The music in this game is freaking amazing

[tombeef]

Just change, really--not advancement. Styles come and go. Complexity and contrapuntal music were big in the Baroque. Then the Classical period revolted against that. Then the Romantics revolted against what they considered the superficial simplicity of the Classical, etc. The 20th century saw plenty of self-righteous types saying they were the vanguard because they promulgated 12-tone music and later, minimalism. But then audiences got excited when a few dodecaphonists broke ranks and began writing tonal music, again. Suddenly, it was the 12-toners and the minimalists who were stick-in-the-muds, arch-conservatives, and the tonalists who had once been called old-fashioned (and worse) were radicals blazing new paths.

That's the sound of a lot of people whipping out their dictionaries.

 

[romelus]

the music is passable with a few that are very good. i however really dislike the medieval and renaissance pieces. it's really annoying when i'm playing arabs, or when my state religion is hinduism, to hear christian hymns in the background! totally kills the atmosphere! in the renaissance music folder, it's nothing but bach mozart and beethoven. suitable when you are playing a european civ, but completly out of place when playing any other civ.

i also put on my own music when at war. most of the pieces are too mellow for a total war situation. i have to say i prefer how rise of nations approached its music - original compositions from start to end, with varying tempos and musical styles.

 

[Monker]

Is there a master list somewhere of all the song/artist names by filename?

You can figure out what a lot of the songs are here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=157397

 

[Warspite2]

I can't believe how good the music is in this game. Each era has its own sound.. in the ancient times the music reminds you of the first stirrings of art. In the midieval and rennaisance eras, the music sounds like your civilization waking up and coming to life. Industrial is also very nice. The only era that I would call hit or miss is the modern, but since my games usually end before then maybe I just haven't had a chance to learn to appreciate it.

I'm assuming that by now everyone knows that you can take the music out of the game and just listen to the songs in Windows or put them on your iPod. The files are in C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Assets\Sounds\Soundtrack.

Here's a list of my favorite songs, corresponding with each era. I'd like to hear what some of your guys favorites are. Some of them you can figure out the composer and title, some of them are not so easy. Is there a master list somewhere of all the song/artist names by filename?

ancient
ancientsoundtrack2

industrial
dvorikslavonic10
brahmshungarian1

midieval
allegrimiserere
anonymouslagamba
praetoriusbransle

renaissance
bachallemande
bachmenuet
bachserabande

modern
anfortaswound
chconne
harmonielehre
loopsandverses

I completely agree, I absolutely love the music. Reminds me of the Pure Moods collections. I did not know they were all located in that folder, thanks.

 

[Mad2rix]

The music was far much efficient than the other series. Just hope people at Firaxis put more cool musics or jazzy tunes for the modern era in a next X-pack.

 

[Eyeflash]

the music is passable with a few that are very good. i however really dislike the medieval and renaissance pieces. it's really annoying when i'm playing arabs, or when my state religion is hinduism, to hear christian hymns in the background! totally kills the atmosphere! in the renaissance music folder, it's nothing but bach mozart and beethoven. suitable when you are playing a european civ, but completly out of place when playing any other civ.

Agreed. Would have been nice if they had civ-specific music, but to put that much music in the game would be difficult. Still, it would be nice, as, say, Arab music isn't as readily available on the net as Mozart, so you can't really put anything else in its place either.

And it also sucks to hear Renaissance music during the Medieval Age, and then hearing Classical during the Renaissance. They could have made the music a bit more congruent with the periods, or at least make sure that a significant part of the game doesn't consist of Renaissance, which in reality only lasted like 200 years.

 

[salty mud]

Yes I think the music is great. I like the English Medieval music as Elizabeth!

 

[benjamin28]

Music is really nice, specially during Ancient and Industrial eras. I didn't listened very well the Modern themes, but they don't sound very good to me, they would have put jazz or something like that.
Anyhow, I often listen El Greco, China, Mask or 1492 by Vangelis when playing, according to the Civilization.
Benjamin
PD: I love classical music, congratulations to Firaxis for this attention!

 

[Potatish]

The soundtrack is great overall, but the Minimalist stuff in the Modern era is... Bleh. They should've had Rush instead.

 

[vbraun]

I would reccommend getting the complete set of Slavonic Dances. It is only $6.98 from amazon.com and is a great cd.

 

[wilkie]

While I agree the music is great, due to my poor computer specs I have to play zoomed in quite far. I'm not positive, but if you zoom in close enough the era-specific music is replaced with civ-specific music. This could be the same music you hear at the diplo screen - in my current game I'm playing Izzie, so the music I hear zoomed in might be the same music if she came knocking on my embassy door if I was another civ.

Not sure.

 

[jimbob27]

It always makes me chuckle when Largo comes on. Anyone from england will instantly recognise it as the Hovis music. So it makes me think about the sandwichs my soldiers are carrying into war.

 

[Boris Godunov]

Who's piece is that modern "The People are Heroes" ? I really like that one, been playing in my head for some time now

edit: btw, Philip Glass and Vangelis (The City) might be good for modern era also, with Cool Jazz of course.

All of the modern pieces in the game are by John Adams. "The People Are The Heroes" is from his opera, Nixon in China. My personal favorite of the modern music is The Chairman Dances (which was piece that was dropped from the aforementioned opera).

I think they did a great job overall with the music, but it is a little too Western-centric. I mean, all of the music from Renaissance on is essentially European music. Throwing in some other cultures wouldn't have hurt.

 

[Ukas]

All of the modern pieces in the game are by John Adams. "The People Are The Heroes" is from his opera, Nixon in China. My personal favorite of the modern music is The Chairman Dances (which was piece that was dropped from the aforementioned opera).

I think they did a great job overall with the music, but it is a little too Western-centric. I mean, all of the music from Renaissance on is essentially European music. Throwing in some other cultures wouldn't have hurt.

Great, thanks! I agree with you, but god thing is you can include whichever music you like!

 

[Black Waltz]

I really liked the music. The Modern music was by far the most impressive. With Civ III I tended to turn off the music when the modern age came around as some of it was... Horrid. But the modern age music in Civ IV seems to keep the feel of the game and brings to mind a kind of expectant feel. Reminds me a lot of the music from Medal of Honour (The First Playstation 2 game). I really like GrandPianola2, ChairmanDances has great energy... They are just nice.

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

I agree I never thought classic music was good until I started yo play CIV IV. whoever was in charge of music rocks!

 

[naterator]

thank you romelus! i was starting to think it was just me. i actually keep the music off and put on my own music all the time.