Description



Summoner of Sounds is designed to be a series of interactive community events where video game music will be celebrated by the means of craftsmanship and community interaction.

Community members with experience in music production will be dared to participate in challenges testing their ability to perform well as a versatile video game composer, while the game developers with other areas of expertise are encouraged to to analyze the challenges, and provide the composers with commentary, feedback and constructive criticism.


Table of contents:

  • 1. Event Outline

  • 2. Event Schedule

  • 3. Licensing Rights & Submission Guidelines

  • 4. RMN as a Platform. What do I have to gain?

  • 5. Post-Processing Submitted Material

  • 6. Role of the Composer - Becoming the Summoner of Sounds

  • 7. Role of Other Developers and the Audience - You are not NPCs!

  • 8. Picking Favorites!?

  • 9. RMN Music Pack 2 and Guardians of the Groove







Summoner of Sounds consists of a periodically recurring series of challenges presented to the composers to participate in and for the developers and audience to engage in throughout the year.

Participants aren't obligated to participate in every challenge, but the more challenges you participate in, the greater the reward.

Presented challenges will test the composers' abilities to perform well as versatile video game music producers in a changing environment. Each challenge will introduce a different set of rules and restrictions, and a new concept where the composers will have to find a way to express themselves in.

The challenges may restrict and determine the video game genre that will need to be composed for, the game world setting to be composed for, a specific game instance to be composed for, or a specific manner to be composed in.

While the challenges will present a number of restricted aspects, each challenge will offer choice of freedom and room to stretch around in some of them.

Summoner of Sounds will be running for several months in total and challenges will be issued roughly once every month, or on a similar pacing.

Each challenge of the series will run approximately over the course of one month and the deadline of each challenge will be stated as the challenge and its ruleset are announced.
























Any work submitted to this event will be disseminated under a creative commons license as publicly usable in any way the end-user wishes as long as they attribute the work to the artist in their credits and that they also do the same themselves with any derivative work based on the artist's.

End-users of this material, and any derivative material, will not, however, be able to legally make any money from anything containing these tracks without the artists' express permission.


All works submitted to the event have to be 100% original work of the participants and must contain no copyrighted material, either compositionally or in terms of sampled sounds. Submitted works must contain no arrangements of any material of a different author, and they can not lift motifs from anywhere else, except possibly from the participant's own works.

Submissions should contain as little audio quality loss as possible, WAV file format being heavily preferred.





The RPG Maker Network offers an extensive network of gamers and game developers, both hobbyists and professionals.

This event series is designed to help the composers of the game development community come together, challenge their know-how and showcase their creative efforts, and the rest of the community to come in contact with the composers.

This event series won't have a panel of judges, and there won't be hand-picked winners. Participants are encouraged to challenge themselves and work together towards solving the presented challenges.

During the course of the event series, the composers will be creating video game music in various forms and manners, and build themselves a diverse portfolio while doing so.

The rest of the community is encouraged to provide feedback and impressions on this material and to be in touch with the composers, possibly giving them ideas, or request something specific from within the given ruleset.

RMN will bring the participants visibility, and the yields of each challenge will be shared on RMN's social media during the course of the events.



Each composer has a completely optional step to sign up for post-processing their submitted material.

In the post-process, the composer will be in touch with the event organizer who will help them personally by offering them feedback on composition and mixing details and assist them by creating alternate, OGG file format versions of their tracks with a coded-in looping point, which will enable seamless looping of their songs in the RPG Maker VX and RPG Maker VX Ace engines.

Enabling looping for the songs requires them to be composed in looped structure, with recurring sections.






Summoner of Sounds as an event series will present a series of challenges that will test your abilities as a composer to express yourself in a wide variety of restricted environments. This will help in readying you to have the tools and confidence to perform well as a composer in a wide range of video game projects.

Each challenge will introduce a different scenario where you may need to compose music for different game genre, imply a different game setting through instrumentation, cultural, and musical genre references, or approach the the task by expressing yourself with a very specific perspective in mind.

