Novel Musical Instruments
To give a world a feeling of otherworldliness, it is best to replace some standard, everyday objects by imaginitive replacements. I thought I'd turn to musical instruments as music often defines (or embodies) a culture.
This is just a first idea, feel free to post some more, because I will...
To give a world a feeling of otherworldliness, it is best to replace some standard, everyday objects by imaginitive replacements. I thought I'd turn to musical instruments as music often defines (or embodies) a culture.
This is just a first idea, feel free to post some more, because I will...
Ranger Horns
The rangerfolk of Dugamin use huge horns made of hollowed trunks to warn of danger or to celebrate harvest. The trunks are always found dead (who ever heard of a ranger harming a tree to make a musical instrument?) and hollowed by Muglart beetles, all the rangers do is to affix a metal mouthpiece to one end.
In the Backbone Mountains, there is a convent of monks. They have a few unique instruments which they use in meditations and rituals.
1. Wind Stones: These large standing stones(picture Stonehedge without the top cross-pieces) are modified by drilling small holes into their sides and etching grooves into the surfaces in intricate patterns. They are then stood up on end near the peak of a mountain or large hill. The wind passing these stones is channeled through the holes and etchings creating a haunting melody as the air whistles past.
2. Saja Rattles: The Saja bean is a plant which grows pods, much like peas. When these pods are dried in the sun, the bean within the pod shrivels into a small, hard ball, which is then left inside the pod and the pod is shaken like a rattle. These are primarily used in group meditation rituals.
Bungurz
A bungurz is a drum ... of sorts. Used by a few savage tribes for music and communication, it resembles a mushroom of sorts - a semispherical construction covered in leather, with faces of different size and thus different sound, with a hollow tree trunk attached for resonance. Within, smaller pieces of wood that resonate as well are attached too. The tone is rarely clear, consisting of several overlaping tones.
A true master drummaker can craft a bungurz that has a tone harmonic and full, while a newbie, or an awful musician, will make the bungurz sound like a landslide.
Being a good bungurzer earns quite a bit respect from the tribesmates.
Kept up by the Monks of Monthan the Montan Water Wheel is still working to this day.
On the water wheel, each bucket is created so that only a small sliced portion of it collects water. Each bucket is unique about the section of which it collects water. This water is then dumped into a corressponding gutter of water that takes it to one of many sections of free swinging bamboo. The water fills the top of the bamboo forcing it over dumping the water which allows the bamboo to swing back and strike another bamboo striker creating a hollow yet melodic quick series of tapping.
The water released from the buckets interacting with the bamboo creates a hypnotic, soothing pattern that many from all around venture to witness. It is used by some sick as therapeutic, by the holy as hypnotic and centering, and by the curious as, well, curious.
((In many Japanese gardens the bamboo waterfalls and striking of bamboo together is pretty popular and really does sound cool. A small sample of it is in Kill Bill....well, you know the part.))
The Cliff of the Thousand Birds
In the Fourth Kingdom there is a cliff as tall as a cathedral. It is called the Cliff of the Thousand Birds, for here the birds nest in their thousands and such a terrible noise, a squawking mess, has never been heard anywhere else.
And so displeased was the Emperor with this unholy sound that he summoned to him his wisest mages, asking their advice. So it was that Relevi, wisest of the wisest mages, decided to cast his magics over the birds of the Cliff of the Thousand Birds and instil in them some sense of rhythm and melody.
He still stands there, conducting the birds as they sing their long symphony, as they will for as long as the Earth is here. Like a vast cathedral organ the Cliff of the Thousand Birds resounds to the mighty chorus of its denizens, and such a glorious sound has never been heard anywhere else.
Caatjun Instruments
Caatjun music is made with long, wooden staves called thraakartimeek, of various lengths, which the musicians thwack against the ground, trees, other staves, and such, to create a rythm.
It is sometimes accompanied by huge drums made from animal skins (aarp'raamjo) stretched over wide racks, which are kicked by the drummer.
Long wooden instruments much like an Australian aboriginal didgeridoo, called mjnaa'olee, are also played. Caatjun singing is considered pleasant; it is done by female children of the tribe, who warble fluting, quivering melodies sounding much like birdsong.
Specific unusual instruments from the museum
- A glass harmonica (about the size of a small keyboard instrument) which was designed by Benjamin Franklin.
- The 'lyroharp', basically like 3 guitars (18 strings in total) fused at the base. The two side 'necks' went up at about 30 degrees on either side of the centre neck; a curving piece of wood then connected all three necks at the top.
- Pochettes, 18th century violins small enough that music teachers could carry them in their pockets.
- The Nest of Serpents: 12 serpents (i.e. long, wide curved wind instruments with heads carved like serpents) put around a central decorated column (about 5 ft high). Each serpent was separate (musically) from the rest though it was all joined together in a physical sense. Required 12 people to play.
Dragon Horns
The dragon horns of the dwarves of the Amra mountains are amongst the most difficult instruments to play in the world, due to the amount of breath that they demand. These huge, wide horns are heavy enough that they require 6 dwarves to carry; the front of it is carved in to a ferocious dragon's head and the rest of it ornately decorated as well. All six dwarves must blow and play in unison in order to produce a good sound. The dragon horns are played twice a year, at the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes in large festivals to ward off the forces of evil. The playing of the horns is meant to invoke the protective dragon spirits of the Amra dwarfs (the dwarfs believe that the dragons in the Amra mountains are their guardians (whether they are or not is up to you)). Each horn is a family heirloom and it is an honour to be selected to be one of the six horn players.
