Kaladin is an epic fantasy, cinematic-style book soundtrack inspired by Brandon Sanderson's bestselling novel, The Way of Kings. Blending gritty styles that are heavily influenced by the epic music of Two Steps From Hell and Steve Jablonski (Transformers) with piercing beauty influenced by James Horner (Avatar) and Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings), the album tells a tale of a harsh world where storms ravage the earth, spirits assist humanity, and hope, beauty, and honor exist as delicate wisps on the wind.
The album connects with the imaginations of fans in an exciting way. It enhances the listener's experience of the story without getting in the way of their imagination, enabling them to picture their favorite moments in vivid detail. For those who haven't read the book, the music deftly captures the sting of betrayal, the horror of fighting a war on the front lines, the whispers of a spiritual awakening, and the strength of friendship so that the listener may become familiar with the story on a human level. The music invites all listeners to to join the magic of a world that needs heroes to stand and accept the call to unite.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Introducing Artists for the Art Book, Part 1
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Nov 21, 2019 at 01:17:39 AM
Hi everyone! I'm happy to introduce some of our artists to you!
Each section here will include the artist, a link to their website, and samples of some of their existing artwork. This will give you an idea of where our heads are at with the designs.
So, without further adieu, please welcome to the team...
Botanica Xu needs little introduction to Stormlight fans! Her distinct take on the stories and characters is nothing short of magical. I love her bold use of color.
The bookmarks custom made for the Kaladin soundtrack by Botanica Xu
I've been following Isabella's work for awhile now and I'm excited to have her on our team! She is wondrous with landscapes and lighting. Apologies, we only have lo-res samples to share with you at the time of this posting.
The sampler plate by Isabella de Ocampo
Gorgeous use of silhouettes! by Isabella de Ocampo
Moody castle at dusk. by Isabella de Ocampo
End Part 1.
This is about half of the new artists we have brought on board. I hope this gives you peeps an idea of where our heads are at and gets you excited for the upcoming artbook! I'll put up Part 2 tomorrow!
#BridgeFourSalute
Michael and Sae Sae
The Embargo is Lifted!
over 4 years ago
– Wed, Oct 23, 2019 at 11:43:31 PM
Kaladin Soundtrack Embargo Lifted!
Yes, that’s right. As of now, you can purchase and stream our album again! To celebrate, we’ve updated our prices (aka, lowered our prices) for those who haven’t purchased the album yet, or who want another copy.
Hoorayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!! Kaladin's back!!!!!
It’ll still take some time for the album to become available on the various distribution channels (itunes, spotify, amazon, etc). So if you don’t see it on your medium of choice, just keep checking. If, in a month, it’s still not on a distribution site that you use, please email us at [email protected] and we’ll follow up. It usually doesn’t take that long, but that’s the window we’re given for setup time.
Storms, it’s been difficult to function without that revenue coming in. So tell your friends, tell strangers, tell the world that you can now purchase the album. If you’re wanting to make a difference to us, then please purchase the album before you start streaming it. You can purchase right now from our main distributor at CD Baby.
I’ve Already Got My Copy of Kaladin. Why Does This Matter To Me?
For those who are waiting for the art book: the embargo directly affected our ability to complete the art book in both a timely and artistically-satisfying manner. The longer the embargo dragged on, the harder it was to maintain the original design and maintain our ability to pay the artists we want attached.
We are creating another update that will go into the art book. That update will, hopefully, be released next week. Dragonsteel has been holding on to any updates that have anything to do with the art book, which is why you haven’t heard from us. More on that next week, fingers crossed.
#SaeSaeArt almost reveals a spoiler about the art book!
How You Can Help With the Re-Release of the Album
You have all done so much to support us through all this, we appreciate it so much. There is still one more thing we’d like to ask of you. Please go on to any or all of the distribution channels (itunes, amazon, spotify, youtube, etc) and leave a review!
ALL of our reviews were deleted when we took down our album.