Some of these scenarios may, and most likely will, require you to research and learn new ways of designing video game music, but they will also encourage you to test yourself, and express yourself in ways that you haven't before, and you will experience the joy of discovering new sides of your creative self.

Summoner of Sounds is an event series that will be running for several consecutive months. It may sound intimidating at first, but you can decide which challenges you want to participate in. However, the more challenges you undertake, the greater the rewards.

If you want to achieve the very best yields, then the series will also test your ability to perform under pressure as you'll need to be undertaking all the challenges.

It will test your ability to practice your trade under discipline, not only when you are motivated, and it will test your adaptability at the times when you'll have to find your creative freedom and inspiration while you still have to make your visions meet with a set of pre-existing rules.

Remember, you are not alone! This is a collaboration event. You may work alone if you wish, but you are allowed, and encouraged to collaborate with other members. Do you have the same Digital Audio Workstation as the other participant? You can work together! And if you feel like discussing how to approach any of the issued challenges with the other participants, then nothing stops you.

Building an extensive network of colleagues and other practitioners of your trade will also work greatly in your favor!

Will you be able to take on the challenge? Can you become the Summoner of Sounds, or even something more?

Introduce yourself at the Composer Introductions!





Video game composers wouldn't be composing music for video games if there were no video games, and video games with no music, or audio, would offer us only an experience with half of the things to sense, than what they do with audio, so let's agree that sound design is an integral part of game design.

Video game audio does not only offer us audio clues on game mechanics, but music activates large parts of our brain on fast rate and communicates us a great variety of information, which married with the visual material will bring the gaming experience to a whole new potency.

That being said, video game directors should not underestimate the importance of solid audio design, and advanced communication with the audio designers plays a major factor at what the end product will communicate to the consumer.

Music helps to communicate ideas which aren't visually present, it may also underline and empower the visual ideas present, or it may change the way we perceive the visual clues completely when the marriage of the visuals and the sound refers to a completely new impression than what either part of the combination would carry across alone.

Video game directors need to be able to communicate their vision to the sound designers and together with them, find a way to communicate this idea to the consumers.

While the Summoner of Sounds challenges will introduce composers to predetermined rulesets, the rest of the community may still engage in the process by discussing each challenge and the methods fit to completing the challenge.

Everyone can take the role of a critic. You don't need to be educated in music theory or terminology to be able to tell whether you find a musical piece fitting for a specific game genre, instance or setting. Communication matters, even if you don’t have the most optimal tools for it.

Express yourself with your own words and impressions. A composer will be glad to hear any of it. Tell the composer what their music communicates to you: feelings, impressions, visual images or atmosphere, for example. Does their track fit the description of the given ruleset?

Everyone may also post ideas of any themes they would like to hear. If the ruleset permits, a composer may very well decide to compose your idea.


While there isn't a panel of judges, or winners for the event, everyone is still encouraged to show appreciation for entries submitted to the event.

Simple feedback and commentary alone is welcome enough, but if you really like some track, give it a star to mark it as your favorite! You can give stars for multiple tracks if you wish. Stars play a part in event visibility and achievement mechanics.

To reward composers with stars post a reply to the event explaining which track, or tracks you want to give favorites for. Attaching a star image to the post helps the process.

Image code for the star:
[img][url]http://rpgmaker.net/media/images/events/sos/sosstar.png[/url][/img]







As of today, one of the biggest, if not the single biggest achievement of the composer community of rpgmaker.net still is the release of our RMN Music Pack!

It's a great quality pack of music that we can be proud of, and an achievement that we were able to put together with collaborative effort and all thanks to the network and community that RMN is.

Reception of the RMN Music Pack was overwhelmingly positive and it has been a good while since its release, so it is time we set our sights on the future, and to the release of its successor, the RMN Music Pack 2!

The journey for RMN Music Pack 2 begins with Summoner of Sounds.

Summoner of Sounds is designed to work as a count down and prepare us to bring RMN Music Pack 2 to a whole new level.

