February 23, 2017 at 13:38Sound magic in Vikings: War of Clans
The effect of complete immersion in the game is achieved thanks to several interdependent elements: the plot, image, animation and sound. The connecting link between them is the imagination of the player - a direct participant in the events. Only in harmony with each other all the components of this complex system provide a holistic perception of the universe created by a team of developers.
Today we will talk about how Plarium Studio in the city of Krasnodar created the soundtrack for the Vikings: War of Clans project and music for the game’s official cinematic trailer.
The silence in the playing space that is not broken is evidence of its inferiority. You must be aware that musical scenery in the form of tracks and sounds are an essential part of the performance. Vikings: War of Clans uses two successive tracks designed for a city map and a world map. In addition, the game has about 150 sounds accompanying the receipt of awards, training of soldiers, the study of knowledge and many other processes.
Work on voice acting, as a rule, begins at the pre-production stage, when developers create a prototype of the interface, choose the genre of the game, form the visual style and general atmosphere of the project. At this stage, the sound producer evaluates the approximate number of necessary sounds and soundtracks, determines their concept.
When writing music for the project Vikings: War of Clans, a tremendous amount of work was done to find authentic tunes characteristic of the period of the early Middle Ages and the era of the Vikings conquest. At the same time, we conducted an analysis of already released games, films, videos, and musical works on this subject to find out with what methods and approaches other experts embodied their ideas and how this affected the quality of the product. After such a thorough study and immersion in the culture of the ancient Scandinavians, it was decided to use their folklore heritage, namely the traditional Viking war song. We made our arrangement of this melody: we added new instruments, while maintaining a characteristic ethnic sound.
The work of Viking's Soul was not included in the final version of the game. The visual style of the project does not fully reflect the realities of the chosen era and has a shade of fantasy, and the composition created based on the Scandinavian ballad did not emphasize these features and was knocked out of the general atmosphere of the setting.
One of the important conditions for the musical design of the project is the unobtrusive nature of the tracks, as they are repeated throughout the session and can tire the player. With this in mind, tracks with a touch of fairy tale were written for the city map, which we achieved with the help of bagpipes and plucked instruments. Access to the world map is accompanied by more formidable music with elements of a march and combat drums - it sets up the player for future battles and conquests.
You can listen to the full versions of the tracks in the official Vikings: War of Clans band on VK or on the YouTube channel .
Music for the city:
Music for the world map:
When choosing game sounds, it is important to consider several factors. First of all, it is necessary to determine what actions will be emphasized with their help. Sounds must also be appropriate for the situations, objects, and processes that accompany them. In Vikings: War of Clans, sounds for buildings were selected based on their functionality and appearance. Sometimes even the color of a structure could influence the final choice of certain instruments and effects, because intuitively we expect a certain sound from it. Violet, for example, requires a mysterious and mysterious melody, and yellow is associated with light and bright motifs.
Sometimes technical nuances impose some restrictions on the quality of music. In our case, difficulties arose due to the size of the game in application stores: we could not afford the excesses, and music files, as you know, take up a large amount of memory. For this reason, they have undergone optimization and are used in the game in the maximum acceptable quality with minimal losses.
As Vikings: War of Clans players can see, the music and sounds harmoniously fit into the setting of the project and convey the essence of what is happening, whether it is a peaceful construction within the city walls or military campaigns.
The creators of the cinematic trailer tried to make it very effective and memorable, since it should impress the viewer from the first viewing. As you know, the sound significantly affects the perception of the video, increasing its effect on the audience, therefore, in contrast to the musical design of the game, which used repetitive soft and noble motifs, the video preferred bright and rich sounds.
The process of creating music for the official trailer for Vikings: War of Clans consisted of the same steps as filling the sound content of the game itself. The work began already at the pre-production stage, when the theme and script of the video became known. In parallel with this, the style and nature of music was discussed with the director of the trailer. Then, with the advent of the editing concept and the first storyboards, allowing to track the timing and sequence of frame changes, the main accents in the video sequence were determined and the tempo was chosen. We combined the result of this work with the video material in order to verify the mounting points in accordance with the music, after which the resulting sound skeleton began to acquire various effects.
It is worth noting that at this stage another important decision is made: what function does the sound perform in the video. It can convey the atmosphere, transfer the listener to a certain era and locality, or play the role of a background, emphasizing what is happening in the frame. Also, quite often, the recorded voice of the announcer or actor is added to the video, which complicates the perception of the video. In this case, it is necessary to bring all these elements to harmony, find a balance and not overload the viewer with an excessive amount of information.
Returning to our track, we can say that its first version was authentic and sent listeners to the folk motives of the ancient Scandinavians. However, after the final installation of the cinematic trailer, it became clear that the music turned out to be pretty monotonous, devoid of drive. Then we took a very risky step: we added energetic guitar riffs to the composition along with dub drums. And it worked. The combination of ethnic music with rock and electronic sound brought to the track the very rigidity that the northern warriors are famous for. So the eclectic symphony of modern Vikings was created.
