Bochum Symphony Orchestra

For the first time in the Gothic series an orchestra has been engaged for the music recordings. It’s the Bochum Symphony Orchestra that will enable to enter new dimensions regarding the sound. This renowed orchestra was founded in 1919 and has already received various prices in its past. 1996/97 and 2004/05 they received an award from the German association of music publishers for the best concert-programme. For their CD containing songs for orchestra from the German composer Joseph Marx they have even been nominated for a Grammy. The orchestra conducted by Dr. Hans Jakulsky who is the principal for music at the Ruhr-University in Bochum has also recorded various film soundtracks.

A game soundtrack is different to a normal piece for orchestra as it has to match dynamically to the events that occur in the course of the game. So each song that is recorded has been divided into smaller units. During the post production each fragment is provided with control data so that the music system can string them together seamlessly dependent on what’s happening in the game. The final result will sound like a cohesive soundtrack.

GOCOO

But besides the Bochum Symphony Orchestra there are several other artists needed for recording the soundtrack. The japanese taikoband GOCOO has already recorded some sounds for Gothic 3 in July 2004 in Hamburg. Especially the rythms for the musical background of the fights in the arena and some orc themes have been performed by these 14 drummers. GOCOO have already played percussions for films like Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions where they were also in charge of adding music to the fighting scenes with the sounds of their drums.

Lisbeth Scott

It’s also the first time in the history of the Gothic series that we will be able to hear a voice in the soundtrack. It’s the voice of the Californian ethno-singer Lisbeth Scott who has already been hired to add vocals to certain scenes of Hollywood films like The Sixth Sense, Sleepy Hollow, Spy Game, Bruce Almighty, Kingdom of Heaven and others. For example in “Shrek“ she was princess Fionas voice when it came to the singing parts. Now we will be able to hear her voice at some emotional peaks of the story in Gothic 3. The recording session with Lisbeth Scott will take place in September 2005 in Los Angeles.

Additionally there will be a choir for particular themes. Predestined for this are situations in the story where divine motivation plays a decisive role. According to game designer Mike Hoge we will also find a profound explanation of the role of Beliar for the story in Gothic 3. Bastian von der Linde, conductor of Bochums Musical “Starlight Express” will generate a sacral mood at appropriate passages with his S.A.M Gospel Choir. The epical melodies of the S.A.M. Gospel Choir will also be recorded in September 2005.

Borislav Slavov

But the list of artist involved in the soundtrack recordings is not finished yet. Marc Iwaszkiewicz and the Bulgarian composer and musician Borislav Slavov who has been responsible for the soundtrack of the game “Knights of Honor” have been hired as specialists for exotic musical instruments. They will generate atmospherical, ethnic sounds by the use of specific instruments. The musical instruments used are for instance the Australian didgeridoo, an aborigine wind instrument, the south chinese bawu, a flute made of bamboo with eitght holes, the du, a stringed instrument of arabian origin with 10-12 strings, the saz, a Turkish lute, the Tamboura, an old Indian stringed instrument with 4-6 strings, the Mandolin many of you will recognise by its name or the Indian santur, a stringed instrument similar to the zither that is played with sledges out of wood or picked. All these intruments and perhaps more of them with maybe even more unpronounceable names will also be played in the recording studio in September 2005.

Gothic 3-Partitur

Those who have already lost the overview on the strange names of instruments or the numerous artists involved in this project will now completely lose their way in this tangle of announcements as there are also some musicians with medieval instruments who will play their (partly home-made) instruments. The press text only said “something really phenomenal is approaching“ and “what could be called a fantasy RPG without real medieval sounds?”.

The post production of all these recordings will be effected in the studio of Stephan Cahen in Düsseldorf. This sound studio has been installed by John Flynn who has already created famous studios like the Abbey Road Studio in London.
As the soundtrack for Gothic 3 combines the works of so many famous artists a separate CD is planned to be published for the retail market.

Links:
Bochumer Symphoniker
Lisbeth Scott
COGOO
S.A.M. Gospel Choir
Marc Iwaszkiewicz