While Summoner of Sounds works also as the countdown for the RMN Music Pack 2, Summoner of Sounds will still be the greatest undertaking of the RMN composer community as of today and it will challenge everyone's creative abilities.

Summoner of Sounds will be creating composers a portfolio, but it will also be creating the community a whole lot of great video game music!

If you like what the composers of the community do and you want to show your support to them, you can be directly in contact with them, but if you want to show your support to the community as a whole and help us arrange events such as the RMN Music Pack, Summoner of Sounds and the RMN Music Pack 2, you can now become Guardian of The Groove and donate to the cause!

Every penny counts and the money will be used first and foremost to have artwork to go with the music and then to offer rewards for participating members. Any extra funds to the cause will be spent on future RMN Music events.

To get the Guardian of the Groove achievement you have to PM Happy after the transaction goes through, so that he knows to apply the benefits to your RMN account.

Thank you everyone! Let's do our best!

Illustrations: カラカモ @ twitter / 烏鴨 @ pixiv
Event concept design, visual design, direction and supervision: Happy @ RMN / Matias Heimlander @ tumblr

Details

  • 05/01/2015 06:57 PM
  • 07/01/2016 11:59 PM
  • 3
  • Happy

Achievements

Registration

You must be logged in to sign up for Summoner of Sounds.

Teams Members Entry
Team Happy!
My Composing Stick is Ready
Team Meat
Sum On Her Off Sow And
Team Failed Harmony
Team Where Am I?
Team The Team
Out of practice, so let's get back in practice!
"Insert Team Name Here"
I'll Do My Best...
Chaos Harmony
Symphony Of Enthrea
Super Merengue Bros.
The Spoony Bard
Music for humanity
Bring back the dinosaurs
How do I Music?
Team Drass
Ark of the Arts
Team Koi
To the Beat of a Different Drummer
Team Toni!
Dysergy
Jingle Jangle Jingle
Ylmir
Azhthar
Team Amazing Hotdog
Firah
Team Last Minute Production
Ogarth Munchies
The One-Ghost Gaggle
Team Giznads
Fungus Happy
Maat Wants His Cap Back
Misoundthropy
Rastapopoulos
Sweaty Angle~~~ <3
OneByOne
Toms Introduction Team!
Team Midi
Legion of One
FoxAudio Creations (AKA Team Oh God Who Let the Furry In Here)
Happy Rainbow Panda Bears
Team Curry
Acidbath
Jar Studios
Aersia Sound Team
Plastic, Meat, Smoke, Metal, and Sugar
Team Megollyen
Niyane's Team
Team Unhappy!
The Sword Of The Crest Heart And The Bird That Learnt That Hope Would End One Day
Team Neutral!
Team Probably Not Appearing In This Event
Scion Genesis
Without Creativity
Team Random
Team Cheese
JStewartMusic
No Excuses!
Team currently busy but what the hell
Team Yup
Uncanny Warriors
Team Jawns AKA Boring Team Name
A Team of One
The Singularity
The Duke's Jukebox
Sound Master
Entry Status Key
  • - Pending
  • - Validating
  • - Accepted
  • - Rejected

Posts

nhubi
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
11099
OK, end of month approaches, time to have a listen.

TungermanU - Golden Sky
Oh this is lovely, a great piece to just listen to in the background. Though I'm sorry to say I'm not sure how well it ties into the mediaeval theme. Though I think it really does resonate with this passage from the description.
The beautiful scenery leaves you with a bittersweet feeling of melancholy for a moment until you're suddenly struck with a cold breeze that quiets the nature. Now an oppressive feeling weaves its way to you as you recall various old folklores about mysterious beasts and otherworldly creatures .
You've got the melancholy with the melody and the ominous with the low notes. I can even see looking at that passage why the low notes are so strong; it's designed to overwrite the melancholy. So whilst I wouldn't say it immediately brings the word Mediaeval to mind, it does fit the theme as outlined.


