ReMix:The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim "Legends Around the Fire" 5:06

By RebeccaETripp

Arranging the music of 2 songs...

"Around the Fire", "Dragonborn"

Primary Game: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks , 2011, WIN), music by Jeremy Soule

Posted 2018-04-11, evaluated by the judges panel


Skyrim + Rebecca E. Tripp = good. She takes on "Around the Fire" and the iconic "Dragonborn" theme with this mixed piece that starts off deliberate and more folk/traditional and then escalates into a grander, symphonic form, with plenty of choral bits:

"This is an excerpt from a medley, actually! But I also made this as a standalone track!

Firstly, Jeremy Soule's work is beyond genius. He's one of the most technically skilled composers of our time (as well as being one of the most prolific and inspired). To do it justice takes a heck of a lot of patience and understanding of the complexity and subtlety of his original compositions.

Secondly, Skyrim is one of my favorite games, so I had to do it right!

Thirdly, Skyrim's soundtrack is already orchestral, thus I had to make it different. I went the Japanese/Celtic/romantic classical hybrid route - as I do with almost everything; I went for warm, ethereal and otherworldly, since that is my style - in my heart, this medley represents the secret, sacred warmth of Skyrim buried deep within the ice and stone.

And, finally, I had (virtually) no MIDI to work with. I had to do over 90% of it from scratch. Although the vast majority of the harmonies and layers I add to my covers/remixes are original, it's still a lot easier to have something to work with. But there was an upside to this! It forced me to work on a blank slate -- which forced a lot of extra creativity out of me."

I'm a huge Skyrim fan as well, and have really been enjoying it all over again in the new form factor afforded by the Switch port, which is excellent. I'd LOVE to see Bethesda port Fallout 3 & New Vegas, the latter of which I still haven't played - the screen is large enough to make these games work, and being able to pick up the system and continue immediately is a huge convenience. But I digress; I like the flow of this arrangement, how it slowly begins around an isolated campfire and ends up ascending to something ethereal & "beyond" - very narrative and visual in its approach. There were a couple choral attacks and a few isolated cymbals that I could have done without; for the latter, pairing a cymbal with at least one other hit - usually a bass drum or timpani - tends to achieve the desired impact. More than a nitpick, but certainly not a dealbreaker. Sir_NutS writes:

"This isn't as bombastic as the great majority of the arrangements for the song of the Dragonborn, but it has its own charm. It's less of a Hollywood epic, and more of a strong, Celtic flavored arrangement. The use of drums is subtle and effective (with exception of the marimba, which does sound a bit upfront). Overall, this is solid, with some imperfections, but very enjoyable and with its own distinctive approach to a very familiar song."

Chimpazilla adds:

"Very nice arrangement of these two sources. I agree with the crits on the instrument attacks, but overall the instruments are sequenced very well and the chants fit in quite well. Nice work!"

Isolated cymbals and sample attacks aside, the arrangement itself is some of Rebecca's better work, and since she has a great deal of excellent work, that's a statement in itself :) I'd like to see her start refining the production side of things and iterating a bit to get some of the details ironed out; her creative (and beautiful) musical ideas are usually being matched by mixing & instrumentation that can fully express them, but there are tiny gaps w/ regard to attacks, reverb application, etc. that could elevate certain more ambitious orchestrations, like this one. Regardless, it's very cool to see her unique style applied to a more modern game soundtrack from a different publisher, especially a game I've spent so much time with. Enjoy!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 3 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
trupotato
on 2020-06-10 13:49:51

Girl! This is so amazing! It stirred so much inside me. I love Dragonborn already, and I love choir music already (I was in choir for 11 years). But this actually brought me to tears. I adore this remix! Thank you for sharing this with the world. :wub:

avatar
Skinner3D
on 2019-01-26 09:11:08

I somehow missed the fact that Jeremy Soule did the Skyrim music. Kudos to the artist though. She managed to make it instantly recognizable for me as Jeremy Soule music. Even after knowing who the original composer is, my brain still said "well this is what Skyrim would sound like if Jeremy composed it" It was good. I like it a lot, even though I am discovering this track almost a year later :D

avatar
Liontamer
on 2018-04-11 11:08:20

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (2 Songs)


Primary Game:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks , 2011, WIN)
Music by Jeremy Soule
Songs:
"Around the Fire"
"Dragonborn"

Tags (12)


Genre:
Folk,Symphonic
Mood:
Epic,Solemn
Instrumentation:
Brass,Choir,Hand Drums,Harp,Orchestral,Strings,Woodwinds
Additional:
Time > Tempo: Variable

File Information


Name:
Elder_Scrolls_5_Skyrim_Legends_Around_the_Fire_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
8,205,816 bytes
MD5:
77309a27d85bc8cfb154a7912f381f56
Bitrate:
212Kbps
Duration:
5:06

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