Since the trailer’s footage is built according to the classical laws of drama, the soundtrack must follow the same canons. The string is accompanied by the sound of one plucked instrument, which, as the narrative develops, overlays new ones - a drum, wind instruments and a violin. The whistle of a fired arrow is the culmination of the plot and takes us from the medieval world to the modern world - with a powerful guitar sound and dub beats. The finale remains open: this understatement symbolizes the fact that adventures are just beginning, and invites the viewer to join the universe of Vikings: War of Clans.
Initially, the Battle Cry track was created exclusively for the video, but later we had the idea to make it the full version, which can be heard on VK or on YouTube. The players liked the composition, and they left a lot of positive reviews about it on our channel.
Full Battle Cry track:
It took four days to two weeks to create tracks, depending on their complexity. One of the important points in working on music for both the game and the video is its final refinement - the mixing process. At this time, the balance of frequencies and volume is leveled, the last details are added so that each sound finds a place in the musical “mantle” and not one of them gets lost, does not get out of the overall picture of the work.
Finally, I want to say that writing music and selecting sounds for a project is a creative work and it is not always possible to fit it into the framework of the production process. Sometimes the best ideas come at the most unexpected moment and really transform the work. It is important to listen to your intuition: if it tells you that something is missing in the composition, most likely it is. In this case, it is wise to go back a few steps and look at the problem from the other side. So that difficulties in work do not become an insurmountable obstacle for you, listen to the advice of our specialists: they will be useful to those who are just starting their journey into the invisible world of sound.
Sound design, perhaps, is not a fundamental factor in the success of the project, but represents the very detail that is able to connect everything together and enhance the emotions of the gameplay or watching a video. It is difficult to derive the exact formula to achieve a good result, but one thing is for sure: if your music elicited a response in the hearts of the audience, you did everything right!
Today we will talk about how Plarium Studio in the city of Krasnodar created the soundtrack for the Vikings: War of Clans project and music for the game’s official cinematic trailer.
Sound Design Vikings: War of Clans
The silence in the playing space that is not broken is evidence of its inferiority. You must be aware that musical scenery in the form of tracks and sounds are an essential part of the performance. Vikings: War of Clans uses two successive tracks designed for a city map and a world map. In addition, the game has about 150 sounds accompanying the receipt of awards, training of soldiers, the study of knowledge and many other processes.
Work on voice acting, as a rule, begins at the pre-production stage, when developers create a prototype of the interface, choose the genre of the game, form the visual style and general atmosphere of the project. At this stage, the sound producer evaluates the approximate number of necessary sounds and soundtracks, determines their concept.
When writing music for the project Vikings: War of Clans, a tremendous amount of work was done to find authentic tunes characteristic of the period of the early Middle Ages and the era of the Vikings conquest. At the same time, we conducted an analysis of already released games, films, videos, and musical works on this subject to find out with what methods and approaches other experts embodied their ideas and how this affected the quality of the product. After such a thorough study and immersion in the culture of the ancient Scandinavians, it was decided to use their folklore heritage, namely the traditional Viking war song. We made our arrangement of this melody: we added new instruments, while maintaining a characteristic ethnic sound.
The work of Viking's Soul was not included in the final version of the game. The visual style of the project does not fully reflect the realities of the chosen era and has a shade of fantasy, and the composition created based on the Scandinavian ballad did not emphasize these features and was knocked out of the general atmosphere of the setting.
One of the important conditions for the musical design of the project is the unobtrusive nature of the tracks, as they are repeated throughout the session and can tire the player. With this in mind, tracks with a touch of fairy tale were written for the city map, which we achieved with the help of bagpipes and plucked instruments. Access to the world map is accompanied by more formidable music with elements of a march and combat drums - it sets up the player for future battles and conquests.
You can listen to the full versions of the tracks in the official Vikings: War of Clans band on VK or on the YouTube channel .
Music for the city:
Music for the world map:
When choosing game sounds, it is important to consider several factors. First of all, it is necessary to determine what actions will be emphasized with their help. Sounds must also be appropriate for the situations, objects, and processes that accompany them. In Vikings: War of Clans, sounds for buildings were selected based on their functionality and appearance. Sometimes even the color of a structure could influence the final choice of certain instruments and effects, because intuitively we expect a certain sound from it. Violet, for example, requires a mysterious and mysterious melody, and yellow is associated with light and bright motifs.
Sometimes technical nuances impose some restrictions on the quality of music. In our case, difficulties arose due to the size of the game in application stores: we could not afford the excesses, and music files, as you know, take up a large amount of memory. For this reason, they have undergone optimization and are used in the game in the maximum acceptable quality with minimal losses.
