Music and Song

The Frostfolk appreciate music, but it is not an expression of everyday life. Music is used for moving moments and has a profound effect on listeners. It is not forbidden to sing, hum, tap a rhythm, or sway to a melody in thought while working or at home — but proper singing, supported by instruments, is not common. Sometimes music is used to maintain rhythm, such as during marching or rowing. However, this is less melodic and carries no deeper expression.  

Ensemble

Each settlement has one to three musical groups that can be booked for family celebrations. These groups often consist of up to ten musicians who rehearse together but rarely perform as a full ensemble. Most performances involve three musicians — rhythm, melody, and vocals — typically during funeral marches. There are exceptions, however: at official festivals and joyful events, larger groups perform with polyphonic singing and a wider variety of instruments that encourage dancing and participation.  

Instruments

Drums

The body of a drum must be hollow, and there are only a few animals whose bones are large enough to be hollowed out and used as drum bodies. Frostglass drum bodies do exist, but they do not sound as deep and resonant as bone drums. Drums are therefore rare and treated with great care. The drumhead is usually made from the hide of polar bears, ice stalkers, or winter wolves, and more rarely from sea bulls. The tones are dark and penetrating. A loud strike can reverberate through the body, creating a powerful resonance. A special and much more commonly used form is the rib drum. These have no drum body; their sound is brighter and does not echo. They are played on a ribcage made of bones of varying length and thickness, which produce different tones. Rib drums are used for fast rhythms and can even be melodic.  

Flutes

Bone flutes come in many varieties and often very different shapes. The five-finger flute, made from a large vertebra, is played with one hand. It is rather round, with a small extension as a mouthpiece. This makes it possible to play two flutes at once — a skill mastered only by true experts. Two-handed flutes are numerous: there is the classic bone flute, which is blown into directly, and the transverse flute, which is played with a gentler breath. Depending on size and shape — whether small, large, thick, or thin — the tone ranges from bright to deep. A special variant is the pipe, which usually produces only a piercing tone. Pipes are rarely used for music and serve more as signaling devices.  

Rattles and More

Another rhythmic instrument includes rattles and clappers. Rattles are made from hollowed-out bone casings — often animal skulls or the shells of young turtles — filled with small bone fragments, teeth, or other sound-producing materials. There are also staffs with bone pieces attached to strings. When shaken, twisted, or moved abruptly, they produce a distinctive sound. Clappers are bone rods with ring-shaped grooves that are rubbed against each other. This creates a strange, clattering or rasping sound. Simply striking bones together is also used to set rhythm. Additionally, all Frostfolk enjoy stomping or clapping along.  

String Instruments

In addition to flutes, there is a wide variety of string instruments. The animal world provides ample materials for plucked, struck, and bowed instruments. Harps, lutes, tympanons, lyres, violins, cellos, and many other forms are known. Size and construction are never identical — no instrument is exactly like another. Each has its own distinctive sound.  

Singing

Traditional singing depends entirely on the occasion. Funeral processions are accompanied by mournful, high-pitched songs; festivals and celebrations feature simple vocal lines for communal singing. Deep, resonant chants accompany ritual acts, while rhythmic songs support work that requires steady, repetitive movements. In Skipti, one or two concerts are held annually in the Stadium of the Ice Bears. These are collaborations of multiple musicians performing in chorus. Over two hundred years ago — before the stadium existed — these concerts were relatively unknown. But their popularity steadily grew, and today they are considered special events that everyone hopes to attend at least once in their life. Those who have experienced them speak of the power and beauty of these musical gatherings.