VS Instruments Redux

[jovial breach]

VS Instruments Redux

*"If music be the food of love, play on..."
-William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night *

Description

VS Instruments Redux (https://mods.vintagestory.at/show/mod/61428) is a mod that brings musical instruments into the game! I was inspired by the somewhat abandoned and buggy "Instruments" mod (which I loved), but this new mod is completely separate and built from the ground up. Multiplayer servers are especially on my mind, as this was made in support of the "World of New Horizons" server, though anyone is welcome to use it. Sounds are sourced from GeneralUser GS (https://www.schristiancollins.com/generaluser).

Features

• Currently 12 Instruments: Guitar, Violin, Banjo, Trumpet, Sax, Ocarina, Pan Flute, Piano, Accordion, Kalimba, Steel Drum, Choir, and Upright Piano (and Piano Bench).
• Solo ABC Mode: Play custom .abc sheet music files. Just drop them in "ModData/vsinstrumentsredux/songs" and select them from the in-game GUI!
• Shuffle Mode: Shuffle ABC songs in a chosen folder to make things easier.
• Freestyle Mode: Play live using two different keyboard layouts (Virtual MIDI or Diatonic Number Row).

For Modders

Want to bundle ABC songs with your own mod? You can! Just:

1. Make this path in your mod: "assets/vsinstrumentsredux/config/songs/"
2. Add your ABC files to the "songs" folder
3. Rename your ABC files by adding '.txt' at the end (for example, "DaisyBell.abc.txt"). My mod will automatically load them for any player who has both mods installed!

Coming Soon

• "Band Play" mode for synced multiplayer performances
• More instruments
• Custom animations (if I can get them working right)

Drop your feedback and share ABC song files below!

[deft wing]

would be cool and more immersive if some instruments were actually placeable, like the piano, sick mod though reminds me of minecraft's immersive melodies mod, maybe you can take inspiration from there for the animations as it's open source

would also be even cooler if it supported MIDI files but I have no idea how complicated that is to do

[jovial breach]

The peaceable instruments is a cool idea! I’ll have to think on it, as it would require a few work arounds.

And yeah—initially I intended to use MIDIs, but ABC files have a lot of advantages. Most notably, their size and simplicity, which is great for sending packets to nearby players without lag, as well as parsing them for different instruments to play.

[jovial breach]

You inspired me. This will be coming in the next update:

[jovial breach]

Bass Guitar finished up~ Feel free to leave any instrument ideas you'd like to see! I've been building a library of notes.

[unique warren]

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

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

[deft wing]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurdy-gurdy

Fitting, considering there is an npc that plays this iirc

For placed ones
Marimba
Harp
Large drum

[jovial breach]

Ooo~ I'll see if I can find good note files for these. Thanks!

[jovial breach]

Actually, that's already in! It took me a while to find a good Hurdy Gurdy recording.

I also have a marimba, but being able to place it on a table is a good idea!

[molten granite]

I love musical instruments and especially medieval ones!! Some instrument to consider:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnyx
• gong
• some kind of bell?
• organ :)c

[jovial breach]

Organ will be in the next update!

[keen wasp]

Hey would you happen to have a good link for getting abc songs? Been struggling to find one

[deft wing]

Main reason I asked for midi is because of this, abc isn't a popular format especially if you aren't looking for popular songs

The only "library" I found is abcnotation.com

[outer wind]

https://community.playstarbound.com/threads/sbsp-1000-starbound-song-pack.58760/

Just a big ol collection of abc

[keen wasp]

Thank you!

[jovial breach]

Yeah. Unfortunately from a technical side, ABC just performs much more cleanly.. There are music packs though! And I also have a feature where mod authors can load in ABC files that my mod will find and make available to anyone with both mods installed, which should help.

[jovial breach]

Thanks Meadow! I pinned this to help others in the future. I really appreciate the link!

[outer wind]

No worries ⭐

[proven fulcrum]

+1 for wanting to see guzheng/guqin
Really cool mod, I can see a lot of flavor possible with this!

Thank you for your work on it

[keen wasp]

This mod has been so fun for me and my girlfriend! Great work man!

