of 'Bonny at Morn' that I know of. It's probably way more representative of the song's original style. It's also less intrusive - the kind of song you might hear a woman sing in the village, while you saddle your horse to go seek out and slay that horror that is hiding in the caverns up in the nearby hills. Still a bit too 'traditional Anglo-Irish', but I think I'd dig it more in that specific context
It’s like Slimgrin said, Julie Andrews singing an English song, in a place where, at the very least, you’d expect something sounding much more like Old Norse, with perhaps a bit of Gaelic. Heck, Middle or Old English would do as well (or alternatively Icelandic, Norwegian etc.), since it’s that’s much closer to Old Norse.
Stylistically, too, I’d like something more Scandinavian-sounding. In short, anything where the language and style have a much stronger association with the Viking era and/or the Vikings’ homelands. If I’m exploring Skellige, I want to be transported to a Scandinavian-ish ‘Otherwhen’, not to a somewhat overdone Hollywoodesque version of the British countryside.
In general I get the impression they went, musically, for a traditional Anglo-Irish, not a Scandinavian (or more broadly, Scandinavian / North German – Netherlandish medieval North Sea) feel. I love traditional Irish music (same for English, Scottish etc), but to be honest, there’s already way too much of that in fantasy videogames. And it's not as if there isn't plenty of Scandinavian folk around, not to mention medieval or medieval-inspired music from around the North Sea.
Other than that, I mostly like what I’ve heard of the soundtrack.
* And Frisian, based on the name of the island of Spikeroog. But it's close enough to Scandinavian I suppose
Yeah, from what I've heard of the OST so far, I am not too impressed. The music we've heard from No Man's Land sounds uninteresting to me. Novigrad and the area, which is the closest they could get to Vizima and the Outskirts from TW1 has a completely different sound to it, and they seem to have taken TW1's celtic-inspired music to Skellige, which is supposed to have a more Nordic feel to it. It's disappointing to me, as the OST is one of the primary reasons TW1 was so good.
The team seems to have had trouble with the soundtrack from the start - Adam Skorupa is no longer on, so none of the people that worked on the original are here, they hired Gene Rozenberg, but then let him go because his music didn't quite fit, supposedly. So now we're left with remastered Percival music, which sounds nothing like TW1, as well as reworked real-world songs from various regions. And there are some original tracks as well, which haven't really blown me away (not to mention the butchered Wither theme from the opening cinematic trailer.) I'm still hopeful, as we have only heard a small chunk of the soundtrack so far, I just pray that this isn't the best it has to offer.
The team seems to have had trouble with the soundtrack from the start - Adam Skorupa is no longer on, so none of the people that worked on the original are here, they hired Gene Rozenberg, but then let him go because his music didn't quite fit, supposedly. So now we're left with remastered Percival music, which sounds nothing like TW1, as well as reworked real-world songs from various regions. And there are some original tracks as well, which haven't really blown me away (not to mention the butchered Wither theme from the opening cinematic trailer.) I'm still hopeful, as we have only heard a small chunk of the soundtrack so far, I just pray that this isn't the best it has to offer.
I just hope it's just marketing selling the game on Percival's sound (don't know why you'd want to do that but they seem to be doing it regardless) and it is not representative of the majority of the music in-game.
To be completely honest, I was fairly optimistic of the possible outcome up until:
As a bit of off-topic, I sure hope Skorupa comes back for CP77. I listened to some of his trance music, he is quite good and I think he would fit Cyberpunk perfectly.
To be completely honest, I was fairly optimistic of the possible outcome up until:
Yeah, that left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Definitely not as excited for W3's soundtrack anymore (the soundtrack being a huge factor when it came to my enjoyment of the previous games).
As a bit of off-topic, I sure hope Skorupa comes back for CP77. I listened to some of his trance music, he is quite good and I think he would fit Cyberpunk perfectly.
Mr. Skorupa does have some amazing electronic music, he might be a good choice for CP2077. Though I would have been content with him and Mr. Blaszczak just working on TW3's OST.
Though Pawel Blaszczak might have some... interesting ideas for the CP sountrack as well
*cough* Right.
[h=1][/h]
Braindance music right there. Blaszczak and Skorupa coming back for CP77, holy shit, my mind would explode.
*cough* oh yeah, off-topic. We hardly heard anything from the Skellige part of the game, and the pieces for it so far are definitely my favorite. Curious to see/hear more, Skellige is definitely shaping up to be my favorite region of the game.
*cough* oh yeah, off-topic. We hardly heard anything from the Skellige part of the game, and the pieces for it so far are definitely my favorite. Curious to see/hear more, Skellige is definitely shaping up to be my favorite region of the game.
I also like Skellige's music the most so far, I'm just not sure it really fits that region, as chariovalda pointed out. Was hoping for something of a mix between Sang Froid and The Banner Saga, with a bit of Vikings thrown in there for good measure. Right now, it sounds like it's leaning more towards Lakeshore/Murky Waters, where the music, while hauntingly beautiful, did not sound very "pirate viking" like to me. It was fitting due to the Arthurian elements that were present in the plot/setting there. I think it'd work better in some of the mainland areas that have not been reached by the war yet.
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Well, I rather like Percival Schuttenbach’s folk / medieval music and I think it’s a good fit for the more rural and ‘Slavic’ areas. It also helps distinguishing The Witcher from the more staid fantasy universes out there that are loosely based on Merry Olde England or are America With Swords wearing a Larp costume.
But I think I would have liked CDProjekt to hook up / cooperate / absorb influences from similar groups in Scandinavia, northern Germany and the Low Countries as well, and use that for Skellige and Novigrad. Music is a very important part of the overall flavour and helps distinguish different areas and (sub) cultures from each other. And to stay out of that generic fantasy corner as much as possible.