Fulminis-ictus - Decaying Church

Well choral sounds are always going to hit the church button and then throw in the discordant organ piece and you've got a Gothic one, at least for me. There is a definite feeling of dread in this, which given you said you were aiming for a dungeon theme I think you've accomplished. If this started playing in a dungeon I was travelling through, it would ramp up my anxiety level. I would really want to know what madman was playing the organ. The gothicness (not a word, I know) of this puts it squarely in the Mediaeval period.


Shade_Hunter - Suspicious Dungeon
Ok this seems to hit the high notes on everything outlined in the synopsis, beautiful scenery, glimmering riverbeds, distant castles, town faire and a slightly ominous feel. The only problem is it seems to be layered on top of one another and they kind of create a real mixed bag. The town faire that comes in toward the end is really lovely and lilting, but it feels overshadowed by everything else. I think if you could separate out some of the elements you'd have a couple of themes in here, but as it stands they mix but don't mesh. Though you've definitely got a mediaeval vibe going.


chenbaiwan - The Marketyard
Yes, mediaeval right off the bat. I can see a court jester/minstrel type skipping down a village street with a tambourine, whilst his fellow minstrels accompany his antics. It does get a little repetitive, but then if it's being used as a movement piece then that makes a lot of sense, people would hear snippets of it as it travelled around, and people are always moving in a market, going from stall to stall and engaging in conversation so they'd hear it at various times and not have the repetition be a disadvantage. I really like this one


TheRexion - rakkerflakker
Like The marketyard the tambourine sound does invoke the mediaeval vibe well, and then the lovely flute (I think?) lifts the piece while the deeper notes balance it. I have no idea what rakkerflakker means, though I know flakker means roam in Danish, so I'm assuming that it's meant to infer a roaming band? Which I definitely feel to a certain extent, though I think it would be more them playing somewhere for the night rather than as they travelled. I could 'hear' this perhaps being played in a castle somewhere, until the end section which does get dark and makes me think it's heading into a dangerous place, but then it's over a little too soon to explore that.


BurningTyger - Sleepy Village
This is kind of repetitive, and very sparse with just two(?) instruments playing and both repeating the same theme, there isn't any harmony here. The instruments themselves are certainly mediaeval but that's really all that seems to fit the theme. I can't see this being played anywhere in a medieval setting other than perhaps at a music teacher's home as they teach students.


larrylpope - Majestic Wilderness
What a lovely piece, definitely a lush theme that suits a green and sun streaked forest alive with magical creatures, though the cello is a bit strong (or loud perhaps) and I find it overpowers some of the other melodies. I know this is meant to be a Medieval theme and it fits very well for an outdoor setting with little or no human interaction but I could also see this as the theme for a group of elves or other otherworldly forest denizens. The title definably suits the mood of the piece.


Giznads - Darkages into the woods remix

This is absolutely the theme to go with a bunch of adventurers timidly stepping into the forbidding woods and being presented with a dark and dangerous landscape. There are things that lurk here that are not for the faint of heart. I really like this, whilst it does have serious ominous overtones it also has a lightness that is in keeping with a wooded glade where though it is dark, light and air still flow through it naturally, unlike an underground dungeon where it would be much more oppressive.


Giznads - Noble Town
This is quite a stately piece, the reverberation on the stringed instrument (lute perhaps or zither?) gives it a feeling of being played somewhere like a hall or castle so the sound bounces off the high stone walls, add the choral sounds and you get the feeling it's being played for something a little special.


clubfungus - Interstellar sunshine - I'm assuming that was for the last challenge given its title and sound.

bulmabriefs144 - Swamprain
Just like your earlier piece this is too discordant for me, and doesn't remind me of the theme, or indeed much of anything mediaeval.


bulmabriefs144 - Deadsnow
This one is more in keeping; it's still a little chaotic but there appears to be something I can latch on to, not quite sure what it is though. It's not mediaeval in any sense, though so I can't say it fits the theme in a way that I can recognise.