-edit: she would love a flute if you are looking for recommendations

[jovial breach]

@unique warren @proven fulcrum You'll see the Guzheng in the next update~ 🙂

[jovial breach]

Thanks so much! I'll definitly work on a flute for either this next update, or the one soon after. 😉

[unique warren]

Hell yeah

[proven fulcrum]

Wonderful!! Thank you!!

This plus the hanfu mod is about to be awesome

[jovial breach]

Actually, I just went ahead and made one~

[keen wasp]

Thank you so much! Im sure she is going to love it!

[keen wasp]

Been loving the flute! its so peaceful and pairs really well with the violin. Thanks again for adding that! So excited to try out all the other new instruments!

[jovial breach]

The phonograph (which can play the sounds of any instrument put inside of it), comes in the next update! It's like the ABC player from the old Instruments mod~

[jovial breach]

Latest update adds two new features:

1. You can now transcribe music sheets, which let you share ABC files in-game!

2. You can now make recordings with the phonograph on wax cylinders!

I'm really excited to see what people can do~

[drifting horizon]

peak mod

[jovial breach]

In the next update, there is a major overhaul of guitars/basses. A warning that you will see your "Bass Guitar" become a black square, as the names have been updated. That is now the "Electric Bass".

In full, there is now (from left to right):

• Acoustic Guitar
• Nylon Guitar
• Acoustic Bass
• Lead Guitar
• Electric Bass
• Fretless Base
• Overdrive Guitar

[keen wasp]

Dude so peak!!

[robust mulch]

Please make a separate add-on mod for each of the musical instrument families!

• Brass
• Percussion
• Strings
• Woodwinds
  Great work!

[jovial breach]

Thanks! It’s something I’d like to organize eventually as I build up a nice library. I definitely like the idea~

[robust mulch]

More types of string instruments please!
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/704202677092876310/817271792850042890/strings.jpg?ex=6a7965ab&is=6a78142b&hm=8eeb0fa3bbdf9e8afb628e3531baa1ba0f996b3d2e4590e4b71aaf79b567dea7&

[jovial breach]

Well, there is at least one more on that list added with the latest update! (The Lyre)

[robust mulch]

thank you! 💙

[deft wing]

question, as I saw MIDI was added which is nice

do you play every instrument track in the song at the same time regardless of the instrument that is playing? I don't know how ABC files work but in the case of MIDI I would suggest allowing the player to choose which track/s they want to play instead, as otherwise it's just...a muddy mess

especially relevant for band play

[jovial breach]

Ah - actually, the way I have it set up is when you add a MIDI file, the code rips it apart and places it AND its individual tracks (labeled by instrument) all in a folder. It's actually a nice improvement over ABC in some ways, where you have to have each track as its own file. 🙂

[deft wing]

the question still stands, when I play a midi file that has multiple tracks, are all tracks played at once? cause every time I try to play anything it's just garbled noise so I'm guessing that's what is happening

[jovial breach]

Oh - yes. Specifically, if you play the "full" file, all tracks play at once. It's the downside of MIDI - it can be messy. Finding a simpler MIDI, or converting it to ABC with Maestro and removing some tracks is best.

I'll ponder on the idea of making it so the player can pick and play multiple tracks at once, to kind of cheese the same effect.

[deft wing]

either that or assign each instrument to a group of MIDI instruments, so a guitar would play all guitar-adjacent instrument tracks and completely avoid playing something like drums or piano etc...

there are 128 instruments in MIDI so that might take a bit though

[jovial breach]

Hmm...that's actually not a bad thought! I'll think about this over the next couple days. I bet there is a really clean solution. This is a good idea! Thanks Ghosty!

Btw - any instruments you have been especially wanting? I've been getting back into adding more, so I'll let you choose one of the next if you want. lol

[deft wing]

how about the harpsichord? it's the piano's ancestor after all

[jovial breach]

Ooo - great choice. Consider it done!

[deft wing]

that was fast damn

[jovial breach]

I’m a little crazy. Lol

[jovial breach]

The Harpsichord is now live!

[jovial breach]

In the latest release, I made it so you can select multiple individual MIDI parts to play at once. I think this is a nice solution - let me know what you think!

[deft wing]

it's perfect, thank you

[glass heron]

Friend is trying to connect their midi keyboard, they followed the instructions and they get this error?

