Chirp

Alternative Names:
Chime, Sing, Ping, to call

A Chirp, is the primary vocalization produced by cloth creatures and players in Journey.

The act of producing a Chirp is known as chirping, also called pinging, singing or chiming.

Chirping is one of the few forms of communication between players in the game other than movement or body language.

General information
The Chirp consist of a variety of high-pitch sounds and a visual effect in the form of an expanding light "bubble". It could be described as a sonic bubble.

A Chirp is caused by a players control inputs.

A player caught in a Companion's Chirp bubble will gain a small amount of scarf power.

Chirping is used to:


 * Interact with cloth (such as Banners, Flyers and Carpets);
 * Activate Banners and the Tombstones at Glyphs and Shrines;
 * Communicate with your Companion;
 * Recharge your Companion's scarf.

If the bubble reaches any type of cloth, it will light up. Banners activate if they receive enough "energy" (through chirps or contact with a Wayfarer).

Chirps change size and sound:


 * from level to level and even at certain places
 * NeedsToBeChecked-SMALL-75x43.gif with or without Companion. Comparison videos are to follow
 * PC-SMALL-75x43.gif The chirps sound is a bit different, compared to the PlayStation versions. Comparison videos are to follow.

Specifics should be added below.

Example: When frozen in Snow your Chirp will be faint; when warmed up, it's bigger again.

Other sounds
The sound of the Whales in Paradise (at the pools) sounds like a big Companion Chirp. On PC its clearly audible and sounds like a companion. On PS3 the sound seems to be more gentle / background - the music is louder than the chirp.

Carpets, Whales and Jellyfish also create a sonic bubble, but their sounds are different.

Chirp Types
Traveling with a Companion is often a guessing game to understand what they want to express.

Often people use the chirps in the same way, "usage" just means it seems to be a common thing.

Some people chirp a lot, some are rather silent and chirp only when really needed. See Quotes, Silent Sunday.

Small Chirp
Press/tap the chirp button for a short time. This does not activate banners, but it will attract flyer s within the little sound bubble you make.

Small chirps are often used for communication.

Big Chirp
Press and hold the chirp button until the Chirp is released. It will make a bigger sound if you hold it the longest, but releasing before will give a big sound too.

Your wayfarer will crouch to the ground, charging the chirp and releasing it when ready.

This creates a huge sound-bubble so you can reach companions, banners and flyers when they are at a distance. Some players use several big chirps to express excitement, maybe about something that they haven't seen before. It's also used to express irritation, such as "I don't want to go there", "What do you want from me?" or "Hey, move, are you AFK (away from keyboard)?".

The big chirp presses you to the ground - that's why it's also useful for some advanced flying techniques.

Whistle
Press the chirp button fast for two or three times and then hold the button briefly (for half a second or so). This needs some practice to be consistent.

Also used for communication. To show:


 * Excitement
 * Anger
 * That it's possible, inviting the Companion to also whistle

Ancestor Chirp
This type of chirp only appears when Wayfarers meet the White-Robed Ancestor (the name of this entity is unknown).

After some seconds into the vision, the Ancestor starts to tell a story, with a loud and low-pitched Chirp.

The visions show the past - only the vision in the Tower shows your own Journey.

In conclusion, this is quite an important chirp in the game symbolically.

Your and your Companion's symbol
Also called: Name-symbol, Chirp-symbol etc.

You will get a new symbol every time you start a new Journey. It will be one of these symbols in the image on the right.

Using the menu-option Chapter Select will not change your Symbol.

Companion's Name-Symbol
The Symbols that you see on your Companion 's chest and when they Chirp is not the same that they see on themselves, and vice versa.

At the end of the Credits the Companions Met Along the Way (CMATW) screen appears and you can match the Symbols with the names.

If you want to find out who your Companion was, try to remember or write down their Symbol and a short note where you met them / description of companion. This makes you able to contact a specific Companion from CMTAW, either to thank them, explain something you wanted to show or invite them to additional Journeys --> How To Play With A Friend.

