Critters were given another behind the scenes look into the making of the highly anticipated animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina. The newest video reveals BAFTA-nominated composer Neal Acree is the composer for The Legend of Vox Machina. The animated series will also feature brand new original songs for Bard Scanlan Shorthalt written by Sam Riegel and his brother in law Peter Habib.
Peter Habib is no stranger to Critical Role collaborating with Sam on the “D&D Beyond Official Theme” and producing and mixing “Your Turn To Roll.” Throughout the video, music for the series is teased and just from the small snippets that are included in this behind the scenes video it’s clear the music is going to be absolutely spectacular in The Legend of Vox Machina.
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In the new behind the scenes video it is revealed that Neal Acree actually reached out to Critical Role through Sam Riegel to score the animated series after the Kickstarter fundraiser. Acree’s audition was an orchestral version of “Your Turn To Roll” which is featured in the video and has become the theme for Critical Role. Neal Acree has incorporated “Your Turn To Roll” throughout The Legend of Vox Machina due to his own and the Critters love for the song.
Travis Willingham explained that the song was originally intended to be tied to Campaign 2, but has become synonymous with Critical Role as a whole. The cast excitedly gush about how “Your Turn To Roll” has been woven throughout The Legend of Vox Machina which will undoubtedly be wonderful for fans to listen for.
Neal Acree is an award-winning composer who has worked on several television series including Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Witchblade, and numerous video games including World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Overwatch. Neal Acree also contributed to the music in the Critical Role mini-series UnDeadwood.
The cast make it clear throughout the video that The Legend of Vox Machina is a modern fantasy and the music reflects this with tons of different styles and genres of music incorporated into the series. The instruments themselves show the variety of the type of music in the series. Another song for The Legend of Vox Machina score is teased, “Fighting Back” which features an electric cello. The Legend of Vox Machina will also incorporate the fiddle and bagpipes.
Neal Acree talked about finding the theme for each character with Grog based in heavy metal, Percy in classical operatic, Keyleth and Pike have a flute and choir theme, while the gracefulness of Vax and Vex is demonstrated through a strings based classical waltz influence. But Scanlan Shorthalt of course proves to be the craziest with Neal Acree saying the bard opened “the musical Pandora’s box.” Neal Acree recalled:
“I remember when I first started working on the show, I was trying to find the voice, and kind of define some parameters, and then at one point, Sam asked me to write a heavy metal piece where Scanlan’s playing the lute and it turns into a heavy metal guitar. And I’m like, ‘All the rules are out the window’”
BTS VIDEO TEASES ORIGINAL SONGS FOR BARD SCANLAN SHORTHALT IN THE LEGEND OF VOX MACHINA
With Scanlan being a bard, his music is much more than just songs actually being tied to his magic. During Campaign 1 Sam Riegel would spoof top 40s hits that were on the radio at the time of the game, but for The Legend of Vox Machina Scanlan will be singing completely new original songs. Sam explained that while the songs are an important part of Scanlan’s magic his goal when playing Scanlan during the first Campaign was always to make people laugh. And it doesn’t look like this motivation will be leaving anytime soon.
Like Neal Acree’s score Scanlan’s songs touch on a number of different musical genres. Peter Habib revealed that the songs are influenced by a bit of everything from “a little bit of a hip hop edge, to a funk and soul edge, to a country kind of style.” The entire cast clearly loves the songs that Peter Habib and Sam Riegel are creating. Taliesin teases that Scanlan’s songs are unsurprisingly “possibly one of the big reasons why this is going to be a very adult cartoon.”
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Matt Mercer talked about how the songs are absurd, but still heartfelt and elevate the narrative. Marisha talked about the importance of balancing emotional moments and comedic moments which Scanlan’s songs undoubtedly are an important part of, as they were during Campaign 1. Laura Bailey hilariously explained:
“They have no right to be so good. You want them to be stupid because of Scanlan, but they’re so catchy.”
All of the music that has been teased in this video makes it clear that not only is the music going to be truly magical, but the creators behind it are passionate about it. Every new behind the scenes video makes it more obvious that everyone involved is enthusiastic and passionate about this project which is perfect given that the series was born from the love of the Critters. Fans are eagerly awaiting The Legend of Vox Machina and while a release date has not yet been announced, every new reveal is another reason for Critters to get excited.
Are you excited for The Legend of Vox Machina? What do you think about the music that was teased in the new behind the scenes video? Are you excited that Scanlan will be singing original songs? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or on our social media and check back with The Illuminerdi for more Critical Role and The Legend of Vox Machina news.
Source: Critical Role Youtube
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