# Musical instruments

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040>\
**Category:** The Drawing Board\
**Created:** [March 4, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040 "2015-03-04T02:26:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 16\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Maskrow](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/maskrow/32/1189_2.png) [@Maskrow](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Maskrow)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:26am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/1 "2015-03-04T02:26:21Z")

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Long time lurker, first time poster.  
Why do we need musical instruments in our Cataclysm? Here’s why:

[ol][li]Roleplay! Atmosphere! More useless stuff![/li]  
[li]Jokes aside, some simple musical instruments could serve as a good morale booster for a lo-tech survivalist (also a good way to attract moose, zombears and HORDES of fans)[/li]  
[li]BASH ZOMBIES WITH NOW-USELESS ELECTRIC GUITAR THAT IS ON FIRE!!![/li][/ol]

Sadly, I’m no programmer. For me, injecting all the musical goodness will probably take a lot of time. But you probably want your flamin’ Gibson right now… and if you can make it happen faster than I (hopefully) will - make it happen!

Playing the instrument:

[ul][li]Takes time (let’s say 5-10 minutes)[/li]  
[li]Makes noise (high, but not too high)[/li]  
[li]Gives morale bonus (for balancing purposes lo-tech craftable instruments should probably give lower amounts of morale)[/li]  
[li]Can perhaps be affected by “hearing” traits - good hearing makes morale bonus bigger, bad hearing makes it smaller and animal ears will perhaps allow you to become some kind of a werewolf Hendrix and stuff.[/li][/ul]

And here’s some ideas about what instruments our characters could play:

Craftable lo-tech instruments

[ol][li]Flute - crafted from log (probably not 2x4). Small size, small bonus.[/li]  
[li]Drum - crafted from log (maybe 2x4), a hide and some sinew/threads/fiber. Small to medium size, okay bonus.[/li]  
[li]Lyre - crafted from log (totally not 2x4) and some sinew. Medium size, average bonus[/li][/ol]

Non-craftable instruments - perhaps they could be crafted with good enough tools and ears… But where’s fun in that?

[ol][li]Harmonica - smallest of them all and makes you feel blue[/li]  
[li]Violin - small to medium size, good bonus, makes you feel all classy and stylish[/li]  
[li]Guitar - medium size, decent bonus, doubles as an emergency blunt weapon[/li][/ol]

Maybe non-craftable instruments should have a really neat bonus, balanced by rarity and “incomplete” versions like “guitar without strings” that you need to combine with “guitar strings” to get a subpar “badly tuned guitar” that with help of some “set of tuning forks” (or some TuningSoft) can become “tuned guitar”. Of course, to fill the game with even more stuff, we can add more instruments (ukulele! tuba! basoon!); and wearable cases/straps for the instruments; and blah blah blah reinforced Stratocaster ON FIRE.

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**Author:** ![CosmicKobal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@CosmicKobal](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/CosmicKobal)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/2 "2015-03-04T02:32:41Z")

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I suggested a much simpler version of this in the form of a neck-worn whistle. no one seemed interested though…

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**Author:** ![Packbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Packbat](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Packbat)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/3 "2015-03-04T02:49:35Z")

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With enough musicianship, you should be able to tune instruments by ear (and it should require musical talent to make most instruments). I think this could be a fun addition to the game, though - especially if it were coded to interact well with NPCs. (Play good music, make everyone happier, less stressed, less fighty, more friendly. Also, you get free morale boosts if NPCs are playing music nearby!)

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**Author:** ![CosmicKobal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@CosmicKobal](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/CosmicKobal)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/4 "2015-03-04T02:56:06Z")

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As a wanna-be musician, I totally upvote everything to do with this thread.

It would be great if with a high musicianship level, if you could charm/tame/etc wild creatures into essentially being your pets or at least make them neutral…Gonna start a thread to that effect.

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**Author:** ![StopSignal](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/stopsignal/32/1923_2.png) [@StopSignal](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/StopSignal)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/5 "2015-03-04T04:19:29Z")

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Wait, weren’t there instruments already? I remember having seen a mod or something like that.

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**Author:** ![CosmicKobal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@CosmicKobal](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/CosmicKobal)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/6 "2015-03-04T04:24:15Z")

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could be… I’ve never seen it though

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**Author:** ![kevin.granade](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/kevin.granade/32/1316_2.png) [@kevin.granade](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/kevin.granade)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 5:24am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/7 "2015-03-04T05:24:15Z")

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whales had added instruments waaay back, but they were never functional, eventually we removed them. If someone wants to add them back in that’s fine.

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**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:06am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/8 "2015-03-04T09:06:43Z")

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There were some floating around. Implemenation is lacking.

re guitars: KABONG, mofo. 😉

KA101 still wants bagpipes in

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**Author:** ![Jakers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@Jakers](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Jakers)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:07am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/9 "2015-03-04T09:07:16Z")

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> [@Maskrow](#):
>
> [ol][li]Harmonica - smallest of them all and makes you feel blue[/li][/ol]

All my yes.

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**Author:** ![TinHeadDays](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/tinheaddays/32/414_2.png) [@TinHeadDays](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/TinHeadDays)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/10 "2015-03-05T02:20:21Z")

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Liberal Apocalypse Squad.

THY SHALL BE EPIC!

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**Author:** ![Eric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Eric](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Eric)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 3:37am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/11 "2015-03-05T03:37:18Z")

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[quote=“TinHeadDays, post:10, topic:9040”]Liberal Apocalypse Squad.

THY SHALL BE EPIC![/quote]

Ah, Liberal Crime Squad. Thou bringith back memories of getting murdered by police officers for playing a guitar in the streets (Granted, I always tried to run away from them. But still, you don’t shoot someone for that!)

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**Author:** ![StopSignal](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/stopsignal/32/1923_2.png) [@StopSignal](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/StopSignal)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 4:40am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/12 "2015-03-05T04:40:08Z")

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> [@Jakers](#):
>
> [quote=“Maskrow, post:1, topic:9040”][ol][li]Harmonica - smallest of them all and makes you feel blue[/li][/ol]

All my yes.[/quote]

Just to see Jakers play his harmonica in a playthrough!

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**Author:** ![Coolthulhu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/coolthulhu/32/2446_2.png) [@Coolthulhu](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Coolthulhu)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 1:56pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/13 "2015-03-05T13:56:53Z")

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> <https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/pull/11468>

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**Author:** ![StopSignal](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/stopsignal/32/1923_2.png) [@StopSignal](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/StopSignal)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/14 "2015-03-05T14:50:17Z")

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> [@Coolthulhu](#):
>
> [Add support for musical instruments (scale off perception) by Coolthulhu · Pull Request #11468 · CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA · GitHub](https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/pull/11468)

You awesome little thing.

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**Author:** ![Maskrow](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/maskrow/32/1189_2.png) [@Maskrow](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Maskrow)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 6:00pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/15 "2015-03-05T18:00:37Z")

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> [@Coolthulhu](#):
>
> [https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/pull/11468](https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/pull/11468)

Wow you’re fast.

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**Author:** ![Packbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Packbat](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Packbat)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/musical-instruments/9040/16 "2015-03-05T23:01:35Z")

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Thank you very much!

How difficult would it be to implement tile instruments (e.g. pianos, harpsichords, organs)?