Matt - Me Timbur Og, this wasn't the one that fits the theme, that's Lakeside town. If it was in the running I'd probably give it a star because it's encapsulates the theme of a mediaeval village sitting on a placid tranquil lake brilliantly for me. It's just stunning. Why isn't this one in the running this time round? :(

Oshimura - Profunde llli Qui
Well now this is very interesting, all of the other pieces have focused solely on a European mediaeval village style. This is in the Asian end of the scheme. The sound in the background reminds me of a village blacksmith hammering out horseshoes or perhaps weapons and armour for the soldiers who are obviously encamped in the village. Though it could also easily be a temple bell calling them to pray or be blessed. This is very different from what I was expecting but once I shifted focus I liked it. I think it's much too long at almost 9 minutes and gets repetitive in the middle section before reaching a sort of climax at the end, though that is the same theme just at a higher tempo and loudness.


34
author=nhubi
Matt - Me Timbur Og, this wasn't the one that fits the theme, that's Lakeside town. If it was in the running I'd probably give it a star because it's encapsulates the theme of a mediaeval village sitting on a placid tranquil lake brilliantly for me. It's just stunning. Why isn't this one in the running this time round? :(

Actually, both were submitted during the previous challenge, and as you can tell, it doesn't really fit to a futuristic assault setting. And, by looking his profile, I can easily tell they were composed a while ago, before the 1st challenge : http://rpgmaker.net/users/Matt_/posts/
He probably submitted his tracks here without even reading the rules, just to promote himself. I hope I'm wrong though.

About my submission (which I just uploaded before I forget), I've been a bit in a hurry again, but I've managed to get something done and roughly mixed before the deadline. Oh, and I didn't even had time to think about a title for it xD

EDIT : Will upload in some hours a revised version of my track, I just noticed the harp was awfully loud and way too much on the left.
I don't know if I'll actually be able to submit something this round, as I haven't had time to actually write anything. I could ORC it, but in many cases a rushed track ≠ a good track.
nhubi
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
11099
author=Ylmir
Actually, both were submitted during the previous challenge, and as you can tell, it doesn't really fit to a futuristic assault setting. And, by looking his profile, I can easily tell they were composed a while ago, before the 1st challenge : http://rpgmaker.net/users/Matt_/posts/
He probably submitted his tracks here without even reading the rules, just to promote himself. I hope I'm wrong though.


Well that's a bit depressing. I'll have a listen to yours soon, unless you are still waiting to up the revised version?
nhubi
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
11099
Ylmir - Dark Ages_1


First reaction, horripilation. Then that harp and violin comes in and it lightens the mood which is further reinforced around 1:36 with that xylophone (I think?) sound. You've still got the ominous feel at the base but the rest that you've layered on top help to mitigate the dangerous overtone. To me it feels like something you'd play on entering a foreboding place but once you've got inside you find that whilst it is still unknown it's not as terrifying as first imagined. Like entering a ruined church and finding sunlight streaming in through the remains of the stained glass windows, or a dark forest but coming across a bright glade with animals by a water course. Though at the end it's almost like that was a pleasant but fleeting interlude and you are heading back into the darkness. Oddly I could also see it playing with two star-crossed lovers meeting on a castle balcony, stealing a few precious moments before fate and circumstance tear them apart again. It's a very emotive piece. All of those images can fit easily into the mediaeval so I think you've done wonderfully.

35
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
author=nhubi
Horripilation


Life can be quite a horripilating experience. Sometimes even I get a strong case of the gooseflesh. The bristling of the short bodily hairs caused by a heightened sense of self-awareness. Horripilation. My brother is a horripilator. He horripilates horribly. Horrible horripilation caused by horsing around with the hors-d'ouevre. He was a master horologist, but he was never on time. It was horrifying. Horripilatingly horrifying. Horripilation.

Horripilation.

Ok, I admit, I was being facetious with the above remarks.

I'm sorripilation.
Ylmir - Dark Ages_1

Sorry, I'm not much of a reviewer, but I can say without a doubt this is my favorite for this contest.