We are starting from scratch again. Your reviews helped us climb the ranks on Google Play during the holidays last year, and the more/better reviews we have, the more algorithms will pick us up and recommend our music! Leave comments on Youtube (on the official videos when they hit), engage with us and tag us on social media, @theblackpiper (on fb) and @epicbookmusic (on twitter). Tell the fans about us. Sanderson is always garnering new fans and there are so many people out there who haven’t even heard of the soundtrack!
The faster we can get our coffers balanced out, the faster we will be able to deliver the art book.
What do YOU have to say about the Kaladin soundtrack? (meme credit goes to dr. fate)
Muster up a Vorinally acceptable amount of Passion (not too much, mind you, or you’ll attract Odium! Oh, what the heck. Go ahead and sacrifice yourselves!) and lend your voice to ours in telling the world about our music!
Thank you, again, for all your support and patience. We still aim to give you an art book that will satisfy just as much as the music does. More on that soon.
A strong #BridgeFourSalute to all of you!
Sae Sae and Michael
Art Book, KALADIN Album Embargo, and Secret Projects, Part 1
almost 5 years ago
– Wed, Jun 05, 2019 at 02:26:02 AM
You're Still Getting Your Stuff, Don't Worry!
Hi everyone!
From your perspective, things went dark and quiet in January. You've all been very patient with us. Let me explain why you suddenly weren't/aren't able to find Kaladin anywhere, when (ish) it will be back up, and how that's affected our schedule for the year. We also have some announcements to make. Some of them are specfic and some of them are vague, but exciting!
Sae Sae (mois) is typing this up with a busted up wrist, so I'm going to write this update in two parts. Pertinent info today in Part 1, and exciting artistic details in Part 2 (which I'll start on tomorrow).
Where is my update??
WHAT IS AN EMBARGO AND WHY DO WE HAVE ONE?
I've seen a lot of misunderstanding about the embargo (unavailability of the Kaladin soundtrack), so let me clarify. This is a stipulation in our agreement with DMG, and it's something that is often utilized when multiple third parties have their hands on a single intellectual property (in this case, The Stormlight Archive). The one who holds the rights (currently DMG) has the power to exercise an embargo, the terms (reasons) of which can be varied and wide, and are under strict non-disclosure.
This means that, for a temporary time (and DMG is being very gracious about the time period), certain parts of that IP (intellectual property), aka the Kaladin soundtrack, will be pulled from the shelves. Insert lots of Hollywood business mumbo jumbo here, most of which is under non-disclosure and subject to be tailored to every contract ever made; hence, hard to define and difficult to explain.
Pretty much how non-disclosures work.
Please be assured that everyone is getting along at The Black Piper, Dragonsteel, and DMG, and that the embargo is not because of a mistake made on our part. I wish I could go into detailed explanations, but I am unable to do so. DMG has been extremely gracious with our terms of the embargo, and Dragonsteel has done a wonderful job acting as the go-between for us. I can't say when, exactly, the embargo will be lifted, but it looks like it will be fairly soon. We will absolutely let you all know when the album is available again. And it will be available on all the platforms it was on before. Please be a little more patient, like we have to be, and before you know it, Kaladin will be back up!
So, to reiterate, this is not an issue of licensing, or a mistake on how it was recorded, or anything like that. Every aspect of the album has been held up to professional standards and continues to do so. The embargo was to be expected, although we didn't get much of a warning, which means you didn't get much of a warning. The beauitful part of it all is how well everyone is accomodating each other, within the boundaries we each have.
SO, WHY HAVE WE BEEN SO QUIET ALL YEAR?
DMG is not obligated to give us a heads up about initiating the embargo. When they told us to take it down, we had no warning and that threw all of our plans into a serious lane change. Our own income took a hit, and since we had no idea if they would enact the embargo for the full time period, or relinquish it early (they can do both), we had to come up with some clever plans to fill our coffers in the interim.
This directly affected the art book budget. (I'll get more into the art book below --lots of awesomeness to be announced, so keep reading!) Unfortunately, we had to put the development of the art book on hold. This was for several reasons (most of which are under NDA, sorry!).
