Medieval Total War (2002)
Audio Director | Composer | Post-Production | Sound Design
This was my first attempt at doing Medieval battle music. I mixed genuine medieval instruments with a large, modern orchestra, to create an historical but cinematic soundtrack.
What inspired your Arabian/Muslim faction soundtracks? I love them all. I know Moj Dilbere, but the rest?
Jeff, although your Rome and Shogun works are of course highly regarded, I really think the sound design on Medieval I (and II) were inspired masterpieces, your best works. We’d dearly love to hear more like this. If not another Total War, then something akin to the Thief series? Something set in a dark, dank gritty medieval atmosphere without any skellies, ghosts & goblins getting in the way. I think you know what I’m talking about. There’s hundreds of “medieval” videogames with the usual monsters and magick but very few with a dark atmospheric sense of fear/realism minus the “Disney factor”. Thief, Mount & Blade and the upcoming Kingdom Come spring to mind, but other than these examples, what else is there? Think: your inspired Alien Isolation remake of the Gerry Goldsmith classic only this time set in the middle (or dark) ages! So one would hope, if we finally start to see more games appear like this in future, the producers see sense to hire the right person for the sound design and music job! Can we all chant, ‘Amen’ to that? (in a medieval monastery sung in “Latin”, or otherwise) 🙂
I would love to work on another medieval based game, the darker the better 🙂
“The darker, the better”, seems we have things in common, that is why I love your music.
Just a quetion though, some here in the comments are talking about the songs you have put “somewhere”? Is there a song list on this page, because I don’t see it? Was it on an older version of site and now removed?
Thanks in advance
It’s true, the combined atmosphere from the music (and ambience) along with the in-game artwork (I immensely preferred the drawings to the animated content in subsequent releases) contributed to an immersion-factor unparalleled in any of the sequels for me. Euro Summer I, II, and Winter I & II along with a few others are on my “work” playlist to put me into a hyper-focus mode. Fantastic work!
It is great to see that others do have similar habbits to yours. I too listen to the tracks you named, while coding.
Oh man… I haven’t played this game (and therefore not listened to this soundtrack) in about ten years, so when I today decided to listen to these songs again, I was astonished. I could remember almost every one of them and all of them just brought a big smile to my face, reminding me of all those hours I spent as a kid leading my armies to victory to a magnificent soundtrack that perfectly encapsulated the dark world of the Middle Ages. Thank you Jeff for this and all your other amazing soundtracks. The greatness of the Total War series derived from a great many factors, not least your fantastic music.
Is there somewhere I could legally obtain the entire soundtrack? Some of my favourites are not present on this site, and I would love to have a copy of all the music to this game if possible. You are an amazing composer, one of my all-time favourites, and this is my favourite of all your soundtracks! (Though I must admit, ‘Forever’ from RTW is an amazing song.)
At this stage no. I’ve been trying to get Sega to release this stuff officially but no luck yet.
Wow! Thanks for the quick reply! Shame Sega won’t release it. Well, if it comes down to a numbers game, count me in as a sure sale if it ever does get released!
In the The Witcher 3 soundtrack there is a track called The Fields of Ard Skellig which contains a fragment of European Summer. Is it a ripoff or are both themes based on another tune? Thanks 🙂
It’s possible they used the same sample library I did. I’ve stopped using them for this exact reason.
Which sample libraries did you use, out of curiosity? I too have heard this melody in numerous songs and I really like it!
I think it is actually a common irish or scottish song or something. A traditional melody.
your arabic/ottoman musics are amazing. they are extremely good. thanx for that you and hour wife as a Türk/Ottoman. regards.
Hi Jeff. Did you know that your Euro Mobilize 1 track playing on Survivor – Turkey’s every tribal council and perfectly fits. And i want to ask something. Some sources says that the song’s lyrics are medieval spanish. Is that correct?
Yes, I’ve heard they’re using that song…in fact I’m not sure they have permission to do so. The lyrics are a made up language of mine 🙂
Hey, Jeff. Did you do the campaign map music too? It was cool and I miss it to complete the collection. Thanks
Iv’e played MTW since I was little and I am now a big fan of the music and the game, I’m also a fan of “Fairy Tail” a very popular anime, and I couldn’t believe my ears when i heard “European Summer” in episode 106 at about 11:55 in to the episode. I’m just wondering if you know anything about this? I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
That’s because their composer used the same sample library I used at the time. I’ve stopped using sample libraries for this exact reason. So, that’s not my song in their show, we just share the same “riff”. Thanks for pointing that out though 🙂
Please, would you mind offering a insight about the compositions/songs such as
Arab(ian) Summer and Euro(pian) Summer?