In fact, all of your uploads have been fantastic thus far. ESPECIALLY "Home". <3
I always look forward to your releases.


author=nhubi
Giznads - Darkages into the woods remix

This is absolutely the theme to go with a bunch of adventurers timidly stepping into the forbidding woods and being presented with a dark and dangerous landscape. There are things that lurk here that are not for the faint of heart. I really like this, whilst it does have serious ominous overtones it also has a lightness that is in keeping with a wooded glade where though it is dark, light and air still flow through it naturally, unlike an underground dungeon where it would be much more oppressive.


author=Happy
@Giznads:
Noble town: Wow, I really love this. That plucked string instrument has a great reverb. (Lute?) The choir pads have really cool detuned effect too. This has a very mysterious fantasy feeling. The woodwinds feel a bit too non-transparent in comparison to the lute, though. And it feels like they could be further back in the soundscape when they come in, instead being so close with no reverb.

Into the woods: Great atmosphere! Gives very "dark fairytale" or folklore-vibe. I really dig this sort of stuff. Very horror-esque. The saturation effect and detune effects add a lot to the atmosphere. I'll have to give this one a favorite!

Mix-wise I think some of the ambiance pads could have more presence and the main music-box thing could blend in better with the backgrounds pads if it had some greater reverb. The mix works like this as well, I just personally feel the mix would have a greater presence in general with the pads having more presence. Anyway, this song has a really great idea!

Into the Woods Remix: Oh I didn't notice there was a remix. Well, I still feel the higher tones of the pads could stand out more, but even as it is now, it does work well enough. I would just personally mix it differently.


Thank you both so much for the positive reviews and the kind words again!
I will continue to take your suggestions and apply them to each upload.
author=nhubi
I'll have a listen to yours soon, unless you are still waiting to up the revised version?


Sorry, I actually uploaded the revised version during the night between the 31st and the 1st and forgot to at least edit my message in order to tell it has been updated. I was a bit in a hurry for another contest and had 6 hours left to do the mastering on this other track. Anyway, thanks a lot for your review! :)

author=Giznads
Sorry, I'm not much of a reviewer, but I can say without a doubt this is my favorite for this contest.
In fact, all of your uploads have been fantastic thus far. ESPECIALLY "Home". <3
I always look forward to your releases.

Thank you ! By the way, Home is maybe one of my favorites among everything I composed so far. ;)
Happy
Devil's in the details
5367
Hey guys! Sorry for the brief silence there! I have been really busy and I'm also sad I haven't had time to participate. Give me a few days and we'll have the new chapter up!

Also, those recaps need to be done as well, but they're on their way! I'm really liking the entries of this chapter from what I have had time to listen to them.

I have been thinking how to raise the number of submissions in the coming chapters? Though a lot of the people might just be in similar situation as myself, not being able to find enough time to participate.
Trihan
"It's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly...timey wimey...stuff."
3359
I've been busy as balls this month so I haven't had the time to even open LMMS. If you can extend it a couple of days I can do something for this round.
I don't know any musicians who aren't already participating.
BurningTyger
Hm i Wonder if i can pul somethi goff here/
1289
What IS the theme for this month anyway? Oh and Sprongle!
nhubi
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
11099
Hey Happy, are you ok? I kind of expected to have seen the theme by now.
Yeah, you alive, bro?
Happy
Devil's in the details
5367
Hey! The fourth chapter will be announced either later today, or early tomorrow! Sorry for the delay! The deadline for the fourth chapter will be pushed ahead accordingly!
Happy
Devil's in the details
5367
The Dark Ages are over! It is time for an exotic vacation!

Artwork by Reluin @ Deviantart.com


Chapter IV: World of Traditions

You are a journeyman, a Disciple of Sound and you have been tasked to solve a series of mysterious disappearances of Sound in the Realms of Melodies by the Regal Musicians Network.

Your journey has brought you to another new Realm where the Sound has disappeared. You look around and find yourself surrounded by very diversely dressed individuals.

