The Baron of Eastmarch - in production now! #production #music studio #bitwig #musicclip #musicvideo #DAW #LBSotA #iolo #Davidwatson #Holt #HoltIronfell #poetscircle #bards
The Bear Tavern Awarded Royal Warrant by Lord British!
All,
As many of you now know, The Bear Tavern was recently awarded a Royal Warrant by Lord British in recognition of its service to the community. This is a monumental achievement, one that validates the open and welcoming ethos that we continue to strive for since our founding. This recognition simply would not be possible if it weren’t for the drive, determination and fortitude of many across the community, whom have gone to great lengths to making a difference in the wider world. This ranges from those who have run and managed the events for which we have received praise or, to those who have maintained active involvement in discussions that continue to shape New Britannia. I cannot begin to state how proud I am in the achievements we have made together, as well as in our growth from humble origins to become a solid and steadfast community.
The Bards of Poets' Circle happily congratulate their find hosts at the Bear Tavern and Beran's Reach, and Grandmaster Bard Holt Ironfell sends his fondest regards, overjoyed to rally alongside another Royal Warrant Guild!
Snippet of "a conspiracy of bards" for the poets' circle guild. #HoltIronfell #Holt #newmusic #music #videogamemusic #Ableton #hybrid #orchestra #epicmusic http://SoundCloud.com/poetscircle/holtronic-a-conspiracy-of-bards (at Studio)
The Bards of Poets' Circle to settle in Beran's Reach
To all,
After a progressive discussion, The High Council of Beran’s Reach is delighted to announce that the Metropolis will be playing host to the Bards of Poets’ Circle Guild, run by Sir Holt Ironfell, their Grandmaster Bard and leader. Poets’ Circle has been awarded one of the few Royal Warrants by Lord British, and Holt is part of the Order of the New Britannian Empire.
The Poets’ Circle will be one of the first guilds to formally establish itself within the settlement, providing a landmark to entertain both citizens and visitors alike. As the foremost musical college, Poets’ Circle hopes to provide the local community with abundant opportunities to become involved in more creative events, culture, arts and, of course, good old fashioned bardic partying.
This will be a grand addition to the already substantial array of crafts, businesses and communities (within the neighbourhoods of Beran’s Reach) that are set to arrive.
This is an exciting turn of events, but we are far from finished. We have plenty of space for everyone, from those looking for a home to those looking to found their own guilds and businesses. At our current pace, the Metropolis of Beran’s Reach will become a striking attraction for both travellers and those looking for a place to call home.
Fancy joining us? Due to the generosity of our community the Metropolis has already been secured. New arrivals need not pay a penny. Simply contact me for details, or, apply today at http://www.thebeartavern.org/housing . Regardless of whether you intend to join us or not, our doors our always open, we look forward to seeing you all in future releases!
Yours,
Vallas
Last week we introduced you to some of the exceptional music from our community of composers that is showing up in Shroud of the Avatar. If you had not noticed in that first group of musical compositions we showcased, the titles I requested for the compositions were also a description of what I wanted the pieces to sound like. While the composers were also allowed to provide a few sentences to describe the piece, I had really hoped that the musical pieces would sound like their names and vice versa. This naming standard also helps us keep track of what is done, and what remains. This week, we showcase 5 more of the musical compositions that you are already hearing inside SotA:
Kobold Industry: https://soundcloud.com/kailef/the-clockwork-storm-final-sota-kobold-industry-submission
Another masterful piece from Jarrod Kailef, perfectly captures the sound environment we are looking for when players discover the cleaver constructions of the Kobold race. Humans in our world owe a lot to the industry and intelligence of the Kobolds.
Loss of Honor: https://soundcloud.com/doug-yassen/loss-of-honor-shroud-of-the-avatar-final-mix
Douglass Yassen created this wonderful piece which will be found in one of the ruins of ancient Britannia. Sad indeed that the virtues have been forsaken. The loss of Honor is but one of the deep tragedies of the new world.
