Instruments

'Yes', said Pippin. 'Well, yes, well enough for my own people. But we have no songs fit for great halls and evil times, lord. We seldom sing of anything more terrible than wind or rain. And most of my songs are about things that make us laugh; or about food and drink, of course.'

'And why should such songs be unfit for my halls, or for such hours as these? We who have lived long under the Shadow may surely listen to echoes from a land untroubled by it?
Then we may feel that our vigil was not fruitless though it may not have been thankless.'
- Return of the King


Instruments in Arda are designed to aide the travelling bard, providing a place to record written songs, play them later, write them down for fellow minstrels, and finally memorize other books. If you have an older silver lute, or haradrim lute, you should probably replace it with a new version. There are three music shops in Arda, scout them out, and they'll replace your instrument for you.

To compose a song on one's instrument, you would type:
> compose <name of instrument> <song title>


Keep in mind that the title is case-sensitive.

You will then be prompted for the words to the song. The maximum lines allowed in a song depends on the instrument used. For instance, you would only be able to compose and play short chants on a drum, whereas a long ballad can be performed on a lute.

If you leave a blank line in your song, this separates one stanza from another. Each stanza will be played one at a time, allowing the audience time to read and absorb the song. Each stanza may only be 8 lines long.

You are only allowed to know forty songs, for all instruments, at any one time.

To list all your songs:
> songbook <instrument name>


Songs you have memorized, regardless of what instrument you composed them on, will be listed here.

To perform your songs:
> play <instrument name> <song title>
Or alternatively (to perform a random selection):
> play <instrument name>


Because all good musicians need to practice, you can rehearse your songs to yourself by typing:
> rehearse <instrument name> <song title>


You will perform your selection a stanza at a time, with a pause between each verse to allow you to catch your breath.



There are a few customizable features of the instrument system:
> color -- songs
Sets the color your songs appear in, default is random Set this color using the `color' command.

> set song/introduction
Set the introduction message.      ~ Format: "Pippin "+song/introduction
     ~ Default varies from instrument to instrument.


> set song/interlude
Change the default interlude message.      ~ Format: "Pippin "+song/interlude
     ~ Default is "plays an interlude on his/her <instrument name>."


> set song/finish
Sets the finishing flourish.      ~ Format: "Pippin finishes his song "+ song/finish + "."
     ~ Default is "with a flourish"


If you decide you no longer wish to play a certain song, (perhaps it has become inappropriate), you can type:
> halt <instrument> to halt the music.


If you no longer desire to know a song, the syntax is:
> forget <instrument> <title>


WARNING: Be sure you want to do this, it will erase the song from your memory.

If you should break your instrument, from carelessness or from inattention, you can have it repaired in at least three music shops about Arda.

If you run across a blank songbook in your travels, you can "write" your songs for other bards to learn from:
> write <instrument name> <song title>


To memorize a book of songs from someone else, you would type:
> memorize <instrument name> <songbook> <song title>
for a specific song, or

> memorize <instrument name> <songbook>
to memorize all the songs in a book