05-25-2018, 11:43 PM
A long-time friend of mine asked me to write a score for his game about ancient Rome, something sort of atmospheric/ambient. I ended up doing it mainly with live instruments (even going out to purchase one, a soprano Kortholt, the day of)-
https://instaud.io/private/b43530f7eff62...8a9b1591ec
I ended up throwing it together Wednesday afternoon/evening in about 6 hours. It's almost entirely improvised except for the final piece, which is a performance of the 1st Delphic Hymn to Apollo (Civ fans will recognize this theme as being used in the music for Civ III, and Civ II as well I believe). Everything is multi-tracked and played live, either on the physical instrument or MIDI keyboard. I also apologize for my somewhat pitchy vocals; I don't sing all that often, but singing was so central to music long ago that it seemed like a crime to make music without it. Probably should have put an auto-tuner on it, but hey, they didn't have auto-tune in 100 B.C.!
Notes from the page-
https://instaud.io/private/b43530f7eff62...8a9b1591ec
I ended up throwing it together Wednesday afternoon/evening in about 6 hours. It's almost entirely improvised except for the final piece, which is a performance of the 1st Delphic Hymn to Apollo (Civ fans will recognize this theme as being used in the music for Civ III, and Civ II as well I believe). Everything is multi-tracked and played live, either on the physical instrument or MIDI keyboard. I also apologize for my somewhat pitchy vocals; I don't sing all that often, but singing was so central to music long ago that it seemed like a crime to make music without it. Probably should have put an auto-tuner on it, but hey, they didn't have auto-tune in 100 B.C.!
Notes from the page-
Quote:A series of improvisations inspired by the sounds and timbres of the ancient world (plus a run through the 1st Delphic Hymn to Apollo at the end).
Some of this is admittedly a little more Medieval, and the instruments played are generally Medieval/Renaissance stand-ins for their ancient equivalents. However, there are a lot of connections between the two, so it isn't an enormous stretch sonically or stylistically.
Physical instruments used:
Soprano Kortholt (substituting for either Aulos, which were also a double-reed, or bagpipe)
Ibex Horn 'Mute Cornetto'*
Tenor Recorder (substituting somewhat for pan pipes)
Horn in Bb - 19th century, Bohemian (substituting for Corni)
Antique Vaudeville Cymbals (very close mic'd and tapped lightly with a timpani mallet to make that drum-like sound; I guess a substitute for timpani)
The human voice - text taken from Book 1 of Virgil's Aeneid
*There are bone flutes with holes drilled in them dating back into the Neolithic, so assuming someone tried drilling holes into a horn at some point isn't really that far off. By the Middle Ages, the gemshorn (ocarina made of a cow horn) existed with holes drilled in the bone for pitches. However, there's no historical evidence that this particular instrument (essentially a cornetto made of Ibex horn) ever existed in any time period. This is a one-off instrument made by Andrew Hallock.
Sampled Instruments used:
Frame Drums & Tambourine (ft. in '1st Delphic') from VSCO 2 Pro
Etherealwinds Harp II (folk lever harp)
Recorded, Mixed, & Mastered in Mixbus 32C
Sample library developer, composer, and amateur organologist at Versilian Studios.