[robust mulch]

Please add some more low tech drums like

• Powwow Drums
• Log Drums
• Water Drums
  Basically Native American style drums!

https://youtu.be/q1Oo9cwouTE?si=zH7N9Fh5x-C7MrCK

This is more of a joke but, giant bamboo flute?

[jovial breach]

Let me see if I can find a good SF2 pack for these! 🙂

[jovial breach]

If I had to guess, your friend probably has their MIDI keyboard being used by some other program.

[glass heron]

Yup that was the issue!

we got it fixed

[jovial breach]

My suffering...but the Glass Armonica approaches:

[jovial breach]

Log Drum coming with next update!:

[robust mulch]

Wooo! Thank you! Yay Tribal / Low Tech instruments!

[jovial breach]

Oh - this actually requires steel…

Jk! A knife, log, and some sticks. (Specifically an oak log, as it seems these are traditionally hardwood. Lol)

[robust mulch]

Please make a Didgeridoo in the future! Oh and a rain stick could be fun!

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

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

Can put to use bamboo!

[jovial breach]

Actually, slight redesign, but same recipe (though using any log). I just used an actual log drum as a nicer inspiration:

[jovial breach]

Will do!

[potent geyser]

Oh my god he’s going ham with it🤯
You’re actually cracked bro.

[jovial breach]

Didgeridoo? More like Didgeridone:

[robust mulch]

Amazing!!! Thank you!!

Now tenth just needs to make a kangaroo mod. Lol

[jovial breach]

Hammered Dulcimer in the next update too!:

[robust mulch]

Please make a conch insturment out of the base game conch shells!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch_(instrument)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGby5d4eQAw

could just be one note. lol

https://youtu.be/ycm5IIZrpKs?si=Yw7uPRj75TyFAA9o

bonus video! That's crazy

[jovial breach]

This...actually sounds fun! I'll give this a go!

[robust mulch]

Thank you!

[jovial breach]

In this pick, you can see two of the things I've been working on for the next major update - the "Portable Phonograph" (see the belt) and "Headphonograph" (see the head).

The Portable Phonograph will be able to do everything a phonograph does, except it travels with you as it is wearable.

The Headphonograph is worn on your head, and makes it so that any songs you play or start can ONLY be heard by you.

My thought is that with these two items, you can now effectively make entire playlists to replace the in-game music! I've been fixing the code that lets you play through and shuffle songs in a folder (basically, playlists).

[full saffron]

That's amazing

[jovial breach]

They will be in the next update!:

[robust mulch]

Thank yoooooou! 🐚

I love that they are in different colors!!

[jovial breach]

Yeah! I made it so they match the color of the conch you use to make it - just a knife and the shell for a recipe. 🙂

[keen wasp]

Everytime I take a break for a week i come back to absolute peak! Love the great work you’ve been putting in

[robust mulch]

So here are 4 instrument ideas using turtle shells.

• **Turtle Shell Lyre ** (could use the same sound as the Lyre)
• Turtle Shell Rattle
• Turtle Shell Lute (Could use the same sound as the Lute)
• Turtle Shell Drum (could use the same sound as the Log Drum)
  And as for the material it would require either of these mods ...
  https://mods.vintagestory.at/hieronymusreptiles
  https://mods.vintagestory.at/chelonioidea

I would say maybe the bigger shells like the Glapagose Tortose and Sea Turtle shells could be used for the drum. While smaller shells like the smaller tortoises could be used for the rattle.

[fringe remnant]

out of curiosity will you be adding functionality for sustained notes over midi? id love to be able to use my sustain pedal on my piano. @jovial breach

[jovial breach]

Yeah! It’s something I intend to do - I will make it a point for the next update. I don’t have a Midi piano myself, so I testing is a little complicated. Lol It is the plan though.

When it does come out, I’d appreciate any direct feedback!

[fringe remnant]

Hmu if you need any help testing, have lots of midi capable devices you can run through the ringer

[jovial breach]

I will take you up on that! I’ll DM you when I have something ready! 🙂

[fringe remnant]

Sounds great!!

[robust mulch]

Some more requests for common instruments that are missing ...
Brass

• Baritone Horn
• Cornet
• French Horn
• Trombone
  Woodwinds
• Bassoon
• Oboe
• Piccolo
  Strings
• Mandolin
• Ukulele
  Percussion
• Gong
• Tambourine
• Triangle
  Thanks!

