The Music

Here is a sample, the last part with the excellent Harp piece played by Verlene.

      (22Khz, mono, 16 bit, 55 seconds, 2.4MB)

I started a bit late arranging for the music. For quite a while, I was hoping to find an existing piece that would suit the story and the timing, but finding such a combination proved to be almost impossible. Then the decision to hire someone who would write it.

I had a music in mind, a mood, some samples from various cds. I then met Mike Crowley who offered his help and his extensive knowledge of ancient music and instruments.

The time was tight because of the Siggraph deadline. Writing a piece involve many steps and trips to the studio, and there was not enough time to go into long reviews of the work in progress. But the final recording, just a couple of days before the deadline, fixed all the glitches and proved to be an excellent companion to the visual part.

A word from Mike

The music which accompanies Eroica was very much a group effort, I could not have done it on my own and feel very much indebted to both the other musicians. A lot of credit should also go to Roberto who, although not a musician himself, had a very clear idea of what he wanted the music to contribute in terms of emotional impact.

As far as I could, I tried to use instrumentation which was appropriate to the medieval context. That meant no electronics, guitars or drum-kits although I did use a variety of hand-drums. To highlight the ominous and scary feeling at the beginning I played a minor second on the bowed psaltery (a truly medieval instrument) then began the rhythm, first on a berimbau (Brazilian musical bow, not medieval but it worked) then on hand drums. The bass flute (an octave below the normal flute) then joins in, playing the "ground bass". After the titles, the harp begins a simple four-to-the-bar counterpoint against the ground. As the drawbridge descends and the knight waits to enter the castle, the main theme begins on the pipes. Next, as the first rays of dawn penetrate the castle, the pipes hand the theme over to the penny-whistle. Finally, as the knight pushes open the doors to the throne room, the pipes return, playing the theme with the whistle, and extra percussion (tabla, congas, tambourine) adds to the mounting excitement. Immediately after the "punch-line", as the scene changes to dawn over the mountains and we see two birds in flight, the harp takes a solo for the coda which is a reprise of the last eight bars of the theme.

Mike Crowley

Instrument

Musician

Music is Copyright 1998 Roberto Ziche

HOME - INFO - IMAGES - ANIMATIONS - TECHNICAL - AUTHOR