Music of Civ VI

[Sagax]

Maybe they couldn't find an erhu player familiar with Western musical notation?

I used to take erhu lessons.

I believe that was their actual explanation. Still find it surprising - is it really harder to find a fitting erhu player than a gamelan orchestra?

EDIT: damn you autocorrect.

 

[6uho Koe]

I kind of wished they used bowed instruments from the civ's culture, like erhu, rabab, or sarangi, instead of the cello or vielle for the medieval themes

 

[6uho Koe]

I believe that was their actual explanation. Still find it surprising - is it really harder to find a fitting erhu player than a gamelan orchestra?

EDIT: damn you autocorrect.

As I understand with Erhu players, most learn to read cypher notations, which are numbers instead of western notations. Geoff said he couldn't find any that can read western notation. I would think there should be a couple of erhu players on the east coast who can read western notation. But i guess they might be harder to find as there are not many people of Asian descent on the east coast. I know a couple of erhu Players who can read both cypher and western but in west coast.
Gamelan are found in universities, which he could go up to consult or use one.

 

[Kimiimaro]

With Erhu or not, Chinese industrial theme sounds still great

 

[Guandao]

As I understand with Erhu players, most learn to read cypher notations, which are numbers instead of western notations. Geoff said he couldn't find any that can read western notation. I would think there should be a couple of erhu players on the east coast who can read western notation. But i guess they might be harder to find as there are not many people of Asian descent on the east coast. I know a couple of erhu Players who can read both cypher and western but in west coast.
Gamelan are found in universities, which he could go up to consult or use one.

There's plenty of people of Asian descent in the New York City area. I'm one of them.

 

[Siptah]

Why would you need to read music to perform a composition? And a specific notation? Most musicians can play by ear - especially non-Western ones. The composer can easily play the song for them or have someone play it that can read music on a similar instrument. I don‘t see the problem.

 

[6uho Koe]

There's plenty of people of Asian descent in the New York City area. I'm one of them.

I forgot new York, there's definitely many people of Asian descent there. But I find it hard to believe he couldn't find an Erhu player who can read western notation. I know a couple of civ v soundtracks have erhu in them like the Mongolian themes but they might be improvised.

 

[6uho Koe]

Why would you need to read music to perform a composition? And a specific notation? Most musicians can play by ear - especially non-Western ones. The composer can easily play the song for them or have someone play it that can read music on a similar instrument. I don‘t see the problem.

It was from an interview from Geoff, I don't recall where, where he said he didn't use Erhu player because the player can't read western notation. I'm not sure why he can't sing the melody for the erhu player to play it by ear. But I guess it's too late now. Hopefully they will use more non western bowed instruments in the future.

 

[Phoenix1595]

There's plenty of people of Asian descent in the New York City area. I'm one of them.

There were quite a few erhu players busking at the sub stations when I lived there. I am surprised that there is a lot of difficulty in finding a professional who can also read Western music notations.

 

[Guandao]

I forgot new York, there's definitely many people of Asian descent there. But I find it hard to believe he couldn't find an Erhu player who can read western notation. I know a couple of civ v soundtracks have erhu in them like the Mongolian themes but they might be improvised.

The Mongolian "erhu" is actually a Cello played by Caleb Jones, but it did sound nice.

 

[6uho Koe]

The Mongolian "erhu" is actually a Cello played by Caleb Jones, but it did sound nice.

The main melody is played by cello which is notated and written in score. There are erhu and a couple of Chinese instruments played sporadically in the background of the song but they are not notated. Most likely improvised flavor.

 

[Siptah]

The main melody is played by cello which is notated and written in score. There are erhu and a couple of Chinese instruments played sporadically in the background of the song but they are not notated. Most likely improvised flavor.

Or samples? I I don‘t think all instruments for the soundtracks are actually played live for the recordings. It‘s harder to get away with that for lead voices, but it usually works well for background stuff.

 

[ToothedBomb]

The gamelan in the Indonesian theme(s) were also from a sample library, so that would make sense.

 

[6uho Koe]

The gamelan in the Indonesian theme(s) were also from a sample library, so that would make sense.

The gamelan for civ v may have been an actual gamelan set as Javanese gamelan is fairly common in universities and are usually tuned to western scale to play fusions with western instruments.
The gamelan for civ 6 is from a sample library according to the explanation he gave to guandao.

 

[Zaarin]

Geoff Knorr's YouTube channel posted a sneak peak of the Cree theme, ancient to atomic.

The one we heard in the trailer was the ancient theme, I believe.

I like how the 'vibe' of the music changes when shifting from medieval to industrial.

As I said in another thread, I have a new favorite theme.

OMG Cree's themes are sooo good! Even better than Australia.

Well, that's setting the bar a little low. I dislike Brazil's and Kongo's themes, but Australia's is the only one I actively hate. "Waltzing Matilda" is insufferable at the best of times, and I have an extremely...visceral reaction to didgeridoos: they make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end and a revulsive shiver go down my spine.


Re:China and erhus, yeah, it's a shame. What about Yu Hongmei? She's accompanied by a piano in many of her videos...

 

[Guandao]

As I said in another thread, I have a new favorite theme.


Well, that's setting the bar a little low. I dislike Brazil's and Kongo's themes, but Australia's is the only one I actively hate. "Waltzing Matilda" is insufferable at the best of times, and I have an extremely...visceral reaction to didgeridoos: they make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end and a revulsive shiver go down my spine.


Re:China and erhus, yeah, it's a shame. What about Yu Hongmei? She's accompanied by a piano in many of her videos...

I actually like Australia's themes. Don't mind the didgeridoos either.

According to 23andme, I'm actually related to Australian Aboriginals through my father.

 

[God of Kings]

There's plenty of people of Asian descent in the New York City area. I'm one of them.

Toronto also has a huge number of people of Chinese descent and I'm one of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown, Toronto

Like NYC, Toronto has numerous Chinatowns.

 

[Guandao]

Toronto also has a huge number of people of Chinese descent and I'm one of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown, Toronto

I was suspecting you were of Asian descent. Thanks for confirming it!

 

[God of Kings]

In the Toronto subway, I sometimes find some erhu players who play Western music.

Thus, there are erhu players trained in the Western notation living in Toronto and Toronto is much closer to New York City than to Thunder Bay, Ontario, despite Toronto being in the same province as Thunder Bay.

 

[CivLuvah]

I just heard the Cree themes. I loved them all, including the Atomic theme; it really brought out the indigenous futurism that I was hoping for. I could hear bits of minimalism that reminded me of Koyaanisqatsi in the Atomic theme.