In January, we decided to look at other projects to work on that would both excite our fans and backers and earn us some more income. Putting projects together like that takes some time, but with a few options under our belt, we've been able to proceed. And most of those gambits are actually turning out better than we could have imagined. (See Secret Projects below)
Also, Sae Sae suffered from myserious and sudden grand mal siezures for about two months in early February. It turns out that was just from a new medication her doctor wanted her to try, and needless to say, it's out of her system and she's doing better than she has in years! Michael has had a few movies and commercials he's been working on, and Sae Sae also has some screenplay and book projects of her own that needed some attention, due to deadlines.
Through all this, Mike and Sae Sae have been working tirelessly to come up with some plans and projects that will suit everyone should the embargo last its full duration (which it looks like, it won't). Our heads have been down and we've been quietly working away all winter.
And NOW...we finally have some awesome updates for you all!
Admit it, you were thinking it.
THE ART BOOK
First on everyone's minds, I'm sure, is the art book. We know you've been expecting it for a long time. We were hoping to be done with it last year.
So let's explain what happened and why you didn't.
Richard Williams left us very unexpectedly last spring. He was due to stay on through this year, until the art book was finished, but he had some awesome job offers and, while his leaving was amicable, it was sudden. And when he left, 1/3 of our budget went with him.
This meant redesigning and re-evaluating the art book. We didn't run out of money, but just fell short of realizing or original designs. So we went back to the drawing board, several times to come up with a creative solution that would still end in a product that honored the original intent.
For the past year, the art book has been stuck in what's known in Hollywood as "development hell". Basically, all of Sae Sae's designs have to be pre-approved by Dragonsteel and DMG and other third parties that we don't even know about. A lot more restrictions were added to her initial design last summer (more NDAs), and Sae Sae essentially went through about ten different versions of the art book before settling on a layout that seemed to suit everyone.
It's not that they're bad ideas. It's just that we've changed our mind. Again.
Again, even though there were a lot of different people, with different opinions weighing in on the process, everyone has been essentially on the same page and worked well together. Which is truly amazing cos that's not always the case with Hollywood peeps.
So that is why there was such a long delay with the art book.
WHERE WE'RE AT WITH THE ART BOOK/SCHEDULE
For now, we have a basic layout and aesthetic agreed upon. We have the artists we're going to be working with who will be creating new artwork (I'll be announcing them in Part 2 of this Update, coming later this week), in addition to some licensed artwork already in existence. It will be a combination of BTS (behind-the-scenes) on how the album was made, with accompanying art to complement.
The artists need a rough sketch from Sae Sae (remember Sae Sae Art?) before they commence their designs. So Sae Sae will be spending the summer drawing those up. We intend to go into production this fall. We're aiming for a Christmas release, but it may take a bit longer, depending on our printer. So don't quote us on an actual deadline just yet. It's early days. yet. Once we go into production, it should go fairly quickly. The good news is, we're out of development and into pre-production!
Here are some pics of Sae Sae Art and the bare bones outline on her wall.
Each colored post-it is an idea for a commission. Our budget will determine how many of these we actually get to make.
The joke that started it all: #SaeSaeArt. Just so you all have an idea of how awesome our artists are and just how much Sae Sae can't draw!
Realllllly looking forward to seeing the finished piece of this one! I wanted a shot of Bridge Four listening to Kaladin's crucible in the Highstorm, and what they must have been going through during that moment.
A closeup of the Sae Sae Art version of 'Highstorm - Vigil'
SECRET PROJECTS AND OTHER PROJECTS
So those other projects we spent the winter developing? Some of them are actually taking off! We have at least one, possibly two (depending on how talks go --so far, so good) new albums that we're developing. These are separate from the Kaladin soundtrack and we cannot say what they are yet, but we will be spending the summer also developing those. If you'd like updates on those, feel free to sign up for our newsletter on our website (just scroll to the bottom of the page for the sign-up button)!
Michael is currently traveling in the UK on a singing tour and has several other composing gigs to tackle when he comes home. Sae Sae has been attached to rewrite the screenplay for Defending Elysium (the unpublished novelette that Brandon Sanderson wrote (you can read it on his website.)
