The music of Valenor
All the factions in the game have their own distinct musical worlds, which represent the mentality and essence of the faction.
The Witches
The Witches are mediums for the powers of the Thunder god. This power is called upon by beating large frame drums and metallic rattles in ritualistic dances and hymns thus raising the spirits for the great magical events. However, the witches are also in the agony of being witches, having their own shadow as their eternal companion. This is manifested in crying, weeping hymns and by the sound of shrieking overtone flutes. Rhythms are based on this duality in their spirit and existence, having 2, 4 and 8 beats.
Instruments
-Large frame drums (bodhrans, rain drums)
-Overtone flutes (metal)
-Metallic rattles (bells, resonant steel rods..)
Lyrics
Weeping, crying hymns, raising of spirits
All the music the witches play is derived from their dances and rituals, nothing is especially composed. The rituals are powerful and primitive, spiritual and intuitive, being fanatic in the end, liberating. There aren't any lyrics, or there might be only a few words or mantras that are repeated in unison.
The Dragontamers
The Dragontamers have traveled a lot and been influenced by a variety of cultures. Their repertoire of music is large and entertaining. Their songs tell sagas and stories, give accompaniment for their merry-making and raise their spirits for going to a war. The subject is most commonly the dragon. Dragontamers use birch bark horns for signaling and for making noise, many of them have a jew's harp. A very few might play bagpipes and tin whistles, accompanied by little frame drums. Someone might even have a worn violin. For large events war drums are played.
Instruments
- Large djembe-like drums
- Small frame drums
- Bagpipe(s)
- Violin(s)
- Jew's harps
- Tin whistles
- Birch bark horns
- War horns
Lyrics
Entertaining, having fun, sagas, war-boosting, subjecting the dragon.
The music of the dragontamers is easy going mainly in 4/4 or 6/4 rhythm. Some of the music may be danceable, the general feeling is jolly and harsh, freeform. The melodies are simple and easy to join along. Lots of tunes will be composed, and player input of tunes and lyrics would be great. A band playing aforementioned instruments would be very welcomed.
Cinderhill
(All the people who are the natives of the village.)
Cinderhillians live in a trancelike state, in which they sympathize with the mindset of the dragon. When the dragon breathes, they breathe (hence the many wind instruments). Occasionally, when someone gets so inspired that he/she breathes through an instrument and plays a melody, all the people around close to him/her join in to this spontaneous ritual. After a moment passes and the playing is finished, someone recites a prayer or tells a memory or an anecdote of some late villager. Everybody feels now like being set free from the trance for a while and they continue doing what they were doing. These occasions may happen once or many times a day and may include any number of people or be just an intimate solo/couple ritual.
Instruments
-Flutes, all kinds of flutes capable of playing one to any number of notes
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-Reed flutes
-Whirling strings
-Bull roarers
-Wooden rattles
Lyrics
Religious, life, history, sentimental, personal, communal, prayer-like
The exact notation will probably be the basic major having the note C as a base. The music is simple and catchy, almost like children's tunes. Villagers are innocent. Complex tunes are very strange. Player input of lyrics and tunes is welcome. The rituals are light and releasing, intuitive. The rhythmical context is freer than that of the adepts of the Dragon, 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 and 5/4.
The Adepts of the Dragon
The music of the adepts is centered on just a few large sounding instruments, and played only as a part of the rituals/dances. There are two to three very long trumpets, having a length of about three meters and different pitches. Very large drums are beaten to the sound of the trumpets in a slow rhythm noting a change in the ritual. The adepts repeat a mantra or a prayer in unison or solo, reciting and singing (or just making a constant drone) on the base note of the pitch of a trumpet.
Instruments
-1-2 large drums
-2-3 big trumpets
Lyrics
Meditative, praising
The rituals are very minimalistic and centered around only 1-3 different notes. The rhythms are somewhat more complex, 2/4, 3/4, 5/4 and 7/4. The rhythms are derived from the dragon's physical characteristics that the instruments likewise imitate. The rituals are repeated four times a day, morning to evening, within a different rhythmical context each time. The rituals are ages old, some of the lyrics may include the precise instructions on how to do the ritual. Some of the rituals may be close to those of dervishes, and some may be highly meditative and quiet.
Other instruments in the game
-Wooden wind chimes
-Large wind flutes
-Ceremonial huge drums and trumpets (different than those of the adepts)
-Large bells
-...
The huge drums and trumpets are for large rituals only. Rhythms start out really slowly, and take hours and hours to reach the climax. In the beginning there might be some rhythmical variation and complexity, as the tempo increases the rhythm gets simpler and different notes are fused into one chord or repeated sequentially. The ritual induces a huge communal release and liberation from the everyday norms.
See also bringing your own instruments article and instructions how to make instruments by yourself.
