【战意】音乐节之：北欧时代的声音 THE SOUND OF THE VIKING AGE
Videogames use music to immerse players in their worlds and guide players’ emotions throughout their playtime. Simply, catchy 8-bit tracks were responsible for giving millions of players earworms back in the retro gaming era, but the modern gaming landscape is a canvas of variety, with sweeping orchestral scores being commonplace in the more cinematic, AAA experiences of the current generation. Thrashing metal scores our unstoppable march through Hell in Doom, tinkly piano numbers embrace us within the relaxing island life in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and modern pop and rock tracks get us pumped up to take on the world in FIFA.
Conqueror’s Blade beckons players to fight and shape their own legend in a world at war, and Booming Tech created a suitably epic soundtrack to accompany it. Players’ journeys through cities like Turul Város are met with orchestral, medieval-inspired refrains, and siege battles rage to the beat of furious war drums. When we introduce new factions and cultures to the game, we also look to their historical counterparts for aural inspiration.
Season VII: Wolves of Ragnarok introduced the Northmen, including the Sons of Fenrir, Berserkers, and Shieldmaidens units, all clearly inspired by Vikings and ancient Scandinavian lore and culture. Many string and wind instruments from the Viking Age have been discovered on archaeological digs, but with written musical notation only being made possible centuries later, we had no direct way to know what Viking music, likely played at small gatherings or among friends, family, and kin, may have sounded like other than written records.
Thyles and skalds, essentially the jesters and bards of the Viking Age, would compose spoken poetry, much of which still survives in sagas and books like the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. Some historians speculate their compositions may have enjoyed the accompaniment of a harp or lyre. As for how they sounded, when the 10th century Arab merchant Al-Tartushi visited Denmark, he wincingly described the local Vikings’ singing abilities as “a rumbling emanating from their throats, similar to that of a dog but even more bestial.”
This was the perfect launching point for Ye Chenyang, a Composer from Booming Tech working on Conqueror’s Blade, who was looking for an animalistic approach to the Viking sound. “It was my goal to convey feelings of savagery and excitement,” said Ye of the new music he composed for Season VII: Wolves of Ragnarok. “I took much inspiration from the band Heilung and used many ancient instruments. I added orchestral influences to rather simple melodies to give it a more epic feel, and to make it grander and more exciting without losing the ancient feel.”
Indeed, the band Heilung was an instrumental part of shaping the soundtrack of Season VII. Their name means ‘healing’ in German, and their mission statement is to leave their listeners “at ease and in a relaxed state after a magical musical journey that is at times turbulent.” Heilung’s use of uniquely era-appropriate instruments and different vocal styles, combined with music and lyrics based on Scandinavian history and legend, made them the perfect fit for Ye’s vision for the soundtrack, and the creative vision for the season overall.
Their song Galgaldr, taken from their 2019 album Futha, can be heard in the opening cinematic for Conqueror’s Blade throughout the latest season. The harsh, throaty vocals, apocalyptic atmosphere, and lyrics inspired by Völuspá, the prophecy of Ragnarok, set the tone for a dark yet epic saga to come.
Also introduced in Season VII, Heilung Fjord is a new Viking-inspired siege map named after the band. This new locale features another of their atmospheric compositions: Alfadhirhaiti, an ode to Odin performed in Old Norse. “I divided Heilung's music into several sections and added a section to different parts of the siege battle,” said Ye of Heilung Fjord’s soundtrack, intended to take players on a journey through a chaotic battlefield, and perhaps even to the gates of Valhalla.
Season VII: Wolves of Ragnarok is available to play in Conqueror’s Blade now, with Heilung Fjord available in current Siege rotation.
This feature is brought to you as part of Music Week, a special week of content running from May 10-16 celebrating the history of Viking music, and modern-day compositions by Heilung and Booming Tech. Keep an eye on the Conqueror’s Blade website for more features, a contest, and other surprises!
