New SoundPad: Vikings

Edit:  Dec. 28th - This has now been released to the public.

Greetings Patrons,

Just in time for the holidays, here's the 31st installment of the SoundPad series, Vikings. I've been working on this for a few weeks. In fact, last week's Viking Village came about as a result of exploring various environments and musical styles.

Starting work on a SoundPad is always a bit scary. I usually have a sketchpad full of scrawled notes that I make during film-watching, Wiki reading, and image searches. I then take a deep breath and start doing some broad strokes explorations and see if they work out.

Simple environmental sounds are my usual starting point. If I can get the wind and a few other sounds to get me to believe I'm in a certain location, I know there's at least a next step. From that point, it's one more sound at a time. Does this sound make sense? Does it make sense in context? Can I use it in multiple ways? Etc.

My main goal throughout is story, and the only real question is: "Are there stories in here?" I hope the answer is yes. From simple beginnings on barren plains and meager huts to cruising across oceans and rivers on a longship. From daily life in the village to brutal raids and celebratory feasts. From battlefield to Valhalla (via a funeral pyre).

Layering sounds is key to flexibility. Try "Frozen Wind" on everything. Try "Burning Village" with "Raid". And if calamity strikes, combine "Funeral Pyre" with "Longship: Slow" and trigger some "Fire Arrows" to set the whole thing ablaze.

Tracks with the timer icon allow you to trigger sounds periodically to create more complex scenes without more input from you.

The 3 tone tracks work very well separately and together to create a simple mood-based underscore.

For Foundry VTT users, these have been sent off to Moulinette Cloud, I'm not sure when they'll be added but I'll keep you posted.

This SoundPad is in Patron-only sneak-peek mode which means it's live on the site, but it's not linked from any of the menus. Please feel free to share it with your immediate gaming group, but not on the internet until I release it publicly. The link is at the end of this post.

Also, I've attached a zip file of all the sounds (including the x4 and x2 sounds separated into individual sounds) at the bottom of this post for Patrons. Additionally, I've included 2 bonus musical versions of the "Odin's Feast'" cue. These are designed like dynamic music tracks in games, so it's the same cue with differing layers of intensity. (The track in the SoundPad is the highest level (3).

Have a wonderful holiday season everyone, and thank you all, as always, for your continuing support.

Best,

Tim

Viking SoundPad Link