March Of The Halflings
(aow-remarch.it)

"March Of The Halflings" suggests this being a medieval tune. After pushing the square Play button, i can conclude that my guess was actually correct. What softly strikes my ears is indeed Medieval music! Very soft medieval, with some semi-normal instruments, we have a bell-like sound, harpsichords, strings, medieval-bass and hihats for main instruments. All this put together by the talented musician Michiel Van Den Bos, who, for that matter, also made music for Unreal Tournament. This particular piece was composed for the game "Age of Wonders", which i have not yet had the chance of trying. If you wish to know more about the game however, visit this URL: www.ageofwonders.com. Back to the piece. This lovely medieval music has a cloud of harmony over it. It also smells a bit of Chinese, which adds a great touch. I am not sure whether medieval is actually a correct classification, because after listening for a while, you begin to realize it actually sounds a bit Chinese, Something that was not apparent right away for me. I said before it had a cloud of harmony over it; this tune is very calm. If you are looking for dance or some other fast style of music, look elsewhere. To put it simple: This is a calm medieval/chinese composition which is really enjoyable. To create a lovely piece of music such as this, you obviously need skill, as well as good samples. Although this song is pretty large, at around 2.7mb zipped, it is well justified by the great quality of the samples. I could hear no noise in the samples whatsoever. Trying to find things to complain about was hard. Most claims i made could be answered by the environment this tune was meant for. It could for example have enjoyed more variation, but as it was used in a game, it fits very well. The tune is fairly large, but the outstanding sound quality makes up for this. It runs for 4 minutes and 5 seconds, which is a good lenght, but on the other hand, could have been longer. Making this tune longer could have created more of an adventure in the tune itself, but as it was made for a game, this is not necessary, nor is it very important. With its 4:05 this tune is still quite long, and enjoyable all way through. Summary: This great medieval/chinese tune is very calm. It is well composed and i really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to try the game, which i am sure this tune enhanced.

Posted by warhawk on Tue 19th Feb 2002