[jovial breach]

Thanks! I'll be working my way through these - modelling just takes a good chunk of time irl. 🙂

[stray mica]

Hello, I recently updated my server to the newest version of the mod's main module, as well as A/B (and uninstalled C, as indicated by the mod page).
For some reason, all preexisting instruments are showing up as black squares or [?] blocks, and neither A nor B are being loaded when booting the game. None of the instruments can be found in the handbook or creative menu, and neither A nor B show up as loaded mods in the game's logs. The core does show up as loaded, however.

I have verified that all three are the latest release, and freshly re-downloaded them just to make sure a file didn't somehow break between the ModDB and my server.
@jovial breach

[jovial breach]

Hmm…I’m just waking up so bear with me…

First, sorry for the trouble! The two expansion mods not loading is definitely strange.

Before going too deep, have you tried “old faithful” - deleting the cache folder? Sometimes it just needs to clearing to fix issues like this.

[jovial breach]

@stray mica See if the latest version (v2.0.1) solves the issue. I think I solved it.

I will be home later to check if any problems still arise

[jovial breach]

So, I just put up a new release that should have pedal and velocity included for MIDI devices! I have not been able to test it, but there is plenty of documentation I was able to use to integrate it, so I'm hoping it works first try. Could you let me know if you get a chance to use it?

[robust mulch]

Some ideas for animal part musical instruments I had ...

• Ram Horn (made from Muflon or Bighorn Sheep Horns)
• Antler Flute
• Boar Tusk Flute/Horn (Req Butchering Mod)
• Bone Flute
  Thanks!

[potent geyser]

I haven’t installed your mod yet. But I find it funny how this game encourages me to pick up other creative hobbies again.
I downloaded the wanderer’s sketchbook mod and I got to drawing for the first time again in probably a year!
Your mod will make me play my keyboard again hahaha so amazing.

[fringe remnant]

Sure I can pop in the studio here in a little while and let you know 🙂

[jovial breach]

Thanks! These are some good ideas for easy early game instruments. 🙂

[jovial breach]

Lol! Honestly, it’s made me get back into music again too. I recently bought a dulcimer I’m waiting to arrive so I can try it out~

[mint ermine]

It would be cool in Solo Worlds to be able to have band

[jovial breach]

You can! You can you use Phonographs to run multiple independent item instruments, and form a band with those and block instruments. 🙂 Band mode isn’t exclusive to multiplayer.

[mint ermine]

ok one thing, did you muted the hurdy gurdy?

[jovial breach]

Mute it, as in make it not produce any sound? No - I did just check, but it is playing properly. However, it did have its sound file changed as part of the recent transition, so that it hit more notes, so it may sound a bit different.

Are you sure: 1) You have all the most recent files downloaded, including the expansions A and B? 2) Are you sure the volume slider is not turned all the way down on the insturment?

[fringe remnant]

Any chance of getting guides on the mod page on how to do stuff like that?

[jovial breach]

Yeah - I'll add some. If there are any other things you would like, let me know!

[fringe remnant]

I'm not really sure honestly lol

How hard would it be to implement channel functionality, one instrument on ch 1, one on 2, etc

Are multiple inputs already supported

[jovial breach]

Could explain what you mean a bit? Like, for the External MIDI Devices? I might just be misunderstanding.

[fringe remnant]

yeah for external devices

either multi device support or have seperate channels detected through one midi device

hopefully that makes sense?

super niche request just curious :3

[jovial breach]

I'll put that on the list! I'm mainly relying off community help to test external MIDI stuff, as I don't have one myself. Mostly, just following documentation. lol

[mint ermine]

I have both expansions up to date and volume to max

[jovial breach]

I’m not to sure on that one then. Perhaps re-download them, and clear your Cache folder.

I’ll keep an eye out for any other reports with the same issue.

[fringe remnant]

@jovial breachjust gave the update a shot and still no go on the sustain pedal functionality unfortunately

[jovial breach]

Damn…I will try again with the next update. Thanks for the feedback!

[robust mulch]

This says it is a bamboo flute but it isn't made of bamboo. 🙁 🎍

[jovial breach]

Ah - that was a contributed instrument. I can look to add bamboo as an option too.

