To our Thousand Stars,

We’re so thrilled that you’ve decided to join us as we embark on this exciting new adventure to bring the Seven Satrapies to life through music in our upcoming album, The Black Prism.

Many of you know Michael from Kaladin, but I wanted to take an opportunity to introduce myself and share with you some of the things that are most exciting to me about the creative direction of The Black Prism.

First off, hi - my name’s Ian! I’ve been lucky enough to work with Michael on this project since the very beginning, first coming onboard as additional administrative support, until ultimately accepting his offer to support the team behind The Black Prism in the capacity of creative director.

The Black Prism is an album unlike anything The Black Piper has done before. Not only do we have an opportunity to work with a series that checks all of the ‘epic fantasy’ boxes that we so loved about The Way of Kings, The Black Prism gives us the opportunity to explore a huge variety of new and interesting sounds, styles, genres, and techniques, both compositionally and sonically, by blending our composers’ experience as Hollywood professionals with my experience leading teams both creative and technical across a variety of industries, training as a classical musician and career as a sound designer for film and video games. We are deeply inspired by the rich tapestry that Brent has woven throughout the Seven Satrapies, and are excited to explore cultural, social, political, and magical ‘spectrums’ through this album.

One thing that is really important to me is that we demonstrate respect and responsibility as we represent both the lore of Brent’s Seven Satrapies and also the cultures and peoples that created the various styles, instrumentations, and sonic expressions that we are drawing inspiration from. In addition to wonderful music, you’ll have the opportunity to read about the instrumentation and influences that we’ve woven into each track once the album is released.

Another element that I’m really excited about is how we are marrying music and sound design to create a unique experience for our listeners when it comes to developing the sound of ‘magic’ in The Black Prism. We’re drawing inspiration from musical spectralism alongside the fundamental harmonic series to develop sonic ‘flavors’ that will be subtly identifiable whenever a particular color of luxin is being drafted throughout the album. Our plan is to support this with sound design inspired by digital and analog synthesizers to give a uniquely ‘otherworldly’ twist to your experience of ‘hearing light.’

Over the next several weeks, I’m very much looking forward to working with the team on this project, and can’t wait to share the final product with you! I’m humbled by the opportunity to bring the world of The Black Prism to life, and so deeply appreciate your generous support in allowing us to do what we do.

In light,
Ian

Down to Business