Recently we rewatched The Hobbit trilogy, which made me—again—root around looking for Dwarf-ish music. This time, though, I went wider and also included cover versions of melodies from all of the six Peter Jackson movie soundtracks.
Taylor Davis is one of the fabulous violinists out there doing YouTube covers. Here is her “Misty Mountains”:
The Hobbit – Misty Mountains (Dwarven Song) Violins Cover – Taylor Davis on YouTube
Nathan Mills aka Beyond the Guitar’s version of “Misty Mountains” by classical guitar is so lovely:
THE HOBBIT: Misty Mountains – Classical Guitar Cover by BeyondTheGuitar on YouTube
Guitar at its best, hands down.
This orchestral cover medley/remix by Parademics has an impressive range of instruments—I think we spotted an electric guitar in the background in the Ring Wraiths melody towards the end:
The Hobbit | Epic Orchestral Cover by Parademics on YouTube
Albert Chang’s arrangement of “Misty Mountains” incorporates 6 violins, 6 cellos, and a cajon, and shows why underappreciating cellos is a bad idea:
The Hobbit – Misty Mountains Orchestral Cover by sleightlymusical on YouTube
So much depth comes from the deeper-voiced string instruments!
Scott Sutherland’s tuba version is really solemn and somber:
Misty Mountains Cold – The Hobbit (Euphonium and Tuba Cover) by Scott Sutherland Music on YouTube
I have an impression that the tuba family is typically considered a bit silly, at least in the mainstream culture, but it shouldn’t.
The following Lord of the Rings medley also has an incredible cello part:
Lord of The Rings – The Hobbit (Piano/Cello Cover) – ThePianoGuys on YouTube
By ThePianoGuys aka Jon Schmidt, Steven Sharp Nelson, and Al van der Beek, with van der Beek’s arrangement.
Jasmine Thompson’s cover of “I See Fire” from The Desolation of Smaug is as good if not better than the original:
“I See Fire” Ed Sheeran The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – cover by Jasmine Thompson on YouTube
Guitar for Thompson’s cover is by Seye Adelekan.
This gender-flipped version of “Into the West” from The Return of the King is awesome:
Into the West (Cover) – Josh Sahunta & Nicholas Yee on YouTube
Josh Sahunta singing and playing the piano, with Nicholas Yee on the cello.
Finally, being a Finn, I would be remiss not to include this instrumental metal version of the Lord of the Rings theme by Doug Anderson:
Lord of the Rings Theme – Epic Metal Rendition by Doug Anderson on YouTube
Do you have a favorite cover from either The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings? Please share!
An occasional feature on music and sound-related notions.
Co-Geeking 