Mysterious Cavern: https://soundcloud.com/peter-boiko/mysterious-cavern-3
Peter Boiko has crafted a great track here that nicely blends the environmental ambiance we are looking for in mysterious caverns, while also having a captivating and mysterious melody!
Over Hill and Round the Mountain: https://soundcloud.com/richarddaskas/over-hill-and-round-the-mountain-final-version?in=richarddaskas/sets/shroud-of-the-avatar-sota
Richard Daskas perfectly captured this exploration and discovery piece which players will hear as they explore new Britannia. The sun is shining and the world is growing in wonder, what will we find round the next bend or over that far hill?
The Garden of Sorrow: https://soundcloud.com/tinottt/the-garden-of-sorrow
Faustino Sanchez II’s garden of Sorrow will sound perfect in the Necropolis, while players explore this underworld meeting it undead gods and unrestful spirits.
We have so much more to share with you, I am overwhelmed by the creativity and quality of music created for Shroud of the Avatar by YOU, our amazing community!
The year was 1997. My minotaur crusader on Dark and Shattered Lands MUD had brought a handful of mercenaries into the guild Eclipse, and performed a mutiny. The Guild was in bad shape, possibly the worst in the game. By the time I was through with it, we had poached the top members of all the other ‘evil’ Guilds, and dominated PVP. The staff had to reset banks because we were so rich.
I’ve been leading Guilds ever since then, so lets imagine I might have thought of a few things about what makes a guild ‘powerful’. I also tend to recruit ex-Guild Leaders as officers, using them as knowledgeable advisers. I’ll try to share my strategies with you, so you can understand the viewpoint of a Guild Master, or if you are one yourself, share in the wisdom of leadership.
I’ve always considered the prime role of a Guild Master to be one of making the Guild as powerful as possible. Personal agenda must be replaced by what is good for the Guild. But "powerful" has man definitions. What exactly does that mean to say, ‘powerful’. in this case?
What qualities make a Guild powerful? Have you been in a powerful Guild that had a unique strategy?
One way to look at it, and this is the most common way, is in terms of the health of the Guild and happiness of its members. Health here means that it is not losing members, that it is united, that there are no fighting factions within the Guild. Happiness of its members also includes these types of things. Respect and friendliness are given by all to everyone, older members go out of their way to try and help newbies, and people come to you to be recruited into the Guild, having heard of its reputation. Generally, people who this basic type of Guild appeals to are those who have had toxic playing experiences and wish to have a positive group to play with.
A Guild who seeks power in the form of influence in a game, with the development staff (this was not hard in the MUDding days), or with the playerbase in general is a different type of creature. This requires political ambition and strategy, and well executed, too. The key to advancing the agenda of this type of ‘powerful’ Guild is that it must be able to do something that is essential to others. In Poets’ Circle’s case, so far this has been the production of as professional a soundtrack as we can manage on a very tight budget. But because that is an essential cause we can rally around, we can become powerful.
This latter type of power also develops strong bonds between members, who must collaborate on the project that is central to their Guild’s growth and reputation. This type of Guild attracts members who are more specific than the first type, in that the project creates relationships. in Poets’ Circle, musicians came into the Guild, recognizing it as a positive place to create. Of course, not everyone gets along when it comes to being an artist. But a wise Guild Leader will let people who are resistant to work together fall to the way side and concentrate on the members who collaborate, contribute and create.
Another form of ‘powerful’ is to have a memorable presence in the game. When people hear about your Guild, or members of your Guild, do they recognize the name(s). This is reputation and fame. A Guild with reputation can be sure that so long as they maintain a good standing in the eyes of the community, they can recruit on their name alone.
There are so many unique types of Guilds, but I think I have listed three core ideas of what makes a Guild powerful. That it is healthy, that it works toward a common goal, and that it has a memorable reputation.
In a way, music is the most honest of all art forms. We instinctively know when music is 'bad', or at very least, we know when we are deeply moved by music: when the music has soul. Whether it sends chills up our spine, brings tears to our eyes, smiles to our faces or makes us dance with joy, we allow good music to take us over. We let it in to work its magic.
