New (Medieval!) Music

Who doesn't love ye olden tymes? I sure do. From the use of music modes, of which I employ the use of dorian and mixolydian modes, to the instrumentation, to the production, it is always a challenge, and a blast.

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This music was written for a pitched project which requested authentic sounding medieval music, but perhaps not truly authentic in a musical sense. Afterall... we DO need to enjoy and want to hear this music.

What can be challenging when trying to produce period-based music is that the character, tone, and vibe of the instruments can make all the difference between sounding authentic or not. It also can be the biggest hurdle when trying to mix, make sure pitches and intonation match, and that the whole piece still sounds cinematic, without being too over-produced.

Lyres and lutes for example, can sound great. They can also sound incredibly tinny, too transient with plectrum on the strings, and a lot of samples and sample libraries have managed to capture these performances in what sounds like a cardboard box.

However, the minor grievances I have against the sampling of the instruments melts away when I get them working together in a proper consort! The subtle intonation clashes, the unique thunks, clinks, and ticks of the instruments, and the organic nature of how they were captured. While the "box" these were recorded in, isn't my ideal space to hear them, there were not ribbon mics and U87s back in the year 900.

This is what AI thinks a lute looks like. Not too far off, but the ones I used sounded rougher than this looks.

Of course I keep calling this medieval, but realistically, this is all closer to renaissance sounding music, with musicality that doesn't seem representative of any time period outside of modern ones. BUT, in my head it is medieval, and it served the purpose for the pitch. Maybe one day you will hear my music and play the game it came from! Enjoy.

King Bee - Verba Ex Nusquam