Desert Musical Instruments

[Barsook]

Lately I been thinking about bards and their musical instruments because of my role call.  One of my thoughts that I had recently is that somehow I don't see stringed instruments and pan pipes in a desert setting. Like in that one topic (which I can't find), they seem more to be 18th century than in a desert setting.  The instruments that I see that works are drums and the flute.  I am wrong about this?

[Marauder Moe]

Lute-like instruments go back way earlier than the 18th century.  Like... ancient Egyptian old.

[Barsook]

Oh...I see.

[Lizzie]

The lute dates back at least 5000 years and variations of it were used commonly in desert-climate civilizations.
An form of bagpipe was also common in ancient Persia (now known as Iran), as were a variety of stringed instruments documented in papers dating back to early 600AD

Persia actually has a good combination of climates that you could compare to the "planet" of Zalanthas. Mostly arid to varying degrees (from hot arid, cold arid, hot and cold semi-arid), with limited areas of mediterranean and sub-tropical climates.

[Marauder Moe]

That said, I do kinda think we should retcon away the bulbous 6-stringers (And 7-stringers, and 12-stringers) we have in Armageddon now.  That kind of intricate and precise construction would probably be very difficult with the low-quality wood in Zalanthas and the lack of metal tools. 

Keep the string count at 4 or less.  Narrow necks, made from a single piece of wood/bone.  Frets optional.  It would probably be easier to make resonators out of shells or chitin than wood.  Maybe some have stretched leather membranes like a banjo.

More like:

[Jihelu]

I want a shamisen.
We'll call it an elf banjo

[nauta]

I've seen the following in the game:

lutes, guitars, flutes, panpipes, fiddles, sarengis

[Suhuy]

Zalanthas is a desert setting only because it was turned into one through destructive magickal forces though, right? Before that time it was lush and green and full of metal. I doubt concepts like scimitars and rapiers would have been invented during the time when metal became scarce. Who would think up an impractical design like that for a sword of bone or wood unless it was based off an earlier weapon type? And the same goes with instruments. Guitars and lutes and mandolins surely all derive from before the apocalypse that changed the Known World. So just because it's a desert setting currently does not mean it has to equal some sort of ancient Middle Eastern culture. That's how I see it anyway

[BadSkeelz]

I think it's a tug and pull between "What once was" and "What's currently feasible." There could have been electric guitars before the apocalypse, but of course those didn't survive. If certain instruments aren't feasible with the materials or technology available, they wouldn't persist in the same form.

Incidentally, scimitars make plenty sense considering the amount of curved bones (ribs) available and the advantage of curved blades in mounted combat. BUT I DIGRESS.

I like more rustic and archaic instrument types and styles myself. But even Ancient instruments could be surprisingly complex.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6adj7Xoo9Us

Though also very simple and clean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27opcKxcg1c

[The Silence of the Erdlus]

I've seen the following in the game:

lutes, guitars, flutes, panpipes, fiddles, sarengis

Ocarinas, finger cymbals

[Barsook]

Lyres too.

[Dan]

So don't master craft a saxophone? Ugh. Fine.

I agree, simpler instruments is a good idea.

[racurtne]

The erhu is a two-stringed violin-like instrument craftable entirely of things available in Zalanthas which originated amongst nomadic people.

Snakeskin, wood, hair, and silk are basically all you need.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhu

https://youtu.be/pjl59C20v94?t=2m55s

[The Silence of the Erdlus]

Staff once said that technology during the Empire of Man was slightly more advanced, and that's why we have halberds for example, which would have been too difficult to initially invent with the current technology.

A twelve-string lyre I think is a little much but a couple of the others might be passable.

There's also the possibility (just kind of making this up here) that the most advanced gem facet numbers, instruments, filigree, etc. could potentially be lost over the King's Ages outside the Houses due to lack of innovation and the way information sometimes just gets lost in the sands. The Houses may also forget them, if for example its a merchant House which knows a complicated filigree which isn't selling anymore. The designs are probably kept on a piece of paper, but somewhere way in the back where its never dug out again.