Guild Wars 2

Hello, hope this thread finds you well and in a musical mood. I have been puzzling over how instruments and player generated music could evolve in Tyria and keep stumbling because I am not a musician (I can dance though).
The biggest part of the puzzle I have been puzzling is the human to keyboard interface since that is where the bulk of the ludonarrative dissonance will occur.

Let’s look at LOTRO’s music system. Every instrument in LOTRO is played using the same static 37 note key-binding set-up; equip a lute press key ‘y’ the lute plays note ‘y’. This system works but I do not think it tells the story of the player as a musician well enough. After all, this system allows for scripts to replace a player’s fingers.
So, how to translate the motion ergonomics of playing a real world instrument to the motion ergonomic limitations of a keyboard and mouse? Think an example is needed!

The Tyrian tambourine is played using the mouse and the space bar. Grab the tambourine by the mouse and shake it! Swipe the mouse and press the space bar to simulate beating the tambourine head with your hand. If you dare, press the tambourine stance key and see what happens.

Granted a tambourine is a simple instrument with simple motion ergonomics, but I think this idea can be applied to other instruments. Playing the drums could be as simple as one key for each drum head for a large drum kit or one drum head could be represented by a grouping of keys allowing for tonal differences depending on where you strike the drum head.

Here’s what I have come up with for string and bow instruments. The mouse controls the bow: east/west axis controls the bow’s speed across the strings, north/south axis controls the bow’s angle to the strings, mouse wheel controls the bow’s pressure against the strings. The keyboard controls the fingerboard: each of the four rows of keys represents a string and pressing and holding a key simulates finger action on a fingerboard. I think this setup could be used for 4-stringed plucking as well.

I have working models for keyboards as well, but I really want to here from other people what they think. I for one would not mind a music system that induces head-bobbing.

Wind Instruments

Breath control is simulated by moving the mouse across the mouse pad or the players chosen range of motion. When the mouse reaches the end of the pad, moving it back to a starting position simulates taking a breath. The speed of the mouse could determine the strength of exhaling and mouse buttons/wheel could simulate tonal changes produced by mouth control or mechanisms such as the slide on a trombone.
Valves could be simulated with keys. For instance a trumpet’s 3 multi-positional valves could be simulated using 1-9 on the number pads for 3, 3 position valves.