I have been searching for an interview with Cajsa Ekstav for 10 or 11 years on how she came to make this piece. Totems of the Grizzlemaw - THIS IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PIECE IN THE ENTIRE GAME and I still play. The emotions you described entering this forested region of the game with the rain in the background - I would hang around here and grind mobs for hours just to hear this particular piece of music. I had no idea what a nyckleharpa was, but I searched hours and hours for something on the internet about Cajsa Ekstav and you, my friend have achieved the holy grail - this interview by this musical goddess is what I’ve been searching for. You are absolutely correct - this is the best composition by Russell Brower in the game imo, and I play four instruments. I was so excited by this piece that I of course bought the album WoTLK on iTunes and played it for my coworkers since 2009 or 2010 when it came out. And when the sweet sylvan music comes to a decrescendo in the middle of the track, and Cajsa enters with her folksy nyckleharpa, I would ask my colleagues what instrument was this? None guessed it. And it gave me the opportunity to show them Cajsa’s picture with the nyckleharpa around her neck and tell them about the instrument. Thank you for this interview and please send this to the goddess of the nyckleharpa: Cajsa Ekstav !!!
Letting her do her own thing turned out to be the best decision they could have made. Out of all of WoWs music, which is very dear to me, the Grizzly Hills music stands out as special to me, and that is thanks to this lady.
I’m so glad you acknowledge this. I think I could have put some more focus on the fact that they gave her that space even under AAA production pressure.
I grew up (and still live) in the Pacific Northwest of the US, Washington state to be exact, and I remember walking into Grizzly Hills for the first time and feeling like I came home. The massive pines in the game, the mountainous terrain, the patchy underbrush... I swear to God, it's like Blizzard took a walk around the rural area I lived in for over two decades, took a few pictures, and re-created my corner of the world in the game. So to have such a homey, welcoming, quiet tune playing on what I thought at the time was a fiddle, which has always been linked to 'the frontier' in my mind, just made me not ever want to leave. Yeah, I have the same memories as you do about trying to level through the zone and pulling fifty mobs at a time. And feck that grove of trees infested with spiders, I swear they had double the aggro radius of everything else there. But it's still my favorite zone in the entire game, and I never thought I'd find somewhere that topped Outland's Nagrand. And I really, truly believe that Ms. Ekstav's improvised song is what sold me on it so completely. It just fits the zone perfectly. Thank you for sharing her story and introducing me to a new instrument. And doubly thank you for that massive blast of nostalgia hearing Grizzly Hill's theme again.
It's amazing how games can make you share experiences that streams into your real life, with someone you've never met, and who lives in another corner of the world.
Just went back today for the first time in maybe ten years. Brought tears to the eyes. Such a beautiful piece of music. Thank you so much for making this video!
My fondest WoW memory of all time is entering Grizzly Hills and hearing the music for the first time. It invokes so many amazing memories, like a gateway to the past. Tack så mycket, Cajsa!
I remember a guy in my guild stayed up all night on the day of release and when I got on ventrilo in the morning he said "Have you been to Grizzly Hills yet? The music there is crazy good!"
Yea I did but that part didn’t make the final edit. Her guess was probably inflated by the fact that when I approached her I used the word millions. She guessed 5million during filming. I think the true number is at least 40million but that is probably a low estimate too.
As many others I would like to thank you for your interview you did and I hope you can convey at least Some of my deep thankfulness for WoWs wotlk music and especially grizzly hills. I remember back in 2009 when I played with some friends and I would often make sure I took the flight path going through grizzly hills just so the music would start playing on my way to other places. That zone and expansion is deeply rooted and ingrained in my memory and I still listen to the music very often.
Lots of salmon fishing to make feasts spent listening to this music. I loved it so much I chased down some other nyckelharpa music. Not easy to find in the US at the time. “Salamander” by Bellevue Rendezvous. So longing and melancholy. Beautiful!
This was so interesting ! Grizzly Hills is one of the video game soundtracks that made me fall in love with nyckelharpa, the same way the Unravel game did. Could you please try to make also a interview of Henrik Oja and Frida Johansson, the composers of the Unravel game soundtrack. You won 1 subscriber
Amazing job, thank you for making the video. I became extremely fond of pine forests, hills and this atmosphere in general and I firmly believe that this masterpiece is the reason why.
Great and interesting video to watch. The Nyckelharpa music that was in Battle for Azeroth that you asked if anyone knew, plays in Drustvar. You can search "Drustvar - Music of WoW: Battle for Azeroth Yodragon", and at 17:00 - 18:56 on his video is the part where the Nyckelharpa plays.
Man, what a great job ! I could have never hoped to find that many details on the piece, and every once in a while for years I would scour the internet for more details. I heard the theme for the first time while playing Wotlk backs in the days, then a few years ago that put me on the track to find and play the nyckelharpa (as a musician myself). Long story short, I ended up having one made by a luthier in France and learning it, because of this piece, years before finally finding closure on my search of this theme's hidden history thanks to you. Kudos for the amazing job and this great piece of video game music history ! And of course, thanks to Cajsa. If the goal was to expand nyckelharpa to new horizons, you definity succeeded in it.
