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:
Rewards Update, Shipping, Payments
about 6 years ago
– Thu, Oct 25, 2018 at 01:56:48 AM
Hi all,
Good news - we have almost all the physical rewards ready to ship, save for a few items. Here's a quick breakdown of everything (physical and digital):
What's Ready:
Art Cards (all except for Kaladin)
Bookmarks
Merchandise (ordered, will be here next week)
CDs
What Has Been Fulfilled:
Digital albums
Digital Bookmarks
Digital Art Cards (except for Kaladin)
Most of the Stormlight Selfies
Conductor Score PDFs
Song/album dedications
What We're Actively Working On:
The Kaladin Sketch Card
The Art Book. We've been working out details with Dragonsteel. This will be the final physical reward delivered. Since Sae Sae is actively engaged on this front, Literary Consultations will come after
Custom Compositions. Several of these have been delivered, and we're continuing to work through them. Watch your email for any questions we may have
Hoid Flutes - we are creating custom carry/storage bags for these. We'll let you know as we have updates!
Page Ones
Being awesome
Shipping/Payments
So, here's what we're doing: we're going to send everything that we have ready right now, except for orders that include the Kaladin Art card set but do not include the Art Book.
Then, when the Kaladin Art Card is ready, we'll send out orders that include the Kaladin Art Card but do not include the Art Book. Finally, we'll send out the Art Books later. Orders that include the Art Book will be split into two shipments. One that we'll send now that includes all that we have except the art book, and one later that is just the art book.
We won't charge you any additional shipping for the split shipment.
Payments
This means that we'll be charging cards tomorrow (Thursday). I sent an email last week to everyone with pending charges. This is the last call to double check your BackerKit backend and see what (if any) charges you have outstanding and to make sure your ready for them. If you need to work with me on a payment plan, please email michael @ theblackpiper .com.
As a heads up, we're discovering that shipping had more complexities than we anticipated.Some orders may be charged more than we had anticipated, which is something that is difficult to control. If shipping costs seem extremely higher than the estimates you've seen in BackerKit, email us at info @ theblackpiper.com and we'll see about refunding the difference.
Note that this is different for everyone, and we have about 2000 orders to process so please reach out to us if you're worried about a difference. The difference shouldn't be more than a few dollars in most casesbut let us know if you have any concerns, and we'll work with you to get a satisfactory experience!
Again, most orders won't be affected.
Please send me an email if you have any questions! (Or if I haven't answered any questions you've already asked!)
Thank you all for being so awesome!
All the best,
Michael and the Team @ The Black Piper
BOOKMARKS ARE HERE
about 6 years ago
– Thu, Aug 30, 2018 at 11:17:31 PM
BOOKMARKS
When and How Do You Get Yours?
Our bookmarks, featuring the phenomenal artwork of Botanica Xu, are finally in our warehouse! We're getting ready to ship them!
Sometimes, you just need to stop reading and listen to the music. How about some handy dandy bookmarks to help you keep your place?
We will be shipping these babies out to those who ONLY ordered the bookmarks and the cds. If you ordered more items in your bundles, you are currently marked down to recieve all your items in a single shipment (which means you'll have to wait).
Can't remember all the awesomeness you ordered? Go to your inboxes and check your original reciept from BackerKit (dated around September-October 2017). You need to be logged in to BackerKit to view this info. If you've got more than just music and bookmarks in your bundle, you're on the wating list. This is to save you from being charged more for shipping (which happens with more than one shipment).
We've had quite a few people expecting their CDs now that we've got them and wondering what the holdup is. Check your BackerKit Tier Bundles and you'll have an idea of where you are on the mailing list. More items in your bundle means a longer wait time for your goodies.
DON'T WANT TO WAIT?
If you want your swag now, then email Mike at [email protected] to change your spot in line. Mind you, your shipping charges will increase. But you'll have your stuff sooner!
WHAT'S THE STATUS ON THE FLUTE, ART BOOK, MUSIC, ART CARDS, AND LITERARY CONSULTATIONS
The crowd goes "ooooooh!" and "ahhhhhh!" as they witness such Herculean labor.
The flutes are here but need to be restained and properly packaged. We'll be getting to that in October.
The Art Cards should be finished in the next couple of weeks. We're making some tweaks to the Kaladin art card. Once those are approved by Dragonsteel, we'll send them off the the printer and start shipping them out to you!
Custom songs are nearly complete. Richard has one song left to write, Michael and Sandy have a few others. They are currently juggling some film gigs and other projects at the moment, but are diligently plugging away.
Literary consults with Sae Sae are pushed back until the Art Book is ready to be printed.
The Art Book has turned out to be a lot more work than anyone at The Black Piper or Dragonsteel anticipated it to be. But we are working on efficient solutions that work with everyone's schedules. Sae Sae is finally well enough to work on it, and has been all summer.