The musician, therefor, has a very straight forward task: to enter the heart and mind of his listener, and make them feel alive in some way.
And the musician's audience is the most honest of any audience. It is clear when someone is disinterested or unmoved. Listeners will seldom lie. No matter how much you talk up a piece of music, the music speaks for itself, and though there does exist -- of course -- individual tastes, the standard for music is typically very high: it must be exceptional.
So for the amateur musician, in my Guild's case, the Apprentice-Bard, music is a tentative and fragile desire. For some reason, they hear it in their hearts, but cannot yet articulate it into the hearts of others, despite every desire to. This is a very noble intention. Perhaps one of the most noble and pure -- at least in the heart of the beginner. A novice with some talent and a good attitude is worth his or her weight in gold.
But they must be protected. There is negativity everywhere, and there are also people who are resentful of the arts. Truly resentful, who 'hate' certain artists or types of music. Who have a picture of artists as arrogant or egotistical or narcissistic. Whether because of jealousy or skepticism, this attitude can devastate the cornered beginner. The act of reaching out and expressing oneself in music may as well be the act of seeking love and approval. We fear rejection and are left hurt and foolish when it happens. It can set us back years, truly.
That is why I formed a Guild to protect and nurture artists. Though I call myself a 'Grandmaster' Bard, I have never in my life felt like an expert at anything. My mind always looks to the unknown and yearns to live in its truth and its mystery. I know it to be vaster than my small pool of knowledge, infinitely so. So as a leader, I relate to those who come to me with only the sapling artist yet gracing the soil of their soul. I do not desire experience if it is to make me skeptical of art. I desire the hopeful dreams of youth.
Yet I am, of course, getting older now, and experience has been unavoidable. I decided to create a Guild based around what wisdom and vision I could share with storytellers, artists, and musicians, because I know how to lead such a Guild. I know the struggles (all too well) that you friends of mine face. For I struggle too -- I will not hide it. I celebrate life in spite of struggle, and that is the truest of arts.
I have already met such honest souls. Such true friends, who helped heal my heart. And it is that honesty that permeates good music. That is the healing that music provides. And creating music demands of us that we live the life that is honest to ourselves -- isn't that the greatest challenge of our soul?
All music is a reference to that universal task, and that is why we are so honest with what we love and hate about the music we listen to. It is a dialogue with the human spirit, which continually attempts to seek expression. The musicians who hear their spirit cry out in this way, must turn themselves into the very tool which can dutifully meet music's demands of them. I might say, the musician does not make music. Music makes the musician.
These are all very great words, and perhaps I have stayed up too late musing thoughtfully of the task ahead... planning the shelter and sanctuary I know must exist to keep beautiful people out of harm's way so that they may awaken and share that unique and secret song within.
It is the song of the soul, an honest song. A song we search for all our lives. Just out of reach.
It is about time, in fact overdue, that we begin to more publicly celebrate the wonderful community of composers whose work is now showing up in Shroud of the Avatar.
For SotA, I have had my heart set on finding music that hearkened back to the golden age of our work on the Ultima series. For me, the music composed by Iolo and Ken Arnold remains the best music of the series. Not that we have not had great composers since… we have. But there was something compelling about the simple memorable melodies, that most modern games lose in their hugely orchestrated scores (very much like movie scores). While I hoped we could have fuller music, I hoped we could reign in the desire to go overly large, and provide players with tracks that not only felt right for the area and happenings within the game, but were also both memorable, yet not annoyingly repetitious. I knew going into it, this would be difficult.
To be honest, when we first faced the problem of musical compositions for SotA, I was lost. We got bids from a number of composition houses, that both far exceeded the budget we had available for this crowd funded game, but also, and perhaps more importantly, their demos were far from the soundscape target I was hoping to achieve in SotA. We were stuck. We tried buying music off websites that had affordable music on them, but even after enormous amounts of searching, I found little that felt right. We started down that path though because of budget reasons, never feeling quite right about it.
