When you start up the game, a cutscene plays that introduces you to the sea of thieves. During this cutscene, a long shanty plays. This shanty is quite good and would fit right into the list of playable shanties.
Here is a link to the official Tavern Tunes video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExwpSXwYuOU&list=PL51podOC3ZN3cQCSjgDiUHy10kuKXauG_&index=6
Put the Shanty From the Opening Into the List of Shanties.
@boardbeard
Agreed, it would make an excellent shanty but listen to the instruments and imagine how difficult it would be to write the music for each individual in-game instrument, we currently have, to that tune.
There are obvious trumpets that, although possible, would lose so much if converted to the concertina.
The clicking beat could only be done with a solid object like a drumstick on the rim of the drum. Being tapped by hand would make it a deeper, less sharp, thud instead of a click.
I maybe wrong but it also sounds like violins are included to the mix. Perhaps the hurdy gurdy could replace them as the only stringed instrument we have.I am no expert and could be totally off the mark.
Perhaps the musicians among us could help clarify if this would be a mammoth task or not to break this tune down to each individual instrument currently at our disposal and still have each separate instrument sound good whilst carrying the tune.
@Musicmee, @Genuine-Heather, @pdt-mindstream what do you guys think?@admiral-rrrsole I think the first part, that sounds like a fairly basic shanty, is easily doable. That could be arranged for our three current instruments (and future ones) with little difficulty. The second section, as you noticed, is more fully orchestrated. It would certainly be possible to arrange it for a small ensemble, but would it be satisfying? I wouldn't know unless I tried it. But the first section would be lovely and could be extended a bit. :)
@genuine-heather
Thank you Heather, I appreciate your feedback on this matter.
My father was a brilliant musician who started out playing violin but mastered every instrument he touched. His band was always booked solid where he mainly played drums (and lead vocals), saxophone and double bass. He also played piano and electric guitar at times but not very often.
He tried to teach me to play drums but I was too young and foolishly impatient beating away on a learning pad when I wanted to be like John Henry Bonham from Led Zeppelin fame, overnight. lol
I envy all musicians.As for the melody of the "Maiden Voyage" tune, the change at around 0:50 kicks things up a gear and again at 1:15 which would be hard for four instruments to mimic.
As you've suggested, an extended play on the first 50 seconds would be a great inclusion to the SoT list of playable shanties.@admiral-rrrsole Hey, been meaning to reply to this since I first saw it... thanks for asking!
Yeah, it's a fantastic piece of music (I happen to love all of the music being done on this game; it's incredible).
This particular piece would need to be rearranged and recorded, specifically, for the in-game instruments. I think the Skeleton Captain fanfare would need to be removed, so, he'd probably have to come up with some changes and new ideas to fill the shanty out.
Still, I could definitely see it working as an in-game shanty. So, I don't disagree with you, @BoardBeard !
The opening of the piece is a marvelous movement that begins with the rough melody and slowly progresses, and picks up the pace, into a nice jam between instruments.The good thing is the shanties pretty much require a melody to be built around (and a melody each of the instruments could take, depending on who starts it and/or plays it solo).
The weird thing would be this - this melody in Maiden Voyage is a recurring melody that, to me, seems to be the main theme of Sea Of Thieves. It either represents the Sea Of Thieves, itself, or the pirates themselves (the players).
It's a beautiful melody that is used in many of the other pieces, sometimes hauntingly.
So, I think it could work, but I could also see it breaking a bit of a 4th wall (and could understand if they didn't want to include it as an in-game shanty). Not saying they shouldn't include it - just that I could understand not including it for that reason.
The percussion part wouldn't be a problem, as far as I'm concerned, as they already have the drum taking on a few different percussion sounds in the existing shanties (including a tambourine-like sound, if I recall correctly). The clacking percussion could easily be achieved by clacking against the rim of the drum, so that's fine.
I really do like the shambling feel to that piece and I think that's why it could make a cool shanty, if they so chose. The opening shambles a bit, before it all comes together, and builds to be rather strong (even without the fanfare it explodes into). And that's a good basis for an in-game shanty, in my opinion.
IN SUMMARY, hehe:
I can see why this piece would be selected as a good candidate for an in-game shanty.
It would need some additional creative work (to rewrite the middle bits, in place of the captain fanfare and such) as well as the obvious work of recording each of the instruments (as is the case for any in-game shanty).
You need to record the main melody line for each of the instruments, the backing parts for each of the instruments, and the drunken versions for each and every one of those as well.The melody of this song being the main melody of the Sea Of Thieves may be a positive or a negative.
