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David Allen
Young on the Making of Legends of Kitholan:
"The idea for this project came about as a result of my own efforts to include
music in my games as an AD&D 2nd Edition Dungeon Master. At first I was using
soundtracks from various fantasy-themed films, but my gaming group quickly got
tired of hearing the same background music over and over again. I decided to
use my talents as a classically-trained film music composer to write a few
pieces of music to cover some other areas of our gaming experience that
weren't represented well in the soundtrack CDs, as well as to create some more
music we could use for combat and exploration. It was during this time that it
occurred to me that it would be really handy for gamemasters to have a
continuous supply of original music for their games, specifically tailored to
enhance various aspects of a typical gaming session. That's when I decided to
create Dronolan's Tower and start writing the music for what would later turn
out to be the Legends of Kitholan CD.
Once I had written most of the music and began programming the computer to
play back simulated orchestral and choral sounds via MIDI, I quickly realized
that in order to do this music justice, I had to record it with living,
breathing musicians. I wanted it to sound every bit as good as those
soundtrack albums from the best fantasy adventure movies. These days you can
get a pretty good sound out of the computer, but it still doesn't have quite
the same magic as a real orchestra and choir. So, I decided to hire a
professional Hollywood studio orchestra and choir to record the music. It was
a joy to work with these wonderful musicians. I'm very glad I took that route,
and I believe the gamemasters who get their hands on this album will really
appreciate it." |