I don't mean who do you want to compose the song, or if you want the soundtrack from an old game to return. I want to know what direction you guys feel the next Soundtrack should go in. Seeing as we know almost nothing about the game (If it even exists) this can be hard, but I still want to see what you guys think.

I personally want something new, yet still being traditional to the Elder Scrolls. Whatever they pick, the music will be great.

peaceful, calm, tranquil(Oblivion/Morrowind)

Where did you get bold and triumphant from for Oblivion? :huh:

Anything by Jeremy Soule is what I want, though.

Well, namely from the main theme. Also some of the "Ambient" tracks from the game seemed more bold than Morrowind. That, and it seemed to fit the Imperials/ Cyrodil.

I'm still lost. The main theme isn't even in the game. The soundtrack itself seems to be very peaceful.

Hmm, fair enough. I changed it.

Now you've excluded the Jeremy Soule option. Where did you get adventurous for Daggerfall from? Morrowind seemed adventurous. Where's the "any of the above" option?

You made me smile, then frown, then smile. Really though, describe Daggerfall's soundtrack...

I have no clue. Peaceful, calm, and tranquil?

That's what I thought Morrowind's was, too...

Can I make multiple choices?





Seriously, I voted for something new.

I don't want to make it multiple choice. Maybe I will though.

I really liked the soundtracks in both Morrowind and Oblivion. I feel pretty confident that Bethesda will make the soundtrack for the next game to be just right. I'd enjoy if the soundtrack was something completely new though, so I voted for that.

...b-but Jeremy Soule, right? Come on, man, we need to let Bethesda know. It must be Jeremy Soule! :flame:

I'm fine with atmospheric music. As I recall Oblivion's music tried just a bit too hard to be noticed; I'd prefer music that enhances the feel of an area, instead of pushing itself to the forefront. I wouldn't shed a tear for the loss of non-boss battle music, as well...I couldn't count the times in both Morrowind and Oblivion that a sudden jump to battle music completely killed the mood.

I don't really care whether it's Soule. As far as I'm concerned he topped himself in Total Annihilation years back and has been fairly unremarkable ever since.

As much as I agree on the sudden jumps to battle music thing, I don't know if I'd like there to be none at all. It would feel odd to be fighting to the peaceful soundtrack of Oblivion, imo. I think they just need to work on how suddenly they cut to the music. In at least 90% of the encounters with enemies I've had while exploring outside in both Morrowind and Oblivion, it was the cut to battle music that alerted me to an enemies presence, not the actual enemy itself. Often times I'd hear the music and look around for a few seconds before I actually saw the enemy. I'd prefer if the background music slowly became more and more intense as the enemy came closer to me, transitioning to full battle music when the enemy was right next to me.

Does anyone else feel as if no battle music, if it is kept, should play for smaller enemies, such as rats and mudcrabs, at all?

Come to think of it, that would be a nice improvement. I always thought it was a bit silly that I would sneak up on a mudcrab and get halfway through killing it before the battle music started playing for the whole 1-2 seconds it takes to finish it off.

Instead of it getting louder as they approach, I'd rather not tie it to them at all. Have it emerge after YOU make your first move, so it's not revealing enemies at all. Enemies capable of stealth attacks would be nice.

As far as playing it for smaller enemies, how's this; the scale of the music (volume, which track if there's more than one as there totally should be) is reflected by the level of the enemies attacking you, cumulatively. If you stop to squish a mudcrab, the music doesn't change at all. While the music is triggered by the player's actions, it still keeps track of the enemies attacking you once that happens. So, the lesser battle music starts when you fight a level 5 bandit, not at all for a single level 1 mudcrab, or the same music if 5 mudcrabs are attacking you simultaneously. The music would pick up and become more aggressive if more enemies join the battle, reflecting that it's getting more intense, and start out as a big deal if the enemy you're fighting deserves it. It could probably be kept on par with the player's level, so that as you become strong, weak enemies that used to be tough just get the weak music.

I like that idea.

Something epic and dramatic, if its skyrim they should get some help from Norwegian folk musicians, Norwegian hardingfele(fiddle) players for example .

I'd like that system. Hopefully Bethesda comes up with something similar to that.

...There's no "Strong, bold, spirit-raising (Guild Wars: Eye of the North)" option

Seriously, though, that's about as close to what I want for Skyrim as you can get. *sigh* I love Jeremy Soule. :wub:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeffIYU01jM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0jqIDfeOO4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMAoL-rc9kw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP7oumSoAqU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8HftCKcDXA&feature=related

EDIT: I voted "something completely new" because that's the closest thing to what I want

If the game is going to be set in skyrim i think i'd like it to be a mix of mysterious and sorrowfull, that's kinda how i view skyrim to be.


*edit. put the wrong location name in

I'd like a mix of music.

Open Day: Soft ambient music that allows for the natural sounds of your environment, bird calls, grass and leaves rustling in the breeze.
Open Night: Slightly more ominous, deeper sorrowful style

Happy Towns/Cities: Have buskers and musicians and bards in areas providing the music, as you walk past taverns and inns you might hear ribald songs.
Unhappy Towns/Cities: Dour, solemn music

Caves/Tombs/Ruins: More mysterious adventuring type of music

Battle: Personally I'd like battle to have no music initially. Rather the sound of breathing, heartbeat, the creak and swish of armor. Music can me slowly introduced and the tempo and urgency of the music can rise with the threat or danger of the battle... as has already been suggested.

I guess what I'm saying is a greater variety of music for the various major circumstances you find yourself in.

Well, all of them really. Unless the mood of the game is permanently tranquil or sorrowfull, there needs to be music to fit every atmosphere and situation to stop the the atmosphere of the game feeling monotonous. Variety is good you know :goodjob:

Dr. Dre

I'd definitely want to see a return to the more thematic songs of Daggerfall. As much as I enjoy the soundtracks in the newer games, Eric Heberling, to me, is the person that embodies the spirit of TES the best in music - adventure, mystery, intrigue. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ97I2p4_YY I know that we'll never get him back, but at the very least, I hope that the music used in TES V is broken up into more playlists as it was in Daggerfall. Instead of just having public, outdoor, and dungeon rotations of music, there should be a few more tracks based on time of day, weather, et cetera.

Perhaps not even totally new pieces - but subtle rearrangements with the instruments or tempo could do wonders, kind of like Monkey Island 2's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N41TEcjcvM&feature=related system. For those who don't know what this is, it was basically employed by LucasArts in many of their later adventure games for adding additional variance to the soundtrack. For example, there would be a town that had its own theme, and each area within the town played its own variant (different instruments and whatnot) when you entered. This wasn't a boring crossfade or sudden change, however. The engine would slowly change instruments, or loop a 1-5 second "filler" bit in the old song until the rhythm synchronized with the new one. Perhaps the tempo would pick up for the underlying drumbeat but not the other instruments, so that the pace of the new song would come into effect with the other instruments remaining ambient. Or new instruments would be added to the rhythm as you progressed farther across the screen. It was very cool, and I'd love to see something in this spirit for TES V. Or even a less sophisticated system of variants and crossfades. Please.


It's odd. I love Jeremy Soule's compositions for Guild Wars, but I really don't care much for his Oblivion soundtrack.