(I typed this without seeing any further responses, as I'd probably be too lazy after reading whatever @Genuine-Heather typed, since I usually can't say it much better than what she tends to say, lol. And I'm generally apprehensive to type away, because once I start, I go on and on and on... and then need to edit a bunch to lessen how repetitive and incoherent my posts generally are).
:D@admiral-rrrsole said in Put the Shanty From the Opening Into the List of Shanties.:
@pdt-mindstream
Thank you for your reply.
Besides your professional input it gave me reason to play the tune again followed by "We shall sail together". lol
Nice way to start my day. :o)Haha, yeah, I put on a collection of the soundtrack today, myself! :D
I don't think I've had a single skeleton ship battle without stopping and thinking (usually saying, when not solo), "Man, I love this piece of music so much".Oh, and, after reading Genuine Heather's response... Yeah, I agree with that, entirely. A much shorter, more to the point, summation of my feelings about it, haha.
@pdt-mindstream said in Put the Shanty From the Opening Into the List of Shanties.:
I don't think I've had a single skeleton ship battle without stopping and thinking (usually saying, when not solo), "Man, I love this piece of music so much".
I agree. I believe the Cursed Sails score is one of my favorites from Mr. Beanland so far, especially the finale.
Honestly, my only complaint about the soundtrack to Sea of Thieves is that I wish there were more of it. What is there is brilliant, but rather understated for most of the game. Of course, I believe that was an intentional design choice. The sparsity lends itself to allowing the player characters to fill in the silence with their own exploits. And I admit it makes the moments when the full score finally comes to bear all the more dramatic. Skull forts, skeleton ships, the megalodon, the kraken, etc. wouldn't have nearly the same excitement without the score. The music amplifies the experience tremendously.
I'd love to see a "behind the scenes" video highlighting composer Robin Beanland's creative process, how/where the score was recorded, etc.
Oh, and, after reading Genuine Heather's response... Yeah, I agree with that, entirely. A much shorter, more to the point, summation of my feelings about it, haha.
On the contrary, I appreciated your detailed breakdown of all the points. Nicely done. :)
@genuine-heather said in Put the Shanty From the Opening Into the List of Shanties.:
@pdt-mindstream said in Put the Shanty From the Opening Into the List of Shanties.:
I don't think I've had a single skeleton ship battle without stopping and thinking (usually saying, when not solo), "Man, I love this piece of music so much".
I agree. I believe the Cursed Sails score is one of my favorites from Mr. Beanland so far, especially the finale.
Honestly, my only complaint about the soundtrack to Sea of Thieves is that I wish there were more of it. What is there is brilliant, but rather understated for most of the game. Of course, I believe that was an intentional design choice. The sparsity lends itself to allowing the player characters to fill in the silence with their own exploits. And I admit it makes the moments when the full score finally comes to bear all the more dramatic. Skull forts, skeleton ships, the megalodon, the kraken, etc. wouldn't have nearly the same excitement without the score. The music amplifies the experience tremendously.
I'd love to see a "behind the scenes" video highlighting composer Robin Beanland's creative process, how/where the score was recorded, etc.
Oh, and, after reading Genuine Heather's response... Yeah, I agree with that, entirely. A much shorter, more to the point, summation of my feelings about it, haha.
On the contrary, I appreciated your detailed breakdown of all the points. Nicely done. :)
I adore Beanland's musical work for the game.
I actually love how sparsely it's used, but I'm one of those weirdos that (despite being a musician) prefers little-to-no music while I'm playing video games. Obviously there are good uses for it and all. And, yes, I think they nailed a terrific balance with keeping the natural ambiance sprinkled with full-on music at the right times.
Although, I also think the use of little bits of music was done extremely well - when your ship picks up speed, when the winds change, when the sails get full wind (although, perhaps a bit overly done with the brig)... there are a bunch of little musical cues that pop up splendidly and don't interfere with the immersion and other sounds going on in the game (and our own music-making instruments).Haha, anyway, we should actually start a Robin Beanland appreciation thread (with special note to the entire sound design team, and whoever is responsible for how it was all worked into the game-play). I gush about it all the time, lol, and can do so indefinitely.
Also, there is one brief behind the scenes that I recall:
Some cool little inside info, but I could certainly use more.
(I almost began typing more about certain bits of music I enjoy most, but I'll save it... for now, lol)
We should tweet him about including the Forsaken Shores shanty as a song for the players.
Rocking The Plank: The Music of Sea of Thieves | Inside Xbox
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