For the first one, who was the lady singing the Serbian song “Moj Dilbere” and for the 2nd whether you’re the original composed of that violin melody or is it someone else since I’ve heard it being used in both movies and anime alike.
Both of these songs use sound clips that are from libraries that composers like me use on occasion. This why you hear these clips in other movies and games. At the time it was a convenient way to get the song sounding “close” to the culture we were trying to emulate. I’ve stopped using libraries for the most part as I want to be more original and accurate now. Neither of these songs exactly match the cultures in the game…but the game has many regions, so we had to create music that had the feeling that it came from that general part of the world. Apologies if anyone finds this offensive that I’ve generalised the naming using “Arabic”. Clearly this is wrong, but at the time I didn’t know otherwise.
Thank you. Personally, found it amusing and funny, but never offensive.
I was under impression that someone might’ve stolen your compositions, but I see now that’s not the case. Much appreciated.
All the best!
The Arab Summer track has only a vague similarity to Moj Dilbere. So is it your original arrangement? Because Deep Inside by Ikarus and others that followed sound far more like your version than the original Moj Dilbere. If that is the case did you get compensated for the copyright?
I’ve been wondering many years that what wind instrument do you use in arab outro loop? I haven’t found any matching arabic instrument so is it just clarinet? (drives me crazy)
That instrument is called a Duduk, and is basically an Arabic clarinet.
Sir these are simply the best battle musics I have ever listened. Any chance of more musics like viking mobilize and viking battle
I’d also like to ask about the song “Arabian Summer”. The lyrics are clearly Serbian, it’s the song “Moj Dilbere”. Since Serbian people were never Arab, quite the contrary, how do you explain the lyrics used?
I’d like to ask about “European Summer” song. Were you the composer? And if so, are you aware of the fact that there’s a bit of that song in the anime “Fairy Tail”?
I’m missing the brilliant strategy map(winter/summer) music here, especially the arabic ones. I could listen to that for days.
^ What RPK said. I like the ‘battle music’ listed here, but I’d really like to get hold of the map music. If you have them, please share them!
First off sir, I’d like to say that I love the games and I love your music! Secondly, I’d like to ask, on Euro Mobilize 1, is the singing latin? and if so, what does it mean?
Hi Chris, thanks for your note. It’s actually no language at all. Us composers have some pretty nifty tools these days, including a program that can make the sound of a choir singing any vowels or consonants we wish. So it is in fact possible to make them sing in English or Latin, or Japanese for that matter, but in this case I chose what I thought sounded best for the song…but ultimately it’s meaningless. In later projects, I started to add meaning to what they say.
Cheers,
Jeff
You sir, are a legend! I was listening to the music of the total war series and thinking,,,who is this guy? And then, I found your site. I just wanted to say…you are awesome! 🙂
This music is great ; ] Especially Euro Mobilize 2, and arab battles. On youtube, track “Euro Mobilize 2” some people had called it “Byzantine Imperial March”. Well, when i listen to this track i can imagine of great Byzantine Army, which is marching forward, against the turks or egyptians.
Howewer, i’m playing guitar, and when i was looking on internet for the tabs of this track, unfortunatly – i didn’t found anything. So i have to ask, how can i get the tabs or the notes of “Euro Mobilize 2” ?
Thank you for response ; ]
I’m sorry, but I don’t have the tabs for these songs.
Something about this soundtrack really separates it from the other total war games. It encapsulates the feeling that was the miserable times of the dark ages.
I know what you mean, I think med2 missed some of that darkness.
Does indeed Jeff
I personally think that Viking Mobilize, Euro Mobilize 1, and Arab Battle 3 are majestic masterpieces – but they do need to be finished if you know what I mean – every time you listen to each track you have a feeling of a story that wasn’t told completely.
Truly hope you will find some time eventually to finish those tracks into complete ones
Best of Luck
Fang
Amazing music, takes completly into medieval atmosphere. Especially arabian tunes, just get shiver down my spine. A lot of thanks for such inspiring music
European win and Euro Battle 3 aren’t working properly…
Should be fixed now.