Entertainer Archive

In a way, I think a full band could be Conducted like an Orchestra. The below is a rather lengthy description of how I think it could be done. I really feel the ingame system has a lot of room for personal creativity and in fact requires at once more "work" than even full-customizable music would. It just requires alot of Composition and Micro-management throughout the playback.

This is also not for anyone interested in XP If you're into the sorta thing described below, you've either achieved the pinnacle of your skill path, or you want it to mean more now rather than waiting for Master before seeing how to make it mean more then.

This is also an extension to Kyorlana's and other's manual band flourish systems described, and one many of us have been using variants of.

Even with 8 flourishes, there are some flourishes that sound better together than others, and from certain instruments working with others. Two people playing Flourish 4 on a Bandfill will sound like one. But one playing Flourish 4 and the other, say, 7, could sound better.

Also, some flourishes use the same character animation as others. Ideally, these would be the same flourishes that sound good together

So music composition can transcend all instruments and song types. It's a great deal of work, but is the crowning achievement in the current system. Lacking the ability to write songs wholesale, we're still capable of a great deal of creative latitude within the flourish system.

If a band has, say, 15 musicians all of equal skill, the group would be divided by instrument type. A horn section, a percussion section, a string section (where available) and a synthesizer one. Each section gets their own private chat channel, to which the Conductor sends commands.

The "sheet music" would be distributed before the show. It'd be an email ahead of time people could use to program their own macros. This music would include scores and stanzas for all four sections, so players with talents in all could be assigned to fill any last-minute role changes.

This arrangement requires a Conductor and one to three Medics. It is also advisable band drink/eat Action/Stamina/Quickness before the show.

This is the toughest job. They've got to be on the ball 100% of the time. They are basically telling everyone what to do and when the do it. Over time, people will learn what they need to do and when, but a Conductor is still perfect to ensure central focus. Lacking any way to make ourselves louder or softer, their primary focus is on keeping the song rolling without hiccup.

The key is that the Conductor has created the group macro commands mentioned above. He's got a chat channel for all four sections, and each section has joined their channel. They are watching that channel for commands. One single macro can send sequences to all four channels.

This Macro is a stanza, or stanzas. Each line of the macro is a command to a pre-named channel. These channels would be created well before the show. In effect, the band would need to set up maybe as much as 30 minutes before showtime, to ensure all chat channel names match the macro names, and practice and such.

The stanza is just a tag name. The band members have already programmed their macros by tag name and set up icons. The Conductor sends the tag and the band members press the appropriate button at the right time. They are also free to press flourishes manually if they want.

The Macro itself would contain a /pause command roughly timed to the length it takes for the sequence to finish. At that point, the Conductor receives a tell (or a chat to their own channel) that says something like "Stanza # nearing completion). At this point he sends out the next command.

The Conductor changes the band direction through the band flourish command. This generates not only what the game considers "good" sound, but also generates a System Message to the entire group. In a sense, this is the "turn the page" command. Over time, people won't need it. But it's good to have at first.

So the time of the show comes. The group is ready, the conductor is in front. The conductor will start the band off. They'll use a Bandflourish.

Immediately, the Conductor sends the first macro out. The four sections receive their instructions and queue up their flourishes. Then the Conductor waits for the last flourish to go, and be told via tell that it's nearing completion. So they "turn the page" to the next stanza.

I think this is possible. In fact, many of us do this already, after a fashion. And it doesn't require Master Musician, nor even Master Entertainer to try.

It does requires a dedicated band that really loves this stuff, and knows their music, or at least are willing to spend countless hours composing and jamming to figure it out.

Not at all unlike startup bands

I'm going to cross-post this at the Musician forums as well.