As Vikings: War of Clans players can see, the music and sounds harmoniously fit into the setting of the project and convey the essence of what is happening, whether it is a peaceful construction within the city walls or military campaigns.
Soundtrack for cinematic trailer
The creators of the cinematic trailer tried to make it very effective and memorable, since it should impress the viewer from the first viewing. As you know, the sound significantly affects the perception of the video, increasing its effect on the audience, therefore, in contrast to the musical design of the game, which used repetitive soft and noble motifs, the video preferred bright and rich sounds.
The process of creating music for the official trailer for Vikings: War of Clans consisted of the same steps as filling the sound content of the game itself. The work began already at the pre-production stage, when the theme and script of the video became known. In parallel with this, the style and nature of music was discussed with the director of the trailer. Then, with the advent of the editing concept and the first storyboards, allowing to track the timing and sequence of frame changes, the main accents in the video sequence were determined and the tempo was chosen. We combined the result of this work with the video material in order to verify the mounting points in accordance with the music, after which the resulting sound skeleton began to acquire various effects.
It is worth noting that at this stage another important decision is made: what function does the sound perform in the video. It can convey the atmosphere, transfer the listener to a certain era and locality, or play the role of a background, emphasizing what is happening in the frame. Also, quite often, the recorded voice of the announcer or actor is added to the video, which complicates the perception of the video. In this case, it is necessary to bring all these elements to harmony, find a balance and not overload the viewer with an excessive amount of information.
Returning to our track, we can say that its first version was authentic and sent listeners to the folk motives of the ancient Scandinavians. However, after the final installation of the cinematic trailer, it became clear that the music turned out to be pretty monotonous, devoid of drive. Then we took a very risky step: we added energetic guitar riffs to the composition along with dub drums. And it worked. The combination of ethnic music with rock and electronic sound brought to the track the very rigidity that the northern warriors are famous for. So the eclectic symphony of modern Vikings was created.
Since the trailer’s footage is built according to the classical laws of drama, the soundtrack must follow the same canons. The string is accompanied by the sound of one plucked instrument, which, as the narrative develops, overlays new ones - a drum, wind instruments and a violin. The whistle of a fired arrow is the culmination of the plot and takes us from the medieval world to the modern world - with a powerful guitar sound and dub beats. The finale remains open: this understatement symbolizes the fact that adventures are just beginning, and invites the viewer to join the universe of Vikings: War of Clans.
Initially, the Battle Cry track was created exclusively for the video, but later we had the idea to make it the full version, which can be heard on VK or on YouTube. The players liked the composition, and they left a lot of positive reviews about it on our channel.
Full Battle Cry track:
It took four days to two weeks to create tracks, depending on their complexity. One of the important points in working on music for both the game and the video is its final refinement - the mixing process. At this time, the balance of frequencies and volume is leveled, the last details are added so that each sound finds a place in the musical “mantle” and not one of them gets lost, does not get out of the overall picture of the work.
Sound Design Newbie Tips
Finally, I want to say that writing music and selecting sounds for a project is a creative work and it is not always possible to fit it into the framework of the production process. Sometimes the best ideas come at the most unexpected moment and really transform the work. It is important to listen to your intuition: if it tells you that something is missing in the composition, most likely it is. In this case, it is wise to go back a few steps and look at the problem from the other side. So that difficulties in work do not become an insurmountable obstacle for you, listen to the advice of our specialists: they will be useful to those who are just starting their journey into the invisible world of sound.
- Learn about sound physics and elementary music theory. They will allow you to conduct your own experiments and research, as well as expand your understanding of sound. Musical education provides significant advantages, but its absence should not stop you: self-education sometimes brings great results.
- Explore the software and hardware you use. The work of a sound specialist is closely connected with rapidly developing technologies: what was relevant several years ago today can become hopelessly outdated. Remember the words of Lewis Carroll that you must "run as fast just to stay in the same place, but to get to another place, you need to run twice as fast."
- Listen to music of various genres and directions, analyze the soundtrack of high-quality videos, games and films, note the moments that are successful in your opinion.
- Hone your skills in practice: compose, re-sound, record, experiment. You cannot read several manuals in this area and immediately give a good result: only practice, supported by a theoretical basis, will allow you to create high-quality sound.
- When working on a project, regardless of whether you are carrying out a private order or are part of the company’s staff, try to create several options at once. If for some reason one of them does not work, you will have ready-made developments, with which you will get the desired result in a short time. However, if little time is initially given, focus on one or two demos.
Sound design, perhaps, is not a fundamental factor in the success of the project, but represents the very detail that is able to connect everything together and enhance the emotions of the gameplay or watching a video. It is difficult to derive the exact formula to achieve a good result, but one thing is for sure: if your music elicited a response in the hearts of the audience, you did everything right!