Grizzly Hills music is the best, both elegant and assured. Her main goal of wanting to share the instrument with new listeners was reached a kajillion times over! (Hard to believe she doesn't have original credit.) Appreciate you, Olawf for shining light on Cajsa Ekstav's creative work and I'd love to see more about this musician. Grizzly Woods ua-cam.com/video/WME327mrHj8/v-deo.html.
I loved this video! And its quite a great time for the Nyckelharpa in WoW again, since one of the standout tracks of music for the upcoming Dragonflight expansion includes it yet again, in something very reminiscent of Grizzly Hills. I've seen some people refer to it as Grizzly Hills 2.0 :D Here is a timestamped link for anyone interested: ua-cam.com/video/5CW3C7mARpo/v-deo.html
Thank you! Dragonflight OST sounds great. Very pleasant folky tunes but I’m pretty sure that is not a nyckelharpa. Sliding notes, less resonant strings and no key click sounds.
I, as a swede, living in the region where the nyckelharpa was invented, thought the grizzly hills music was played by a violin for almost a decade. It’s not easy to hear the difference for sure 😃
Thanks for all nice comments! //Cajsa Ekstav 🤗
I have been searching for an interview with Cajsa Ekstav for 10 or 11 years on how she came to make this piece. Totems of the Grizzlemaw - THIS IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PIECE IN THE ENTIRE GAME and I still play. The emotions you described entering this forested region of the game with the rain in the background - I would hang around here and grind mobs for hours just to hear this particular piece of music. I had no idea what a nyckleharpa was, but I searched hours and hours for something on the internet about Cajsa Ekstav and you, my friend have achieved the holy grail - this interview by this musical goddess is what I’ve been searching for. You are absolutely correct - this is the best composition by Russell Brower in the game imo, and I play four instruments. I was so excited by this piece that I of course bought the album WoTLK on iTunes and played it for my coworkers since 2009 or 2010 when it came out. And when the sweet sylvan music comes to a decrescendo in the middle of the track, and Cajsa enters with her folksy nyckleharpa, I would ask my colleagues what instrument was this? None guessed it. And it gave me the opportunity to show them Cajsa’s picture with the nyckleharpa around her neck and tell them about the instrument. Thank you for this interview and please send this to the goddess of the nyckleharpa: Cajsa Ekstav !!!
Thanks a lot! I am glad to hear that you liked the track so much. Warm greetings, Cajsa Ekstav
So glad they let her improvise!!
Letting her do her own thing turned out to be the best decision they could have made. Out of all of WoWs music, which is very dear to me, the Grizzly Hills music stands out as special to me, and that is thanks to this lady.
I’m so glad you acknowledge this. I think I could have put some more focus on the fact that they gave her that space even under AAA production pressure.
Man this is definitely the kind of story I'd like to hear about the game's history. Thank you so much for doing the research and the interview.
I grew up (and still live) in the Pacific Northwest of the US, Washington state to be exact, and I remember walking into Grizzly Hills for the first time and feeling like I came home. The massive pines in the game, the mountainous terrain, the patchy underbrush... I swear to God, it's like Blizzard took a walk around the rural area I lived in for over two decades, took a few pictures, and re-created my corner of the world in the game. So to have such a homey, welcoming, quiet tune playing on what I thought at the time was a fiddle, which has always been linked to 'the frontier' in my mind, just made me not ever want to leave.
Yeah, I have the same memories as you do about trying to level through the zone and pulling fifty mobs at a time. And feck that grove of trees infested with spiders, I swear they had double the aggro radius of everything else there. But it's still my favorite zone in the entire game, and I never thought I'd find somewhere that topped Outland's Nagrand. And I really, truly believe that Ms. Ekstav's improvised song is what sold me on it so completely. It just fits the zone perfectly.
Thank you for sharing her story and introducing me to a new instrument. And doubly thank you for that massive blast of nostalgia hearing Grizzly Hill's theme again.
It's amazing how games can make you share experiences that streams into your real life, with someone you've never met, and who lives in another corner of the world.
Grizzly Hills was the first and only time I stopped playing the game just to listen to the music.
this is amazing, Grizzly Hills is one of the best WoW tracks
Cool to hear the story behind one of the best songs in the game. Thanks for making this.
I used to just AFK in the grizzly hills and let the music play. Still love the song and I still get goosebumps from it.
Same here, and it was not uncommon a bear or a spider respawned and killed me :D
Just went back today for the first time in maybe ten years. Brought tears to the eyes. Such a beautiful piece of music. Thank you so much for making this video!
My fondest WoW memory of all time is entering Grizzly Hills and hearing the music for the first time. It invokes so many amazing memories, like a gateway to the past. Tack så mycket, Cajsa!
I remember a guy in my guild stayed up all night on the day of release and when I got on ventrilo in the morning he said "Have you been to Grizzly Hills yet? The music there is crazy good!"
