# Music on Age of Empires 3 ... what do you think?



## Waywyn (Dec 1, 2005)

Hi all,

yesterday i purchased Age of Empires 3 because i really love the style and the strategic elements etc.

first of all, if the musicians of this game are also here in the forum and reading this, this is just a question ...

... i finished installing the game and started to watch the intro everything came out great at the beginning. lots of native instruments and cool vocals, choirs.

but when the orchestra dropped in i really felt they "dropped" in. everythings sounds small, nearly no reverb. on the other side i have the feeling they overdubbed some with real instruments but there is no dynamic or feeling of "yeah, make me wanna explore some worlds and win some battles" ...

however, there are some choir things in there which are really cool and also i don't wanna say much about the melodies and composition, the only thing which really disturbes me, is the sound. i know that everything doesn't have to be huge, but sometimes it just sounds like somebody used VSL samples but forgot to place reverb or at least a little something over it. it sounds dry kinda lifeless and really small ...

i also know that music is a matter of taste and that musicians are the one that criticise most, but HOW on earth can that happen on one of the biggest titles ever?

to be honest, if someone would post this music here he wouldn't get not really the best comments on it. at least thats my thought.

again, i don't wanna attack someone and i hope it doesn't sound like this, but when i listen to all those guys here with all their talents i ask myself why they even on the biggest titles don't care about those things.

why we spend thousands and thousands of bucks on gear and libraries and reverb software and other voodoo-stuff if not even the big companies (or some of them) care?

EDIT: by the way, here is the link to the main theme:
http://www.ageofempires3.com/Files/Audi ... nTheme.mp3


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## Niah (Dec 1, 2005)

They might not care but we do. 8) 
What I mean is no matter what people ask you to do you will always try to deliver the best possible music quality-wise right? You have to be able to take the initiative and apply to your music even if it isn't asked, after all it's your name and reputation as a composer that is on the line.
At least that's the way I see it.

Now, I've heard the clip and I too find it a little strange why there's no reverb at all, perhaps a decision not to make the music bigger than the game. Who knows...


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## Waywyn (Dec 1, 2005)

hey niah, thanks for starting the discussion.

of course, at the end it is important that you do the best you can and deliver best quality and in the end it will show how is best sounding/most reliable/most inspiring composer.

but the other thing you mentioned is, that it was maybe a decision to make the sound not bigger than the game. well, the thing is you can have battles with up to 100 units on the screen and also i think there are other ways to make music smaller and intimate than just leaving the reverb out ... who knows 

i mean, i think either something went wrong or nobody cares. ... but i am just a little dissapointed because aoe3 is one of the most expected and awaited games and it surely is one of the biggest gaming titles out there (so to say a quadruple a-title ).

.. and we all know, in strategy games, music is one of the most important things because sometimes you just build and build and trade and the music doesn't have to get either boring or bad sounding.


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## choc0thrax (Dec 1, 2005)

I've played the AOE3 demo and I liked the music.


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## José Herring (Dec 1, 2005)

I hate to break it to you all but at least some of that is live orchestra recorded in a small studio or hall.

It's just recorded with what sounds like a 40 piece.

The more I listen the more I realize that it may be all live.

It has that old NBC studio orchestra sound.

Jose


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## Ed (Dec 1, 2005)

Yea it sounds all live to me. Not a very nice mix but still live.


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## José Herring (Dec 1, 2005)

What went wrong? I've done a lot of mix stuff too and quite frankly that's the worst production I've heard considering that he had at least some live players.

Jose


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## Waywyn (Dec 2, 2005)

yeah right, i really like the music and the instruments used etc, but it just sounds like he or they forgot to turn on a plugin or a chain of gear ...

mostly the ingame music is beautiful and supporting the game of course, but even he used live players it sounds static and not real. it is funny because you usually think that using live players makes the tune become more alive.


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## choc0thrax (Dec 2, 2005)

I'm talking about the ingame music though when saying I liked the music. It was very nice to listen to as I slowly built my base waiting to die.


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## Herman Witkam (Dec 2, 2005)

choc0thrax said:


> I'm talking about the ingame music though when saying I liked the music.



I meant the in-game music too. I thought the demo was a bit boring though, and I was actually just listening to the music.


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## Waywyn (Dec 2, 2005)

yeh choco, i agree with you. the ingame music i liked a lot, the melodies, the atmosphere composingwise, but i mainly talk about the sound ...


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