Something about the looks of each person tells you that they come from entirely separate parts of this Realm and that each of them represent a different, a very distinct ancient culture, and a tradition.

In fact, these are the representatives of the greatest royal courts of this Realm, and each one of them wishes you to accompany them and return the Sound to their court and their land.

The question is: which land will you visit?


Composer: You choose your destination and grab your instrument.

Developer: You set out to search for situations that have the most immediate need for Sound. You see your ally beginning summon the Sounds, but wait, are those the Sounds of this Realm? That will need to be determined!



Challenge:

  • Composers:

    Compose a piece of video game music that has world music influences.

    You may compose for any game instance or location in the setting.

  • Developers:

    Solve which settings and situations could greatly benefit from world music influence and suggest these to the composers. Be sure to let your composer allies know if they are any good at their job, or if they could use help at something. You may have some ideas for them as well.


Track restrictions:

  • Impression: No definitive restrictions. The song should be influenced by some traditional music ornamentation styles, or instrumentation.

  • Instrumentation: Free instrumentation, but the track should contain at least some ethnic instruments.

  • Game World Setting: No restrictions

  • Video Game Genre: No restrictions

  • Game Instances: You may compose for any game instance or location in the setting.



Submission rules:


  • Render a track with as little audio quality loss as possible

  • You may submit as many pieces as you wish, but rememeber that quality is what matters.

  • You may update your submissions with further versions.

  • You may contact event organizer and sign up for post processing of your track.

  • You may collaborate and interact with all the rest of the community to any end you wish. You are encouraged to share tips, viewpoints, references and material for inspiration.

  • The challenge will run for one month and end 15th of September 2015

Good luck everyone!
author=nhubi
OK, end of month approaches, time to have a listen.

TungermanU - Golden Sky
Oh this is lovely, a great piece to just listen to in the background. Though I'm sorry to say I'm not sure how well it ties into the mediaeval theme. Though I think it really does resonate with this passage from the description.
The beautiful scenery leaves you with a bittersweet feeling of melancholy for a moment until you're suddenly struck with a cold breeze that quiets the nature. Now an oppressive feeling weaves its way to you as you recall various old folklores about mysterious beasts and otherworldly creatures .
You've got the melancholy with the melody and the ominous with the low notes. I can even see looking at that passage why the low notes are so strong; it's designed to overwrite the melancholy. So whilst I wouldn't say it immediately brings the word Mediaeval to mind, it does fit the theme as outlined.


Fulminis-ictus - Decaying Church

Well choral sounds are always going to hit the church button and then throw in the discordant organ piece and you've got a Gothic one, at least for me. There is a definite feeling of dread in this, which given you said you were aiming for a dungeon theme I think you've accomplished. If this started playing in a dungeon I was travelling through, it would ramp up my anxiety level. I would really want to know what madman was playing the organ. The gothicness (not a word, I know) of this puts it squarely in the Mediaeval period.


Shade_Hunter - Suspicious Dungeon
Ok this seems to hit the high notes on everything outlined in the synopsis, beautiful scenery, glimmering riverbeds, distant castles, town faire and a slightly ominous feel. The only problem is it seems to be layered on top of one another and they kind of create a real mixed bag. The town faire that comes in toward the end is really lovely and lilting, but it feels overshadowed by everything else. I think if you could separate out some of the elements you'd have a couple of themes in here, but as it stands they mix but don't mesh. Though you've definitely got a mediaeval vibe going.


chenbaiwan - The Marketyard
Yes, mediaeval right off the bat. I can see a court jester/minstrel type skipping down a village street with a tambourine, whilst his fellow minstrels accompany his antics. It does get a little repetitive, but then if it's being used as a movement piece then that makes a lot of sense, people would hear snippets of it as it travelled around, and people are always moving in a market, going from stall to stall and engaging in conversation so they'd hear it at various times and not have the repetition be a disadvantage. I really like this one


TheRexion - rakkerflakker
Like The marketyard the tambourine sound does invoke the mediaeval vibe well, and then the lovely flute (I think?) lifts the piece while the deeper notes balance it. I have no idea what rakkerflakker means, though I know flakker means roam in Danish, so I'm assuming that it's meant to infer a roaming band? Which I definitely feel to a certain extent, though I think it would be more them playing somewhere for the night rather than as they travelled. I could 'hear' this perhaps being played in a castle somewhere, until the end section which does get dark and makes me think it's heading into a dangerous place, but then it's over a little too soon to explore that.