@@olawfhjorth9985 Everyone always seems to love this music. Did you ask her if she knew how popular it is?
Yea I did but that part didn’t make the final edit. Her guess was probably inflated by the fact that when I approached her I used the word millions. She guessed 5million during filming. I think the true number is at least 40million but that is probably a low estimate too.
5million listeners that is. She told me she also met e few people over the years that started playing nyckelharpa because of Grizzly Hills
As many others I would like to thank you for your interview you did and I hope you can convey at least Some of my deep thankfulness for WoWs wotlk music and especially grizzly hills. I remember back in 2009 when I played with some friends and I would often make sure I took the flight path going through grizzly hills just so the music would start playing on my way to other places. That zone and expansion is deeply rooted and ingrained in my memory and I still listen to the music very often.
Lots of salmon fishing to make feasts spent listening to this music. I loved it so much I chased down some other nyckelharpa music. Not easy to find in the US at the time. “Salamander” by Bellevue Rendezvous. So longing and melancholy. Beautiful!
Amazing history... Grizzly Hills is my #1 nostalgia place in the world of warcraft
Awesome video! Always been my favorite music, really cool to see the story behind it!
This was so interesting ! Grizzly Hills is one of the video game soundtracks that made me fall in love with nyckelharpa, the same way the Unravel game did. Could you please try to make also a interview of Henrik Oja and Frida Johansson, the composers of the Unravel game soundtrack.
You won 1 subscriber
good job, man, respect
With the launch of wrath classic I got to go back there and wow it’s still so amazing. Hits so hard
It really does!
this deserves more views!
Awesome video! Thanks for making this =D
Here is a link to the Battle for Azeroth music featuring Cajsa:
ua-cam.com/video/WqMGwzEnaqc/v-deo.html
Should be pinned comment!!
Thank you so much for this video. She definitely deserves a credit.
I agree!
Amazing job, thank you for making the video. I became extremely fond of pine forests, hills and this atmosphere in general and I firmly believe that this masterpiece is the reason why.
Glad you enjoyed it!
great video, thank you for posting
Great and interesting video to watch. The Nyckelharpa music that was in Battle for Azeroth that you asked if anyone knew, plays in Drustvar. You can search "Drustvar - Music of WoW: Battle for Azeroth Yodragon", and at 17:00 - 18:56 on his video is the part where the Nyckelharpa plays.
Ah nice you found it! Very different vibes! I will tell Cajsa! You are officially the one who told her!
Man, what a great job ! I could have never hoped to find that many details on the piece, and every once in a while for years I would scour the internet for more details. I heard the theme for the first time while playing Wotlk backs in the days, then a few years ago that put me on the track to find and play the nyckelharpa (as a musician myself).
Long story short, I ended up having one made by a luthier in France and learning it, because of this piece, years before finally finding closure on my search of this theme's hidden history thanks to you.
Kudos for the amazing job and this great piece of video game music history !
And of course, thanks to Cajsa. If the goal was to expand nyckelharpa to new horizons, you definity succeeded in it.
Thank you! I’m glad you found your way here! 😀 Hope your nyckelharpa studies are going well!
Grizzly Hills music is the best, both elegant and assured. Her main goal of wanting to share the instrument with new listeners was reached a kajillion times over! (Hard to believe she doesn't have original credit.) Appreciate you, Olawf for shining light on Cajsa Ekstav's creative work and I'd love to see more about this musician. Grizzly Woods ua-cam.com/video/WME327mrHj8/v-deo.html.
Awesome
Thank you for your work. Great video!
Thanks for the video! What a gem!
This deserves a lot more views.
Thanks you! I loved making it! I made no effort to spread it especially not in on US servers since that requires an active US sub.
I loved this video! And its quite a great time for the Nyckelharpa in WoW again, since one of the standout tracks of music for the upcoming Dragonflight expansion includes it yet again, in something very reminiscent of Grizzly Hills. I've seen some people refer to it as Grizzly Hills 2.0 :D
Here is a timestamped link for anyone interested: ua-cam.com/video/5CW3C7mARpo/v-deo.html
Thank you! Dragonflight OST sounds great. Very pleasant folky tunes but I’m pretty sure that is not a nyckelharpa. Sliding notes, less resonant strings and no key click sounds.
@@olawfhjorth9985 oh really? My apologies then for my ignorant ears!
I, as a swede, living in the region where the nyckelharpa was invented, thought the grizzly hills music was played by a violin for almost a decade. It’s not easy to hear the difference for sure 😃
I deeply ty for this video.
Helt underbart alltså, magiskt. Jag behöver en nyckelharpa NU! Har någon hittat musiken hon spelade i BFA?
Eller hur, visst blir man sugen! 😁 Kolla kommentar ovan om Drustvar!
Where do i find the music grizzly woods? Tack för den här videon :))
Totems of the Grizzlemaw-Wrath of the lich king soundtrack. The nyckelharpa part starts after a minute or so.