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RiS Immersive Soundtrack unofficial submod

Forward disclaimer: none of this is my music, it is simply a compilation of selected works to create an enhanced atmosphere for the mod, in an attempt to match ambition of the soundtrack to the ambition of the mod. Credits are listed at the bottom. If any involved artist wants their music removed from this soundtrack, get in contact and I'll remove it immediately. Additionally, I am not involved with, or a part of, the Imperium Surrectum team in any way.

This mod is intended to enhance the soundtrack to something more immersive, in some cases by making it more historical (especially the Greek and Roman factions), or in other cases by using anachronism for the sake of cultural identity (I.E the Indian faction having the sitar in its soundtrack, despite it being a medieval instrument anachronistic to this time period, or Steppe factions having Mongolic and Tuvan throat signing and morin khuur (horse head fiddle) to create a cultural atmosphere for their soundtracks). It is intended to make the different cultures feel more distinct, as each of the major cultural groupings now have very different soundtrack. These cultural groupings are as follows:

Roman: pretty self explanatory. This is for Rome, with future Italic factions likely having an edited list of these tracks. Features predominantly the tibia (double pipe/aulos), cithara (lyre), tibia utricularis (bag pipes) and trumpets and horns, in its soundtrack.

Greek: all Greek factions, including both Hellenic and Hellenistic, have this as their base and primary soundtrack. Additionally, the Thracians and Illyrians have this as part of a hybrid soundtrack shared with certain barbarian tracks. Features predominantly the aulos (double pipe), kithara (lyre), psalterion (harp) and pandura (lute) in its soundtrack.

Iranian: Atropatene and the Parni have this as their soundtrack, while Pontus and Cappadocia have this as part of a hybrid soundtrack shared with the Armenian/Anatolian one. This is to represent how, despite being Anatolian culturally, they retained many aspects of the old Iranian culture from centuries of satrapy to the Persian Achaemenid Empire, which would certainly have included instruments and music. Additionally, the Seleukids have this as part of a hybrid with the Greek soundtrack, to help represent the amount of Iranian/Persian influence that made up the Seleukid culture and many of the peoples it ruled. The santur (hammered dulcimer), tanbur (lute), daf and davul drums, zurna (woodwind instrument, ancestor of later medieval European shawm) and ney (flute), are the predominant instruments for this soundtrack.

Armenian/Anatolian: Armenia, as well as native Anatolian factions, have this as their soundtrack, while Pontus and Cappadocia share with the Iranian one. Additionally, the Seleucids also have this as part of their colossal hybrid soundtrack, shared with both Greek and Iranian. I have grouped Armenia with the Anatolian factions together for convenience, as it would be nigh impossible to create a sonically distinct soundtrack for the Anatolians of antiquity. The duduk (woodwind flute-like instrument), tar (lute), oud and dhol drum, are the predominant instruments.

African/Arabic: all North African and Arabic factions. Cyrene and the Ptolemaic Kingdom also have this as part of a hybrid with Greek soundtrack. Oud features heavily, as does zurna and various types of drums.

Indian: exclusive to the Maurya Empire. Features predominantly the tanpura (a stringed droning instrument), sitar (anachronistic), bansuri (flute) and tabla drum (anachronistic).

Nomadic: All nomadic Steppe factions. A widely anachronistic soundtrack due largely to our lack of knowledge surrounding ancient Scythian/Sarmatian/Saka music. I still wanted these factions to be wholly distinct from the other cultures, including other barbarians (celts, etc), so went ahead with this ahistorical soundtrack. Predominantly features Mongolic and Tuvan throat singing, as well as various instruments such as khomus (jews harp), tovshuur (lute) and morin khuur (horse head fiddle), among varuious drums, as the primary instruments.

Barbarian: all non-Nomadic barbarian factions, mostly the Celtic and Germanic factions, while the Iberians, Thracians and Illyrians have a slightly altered version with some tracks (mostly utilising the carnyx instrument) removed, and in the case of the latter two cultures, a shared hybrid with the Greek soundtrack. Ideally I would have the Celtic and Germanic factions culturally distinct from one another, but there is so precious little knowledge on their instruments and music, and even less examples of it being played, that it would be nigh impossible to have the two be distinct from each other. If you know of any music that would fit these factions, please let me know, as it requires the most fleshing out of all the cultural groups. Mostly uses rhe carnyx, lyre, jews harp and various drums, but also has more 'gamey' soundtrack to make up for the lack of new tracks. Very much a work in progress.

The northwestern African factions have a slightly altered version of the African/Arabic soundtrack, with some of the more 'Arabic-sounding' tracks removed.

Note: the hybrid factions will only share other cultural tracks on the campaign map. In battle, they will hear only their base culture soundtrack (Seleucids will only hear Greek battle tracks, but a mixture of Greek, Iranian and Armenian/Anatolian strat map tracks for example)

Finally, I have made it so that in battle you will also hear the battle tracks of your enemy. For example, if an Antigonid (Macedonian) army fights an Athenian army, you will only hear Greek battle tracks, but if an Antigonid army fights an Armenian army, they will hear a mixture of Greek and Armenian tracks when in battle (only applies to direct combat, not deployment and maneuvering phases).

This is still a work in progress. I still have much testing to do with the various cultures, finetuning the track selection, cutting out the stuff that maybe doesn't work so well, and tweaking the volume on certain tracks so to ensure the volume is consistent across the board. I am quite happy with most of the cultural soundtracks, though the barbarian one can definitely use some enhancement, and maybe African/Arabic as well.

The original Rome soundtrack, the Europa Barbarorum soundtrack, selected Civilization VI tracks, as well as many of Omri Lahav's tracks (0 AD composer - many of his tracks were utilised in RiS originally), are still in the mod, but I have relegated them to only play during the winter season (1 in every 4 turns), so that they are more of a lesser-heard hit of nostalgia. Most of the music you will hear will be the new tracks.

I also plan on releasing a 'purist' version of the mod, an alternative that removes the more cinematic or 'gamey' tracks, and keeps it exclusive to real instrumentation, authentic where possible. As it is, even in this version, I have made it a point to avoid well-known and recognisable movie soundtracks or tracks from other prominent video games, for sake of immersion. (Certain Civ 6 tracks notwithstanding).

Featured artists include: Farya Faraji, Synaulia, Musica Romana, Ludi Scaenici, Michael Levy, Petros Tabouris, De Organographia, Huun-Huur-Tu, Krauka, Michael Atherton, Le Trio Joubran, Ali Jihad Racy, Musicians of the Nile, Ravi Shankar, Roopa Panesar and Lord Wind. There are various other pieces in this soundtrack I have discovered randomly on YouTube, and unfortunately cannot remember the original sources. These are usually solo instrument pieces used on the campaign map. There are also a very few select tracks by bands such as Tengger Cavalry, Melechesh and Trial of the Bow, that I have included where appropriate.