We are currently attaching artists and getting the artwork approved by Dragonsteel.
There is a TON of artwork to get through and design! It's fun work, but it's time consuming due to how much there is. It's going to be Lift-Level AWESOME by the time it's finished. It'll be well worth the wait.
Once we have all our artists attached and approval for the bulk of the artwork is complete, we'll have a solid idea of the production schedule. There are too many missing pieces from the equation right now to give an accurate guesstimate.
We'll keep you posted as things solidly progress. But it's our top priority now, as is fulfilling our other Kickstarter rewards as they come in!
ODIUM REIGNS
On a completely unrelated topic, Sae Sae still hasn't finished Oathbringer. But she's getting the feeling that maybe something bad happens? You guys rock for not spoiling it for her! We love our Sanderfamily!
If you have any questions or concerns (about the Kickstarter, that is), feel free to email Mike at [email protected], particularly if you have questions about your shipments!
A heartfelt Bridge Four Salute to you all!
Sae Sae, Mike, and Sandy The Black Piper
Physical CD Shipments/Postage
over 6 years ago
– Wed, Jul 18, 2018 at 11:27:41 PM
Hi all,
We're putting together packages in preparation for shipment. (Right now, this is for orders that only include the Physical CDs with no other physical products). We're currently working through some issues with the shipment costs and card charges with BackerKit for these orders, so for those of you who fall into this category, you may see a charge, together with a refund and then the correct shipping charge over the next day or two.
Thank you for your wonderful patience!
Michael, Sae Sae, and Sandra
CDs are in - Last Chance to Update Shipping Address!
over 6 years ago
– Wed, Jul 11, 2018 at 08:42:59 PM
Hi all,
Just a quick note here to let you know the Physical CDs have arrived!! We're so extremely excited!
Please make sure to update your shipping addressthrough BackerKit!
Let us know if you have any trouble with that or if you need any help.
We will start shipping these out in the next few days for those of you:
who didn't order any other physical products
or who did order other physical products but are OK paying the estimated shipping and tell us in an email ([email protected])
Thank you all!
All the best,
Michael, Sae Sae, and Sandra
Physical CDs! And a Few Other Updates
over 6 years ago
– Thu, Jun 21, 2018 at 09:34:46 PM
Hi all!
We have some big updates for you!
Physical CDs
Physical CDs have been approved by Dragonsteel and are on their way to the manufacturer! We expect them to be in our warehouse within the next two weeks.
For those who only ordered CDs, we'll be shipping them to you as soon as we have them. For those who ordered more than the CDs but wanted their CDs sooner rather than later, we'll be sending them out to you as well. (We'll just need to charge you for all of the shipping now, which means you'll pay the estimated price listed on BackerKit.)
For everyone else who wants to wait until we can bundle everything together and charge exact prices, we'll hold on to the CDs for you and send them out with the rest of the physical products, estimated to be this fall.
Don't forget to 1) update your mailing address on BackerKit if you've moved since the Kickstarter and 2) email us if you want your CD sooner than the rest of the physical products. If you already emailed us, feel free to do it again, just so we don't miss you.
For those wanting to purchase a physical CD online and have it mailed to you, that will take a few weeks longer to set up through CD Baby and other retailers like Amazon. We'll update you as soon as we have those timelines and a list of the retailers more solidified.
Post Your Rewards on Social Media!
We could really use your help! Will you post your rewards on social media as you receive them? Share with your friends, groups, etc, and tag us to let us know you got it!
Facebook: @theblackpiper
Twitter: @EpicBookMusic
Instagram: @theblackpiper
Update on Sae Sae's Health
This year has been hitting Sae Sae hard, and even harder since our last update. She's has been completely out of commission for several weeks, and there was some concern with the doctors - especially since Sae Sae's seizures have been more intense and frequent. Thankfully, they have been able to rule out stroke, aneurysm and tumors (which they were most concerned about).
While this has set us back considerably, the Black Piper is taking steps to keep up on our work while letting Sae Sae heal. (She's still in the picture, just not doing any of the heavy lifting.)
Which brings us to...
The Art Book
Due to her health, Sae Sae will focus more on the creative direction rather than the construction of the art book. We are taking steps to hire an Art Book Editor who will be able to take the heavy load from Sae Sae's plate and get us back on track with our reward fulfillment. Sae Sae will still direct the overall vision and oversee things, but our Editor will manage the project including the art book's construction and layout.
Sae Sae's health has affected our timeline for the Art Book. It's in the early days to know for sure when it'll be released, but our goal is to release this fall.
Literary Consultations
Also, due to these circumstances, Sae Sae will need to focus on the supervisory details of the art book and her health. This means that Literary Consultations will be pushed back until the art book is complete.
Thank you all for your patience and encouragement! The good news is that things are still moving along. While the art book is being worked on, we are also working on each of the smaller individual physical rewards, and we'll keep you updated as progress is made on those.