电子游戏使用音乐将玩家沉浸在自己的世界中，并在整个游戏过程中引导玩家的情绪。简而言之，引人入胜的8位音轨负责使复古游戏时代的成千上万的玩家重拾worm虫，但是现代游戏界却是多种多样的画布，清脆的管弦乐乐谱在当代的更电影化AAA体验中司空见惯。催眠的金属为我们在《毁灭世界》中的地狱之旅打下了不可阻挡的音符，小巧的钢琴数字将我们带入了《动物穿越：新视野》令人放松的岛屿生活中，现代流行乐和摇滚乐使我们勇往直前，在FIFA中走向世界。
征服者的Blade招募玩家在战争中战斗并塑造自己的传奇，而Booming Tech则创造了适当的史诗配乐。玩家穿越图鲁尔·瓦罗斯（TurulVáros）等城市的旅程遇到了管弦乐队，受中世纪启发的束缚，而围攻战则激怒了狂热的战鼓。当我们在游戏中引入新的派系和文化时，我们也希望从他们的历史对手那里获得听觉上的启发。
第七季：《仙境传说》的狼人引入了北方人，包括芬里尔之子，狂暴者和Shieldmaidens部队，这些人显然都受到了维京人和古代斯堪的纳维亚传说和文化的启发。在考古挖掘中发现了许多维京时代的弦乐器和管乐器，但是直到几个世纪后才使书面音乐符号成为可能，我们无法直接知道维京音乐的音乐，可能是在小型聚会上或在朋友，家人，家庭中演奏的。和亲戚，听起来可能不像书面记录。
锡克斯和斯卡尔德斯人，主要是维京时代的小丑和吟游诗人，会创作口头诗歌，其中大部分仍然存在于萨加斯人和象诗意的埃达和散文集的书中。一些历史学家推测他们的作品可能与竖琴或七弦琴相伴。至于它们的声音，当10世纪阿拉伯商人Al-Tartushi访问丹麦时，他冷嘲热讽地将当地维京人的歌唱能力描述为“从他们的喉咙发出的隆隆声，类似于狗的声音，但更具有野兽性”。
这是Booming Tech作曲家，征服者之刃（Benging Tech）的作曲家叶晨阳（Ye Chenyang）的理想出发点，他一直在寻求一种对维京人之声的动物化处理方法。在谈到他为第七季创作的新音乐：《仙境传说的狼》时，叶说：“传达我的野蛮和激动的感觉是我的目标。” “我从Heilung乐队中汲取了很多灵感，并使用了许多古老的乐器。我在相当简单的旋律中增加了管弦乐的影响，以使其具有更史诗般的感觉，并使其更加宏大和令人兴奋，而又不失古老的感觉。”
的确，Heilung乐队是塑造第七季配乐的重要组成部分。他们的名字在德语中的意思是“治愈”，他们的使命宣言是让听众“在经历了一段动荡的神奇音乐之旅之后，保持放松和放松的状态”。 Heilung使用独特的适合时代的乐器和不同的声音风格，再加上基于斯堪的纳维亚历史和传奇的音乐和歌词，使它们非常适合Ye's的配乐和整个季节的创意。
他们的歌曲Galgaldr（取自其2019年专辑Futha），在整个最新季节的征服者之刃的开场电影中都能听到。刺耳的嗓音，世界末日的气氛以及受《仙境传说》预言Völuspá启发的歌词，为黑暗而又史诗般的传奇奠定了基调。
在第七季中也引入了Heilung Fjord，这是一张以维京人为灵感的全新围攻地图，以乐队命名。这个新的场所具有另一种大气成分：Alfadhirhaiti，这是对在老挪威进行的奥丁颂歌的颂歌。 “我将Heilung的音乐分为几个部分，并在攻城战的不同部分中增加了一个部分，” Heilung Fjord配乐的叶说，他的目的是引导玩家穿越混乱的战场，甚至到达Valhalla的大门。
第七季：《仙境传说》的狼群现在可以在征服者之刃中使用，而《希隆·峡湾》目前可以在《围攻》中使用。
此功能是作为“音乐周”（Music Week）的一部分提供的，该周是5月10日至16日庆祝维京音乐历史的特别一周，内容包括Heilung和Booming Tech的现代作曲。请随时关注“征服者之刃”网站，以了解更多功能，竞赛和其他惊喜！
