Valenwood Skull Blocks

Leighlaa · January 25

Silly question that someone at zos or someone good with music may be able to answer: what was used to make the sounds for the Valenwood Skull Blocks emote? It is SUCH A SATISFYING SOUND.

It doesn't sound like wood, it doesn't sound like plastic (but sorta does?) .... maybe just a digitally invented sound? PLEASE SATISFY MY CURIOSITY and tell me or find out. I don't even know which dev to tag... according to an old article it's Brad Derrick (all the soundtracks for ESO are on spotify if you search his name!! FUN FACT), Bill Mueller, Brian Brockett, Josh Smith, Matt Conway, and Becky Ichnoski (though she's dialog so probably no?). That interview is from 2017 and I know staff.... isn't the same anymore.

WHAT DID THEY SMACK TO MAKE THESE LOVELY SOUNDS?! (please, and thank you!)

spartaxoxo · January 25

I don't know but maybe @ZOS_BeckyIchnoski would?

scrappy1342 · January 26

real skulls, of course

ZOS_SoundMaster · January 27

Hello! Glad you enjoy the smacky smacky skull block sounds. That one was a lot of fun to make.

The source sounds are a collection of muted wood blocks, stick clacks & breaks, bongos, and bass thumps, all mixed together to form a single "skull block". Then five versions of that single block were created by pitch-shifting and remixing those elements. It took a *lot* of iteration to get something I was happy with...something that sounded a bit like beating on a skull with a leg bone, but also somewhat musical.

Once those existed, the rhythm was performed and then run through a number of effects (stereo doublers, delays, reverb, etc.) to give it a bit of an otherworldly sound to match the visuals.

And that's pretty much it!

Leighlaa · February 2

ZOS_SoundMaster wrote: »

Hello! Glad you enjoy the smacky smacky skull block sounds. That one was a lot of fun to make.
And that's pretty much it!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for such a detailed response! "...And that's pretty much it!" That seems like a LOT of effort for an emote... and know this: WE LOVE IT. It is one that I absolutely had to have when I saw it... and one that brings life to a lot of my afk times waiting for things like BG and delve boss spawns

Thank you for putting so much effort into a "small" thing- the small things are some of the best parts of this game!!!!

peacenote · February 2

I love the Valenwood Skull Blocks.

ZOS_SoundMaster · February 3

> Thank you for putting so much effort into a "small" thing

Absolutely! I have a blast working on those things. They're a fun diversion from The Big Music Stuff I'm usually busy with.

LunaFlora · February 3

i love the Valenwood Skull Blocks! awesome to know how its sound was created ♥

AlienatedGoat · February 4

ZOS_SoundMaster wrote: »

Hello! Glad you enjoy the smacky smacky skull block sounds. That one was a lot of fun to make.

The source sounds are a collection of muted wood blocks, stick clacks & breaks, bongos, and bass thumps, all mixed together to form a single "skull block". Then five versions of that single block were created by pitch-shifting and remixing those elements. It took a *lot* of iteration to get something I was happy with...something that sounded a bit like beating on a skull with a leg bone, but also somewhat musical.

Once those existed, the rhythm was performed and then run through a number of effects (stereo doublers, delays, reverb, etc.) to give it a bit of an otherworldly sound to match the visuals.

And that's pretty much it!

I love this. If you ever decided to do a video series or podcast on the behind-the-scenes of the sound design and music composition, that would be amazing.

Leighlaa · February 4

AlienatedGoat wrote: »

I love this. If you ever decided to do a video series or podcast on the behind-the-scenes of the sound design and music composition, that would be amazing.

10/10 I would also watch/listen to this series! I don't know anything about music production, really, but I LOVE behind-the-scenes.... especially for my favorite game

redlink1979 · February 5

@ZOS_SoundMaster