Guandao
Rajah of Minyue, Hlai and Langkasuka
No reply back from Mr. Knorr so far. 
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Music of Civ VI
- Thread starter Ben.
- Start date
ToothedBomb
Prince
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2012
- Messages
- 350
Man this stuff is just too good. Khmer makes me smile, Indonesia makes me cry.
Guandao
Rajah of Minyue, Hlai and Langkasuka
I do get Indonesia's theme stuck in my head, more that the Khmer. I can't seem to remember the Khmer melody well.
God of Kings
Ruler of all heads of state
It's that Indonesia's theme is more repetitive.
God of Kings
Ruler of all heads of state
I think I know the source of the Khmer theme:
Mae lae Lampang
Regardless, Khmer music is apparently based on Thai music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Cambodia and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Thailand
Note that it isn't the first time Civ VI used a musical theme from a neighbouring culture: Arabia's is based on a Turkish song.
Regardless, Khmer music is apparently based on Thai music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Cambodia and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Thailand
Note that it isn't the first time Civ VI used a musical theme from a neighbouring culture: Arabia's is based on a Turkish song.
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Chasethemage
Chieftain
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2017
- Messages
- 56
From my knowledge, it's a Khmer fishing song, skip to the 2 minute mark:
It's sounds the same as the 1:50 mark on the medieval theme
It's sounds the same as the 1:50 mark on the medieval theme
Chasethemage
Chieftain
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2017
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- 56
And probably that too
Guandao
Rajah of Minyue, Hlai and Langkasuka
Looks like we have to wait for Mr. Knorr's reply back to me to finally solve this mystery. 
Morningcalm
Keeper of Records
Arabia's theme is not based on a Turkish song. Rather, the Arabian theme is based on either Talama Ashku Gharami, which is a praise song for Allah, or, per Knorr's music sheets, Banat Iskandaria, an Egyptian song with the same melody. The melody was very popular and widely imitated, which is why initially a whole bunch of people commented on YouTube that it was a Turkish melody.
sonicmyst
Emperor
Peaches Lamb has already updated the YouTube channel with Khmer and Indonesia themes.
Civilization 6 Full Soundtrack (by civ): http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh4Eme5gACZGDVGh-unzj0p70NiADSdY0
Civilization 6 Full Soundtrack (by civ): http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh4Eme5gACZGDVGh-unzj0p70NiADSdY0
Guandao
Rajah of Minyue, Hlai and Langkasuka
Here's Mr. Knorr's reply to me. 
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - it's been a very busy week!
The Khmer theme is based on "Khmer Rourm Sam Mawgee (Khmer Gather Together)." The medieval theme also includes "Kawnsaing Snai (Love Scarf)". The ancient era pieces feature roneat ek player Song Heng. Due to the unique tuning of the roneat ek not matching western instrumental tuning, the medieval, industrial, and atomic era arrangements use marimba instead, played by Doug Perry. Sandro Freidrich plays an ethnic flute on the medieval arrangement.
The Indonesian theme is based on "Bapang Selisir" and "Rejang Dewa." Gamelan enthusiast Matthew Clough-Hunter helped give me some guidance on gamelan traditions, playing techniques, and song structure. He also helped by transcribing some of the traditional tunes. Since every gamelan ensemble is tuned differently, it would have been nearly impossible to incorporate a gamelan ensemble with the western instruments in the medieval, industrial, and atomic era arrangements. Because of this, I used the excellent Soniccouture Balinese Gamelan II sample library for the traditional Indonesia instruments. Sandro Freidrich plays suling on the medieval arrangement.
For both of these civs, many other melodies are included in the ancient era. If you have questions on any of those, let me know.
All the best,
Geoff
I wonder what Mr. Knorr was busy working on. Could it be music for the next DLC or even the first Expansion?
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - it's been a very busy week!
The Khmer theme is based on "Khmer Rourm Sam Mawgee (Khmer Gather Together)." The medieval theme also includes "Kawnsaing Snai (Love Scarf)". The ancient era pieces feature roneat ek player Song Heng. Due to the unique tuning of the roneat ek not matching western instrumental tuning, the medieval, industrial, and atomic era arrangements use marimba instead, played by Doug Perry. Sandro Freidrich plays an ethnic flute on the medieval arrangement.
The Indonesian theme is based on "Bapang Selisir" and "Rejang Dewa." Gamelan enthusiast Matthew Clough-Hunter helped give me some guidance on gamelan traditions, playing techniques, and song structure. He also helped by transcribing some of the traditional tunes. Since every gamelan ensemble is tuned differently, it would have been nearly impossible to incorporate a gamelan ensemble with the western instruments in the medieval, industrial, and atomic era arrangements. Because of this, I used the excellent Soniccouture Balinese Gamelan II sample library for the traditional Indonesia instruments. Sandro Freidrich plays suling on the medieval arrangement.
For both of these civs, many other melodies are included in the ancient era. If you have questions on any of those, let me know.
