[Sunchaser] The Sounds of the Song

[Morgenstern]

Just getting a feel for the music of the setting . This is particularly important as the four kingdoms all see life and accomplishment in the form of song, with death being the decent into silence that must close all songs.

Dwarves love to fill a space with sound. Huge horns (tuba and saxophone), massive drums, and pipe organs. I love the idea of a Dwarven pipe organ hammering a grand hall with sound. The Ahset add a jazz sensibility to the gentle rise and swell of dwarven music, giving you a beat you can dance to with force but also controlled timing. The timing of Ahset fighting arts is revealed in the music that measures the paces of warfare.

The Shai live for community. I see them loving pure song, a cappella. Choirs that fill the vast pavilions of their cities with a sound as uplifting and reassuring as the rising of the sun it celebrates. When they must compliment the power of the voice they use bells of various sizes and sometimes plucked string instruments resembling the cello. The Erron also adore song, though they tend to sing in a far deeper key.

The music of the Vessa is both alien and enchanting: poor singers, their quick fingers make them even better with stringed instruments than even the most accomplished humans and they can build cascading, hypnotic rhythms with little more than the clicking of their claws.

Have to say that Sean Paul's Album Trinity is a strong influence for the Jano. I see them having a very staccato musical style - a fast, fast, fast beat and intricate lyrics that it’s easy to get tripped up in. A music as lively as the minds of her people and fingers of the Rascal! The elves introduce the Jano to the flute and it's bouncing, leaping trill adds harmony to the simple percussion underlying Jano chants.

The music of the Matha is the most traditionally Renaissance, building on the range of the harp and violin with soft drumming and epic ballads. No other Kingdom is as concerned with the preservation of history and they hold history in their songs as well as their books.

[Slippery_jim_digris]

The Shai live for community. I see them loving pure song, a cappella. Choirs that fill the vast pavilions of their cities with a sound as uplifting and reassuring as the rising of the sun it celebrates. When they must compliment the power of the voice they use bells of various sizes and sometimes plucked string instruments like the oboe.

Not to be anal but the oboe is a woodwind, specifically a double reed intrument
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oboe

Otherwise I find that evoking the type of music that these peoples prefer and relate to gives me a clearer picture of the setting. I like it!

[Morgenstern]

My bad. I meant a cello. Fixed in text .

Otherwise I find that evoking the type of music that these peoples prefer and relate to gives me a clearer picture of the setting. I like it!

Thanks ! The four kingdoms all have fairly strong and distinct features that should give players a sense of belonging to the world. I like all kinds of tools for giving texture to a setting. Music. The sound of the languages. The color of clothes. The shape of the coins. Its all little details, but it adds richness in a fairly efficient way when space is limited. The casual player doesn't have to be concerned with it, while the dedicated role-player can use it to add another layer to his own performance.

[OverNinja]

The music of the Vessa is both alien and enchanting: poor singers, their quick fingers make them even better with stringed instruments than even the most accomplished humans and they can build cascading, hypnotic rhythms with little more than the clicking of their claws.

Have to say that Sean Paul's Album Trinity is a strong influence for the Jano. I see them having a very staccato musical style - a fast, fast, fast beat and intricate lyrics that it’s easy to get tripped up in. A music as lively as the minds of her people and fingers of the Rascal! The elves introduce the Jano to the flute and it's bouncing, leaping trill adds harmony to the simple percussion underlying Jano chants.

Emphasis = MINE.

You really should change their names, as they have a meaning in Finnish and the other isn't too complimentary.

(click to show/hide)

Vessa = toilet
Jano = thirst

[Slippery_jim_digris]

My bad. I meant a cello. Fixed in text .

Que nada.
I knew that because my best friend in high school played the basoon, sort of a first cousin to the oboe, and my first choice of music for years was what most would call classical, even though I can't play or sing a note! (Well I sing, but only drinking songs but what I lack in talent I make up for with enthusiasm!) I cruised through college music appreciation class with an 'A' even though I rarely went and never listened to the assigned music except when it was monitored

One quible, while it can be plucked, a cello is usually played with a bow. A guitar, oud, sitar, banjo and harp are plucked.