But I think I would have liked CDProjekt to hook up / cooperate / absorb influences from similar groups in Scandinavia, northern Germany and the Low Countries as well, and use that for Skellige and Novigrad. Music is a very important part of the overall flavour and helps distinguish different areas and (sub) cultures from each other. And to stay out of that generic fantasy corner as much as possible.
The Witcher 1 already had an iconic, unique (and beloved) soundtrack to distinguish it, so all they had to do was go back to that style. What frustrates me is that they said they would, yet I see little evidence of this.
Percival's music is cool, I don't mind it, but there's been far too much focus on it. And, frankly, there are better representations of slavic music than their work.
Percival's music is cool, I don't mind it, but there's been far too much focus on it. And, frankly, there are better representations of slavic music than their work.
Hmmm...I personally feel that Skorupa's soundtrack was somewhat generic, but in a good way: It was a mix that made it difficult to pinpoint culturally (well, the bagpipe perhaps, but bagpipes were and are common to most old European musical traditions) but it still sounded fairly unique. The Witcher I definitely had an 'iconic' soundtrack in that regard. And man, is Skorupa a master of mood.
Yup, I would have loved him for Witcher III. He also more or less set a standard I think - we want a soundtrack that is equally good or, preferably, superior. That kind of composer is probably hard to come by... Maybe they could have gone for Knut Avenstroup Haugen? He did a great job writing the Age of Conan soundtrack...
[video=youtube;YUmV-aZNf8A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUmV-aZNf8A[/video]
Oh wait, somebody snapped him up for the soundtrack of 'Lords of the Fallen'
From what I gathered from the reviews, that theme - and that picture - have more character than the entire game. Ah, well...at least it involved an ex-CDProjekt dev...
Skorupa and, let's not forget, Blaszczak did indeed create a very good soundtrack. As you said, it uses elements from several different cultures - slavic and celtic primarily. And while no soundtrack that is meant for a wide range of people is ever going to be not 'generic' in some sense, as it can't be by its very definition, they managed to create atmosphere and music that are unmistakable, while still making them appeal to many. That's a very difficult thing to pull off, and that team managed to achieve it with flying colours.
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Skorupa did Hard Reset, so yeah, I hope he's back for '77. I actually like most of the tunes with the exception of a few that fall flat. Bonnie at Morn is the only one I don't like at all and it's only the vocals. The underlying theme is great.
Also a good fit for a setting that is a mix of different European elements - Lots of eastern, western, central and northern European stuff thrown together in the Witcherverse. It's the late-high medieval / early modern pan-European pastiche par excellence.
Maybe my expectations are too high, but I think Wicher 3 soundtrack will be remembered for a long time as one of the best game soundtracks together with my favourites - Icewind Dale, Planescape Tourment, Diablo, Mass Effect, Witcher 1 and above mentioned Age Of Conan.
Original Witcher soundtrack was excellent, no doubt, it created perfect atmosphere for the game, it's beautiful. On the other hand I loved Witcher 2 soundrack also - it had less atmospheric moments, but still, some of the themes are fantastic, for example: Vergen By Night, Sorceresses, Blue Mountains and of course Dwarven Stone Upon Dwarven Stone.
I think it is fantastic idea involving Percival in Witcher 3 - it sounds fresh! I am not very big fan of their female singers wailing (constantly), but there are situations where it adds some urgency and aggressiveness, same as ellectric guitars in previous Witchers. I sounds very archaic, raw and powerful. And it's very non generic for a RPG.
From what I have heard so far from Witcher 3 music - I think, it is very, very promising. Only the full soundrack and ingame context will tell if it is going to be a masterpiece. If not, I hope the modders will do their work and let me add music from previous Witchers I remember this one mod I used in Skyrim (never finished the damn game) that lets you add any music track in appropriate place - I was a happy panda when I started to use it! I added music from my favourite RPGs to my chosen locations as I saw fit. Music is my favourite pleasure in this world and I rember starting playing original Diablo just for its Tristam theme
About "Bonnie At Morn" - it could work or it could not, I will judge from my experience when I hear it ingame. On the other hand, "Fields Of Ard Skellig" is one of the best I have heard so far in game soundracks.
Original Witcher soundtrack was excellent, no doubt, it created perfect atmosphere for the game, it's beautiful. On the other hand I loved Witcher 2 soundrack also - it had less atmospheric moments, but still, some of the themes are fantastic, for example: Vergen By Night, Sorceresses, Blue Mountains and of course Dwarven Stone Upon Dwarven Stone.
I think it is fantastic idea involving Percival in Witcher 3 - it sounds fresh! I am not very big fan of their female singers wailing (constantly), but there are situations where it adds some urgency and aggressiveness, same as ellectric guitars in previous Witchers. I sounds very archaic, raw and powerful. And it's very non generic for a RPG.
From what I have heard so far from Witcher 3 music - I think, it is very, very promising. Only the full soundrack and ingame context will tell if it is going to be a masterpiece. If not, I hope the modders will do their work and let me add music from previous Witchers
I remember this one mod I used in Skyrim (never finished the damn game) that lets you add any music track in appropriate place - I was a happy panda when I started to use it! I added music from my favourite RPGs to my chosen locations as I saw fit. Music is my favourite pleasure in this world and I rember starting playing original Diablo just for its Tristam theme About "Bonnie At Morn" - it could work or it could not, I will judge from my experience when I hear it ingame. On the other hand, "Fields Of Ard Skellig" is one of the best I have heard so far in game soundracks.
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