TW evolution of music
 

Or something like that…
I'm linking some example scores.

TW1 was like, let's rock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AdAfy1V0to
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU-UBWAA5Us

TW2 went more classic, but also harder rock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zYpwEdVA_U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuWxKqYUfuk

TW3 took world music (ethnic) and dramatized it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa7dYqZJr4o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8J9HXcOxrs


TW1 IMO was a decent OST, nothing superb, but still good.
Apart from the first score I linked, I never liked TW2 OST much, too average for my taste.
But TW3 OST took me by surprise. Can't get enough of it.
You?

Eh?…I remember when I was a kid, 10 year or so, hated going to those folklore gatherings where our teacher would pick dozen or so us younglings, put us in the circle and we all had to dance and go…Yelelelele Yeleleleleleeee! Yelele! Ye!
It says a lot of my character progression that now, twenty years later, I really enjoy severing bandits and cutting their heads, as the same music plays along.

I was also a bit disappointed with the OST of Witcher 2 but I always found Witcher 1 excellent in that regard.
The exploration music in the first chapter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-sSZzwdeIA
Last cutscene of the prologue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAdamNt5JdU

I just LOVE "The Fields of Ard Skellig" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gokhBJWSjeM
It's an Scots Gaelic song "Fear a Bhàta" (Boatman) composed by Sìne NicFhionnlaigh.

Hm, the way I remember TW1´s music the "rocking" pieces were exceptions to an overall vibe I´d call "let´s ambient folk!" :).

Anyway, according to my tastes TW1 has quite by far the best environmental/exploration music - a lot of character and only fairly rare resemblance to something I´ve already heard in a game, whereas the other two, while still good, usually lean more towards what I perceive as generic, particularly TW2, and the music doesn´t feel as organically woven into the environments as it does in TW1.
Since this type of music is what one hears the most often, TW1´s soundtrack is my favourite. TW3 has some fantastic tracks during cinematic moments though, two of which are probably my favourite of this kind in the series.
I´ve always disliked the distorted guitar-like sound in few of the tracks in the first two games and am glad TW3 did away with it.

Some of my favs:

TW1
The Dike
Lakeside & Black Tern Island Day

TW2
Loc Muinne Outskirts - Blue Mountains (Roche path exclusive, IIRC, it certainly gives the beginning of the last chapter the edge over the other path)

TW3
Ladies of the Woods
Spoiler-y Ciri related track

I enjoyed all the OST's from The Witcher 1&2, not all tracks but most of them, yes.

And can't get enough from TW3 OST either. It is one of the best.
Heard this today, it's pretty great.
-Ciri Song Lady Of Worlds-

Heard it as well Rune and music is great but I wish it would have been sung in Gaelic. English lyrics just don't grab me for some reason.

Agreed! It would sound more authentic for sure…but, I still love it as it is.

Say what you will about Bulgarians, but they know how to do a proper wedding song, none of that flimsy-whimsy western emo parade:P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKJGezjQqrI

Well, it was jazzed up quite a bit but yeah :)
The original version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZCSPq1raTY

Hahaha, *now* I'm a fan!

Now, That is what I call music…go, Kostadinka!
Love the outfit of the guys in the back…looks a bit like Wolf school armor, actually.

Well, if you like that than you should love this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEw77sKZ41s :biggrin:

Like the Soundtrack, I hope there will be the 4 hrs Soundtrack out soon, as promised. Already loved the music @ White Orchard, but it's not on the 2hrs soundtrack.

This is my favorite from HoS, especially when that angry chick kicks in. :p
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2QX6Lm4iXE

Witcher music is great for splicing in to 4X games, by the way. ;)

Ah, so that's what that bit in the "Wild Hunt: Creating the Sound" topic means!

*brag*: my wife sung in the choir during the "Witcher 3 music live" concert in Krakow. Official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRX3XHqS89Y Unofficial bits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EhZTZmFBkI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzKpvzqK390

It was surreal to be in this huge arena filled with nerds ;)

Such opportunity! Ask some totally random person "which has better AC, plate or chain?" And they would know! And you could say "cake: truth or lie?" and they would say lie!

That's awesome Elwro. Must have been quite exciting. I looks like one heck of an event.

Yeah, and about an hour before you could see on the streets quite a few people dressed like Geralt or *gulp* Yennefer going in the direction of the arena. The event was a part of the Krakow film music festival which recently branched into game music, too. A good idea, I have to say ;)

One think I didn't like is that they didn't mention the author of the original music for Witcher 1, Adam Skorupa, even though the composers and orchestrators for TW3 used his themes.

In my opinion TW1 had the best music 'on the whole', but TW3 has a few great tracks performed by that group with wild vocals and hurdy-gurdy. In fact, that hurdy-gurdy sound is what defines TW3 sound for me…