I really don't want to be the music Nazi but...

[Wolverine]

One quible, while it can be plucked, a cello is usually played with a bow. A guitar, oud, sitar, banjo and harp are plucked.

When your only musical experience to cellos is The Police, then plucking them is fine. In fact, I think it gives it a distinctively different sound from being played by bow. Then again, the extent of my musical ability is playing 'Mary had a little lamb' on a recorder, so I'll leave it there

I like that you're working musical styles into the setting. Perhaps some GC's will be tempted to track down tracks which match the feel of the music you've described to help 'score' their games a little.

[Mister Andersen]

So the Dwarves are tycho drummers?

[Morgenstern]

You really should change their names, as they have a meaning in Finnish and the other isn't too complimentary.

Hmm. I don't know that I'm going to be able to dodge around foreign languages in every case, particularly as I tend to assign short words when working with basic building blocks of a language. The Jano translation isn't terribly troubling. The Vessa translation I'll consider as it's a bit tragic. OTOH, I'm sure there are other foreign words that must trigger a few giggles when transliterated into any language, and I do like the sibilance of the word given that it is self referential for lizard folk. I may ping you in private mail with a few quiries later .

[Morgenstern]

So the Dwarves are tycho drummers?

More or less. That sort of war drumming seems the appropriate compliment to the tromp of Dwarven boots maning the ramparts or marching to war. Ten thousand stone-born warhands synchronized to the beating heart of the caverns. I envision their architecture as grand and enormous (in a dwarven hall, everyone feels small), so I want sounds that echo pleasantly. The accoustics in a Dwarven cathedral should be awesome! Like throwing a concert in the Grand Canyon.

(I'm looking to find bagpipes a good home. It's easy to play them badly, but when you hear them played well, it's rather terrifying- which was sort of the desired effect. Possibly ogres. Would be a good nod to the gentleman on the cover.)

[Slippery_jim_digris]

Ogre bagpipes... I like it!


The Orcs gave the bagpipes to the Ogres as a joke, but the Ogres haven't seen the joke yet.

[Forcegypsy]

So the Dwarves are tycho drummers?

More or less. That sort of war drumming seems the appropriate compliment to the tromp of Dwarven boots maning the ramparts or marching to war. Ten thousand stone-born warhands synchronized to the beating heart of the caverns. I envision their architecture as grand and enormous (in a dwarven hall, everyone feels small), so I want sounds that echo pleasantly. The accoustics in a Dwarven cathedral should be awesome! Like throwing a concert in the Grand Canyon.

(I'm looking to find bagpipes a good home. It's easy to play them badly, but when you hear them played well, it's rather terrifying- which was sort of the desired effect. Possibly ogres. Would be a good nod to the gentleman on the cover.)

As a fan of the well-played bagpipe (Scottish regiment) I encourage you to consider the ogre.

[Number Three]

So the Dwarves are tycho drummers?

Wait are we talking about "tycho drummers" or "taiko drummers"?  I'm not being pedantic, it's just that a search for "tycho drummers" got me squat, and "taiko" served up much more.

Ogre bagpipes... I like it!

The Orcs gave the bagpipes to the Ogres as a joke, but the Ogres haven't seen the joke yet.

I am so stealing this idea.  Specifically, my epic half-orc con artists is stealing it.

[Wolverine]

As a fan of the well-played bagpipe (Scottish regiment) I encourage you to consider the ogre.

I agree. The Ogre's great lung capacity would be perfect for the Bagpipes.

Plus, I can't think of anything more intimidating that facing off against a 7' Ogre... playing the bagpipes... in a kilt. Well, except for the point where he puts the bagpipes away and charges with his 9' claymore!