~Oblivion: Blackwater Isle~ (Original Soundtrack)

Hello YC!

Evan Duffy (PianoBeast) and I proudly present to you all the soundtrack (so far) to Blackwater Isle; a mod of the immensely popular fantasy RPG Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

It's been my pleasure to work together with another of YC's talented composers, Evan Duffy (recently converted [by me] to incidental music), on the production of these pieces.

Thus far, we have produced the following tracks for the game mod and would like to hear what you think!

-Way of the Pirates- This is a pirate theme from the game; the motif is used in the title theme.

-Exploration Theme- A theme for an exploration sequence in the game.

-Sad Cue- A short cue for sad moments.

-Darkened Times- Somewhat dark and dreary piece for those kinds of moments in the mod.

-The Necromancer- Theme for a necromancer; not intended to be overly dark.

-Blackwater Isle Title Theme- This is the first version of the title theme, with the motif from Way of the Pirates used in 4/4 time instead of the original 3/4 as it is in the second version of this piece.

-Credits- This is the piece that will be playing during the credits of the game

-Hero's Hymn-Using some previous motives, this is a hymn for the player (hero) of Blackwater Isle.

-Sad Cue 2-This is the second sad cue in the game.

-Title Pending-There is no set title for this piece yet.

-Until Death-Quasi-battle theme.

-Ending Cue-This is a cue for ending things!

-Battle Theme No.1-This is the first official battle theme for Blackwater Isle

-The Pirate's Cave-First cave theme.

-The Break of Blackwater- Mournful piece.

-Dreary Caverns- Second cave theme.

-The Secret Isles- This is essentially the second exploration theme.... just with an awesome title :P

-Blackwater City- Theme that the player will hear while traveling around in Blackwater City.

-Into the Crypts- Third cave theme for Blackwater Isle.

Blackwater Docks-What the title says! It's the docks theme for Blackwater Isle :)

Hell's Peak (Tesla Volcano)- A boastful theme, of sorts, for Tesla, the huge volcano on BWI.

NEW!-The Undercrofts- Another cave theme - This one is more ambient and "weird." :)

On behalf of both Evan Duffy and myself, please enjoy these tracks and let us know what you think! We will be posting updates as we make them.

Gorgeous tracks, guys. Reminds me of Zimmer/Badelt. Very well conceived. :P

I look forward to hearing more!

Nope, this is the first. I decided to risk it since I'll argue tooth and claw that a soundtrack counts as a major work.

Thanks very much for the comments and the support you two!

Yea, great work so far.

Really enjoyable, and really sexy sounds!

With regards to this being a major work, I see no reason why it wouldn't be.

I can't think of anything in the rules - plus I think we'd all agree it should stay here.

Good job guys!

In regards to Oblivion theme version one:

There seemed to be a few awkward intervals in the introduction... the one that sticks out at me most is at 18 seconds. It sounds a bit disruptive compared to the even flowing of its surrounding notes.

I like the transition to the drum beats and the reintroduction of the strings. This section certainly creates a bit of excitement.

The transition to the vocal(?) chords is nice. Is the track finished, though, or part of a larger set? It seems rather an antidramatic ending to me.

Overall, good work. Personally the theme doesn't sound "epic" to me, lacking in variation, but it is a good theme nonetheless.

Marius, you finally posted a long awaited Major Work!

I'll review it later, I have some homework to attend to ;)

Wow those soundtracks have really blown me away. I must say, they're as good as the original ones. It would surely sound great in a game. Is the game going to be free?

It's absolutely free, yes Nigel! It's just a mod of the game so you install it with your original game and play the game with the added features ;)

Hello hello!

We have an update already; it's a second short sad cue for the game. This one is meant to be VERY expressive, short as it is.

Please enjoy and let us know what you think! ;)

Sad Cue 2

Marius and I just pwned that Sad Cue in just a few hours... be jealous.

CK:

The interval in the beginning of the piece is there on purpose. It's dissonance. We posted these exactly how we wanted them, so you can rest assured there are no mistakes in them ;).

For the drum beats, you can thank Marius. He pretty much is a drum demigod, and its awesome. It's finished. It's not meant to be flashy, so the ending is on purpose.

