Any idea if they will bring him back to compose the music for Skyrim? I believe he is currently busy with Guild Wars 2, or perhaps he has finished with Guild Wars 2 and is working on other smaller projects which would be very good news. I don't follow the Bethesda twitter page, have the devs mentioned anything regarding this?

I don't think it's confirmed, but the song in the trailer is very promising.

Jeremy Soule is very very good, he did the guild wars soundtrack which I also love. I hope they have him doing the music!

He made the Morrowind theme, yes, but that doesn't mean that another composer couldn't have reworked it. That said, it's probably him again.

It most likely will be him.

Don't think I've ever heard Jeremy Soule do epic choir in any of his music. I will admit though that it does have a Soule-esque style to it. I honestly don't think anyone can pull off the music better than Soule can for this game...I mean he has a unique insight into the Elder Scrolls series that no other composer has.

It's probably Soule, who knows the soundtrack might even be finished already, I mean who knows how long they've been working on Skyrim, but considering New Vegas wasn't even made by Bethesda...

Anyone know who made the Skyrim theme music? It's awesome. ^^

I hope it's him, he knows how to create memorable melodies that do not get tiresome during gameplay.

Of course it has a "Soule-esque" sound to it, it's the reworked Morrowind theme and Soule made it, that was my point.

I hope so, I love the music from Oblivion and Morrowind.

I hate Soule's music with a burning passion (mainly because it, rather ironically, lacks soul - there's no real emotion in his pieces, and they all just sound like he's aiming for "high fantasy" rather than like he's aiming for a suitable, specific piece), but there's really not much chance that Bethesda's going to use anyone else. He's not especially expensive compared to some of the other composers in the business and he's what their fans are used to.

I agree; guess that's the most important thing in making background music for a game like TES. To this goal he really succeeds in creating some pleasing and sometimes inspiring music.

I do think his songs sound a bit texture-less sometimes; often the instruments blend into a rather undefined soundscape that tends to sound quite synthetic. I would have liked a well orchestrated (and REALLY orchestrated =P ) soundtrack for Skyrim, but going from the trailer it's still synths...

Luckily the choir adds a lot of that organic quality that's missing from Soule's synth-orchestras =) . So there's still hope for some more acoustic diversity.

I hope the combat music has had a major overhaul for Skyrim. It was ridiculously cheesy and overly dramatic, and the fact that it activated every time a rat knew I was there was jarring and meant that enemies could never sneak up on me.

Oblivion's soundtrack was disappointing compared to Morrowind's. I really hope the main theme is the only one being recycled.

To be honest I would prefer synths, only because I have seen quite a few orchestral concerts trying to play the music from oblivion and it didn't quite sound right..The best one was the Prague Symphony from Play! but even that didn't do a big enough justice to the music..here compare for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGyw_0IG5s0

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tuRz0wauQQ

That's one of Jeremy Soule's weaknesses. He isn't very good with combat music.. I've listened to almost all of his OST's from Oblivion to Guild Wars..none of the combat themes really stick out as masterpieces.

Hi Borbarad, you've got a point here. I think it's not because of an orchestra being less capable of playing video game music (I really, REALLY liked the theme for Prince of Persia 2008 [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDcFFkFO900]] and the StarCraft II soundtrack), but because Soule doesn't compose for an orchestra, but for synthesizers (at least, that's how things sound to me).

For example, if you've ever played on a synthesizer workstation, there's programs in there that allow you to play an entire "orchestra". If you play really softly, there's only woodwinds and glockenspiel. A little bit harder and strings kick in. Then the brass. Then, if you really torture those keys, cymbals and timpani automatically kick in for a little bit of synth-y epicness =P .

Especially the faster songs from Soule sound like they're composed this way, and then pimped a little. They don't really make good use of the colouring and layering that a good orchestral arrangement does. If you listen to the PoP-song, there's subtle rhythmic strings accompanying the Eastern solo-instruments, countermelodies etc.. Or this version which is a little more up Oblivion's alley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAnUwON9oxU . Again, it feels much more palpable than the Oblivion main theme because it's been arranged with a real orchestra in mind.

Hopefully, you can make some sense out of this =) .

Agreed. Soule is really over-rated. TESIII's music was really nice, I'll give him that. TESIV - when I played the opening, my brother asked me - "What is that, a Pirates of the Caribbean game?" :facepalm:

There are plenty of other awesome composers out there, I don't know why Bethesda keeps going back to Soule like a dog going back to lick its vomit.

But, hey, if you want LotR generic fantasy, Soule's probably the right guy for the job.

:ooo: You're joking right? The real orchestra sounds amazing compared to the synth!

Honestly, I wouldn't think Soule was so bad, but the fact is that as far as I know he can't do ANY other style. Even Total Annihilation, a futuristic sci-fi RTS about giant robots blowing each other up, has what often sounds like a high fantasy soundtrack (and again, doesn't really evoke any particular feeling or emotion - it's better than his more recent work, but still not something I would call "good").

As for why they keep using him... well, again, he's cheaper than a lot of the alternatives and they have a good working relationship with him. It makes perfectly good business sense for them to continue to use him.

I always thought OB's music sounded bland. Didn't really remind me of POtC, but I don't remember it well (and there you have it). POtC music was composed by Hans Zimmer and I don't think Soule is comparable with him, which is why the newest Skyrim theme surprised me, it's of higher quality.

Mr. Soule has livened up my occasional walks and bus rides, that's for sure.

Is it just me or did the trailer's soundtrack sound suspiciously like the Morrowind theme, just with a touch of hymns?

Edit: I ofcourse have my alarm set to play Nerevar Rising.

I dunno, I've heard more visceral music from the God of War series. I guess if you haven't played the games, Skyrim's trailer music would make you go "Woooah, dude, that was intense!"

I've played through God of War several times and I still liked the Skyrim teaser's music better. I also listen to a lot of soundtrack/trailer music regularly and, even if there are better pieces, it's still a pretty damn great theme IMO.

I love Zimmer and all he does (not just PotC, his work on the muppet treasure island got me hooked), but I agree, the two really aren't comparable. I want to say that Zimmer is in a higher tier, but I can't really judge.