This is an official project and Brandon is somewhat involved. The deadlines are more locked in so she is spending half of her time on Defending Elysium. This is not a Black Piper project, but it's good for you all to understand what else we're individually working on, so you have more context for our schedule. Sae Sae also has two other book projects she is working on, but those have more fluid deadlines now that we're in to summer.
WHAT ABOUT MY LITERARY CONSULTATION?
As stated previously, Sae Sae will be able to focus on the literary consultations once the artbook has gone to print. Some of you know that she has tried to embark on starting those earlier, but it simply isn't feasible what with all the other obligations she has to fulfill.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE NEAR FUTURE
Later this week, or early next week, we'll announce the artists that we have attached to the artbook, along with samples of their work. This will give you an idea of the styles the art will be in. We're very excit to be working with such talented artists!
As the summer progresses, Sae Sae will post Sae Sae Art for you all to see. Again, depending on what the budget will allow, not all of her art will end up in the book. But it is a necessary design step to help determine the final layout of the book.
Once we know when the embargo for the Kaladin soundtrack is lifted we will definitely make an announcement. When it's back up, it will be available on all the same platforms you could find it on before.
THANK YOU ALL for your patience and communication with us while we've gone dark this past winter. We are dedicated to fulfilling your rewards, not just in a timely manner, but to the absolute best standard that we can reach, quality-wise. Pleae continue to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter to see any non-Kaladin-related announcements we'll be making. This is an incredible fandom and we're lucky to be a part of it.
A hearty Bridge Four salute to you all!
--Sae Sae and Michael
Updates + Sale + Pause on Sales/Streaming
over 5 years ago
– Sat, Dec 29, 2018 at 11:11:32 PM
Hi all!
We wanted to send out a quick update on where everything is and to share some news with you. First the updates:
Order Status
We have now shipped out all physical rewards for those who are paid up, except for the following:
Page Ones
Custom Compositions (these are actively being worked on)
Literary Consultations
Art Books
What has been fulfilled:
Hoid's Flutes
Bookmarks, artwork by Botanica Xu
Art Cards, artwork by Seth Keller
Stormlight Selfies
Kaladin soundtrack CDs
Black Piper merchandise (beanies, dog tags, magnets)
Conductor score PDFs
Song dedications
Inclusion in the Epic Virtual Choir
Natalie Rogers Wallpaper
Here are just some pictures of the work of fulfillment:
Thank you for all your patience, encouragement and camaraderie during the entire process! You are all so awesome!
Sale + Pause on Sales/Streaming
So, while we're working on fulfilling the last few rewards, we wanted to let you know that we're having a sale on the Kaladin soundtrack! This sale is happening through Dec. 31. You can buy the physical album on our website through the Black Piper store ($18 for the 2-disc set) or you can snag the digital album on CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, or Google Play. If you're looking to purchase a copy, you'll want to do it before the new year! Because...
Sad news: starting in the new year (Jan 1, 2019), we have to pause sales and streams of Kaladin. Our contract requires us to renew permission for sales and streaming annually. This year, there has been some shuffling around that will require us to pause sales and streams temporarily, but we are working to get the necessary permissions in place to "un-pause" later in the year. We are optimistic that within a few months, we may be able to sell again.
In the meantime, we'll be working on fulfilling the rest of the rewards, and then...
Preparing for our next (few) projects
So, here's what's happening: I (Michael) will finish up with the Page Ones and Sandy and I will finish up with the Custom Compositions (about a 3rd of them are complete, thanks to Richard's amazing help). Sae Sae will be focusing first on the Art Books and then on the Literary Consultations. All of that will keep Sae Sae extremely busy, so once I get through the Custom Compositions and Page Ones, I'll turn my attention to some upcoming things.
We have a lot of ideas brewing and have started a few discussions, but still have plenty of work to do before we announce (or even pursue) anything solid. But stay tuned, because we have some big ideas and big things we'll be working on!