For more epic tracks, listen to the others. They are all pretty epic.

Hey all,

So, this evening I sent a sad cue off to Marius. We worked on it for a few hours, and *poof* out comes a new piece for the mod!

Link is below. Please enjoy!

-mp3-

I need the name of the band before I can listen(so I can look up on soundclick), direct links to soundclick songs never work for me.

Thanks, Chris.

Marius and PianoBeast,

Nicely presented. I enjoyed all the music I could find on PianoBeast's soundclick page, and have no critisisms whatsoever for the music itself and the purpose it serves in background for a video game. It's obvious that a good deal of time was spent on the "ambiance" of the pieces, such as in Sad Cue, where there really isn't much going on musically outside of a simple repeated chord sequence with a tad of "coloring" such as the harp, voice etc. That's not a critisism, just an observation. I think it suits the purpose of video game music well, and it's apparant a good deal of time was spent with dynamics and putting this through various VSTi's to get a better sound than a midi.

Blackwater Isle Main Theme V2 is very well done, the most ambitious of the lot. However, "The Journey" was my favourite of the bunch. Again, I admire what you've done "colouring" the themes with various intrumentation, dynamics, "bells and whistles" (harp,cymbals and another instrument I can't place).

While this suits it's purpose in the video game as relatively short clips designed to create an atmosphere for the player (which it does very well), I really don't think this belongs in Major Works, however. Specifically because the guidelines don't allow it (#4), and I'm not sure you could hold an audience on it as a stand alone. Each of the clips is relatively short, which suits a video game, but there is not alot of development going on of thematic material that I can pick up. Strip down the beautiful dynamics, and bells and whistles of this music, post it as a midi, and you do not have, imo, a major work. A major effort, and great video game music, but not a major work.

Marius and PianoBeast,

However, "The Journey" was my favourite of the bunch. Again, I admire what you've done "colouring" the themes with various intrumentation, dynamics, "bells and whistles" (harp,cymbals and another instrument I can't place).

The Journey was a piece I wrote. It's not for the game, nor shall it be... but, I'm very glad that you liked it :D! Marius recorded it for me, btw.

But ya, thats not a Blackwater Isle Track :laugh:

Wait up a second, I'm confused here. Why did you post a second link to the same piece, Evan...?

I posted the sad cue and you even commented on my post...perhaps you're drunk again *sigh* :laugh:

Thanks for the comments, guys, but I'm a little confused about why you don't consider this to be a major work, Paul. Rule number 4 (which I don't agree with) forbids video-game influenced music, but I think it's referring to the older style video game music which is very synthy and lacking in musical quality. I will argue that the pieces we have presented here are considered as a major work because they are part of a soundtrack and required a lot of dedicated work on our part to produce; which is what major works is all about.

Breaking it down and saying it's nothing but a repeated chord sequence with colouring is sort of defeating the purpose of music in general; after all, every piece is just a repeated chord sequence with colouring if you look at it that way. While I do agree that the melodic material is not very complex, I do not find it a valid reason for expulsion from this section simply because, as incidental music, it is not written to be technically complex or theoretically impressive; this music is written to express or produce a feeling in the listener while conveying a story. It's all about the way it sounds, that's why we posted Mp3s and not MIDIs; because the actual technicalities of it aren't the relevant part here.

You are, of course, entitled to your opinion but I just wanted to clarify our justification for posting it in major works as opposed to the incidental music section.

Thanks! :D

Paul: :)

Nico: I love you. :D

Marius: Drunk and high. Great combination! :P

I also judge it to be of sufficient quality to be a Major works, and thats not including my bias for this being Marius's and my music... (though we do write sexxxy music, do we not? :P)

Thanks for the comments, guys, but I'm a little confused about why you don't consider this to be a major work, Paul. Rule number 4 (which I don't agree with) forbids video-game influenced music, but I think it's referring to the older style video game music which is very synthy and lacking in musical quality. I will argue that the pieces we have presented here are considered as a major work because they are part of a soundtrack and required a lot of dedicated work on our part to produce; which is what major works is all about.

Rule 4 is clear:

#4)Videogame-influenced and background music is not going to be accepted, except for incidental suites intended specifically for presentation in a concert setting. We accept works that are composed for possible performances or pure listening only.

