Creating a Dragonborn Cover
I’ll never forget that magical moment when I first watched the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim announcement trailer. The narration, the graphics, and especially the music all took my breath away. To this day, “Dragonborn” holds a special place in my heart and the hearts of many others, including Recorder Arcade. With his latest “Dragonborn” cover, Recorder Arcade has recaptured some of that original magic, but it was no easy feat as he explains below.
“My first experience with Skyrim wasn’t what you would expect. I popped the disc into my PS4, and upon hearing the opening taiko drums and men’s chorus, I knew I had to sit and listen to the entire intro. I listened to “Dragonborn” for at least an hour before I even started the game, and to this day it captivates me as a piece of music. Its bombastic war cries, waxing and waning of intensity, and full text in the dragon tongue really struck a chord with me. I felt I had to find some way to cover this on Recorder Arcade, but how could I make recorders sound as intense and war-like as a full orchestra?
Use LOTS of recorders.
I knew this would be a big undertaking, but I just began arranging the piece without knowing how big it would eventually be. Once all the notes were down, I starting planning my orchestra—groups of wood recorders for the string sections, plastic recorders for the woodwinds, and resin recorders for the brass. I needed to turn this homogenous-sounding instrument family into a plethora of sounds, tones, and colors to really make this effective. As I created my sections, sorted my parts, and balanced my registers, I ended up with 72 recorder parts to record, plus 6 bass clarinets, 10 percussions, and 32 vocals. Altogether, I had 120 audio lines to record, so it was fair to say I needed a little help.
The recording went smoothly over the course of 7 months or so with assistance from Julia Henderson and Clay Turner on vocals, but now it was time to make a video. How could I make a film that matched the intensity of this piece?
I teamed up with a cosplay design artist (who already had a set of Daedric Dragonborn armor) and a filmographer/editor to recreate scenes from the game. The three of us (and a 2 y/o in tow) filmed on location at Rocky Butte Historical Site and Mt. Tabor Park, in Portland, Oregon. After an 8-hour shoot, we had plenty of film to tell a convincing story underneath the showcase of the massive recorder orchestra.
With the shoot finished, editing came next for both the audio and video. I built the audio to showcase the sound of the recorder choir and layered multiple unison tracks to create volume and fullness of tone for large sections of instruments. Then, I built the main storyboard of the film with framing, green screening, masking. Finally, I passed it over to my editor and told him, “Do what ever you want to make my novice editing skills look amazing!”
This project began in November of 2018, and I worked on it constantly between smaller vids up until the release in February 2020. “Dragonborn” was by far the largest project I have ever done, but the frustration, waiting, long nights, sleepless mornings at work, grueling studio sessions, excitement, and fun all made the project worthwhile. I hope that my efforts make the VGM community just as happy and amazed as I am, and I hope that people can see that the recorder is more than just a children’s educational instrument—it is a whole family of instruments capable of feats of Dovahkiin proportions.”
Recorder Arcade has also graciously shared some behind-the-scenes videos as well as full sheet music for those who are interested! Enjoy!