All the best,
Geoff
I wonder what Mr. Knorr was busy working on. Could it be music for the next DLC or even the first Expansion?
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God of Kings
Ruler of all heads of state
Sandro Freidrich must be very accomplished, being able to play many different ethnic flutes/recorders.Here's Mr. Knorr's reply to me.
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you - it's been a very busy week!
The Khmer theme is based on "Khmer Rourm Sam Mawgee (Khmer Gather Together)." The medieval theme also includes "Kawnsaing Snai (Love Scarf)". The ancient era pieces feature roneat ek player Song Heng. Due to the unique tuning of the roneat ek not matching western instrumental tuning, the medieval, industrial, and atomic era arrangements use marimba instead, played by Doug Perry. Sandro Freidrich plays an ethnic flute on the medieval arrangement.
The Indonesian theme is based on "Bapang Selisir" and "Rejang Dewa." Gamelan enthusiast Matthew Clough-Hunter helped give me some guidance on gamelan traditions, playing techniques, and song structure. He also helped by transcribing some of the traditional tunes. Since every gamelan ensemble is tuned differently, it would have been nearly impossible to incorporate a gamelan ensemble with the western instruments in the medieval, industrial, and atomic era arrangements. Because of this, I used the excellent Soniccouture Balinese Gamelan II sample library for the traditional Indonesia instruments. Sandro Freidrich plays suling on the medieval arrangement.
For both of these civs, many other melodies are included in the ancient era. If you have questions on any of those, let me know.
All the best,
Geoff
I wonder what Mr. Knorr was busy working on. Could it be music for the next DLC or even the first Expansion?
Morningcalm
Keeper of Records
Hm, can't find Rourm Sam Mawgee anywhere on YouTube--maybe a transliteration issue?
Guandao
Rajah of Minyue, Hlai and Langkasuka
Yeah, I searched for both melodies (Khmer Gather Together and Love Scarf) on Youtube and Google and had no luck finding them. I've asked Mr. Knorr where he found this songs.
God of Kings
Ruler of all heads of state
It's the same reason why I can't find any English translation of the Thai lion cub and calf story.
Guandao
Rajah of Minyue, Hlai and Langkasuka
Ok here is Mr. Knorr response about the Khmer origin songs:
I first heard and learned these songs from the roneat ek player Song Heng. He was immensely helpful in helping me navigate the repertoire and select source melodies. He has been playing traditional Khmer music from a very young age and takes regular trips to Cambodia for performances.
Khmer music does not have nearly the same popularity in the Western world as Indonesian music. While Indonesian music has been extensively studied and recorded, Khmer traditional music has been largely overlooked. The traditions were actually going extinct towards end of the 19th century, but thankfully many songs and melodies were reconstructed by dedicated musicians around that time. This trend is much more common in non-Western music traditions than most people would think. This made working on the Khmer music for Civ VI particularly challenging and I suspect this is why you're not able find additional references of these melodies.
I did find one other performance of the "Love Scarf" song on youtube back when I was working on these themes:
I never did find an additional reference for "Khmer Rourm Sam Mawgee". If you find one, I would love to hear it!
All the best,
Geoff
It's a shame Khmer Rourm Sam Mawgee can't be found anywhere on the internet. Maybe Song Heng should record a video of himself performing it and post it on Youtube?
I first heard and learned these songs from the roneat ek player Song Heng. He was immensely helpful in helping me navigate the repertoire and select source melodies. He has been playing traditional Khmer music from a very young age and takes regular trips to Cambodia for performances.
Khmer music does not have nearly the same popularity in the Western world as Indonesian music. While Indonesian music has been extensively studied and recorded, Khmer traditional music has been largely overlooked. The traditions were actually going extinct towards end of the 19th century, but thankfully many songs and melodies were reconstructed by dedicated musicians around that time. This trend is much more common in non-Western music traditions than most people would think. This made working on the Khmer music for Civ VI particularly challenging and I suspect this is why you're not able find additional references of these melodies.
I did find one other performance of the "Love Scarf" song on youtube back when I was working on these themes:
I never did find an additional reference for "Khmer Rourm Sam Mawgee". If you find one, I would love to hear it!
All the best,
Geoff
It's a shame Khmer Rourm Sam Mawgee can't be found anywhere on the internet.
Maybe Song Heng should record a video of himself performing it and post it on Youtube?PhilBowles
Deity
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2011
- Messages
- 5,333
Maybe they should just use Dengue Fever for the modern-era Khmer music...
God of Kings
Ruler of all heads of state
This is the closest I could find to Khmer Rourm Sam Mawgee, melody-wise:
Mae lae Lampang
That's Lanna music though, which is like, the complete opposite direction from Cambodia. It likely isn't directly related.
The text in Khmer is probably ខ្មែររួមសាមគ្គី (I can't speak or read Khmer, but Thai has a bunch of Khmer loanwords).
Searching on youtube gives me this.
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