As for the second part of your quote, I agree - this took a considerable amount of effort and time, but that in itself is not alot different from other composers who are being ousted from Major Works.

Breaking it down and saying it's nothing but a repeated chord sequence with colouring is sort of defeating the purpose of music in general; after all, every piece is just a repeated chord sequence with colouring if you look at it that way. While I do agree that the melodic material is not very complex, I do not find it a valid reason for expulsion from this section simply because, as incidental music, it is not written to be technically complex or theoretically impressive; this music is written to express or produce a feeling in the listener while conveying a story. It's all about the way it sounds, that's why we posted Mp3s and not MIDIs; because the actual technicalities of it aren't the relevant part here.

Sad Cue is nice, and it is also very simple, Marius.

I don't think the music could stand alone to be enjoyed by an audience, specifically because of it's brevity, taking into account the length of the pieces posted. At least, from what I heard on PianoBeast's page.

I know that brevity suits the music. But in a concert setting, no one is going to be playing the video game that the music is intended to compliment.

From Major Works guidelines:

Ask yourself, can this work possibly be performed and enjoyed by an older audience? Be honest with yourself.

As far as Midi/Mp3 is concerned - I do not think that "the way it sounds" should be an influencing factor in it's inclusion when comparing midi to Vsti and other devices- midis sound far inferior to music that has been put through good VStis. That is not reflective of the quality of the music itself, though, imo.

Thanks! :P

I'll repeat again that I did enjoy this music, although I wouldn't specifically attend a concert to hear it (there's not enough) - and you're welcome.

Wow.. you guys left me in Complete Awe. it was like seeing GOD. well.. not really, but hey! great great stuff here. I don't know how you guys did it, but.. it's at the moutain peak I tell ya. Thanks for sharing, keep up the good work guys, I'm sure there's more of those on its way. :P

-James-

Dear Marius, PianoBeast

here is my little review. Let me start by saying: Wow!!

enough said.

Blackwater Isle Title Theme (version 2)

I love your bizzare theme previous to the exciting drum section. I say bizzare because of its dissonant though well structured leaps. Over all, it's very upbeat, and joyious, keeping still, the mystery of the game behind its textures.

Way of the Pirates

Sticky theme you got here. It works so perfectly that makes feel as it though I want to go around the world with my ship conquering new lands. I love your 2ble stop around 40sec.

Exploration Theme A theme

Very calm and relaxing. Your transitional chords suit it perfectly since they show the new discoveries being made.

Sad Cue

that minor second did it in the last 2 chords. Molto espressivo!!!, did someone died here? thats what it seems to depict. If so very well thought.

Darkened Times

I like the counterpoint between the intricating piano part and the wind part (was it an english horn?) Here perhaps, its a bit loose as far as the structure and orquestration are concerned, and the piano part fades, but still it succeds over all with that nice a crecendo at the end .

The Necromancer.

I can picture in my head a wild old man with a white beard doing some magic and some soup(:))

Blackwater Isle Title Theme (version 1)

I personally prefer 4/4.

One of the things I like about all these pieces is that you use the same musical ideas(essence),and possibly same instruments in all them. Also , its very adventurous though you manage to stay in the frame of your own style quite well.

Thanks for sharing man! good stuff.

greetings

Rule 4 is clear:

At least, from what I heard on PianoBeast's page.

Ok, I'm going to clarify once more: The Journey, Adventure theme, and the Nocturne are not part of Blackwater Isle, so ignore those.

javileru:

Thanks for the nice, positive, and constructive comments. I'm very glad that you enjoyed the pieces :D

Hey everyone!

Evan and I have a new set of pieces coming up, and I wanted to share with you the first one that's done so far - it's called the Hero's Hymn and uses the "Way of the Pirates" theme.

Enjoy!

Mp3 Here

And the next - currently lacking a title but it will get one soon enough.

Mp3 Here

Comments appreciated :ermm:

Hello again, guys. On behalf of Evan and myself, I present you all with yet another piece from the soundtrack - this one's called "Until Death" and is friggin' cool and piratey :blush:

Let us know what you think of this and any other tracks, please!

Until Death