BurningTyger - Sleepy Village
This is kind of repetitive, and very sparse with just two(?) instruments playing and both repeating the same theme, there isn't any harmony here. The instruments themselves are certainly mediaeval but that's really all that seems to fit the theme. I can't see this being played anywhere in a medieval setting other than perhaps at a music teacher's home as they teach students.


larrylpope - Majestic Wilderness
What a lovely piece, definitely a lush theme that suits a green and sun streaked forest alive with magical creatures, though the cello is a bit strong (or loud perhaps) and I find it overpowers some of the other melodies. I know this is meant to be a Medieval theme and it fits very well for an outdoor setting with little or no human interaction but I could also see this as the theme for a group of elves or other otherworldly forest denizens. The title definably suits the mood of the piece.


Giznads - Darkages into the woods remix

This is absolutely the theme to go with a bunch of adventurers timidly stepping into the forbidding woods and being presented with a dark and dangerous landscape. There are things that lurk here that are not for the faint of heart. I really like this, whilst it does have serious ominous overtones it also has a lightness that is in keeping with a wooded glade where though it is dark, light and air still flow through it naturally, unlike an underground dungeon where it would be much more oppressive.


Giznads - Noble Town
This is quite a stately piece, the reverberation on the stringed instrument (lute perhaps or zither?) gives it a feeling of being played somewhere like a hall or castle so the sound bounces off the high stone walls, add the choral sounds and you get the feeling it's being played for something a little special.


clubfungus - Interstellar sunshine - I'm assuming that was for the last challenge given its title and sound.

bulmabriefs144 - Swamprain
Just like your earlier piece this is too discordant for me, and doesn't remind me of the theme, or indeed much of anything mediaeval.


bulmabriefs144 - Deadsnow
This one is more in keeping; it's still a little chaotic but there appears to be something I can latch on to, not quite sure what it is though. It's not mediaeval in any sense, though so I can't say it fits the theme in a way that I can recognise.


Matt - Me Timbur Og, this wasn't the one that fits the theme, that's Lakeside town. If it was in the running I'd probably give it a star because it's encapsulates the theme of a mediaeval village sitting on a placid tranquil lake brilliantly for me. It's just stunning. Why isn't this one in the running this time round? :(

Oshimura - Profunde llli Qui
Well now this is very interesting, all of the other pieces have focused solely on a European mediaeval village style. This is in the Asian end of the scheme. The sound in the background reminds me of a village blacksmith hammering out horseshoes or perhaps weapons and armour for the soldiers who are obviously encamped in the village. Though it could also easily be a temple bell calling them to pray or be blessed. This is very different from what I was expecting but once I shifted focus I liked it. I think it's much too long at almost 9 minutes and gets repetitive in the middle section before reaching a sort of climax at the end, though that is the same theme just at a higher tempo and loudness.


34

I didn't really go medieval though. I looked at the description which I can't remember it but it was more in line with what that period was like. When I hear Dark Ages I don't think taverns (that's middle ages), I think plague, death, and people sleeping outside. I think exposure to elements. This is pretty much trying to capture the feel of wandering through a thick creepy swamp (first one) and a long bleak winter where all your friends died the year before (second). I was trying to put the "dark" into the dark ages.

Hymn of the Sage is something I already had, and it fits with sort of a vague Japanese traditional feel I guess. I might try polka later too.
I can't help but think of something like this. Though, the world is pretty huge, I've been told, so I'm not sure what constitutes an ethnic instrument, but I'm assuming from a western context.