As always, thank you all for your amazing support and encouragement!! Any questions, thoughts, etc can be sent to [email protected]. And please feel free to connect with us on social media!
Sincerely,
Michael Bahnmiller & The Team @ The Black Piper
Shipment Update!
over 5 years ago
– Wed, Nov 14, 2018 at 01:49:49 PM
Mike Has Left the Building!...For A Few Weeks
Hi everyone! Sae Sae here. Just wanting to give you an update cos it's gonna be a little quiet from us for a few weeks. Michael has gone on a much deserved family vacation to Puerto Rico and he won't be back until November 30th. I'll allow him a few days of rest when he gets back and then crack the whip and he'll get back into shipping out your orders!
The status of your shipments have been cryogenically sealed until Mike's return.
Before he left, Mike worked like an axehound on a hunt to get as many shipments out as possible. I think he did a little over 500 hundred shipments. Unfortunately, it's just little old me left here for the next few weeks and Mike is the one who handled the logistics of the shipments. I do not know how to look up your tracking info, the status of your order, or determine what has or has not been shipped. Mike has his own algorithms and such on his own system, so I'm afraid I won't be much help in the coming weeks determining the status of your orders.
I have no idea where anything is.
But, I can tell you that we're hoping to have all our rewards (except the art book) shipped out to you all by Christmas. Mike and I will recalibrate when he gets back and determine what help he needs to get that done.
If, however, you do want to know the status of your order, please send Mike an email at [email protected] and he'll check those when he gets back. That will be the most efficient way for him to keep track of who's needing a response.
Sandy Has Also Left The Building...Temporarily
Did I mention it's just little old me for awhile?
When they get back, we can stay up all night swapping manly stories! And in the morning, I'm making waffles!
Sandy, who is still on our team, is taking a temporary leave of absence while she settles some personal affairs at home. She could use all the Bridge Four Salutes she can get. You peeps have such a good way of lifting us all up when we're down. I know your support has gotten through some tough times. So let's give Sandy some Sanderfamily love and hope she can come back to us as soon as possible!
Status of the Project
In addition to knowing when you get your loot (sorry, it's a secret until December...cos that's when our mighty Shipment Master Michael comes back), you're all probably wondering what's the status on everything else. Here's what we've got done, and what we're working on!
The Black Piper Merchandise - Stting in the warehouse, waiting to be shipped.
The Flutes - Currently designing cool protective covers for them to go in. Should be ready in time for Christmas!
The Sketch Cards - All are complete except the Kaladin sketch card. I am currently redesigning that one with our artist. Should be there in time for Christmas, if not sooner.
Compositions - I'm pretty sure most of those are done. Sandy gave me her last one, so I'll be contacting that lucky pup sometime this week to get that process started.
Seriously, peeps. I have ALL the lists!
Art Book - The art book has had a lot of hoops to jump through this past year. My main artist that was going to do the bulk of the artwork, unfortunately had a personal tragedy hit and he had to back out from the project. So I'm starting from scratch, really. I'm currently going through our preliminary layouts, which we'll run by Dragonsteel for approval. If they approve my design, then I'll be able to start plugging in commissions.
The design and approval process has become a time consuming aspect for all parties involved. The Cosmere property is much more complex than it was when we started this project, and, as such, we've got a few more hoops to jump through, and a few more restrictions to navigate, which affect the whole process. The good news is, all parties involved are on the same page and we're supporting each other through all the red tape.
Since we'll be spending the next two months finishing up production on our other rewards and shipping out your loot, we'll be free to throw all our energy into the art book after the new year. I'm hoping that once we get our foundation set and agreed upon by all parties, that the actual design of the book itself will only take about three months. I'm not sure how long it will take to get to that stage, but I can assure you that all of us are ready to have it in your hands! We want to take care that it's as high quality as can be, so we appreciate your patience with the art book!
Happy Holidays
In the meantime, we wish you all some early salutations for the holdiay season. However and whatever you celebrate, we're with you in spirit! A hearty Brideg Four Salute to you all!
xoxoxo,
Sae Sae (and honorary salutes from Mike and Sandy)