Then YOU, our wonderful community, stepped up. People asked why they could not submit music tracks for inclusion. My initial thoughts, and even my first response to proposals, was lukewarm at best. Early offerings from the community were far from the mark I was hoping for. While they were often great pieces of music, they generally were either too modern, too orchestral, to much like a movie score, did not sound period enough, or were well off target for some other reason. I did not believe this was going to work.
Then Holt Ironfell of the Poets Circle contacted me and asked a simple question: “Please tell us, exactly what you ARE looking for.” Only at that moment, did I realize what a disservice I had been doing the community. I quickly made copious notes to clearly articulate what I felt was, and was not, music I would hope to find for SotA. The Poets Circle (and others) then went off, formed their own councils for peer review, and raised money when needed to acquire equipment and software. Then a few short months later, the community started to submit new work.
I was literally moved to tears, to hear what amazing work this community, all of you, have been able to produce. In a few short weeks, we went from ZERO accepted pieces of work, to about 100%! While for some of the MOST complex work involving Virtues and pieces that must play together, we have had vigorous exchange to “get it right”, the VAST majority of work now done by the fine Poets Circle and many other members of the community, deserve GREAT acclaim.
I know others will wish to do as I have, which is build a music list to play throughout my home, of the wonderful inspirational work of our community! I would like to highlight a few now, and more in coming months:
Beautiful Meadow, by Jarrod Kailef: https://soundcloud.com/kailef/kailef-ttf-beautiful_meadow
This is a fine example of the primary goal I set for the musical environment of SotA. To me it has all the qualities I sought: First it matches the scene description very well “Beautiful Meadow”. It is both atmospheric and melodic without annoying repetition. It is not overly orchestrated, and sounds like something of the world. While not purely period instruments, it does not take you out of the period feel. Lovely!
Dark Alien Magical Warping, by Sir Wombat: https://soundcloud.com/sirwombat/dark-alien-magical-warping-1
Tackling the dungeon, and other more unusual environments, was always a weak point back in the Ultima days. Previous works were environmental but rarely melodic. Sir Wombat does a great job with this piece to accomplish the goal of building a more environmental and disquieting piece, without losing the melodic values we seek.
Elven Truth Seekers, by tinottt aka Faustino Sanchez II: https://soundcloud.com/tinottt/elven-truth-seekers-final-mix-1
Those familiar with the SotA backstory represented in Blade of the Avatar, know that the Elves of our world were created by the Obsidian Kabal as powerful combat troops for their attempt to dominate the world. Yet on SotA, you will meet the Vertas Elves, who (like Star Trek Vulcans vs their Romulan ancestors) have given up their warlike past and become peaceful truth seekers. This piece captures that perfectly!
Foundation & Strength, by Richard Daskas: https://soundcloud.com/richarddaskas/foundation-strength-version-2
Richard captured perfectly the confidence of the city builders of New Britannia, coming back from the brink after the fall of the moons and the obsidian cause. The hope, the power and confidence show through in this masterful, properly balanced piece.
Dance of Fauns / The Hidden City, by Grandmaster Bard Holt Ironfell:
https://soundcloud.com/poetscircle/dance-of-fawns
From the master bard himself, has come many tunes you will hear going forward. But this early piece remains a favorite. The fauns of New Britannia, live lives of enslavement, yet, when they occasionally are free of the domination of their wretched Satyr masters, they frolic in the meadows and joyfully celebrate the world and possibilities. How they can remain so positive deep in their souls proves the real value of this race.
These are but five of the dozens of wonderful pieces we are proud to have in the game, and will be showcasing in coming weeks to you here with these updates.
By the Virtues!
Lord British
Thank you, Lord British, on behalf of the Bards of Poets' Circle and our independent associates,
theartofmadeline
annaxmalina
titsay
jacobvanloon
dededos
tangentwithtanner
janainaart