It is yule! The Hobbit movie is out! So what better time ter run into those misty mountains again? Here is the video, this time with vocals, kindly provided by Floradine! So here is our little yule present to the LOTRO community.
Misty videos
Two months back, I made a video based on the poem Far Over The Misty Mountains Cold, written by… eh, yer know who, hm? I was really pleased with the result meself, and it is by far the most-visited post on this burrow. Yer can see the original video here. Oh, and here is how it was made.
Happy though I was with the video, there was something missing: Vocals. While subtitles work too, they tend ter distract a little from the visual experience. However, my own voice wouldn’t make the cut, no no. Screechy mountains cold or somet? Brr. Rest assured, roleplaying a bard doesn’t half make yer one in real life.
Yesterday, though? Enter Floradine.
Breaking that server barrier
One of the grand things with playing massively multiplayer online games, and LOTRO in particular, is that yer meet some truly special people from all over the world. There are many on me home server Laurelin, but there are also a lot of lovely people elsewhere. Sadly, playing mostly on one server, yer never get the chance ter meet them.
However, mid-June each year, there is the Weatherstock concert series held on the Landroval server. Here bands from all over meet to play and compete and not least have a lot of fun together. By participating here twice with The Songburrow Strollers, I have had the pleasure of meeting those grand folks from other servers, who have the same interests in the LOTRO music system as meself. Many of them are members of The Lonely Mountain Band, the kinship who (among many other things) hosts Weatherstock. Which I can only assume is an oliphaunt undertaking of band scheduling, logistics, safety for low level players, crowd control, and so on. Rest assured yer efforts are much appreciated by the rest of us!
One of them Lonely Mountain members I have met during Weatherstock is Floradine. Floradine obviously loves LOTRO music as well, which is obvious if yer visit this page with songs, poems and adventures.
Kicking it up a notch
Yesterday, Floradine added a version of Misty Mountains Cold to twitter. It was based on the same midi I had worked on, but arranged by Keli (one of them other Lonely Mountain Band players, also The Songburrow Strollers roadie during Weatherstock 2012). And ooh – it had vocals!
Which made me rush to download the file and try put it into me video. Sadly, Floradine’s version of the song was slower than me own, so I had ter speed it up a little. And this made the sound quality suffer. Oh well.
Flora’s response? “send me your abc, I’ll sing it faster for you”
/faint
/dustoff
/cheer
Three hours later, a new recording of the song lay waiting in me quick post. How lovely was that?
And finally, the video
So with the yule spirit of cooperation and sharing in mind, below yer can see the Floradine and Lina version of “Far Over The Misty Mountains Cold”. Full screen and HD quality is recommended if yer system can cope with it.
Should yer just want to listen to the song, without video and me silly sound effects, yer can do so right here!
A grand and merry yule to each and every LOTRO player out there! And a special wave to them lovely dwarven roleplayers on Laurelin, I hope yer like this new version of the video.
Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold: Vocals Version
@LinaWillowwood @Floradine_S Wow, that was brilliant!
@Bovso @Floradine_S Thank yer Bovso! Them vocals made all the difference! *cheers*
@LinaWillowwood You know, I always get startled by that final flash and BOOM, haha! Thank you so much for having me in the video, Lina :)
@Floradine_S It was me pleasure! *cheers*
Miss Lina, a grand song and a grand story behind it! And Floradine’s singing voice is great, too. *gets another cup of tea and some catfish cakes and listens to the song some more times*
Hullo Lina,
You did a great job! I am but a simple tunesmith, and was hoping someone with talent could take what I have done to the next level of professionalism. Well done to you and Floradine! I like the instrument changes you made. I just want to let you know that you are perfectly welcome to use any of the MIDI files on my website. I am at your service, and perhaps we can collaborate in the future.
I hope to add about a dozen more tunes to my website soon. Fact is, a few years ago I happened to be in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, looking at the Red Book, when a number of loose papers slid out from under the back cover. They contained musical notation, which I rapidly make photocopies of, but the translation to MIDI is slow going, as the notation is unusual and appears to be quite ancient.:)
With best regards,
Larry
Hullo master Larry!
Welcome here, and ooh, thank yer for them kind words! I always loved yer version of Misty Mountains, even more so than the recent movie version (which was grand too, but…). There was just something haunting with the steady rhythm and melody line of yer midi. I always saw dwarves walking steadily through the mountains, singing the song as they headed east towards their old home.
The instruments in the video are the same as are used in Lord of the Rings Online, which have some issues (some notes are a bit off). We have pondered on using even more professional samples, but my own Audio Workstation tends to crash when I try a bit more advanced tinkering. Floradine is way better there, though *smiles* Still, I like the samples used in the video, if for no other reason that it is the ones I am used to from playing the game.
Oh, and new tunes? That’s the best news in ever so long! I very much look forward to hear them. Please say if yer have some favourites yer would like to see put into a LOTR-inspired music video. I am always up for a new challenge!
Warm regards,
Lina
Hullo Lina!
Hearing from you gladdened my heart.
Well, the song I have received the most comments about is “Gil-galad was an Elven King”, so that might be well received. When I play it on the piano I actually move the left hand an octave higher than in the MIDI. So feel free to adjust it. Though perhaps it does not suit your taste at all.
Otherwise, a tune that frequently pops into my head is the Lament for Boromir. The MIDI is not posted yet, but I hope to have ready by the 1st of September.
With best regards,
Larry
Hullo again, master Larry!
I like the GIl-Galad tune! There are others too on yer site that could be grand for a little video project, and I have a few free days on me hands now. Perhaps I have to put up a poll to have people say which project they would like to see the most? *smiles*
Have you made a version of The Bath Song? I saw it mentioned on your site, but couldn’t find a midi of it. That poem would lend itself very well to a LOTRO-based video.
Oh, and the Lament for Boromir sounds quite intriguing. I look forward to hear it! I’ll have a closer listen to yer lovely midis over the coming days, and see where inspiration hits me the most.
Warm regards,
Lina
Hullo Lina,
I attempted The Bath Song, but was unable to find a phrase that seemed to me definitive. Then I heard a version—I think it was by the Hobbitons—that sounded to me very close to the mark. So I was going to write on my website that I deferred to their version—once I confirmed that it was in fact the Hobbitons.
With best regards,
Larry
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