A project of epic proportions 

With over 620 minutes of music in the most massive project of our nearly 20-year history, there were indeed some huge expectations. It is an intensively complex soundtrack: It includes perfectly timed transitions designed to carry the players smoothly from one phase of gameplay into the next; with an intensity that changes depending on what is happening as well, from combat to ambient, from tense to raw.  

“We’ve used such techniques that we implemented in Age of Empires IV in other games before,” says Tilman Sillescu. “But we’ve never used so many techniques at the same time and so complexly intertwined. Each cue had to be coordinated with many others, loopable and with transitions, so that all transitions worked smoothly. It was a big, architectural task, almost like a big Wagnerian opera with overlength!”  

Working on the project was some of our top veteran composers, including Tilman Sillescu, Henning Nugel, Armin Haas and Alexander Röder, who have been working on the project since 2018.  

Around the world with painstaking authenticity

We were responsible for composing and orchestrating the main theme and music for nearly all the featured civilizations. Haas composed the sounds for the Delhi Sultanate, Sillescu covered the Mongols and the Holy Roman Empire, Nugel took the Rus and the Abbasid Dynasty, while Röder wrote the soundtrack for the Chinese and the English. Every effort was made to maintain the authenticity of the sounds of each civilization. The historical music of each group was carefully analyzed and woven into the soundtrack, and orchestras and musicians from all around the world were tapped to take part. For example, the Mongolian themes include a professional Mongolian throat singer and an actual Morin Khuur ensemble recorded on location.   

This is not your typical game soundtrack, but rather a truly global endeavor. Recorded in 11 studios across the world, it features 3 live orchestras, 2 choirs, and over 20 soloists, utilizing culturally specific instruments and virtuosos from the relevant regions.  

Close cooperation with Relic

The work required very close interaction with Relic Entertainment, as required the civilizations to be depicted as seriously and accurately as possible. Our team was involved in weekly Skype calls with Lin Gardiner, the Relic Music Lead, to assure an unrivaled complexity and immersion in the soundtrack for the gameplay process. Gardiner did mountains of research on the styles of the different cultures and made sure that everything was clear with our team. “She even wrote lists of historical instruments used at the different times for us. I had never experienced such a meticulous approach to cultures before,” Sillescu shares. “Lin incorporated every cue we made directly into the current version of the game and was able to give us very meaningful feedback about the effect of the music in the game.” 

Learn more about the music development in this Dev Diary: Music & Voice Over

Get a taste of the music:

OST-Credits:

Artist: Various 

Composers: Tilman Sillescu, Alex Röder, Henning Nugel, Armin Haas, Mikolai Stroinski 

Orchestrated by: David Christiansen

Live Recordings produced by: Dynamedion

Exceutive Producer: Lin Gardiner  

Mixed by: Rupert Coulson  

Mastered by: Gavin Lurrsen 

Production Support: Savannah Harrison 

Special Thanks: Todd Masten, Bryan Rennie, Lauren Wood

FIRST REACTIONS

“…amazing job, seriously. The ingame music is a Masterpiece. It gives you chills, it lets you feel heroic, it sets the mood, the tone. Rarely I have seen anything comparable…Well done.”

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“Sound design and music design of this game is astounding… 10/10”

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“The voice acting and music in this game is just 🖤“

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“EXCELLENT JOB to everyone involved in music and sound.“