Psiltaria
The fisherfolk of the Idril coast use many simple instruments to make music; amongst them is the Psiltaria, or 'fish player.' This small stringed instrument is shaped like a fish and has three strings. The strings are played by hitting them with small sticks.
Wind stones (continued from Alec_Shadowkin's post
Perhaps the stones, as well as emitting the haunting melody, are fashioned such that occasionally, in a strong wind at just the right speed, the stone will resonate producing a very loud, low booming noise (sort of resembling humpback whale sounds).
Fire Tails
Colorful streamers are often attached to Dragon Saddles and Wing Clips on Kerren for special occasions and the introductory lap at tournies. To make them safer (for the dragon), they have slight weights at the end. These streamers are called Fire Tails.
These often become musical instruments because the slight weights are the ends are barrel whistles. These are small round items, with a central spinning piece that produces the whistle as air flows through it.
Well prepared wings can 'sing' the first seven notes of a song as they fly back.
Some Ryders have bells along the lengths of Fire Tails just to add more noise.
Singing Bowl
These bowls are used for medatative purposes, rather than entertainment. These bowls should be made of traditional seven metals: gold, silver, mercury, copper, iron, tin, and lead. The bowls are normally six to seven inches wide and about five inches deep. A rod (of the same metals) is rolled around the lip of the bowl to create a sound. The bowl is normally empty It creates a harmonic, free-floating sound based on untuned vibration.
Vortex Guitar
Quite a few of the magely folk tend to be rather novel and creative, and some express this through music - this intrument is made for and by them.
Like an ordinary guitar, it consists of a head, neck and body.
The body will be richly decorated, most often covered in leather for insulation, and to protect powerstones housed within. The neck's length is what determines whether the tones the instrument plays will be dark and booming, or high trills. The head is meant ot anchor one to nine 'strings' - those are low-power currents of magic mnergy, which can be brought to vibrate if touched by a magically gifted individual.
An unique feature of the instrument is that depending on the person playing it, it will sound different - a very talented fire mage will produce different tones from a diviner of middling power, even though trying to emulate him.
Wizards will often decorate their instruments excessively, and some even use them instead of staves.
Banjolele
The Banjolele is a mix of Banjo (the body) and Ukelele (the fretted neck) with 4 to 5 strings. Some Halfling musicians have been known to decorate them with small noise-making rattles, bells, and miniature cymbals for extra noise. Listeners liken the sound to capturing the worst qualities of the Banjo and Ukelele.
The Baubells
An extremely rare instrument for various reasons, the first being the rarity of the materials needed to create them, the second is the great time and training required too achieve even the lowest level of proficiency, third is the immense amount of space an entire set takes up, and lastly is the requirement of arcane mastery to use. Baubells are semi-transparent orbs of Mageglass (Magic sensitive glass) and mithril. The orbs vary in size from the size of a marble all the way too (in some sets) the size of an Ogre's head, likewise they vary in weight and density from the weight of a feather to several hundred pounds. They are designed to vibrate when arcane magic is channeled through them, each Baubell, when touched, converts the magical energy of the 'musician' into a different note, pitch, or tone, and even various or multiple tones depending on the musicians arcane mastery level, but in the hands of a true master this novelty can create a beautiful and unique musical sensation so moving that some starry-eyed sorcerers have been driven insane as they seek a sound they will never be able to create.
((Just rollin through and had an idea))
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? Responses (11)
Remember the huge number of instruments that have existed in the real world. Serpents (wind instruments which actually had serpent's heads carved in them), brass instruments with huge numbers of loops, triangular violins and so on. Also, in many periods, instruments were so expensive that they were a work of art - quite literally, not just in the time and skill which went in to their construction. Pianos would have elaborate paintings (as good as any which would go on the walls) painted on the back or in the bit under where the strings go.
Very cool. Things to fill out the background and set the mood.
Sublime! I will be using many of these instrumnets in my sessions.
Shameless Bump..
Now that we have Stubs, people can post up musical instruments without fear of their scores being blasted by the "we don't need equipment" crowd or the "anti-short post" crowd.
I have heard it before. "So, I'm not a bard. Why do I care about musical instruments?"
Sigh. This is not for you. It is for a GM.
There are many things people can be playing and ways they can play them.
A writer, or GM, only has so much "brain time" to create and research for their game. They are going to spend their time on TBTs (edit: The Big Things). They are spending time on campaign defining and dependent NPCs, Places, Plots, and Setting. They don't have time (and effort) to spare to do the little things. Those little things help make a setting more real and a game more engaging.
In addition, most people really don't know much about the medieval period, even though most games are set in worlds that roughly match them. This is a painless bit of research that will work for them to create a "cool" setting.
So the joy and power of this site is that you can go and "pick something up" off the shelf here and plop it in your game with a minimum of fuss. Sometimes you use the things here as raw ingredients to make your own, but most people want little things to grab and go with.
And players will think you are incredibly smart being able to pull "real musical things" out of your memory.
Bump and a Vote for a nice under-appreciated Scroll/Codex.
A great idea! Great stuff!
I want some of those instruments. lol
