{"id":59937,"date":"2012-07-26T19:27:15","date_gmt":"2012-07-27T00:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=59937"},"modified":"2012-07-26T19:33:57","modified_gmt":"2012-07-27T00:33:57","slug":"inside-the-music-of-lotro-the-riders-of-rohan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2012\/07\/26\/59937-inside-the-music-of-lotro-the-riders-of-rohan\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the music of LOTRO: The Riders of Rohan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In January, Lord of the Rings Online an expansion to the MMO called Riders of Rohan<\/a>. Launching on September 5 this year, the game expansion adds the regions of East Rohan, Amon Hen and the Eaves of Fangorn Forest, a new mounted combat system plus a new, original score by award-winning composer Chance Thomas.<\/p>\n

Thomas’ work should be familiar to anyone who’s already played the Lord of the Rings Online Games: Shadows of Angmar and Mines of Moria. Writer Layton Shumway<\/a> recently visited a recording studio near Thomas\u2019 Utah home and learned just how much effort the maestro behind the music of Turbine Entertainment\u2019s Lord of the Rings Online puts into his craft.<\/p>\n

Inside the music of LOTRO: The Riders of Rohan<\/h3>\n

by Layton Shumway<\/h4>\n

If you doubt<\/b> composer Chance Thomas\u2019 credibility as a Tolkien fan, put those fears to rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get a little nerdy about it,\u201d Thomas admitted to me.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Thomas told me that he\u2019s got heavily annotated maps of Middle-earth, reams of unpublished background info, and most importantly, dog-eared and battered copies of Tolkien\u2019s original works — all in an attempt to capture the soul of Middle-earth in an interactive form.<\/p>\n

(You can see Thomas talk a bit more in-depth about his research and musical philosophy in this YouTube video<\/a>, posted on TORn a few days ago<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

For the upcoming LotRO expansion Riders of Rohan, Thomas described to me the challenges of capturing the melodic feel of the rolling grasslands of Theoden, while avoiding the well-known strains of Howard Shore\u2019s film soundtrack.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve all seen the movie. What\u2019s the most iconic theme in all of Howard Shore\u2019s writing?\u201d Thomas said, humming the easily recognizable eight-note motif. \u201cI\u2019m thinking, I can\u2019t compete with that. What am I going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a difficulty Thomas has faced before in his work on licensed products: trying to stay true to what the literature teaches while dealing with a different product that\u2019s very prominent in the public consciousness.<\/p>\n

The answer Thomas found lay in the history of Middle-earth. \u201cYou enter the Wold of Rohan in the game,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cWhat has happened? What\u2019s happening now? Rohan is a rugged, hardy country. These are hardy people, sort of based loosely on Anglo-Saxon people. They\u2019ve had some glory in the past, but right now is not so good. So I\u2019ve got to convey an idea of faded glory, an idea of breadth, expanse, strength, and power.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cThe expansion takes place at a time when the War is encroaching, but it hasn\u2019t really reached a full boil — more of a simmer. Trying to fold all that into music is an interesting challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas described the three general types of gameplay that Riders of Rohan will feature: expansion, travel, and combat. This includes mounted battles, a first for the LotRO series.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked a lot about that with the development team,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cThe basic idea was, I want to feel like I\u2019m galloping along. And when you hear the percussion, you\u2019ll swear you can hear things like horse harnesses. There\u2019s a real leathery quality, because we\u2019re using a lot of hand drums with leather skins.\u201d<\/p>\n

I listened to a section of these tunes while I visited Thomas in the studio, and the music contains a tremendous energy and feeling of forward motion. There\u2019s a lilting, rhythmic quality to it that definitely evokes images of the horse-lords of the Rohirrim.<\/p>\n

Thomas went on to describe other specific areas in Riders of Rohan: \u201cYou go to the Sutcrofts, and the War hasn\u2019t really come there yet. They\u2019re sort of in a bubble. So their music is still peaceful — a little na\u00efve, maybe. But in the Norcrofts, the Lord of Norcrofts is secretly in league with Saruman. So you\u2019ve got this feeling that something\u2019s wrong, this undercurrent of dissonance and anxiety. It makes you look over your shoulder. Then you\u2019ve got the Entwash Vale, as you approach Fangorn. So that starts to feel a little more mysterious while still keeping some of the core Rohan feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you combine Thomas\u2019 enthusiasm for and knowledge of the source material with his skill as a composer, you know that wherever players travel in LotRO, they\u2019ll have the right tune to fit the mood. That\u2019s a job Thomas takes very seriously.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to say, when the player is playing the game, a good game score plays the player, moving their emotions,\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n

The Riders of Rohan expansion for Lord of the Rings Online hits stores on September 5, 2012.<\/p>\n

Written by Layton Shumway<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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