Same Companion / player, different Name-Symbol
The Symbols of the players stay the same, during one Journey. When they disconnect, but manage to meet again later on, they will see the same Symbols on their Companion.

Exceptions:

When you meet again, your Companion still will see the same Symbol on you, but your Companion's Name-Symbol changes if you


 * used the menu option Chapter Select
 * used Quit to Title and continued. Tested: 5 minutes waiting makes the Companion's Symbol change. If the time between going to title and continuing is less that 90 seconds, the Companion's Symbol will be the same as before.
 * Quit the game and continued (or game crashed)

Chirping is your friend

 * The longer your charged scarf, the longer you can fly.
 * The amount of symbols on your scarf show you if your scarf is charged. An empty scarf with no symbols means flying is not possible. Same for your companion, so for the real coop you need to "chirp their scarf to charge it", making both able to stay in the air for a longer time.
 * Chirping activates banners
 * When you do a big chirp at flyers and then immediately chirp again (small/medium chirps are sufficient) you will fly even higher and still have a full scarf to fly on.
 * Chirping charges the scarf of your companion, as long as the bubble reaches them. Chirping helps both players to stay together and fly over long distances. It's extremely important to "chirp the scarf" when you are with a red cloak companion and even more in the Snow level, where a red cloak's scarf-energy just fades away


 * Chirping makes you more visible to your companion. Can't see your companion? They are searching for you too (most likely), and chirping creates a huge visual signaling your position!


 * Chirping can also form a song, either alone or with a companion. Wandering with a song feels often easier.
 * Chirping is the most important communication tool you have in Journey, besides body language.

This doesn't mean you should constantly just chirp - adapt your chirp to the situation, whether just talking, singing, charging scarf or asking "where to go?". See also Quotes.

How and when to use
Basically you can chirp all the time, maybe to just express that you are happy. Some Wayfarers only chirp when needed, some chirp all the time and all the shades of grey in between. Experiment to find an amount of chirping you feel comfortable with!

With a companion
Sometimes quickly and repeatedly chirping is used to


 * call attention to something
 * signify urgency or enthusiasm
 * express appreciation or approval.

See also Common Behaviors, Chirping and Tandem Flying.

Chirping is mostly helpful, though:

If you are trying to climb vertically or you are diving, chirps will make you drop down and make your task more difficult.

The above is not really an issue at all for normal Journeys, primarily only if you're going for some big jumps or other related goals. Even then, it is not really a problem, but consider that you might not always need to chirp. Try to find out what works for you and your Companion. If trying a jump doesn't work with chirping, try less or no chirping for that jump.

In-depth analysis
What to add here:

Information about


 * how the Chirp changes in each level, visual and sound (in UG it has a touch of being underwater (also bigger? because sonic waves travel different in water?))
 * places where the Chirp sounds changes
 * description on how it sounds different when having a companion
 * etc.

Trivia


The Chirp sound sometimes vanishes in the Pink Desert level near the tower with the Symbol or along that west-east line. Lost Chirp Bug. This normally occurs for both players at the same time. The bubble still appears, but the sound is missing. Some Chirps may still have sound, but normal chirps do not resume until the next level.

Its not (yet) reported on PS3 and seems to happen more often on PC.

Quotes
"I worry that some people might think I am annoyed/not enjoying their company because i barely ever chirp."

- Rebi

"Pfff, I try not to chirp all the time. I just chirp when I get excited for something xD"

- ObsidianFoxx

"CHIRP? Was is the meaning of this? (quote from one of the alltime chirpers:)"

- stoicmom

"I turn the volume down on the rare occasion that a companion's too chirpy."

- Winterfuchs

"If I get annoyed i chirp twice as much to give them a sign, but it never works and we end up chirping all the way to the mountain. lol."

- Rebi

"When I have no scarf energy, I tend to chirp a lot with others to regain flying abilities."

- brockli73

"If you're happy and you know it chirp, chirp chirp."

- Zuki