[jovial breach]

The latest update has my newest attempt! lol

[robust mulch]

@jovial breach thanks for adding in all the new instruments! So cool!

[jovial breach]

I'm working my way through your list! lol

[robust mulch]

Thank you!

[fringe remnant]

give it a shot here in a bit 🙂

[jovial breach]

Sweet! Thanks!

[robust mulch]

https://youtu.be/b57Oi25kRHc?si=iSqym8LrQvY8mvm6

[robust mulch]

oooo an update! Yay bassoon!

[robust mulch]

https://mods.vintagestory.at/teapotsgreatbighorn

imagine a horn instrument made from those!

@fiery jolt

[fiery jolt]

✍️

I had a Horn Reskin idea for Pet Whistle, don't see why not make it useable for a fitting instrument!

[robust mulch]

Nice!

I know @jovial breach has used models people have sent too.

by Poyomi and MoldyTofu i think

[jovial breach]

@robust mulch @fiery jolt For sure! If you have a shape file and textures, I’d happily turn it into an instrument (obviously with credit, and setting up compatibility with your Bighorn Mod, Teapot)! 🙂

[fiery jolt]

Will definitely reach out to you If I get around to it! Cheers

[hazy bolt]

Hello! I ran into an interesting bug.

There is a mod (https://mods.vintagestory.at/optitime) that seems to be fucking with trying to use the portable phonograph to play a sealed wax phonograph cylinder. It did have several instruments encoded onto the cylinder, but it wasn't a long or overcomplicated track.

I was trying to use it in a creative world with a modpack from Fablewood (VS SMP Server) installed. I don't know exactly what caused this, but I hope the log is revealing? I hope providing you the log isn't a shitty move or something, the etiquette for these situations is a bit beyond me.

Can you identify what happened here?

[jovial breach]

Hey Gooch - no worries at all! I'm sorry for the trouble.

Thanks for sending the log, as it helps a lot. I'll need a bit of time to work on a fix, but it looks like the recorded data on the cylinder hit a size limit.

I haven't actually encountered this issue in testing, or seen in reported before, but I have couple ideas on how to fix it. I will see if I can get a an update with a fix pushed within the next day or so.

Sorry again for the issue! Thank you so much for reporting it though. 🙂

On a separate note - the latest update adds Music Boxes that let you save a song to it. It should be good for gifts!

[keen wasp]

I’ll be honest this isnt a feature I realized I wanted so badly.. I have wayyy too many useless ideas for this. Hopefully the recipe doesnt need tin because I’m in a tin desert i swear

[robust mulch]

Some more i found ...
Percussion

• K'long Put (aka Bamboo Xylophone)
• Maracas

Wind & Brass Instruments

• Alphorn
• Bass Clarinet
• Bugle
• Contrabass Clarinet
• Tenor Saxophone
• Baritone Saxophone
  (Note the one you have i assume is an Alto Saxophone so might want to change it's name)

Keyboards

• Steam Calliope

Thanks!

[robust mulch]

Oh also i still cannot craft the Dizi with bamboo.

[jovial breach]

Oh! That's because I think I forgot to add that. lol I will look to code that tonight, so it makes it into the next update. Sorry Hydro!

[jovial breach]

Nope! Just an ingot of any type, and a wax cylinder are the only "weird" ingredients. The rest are a hammer, chisel, and planks.

I'm glad you liked the idea! It's one I've been wanting to do for a while.

[robust mulch]

no worries! Keep up the great work!

[jovial breach]

Hey Gooch! So, to keep you updated, I believe I figured this out. I’ll be releasing an update soon with a fix. In your case, you’ll probably have to re-record the cylinder since it introduced a new recording scheme, but it should fix your issue. Sorry for the delay! 🙂

[hazy bolt]

Hey, no worries! I am deeply pleased. :)

Thank you so much

[jovial breach]

The update is out! Hopefully it fixes your issue~

[jovial breach]

It is done! 😉

[robust mulch]

thank you!

[tulip sail]

Hey, I'm having some slight issues with a server I'm on - the violin and viola, for whatever reason, have no sound when used freestyle, I haven't tried it with an actual midi file yet, but -
I can get other instruments to work freestyle, but not the violin/viola. Is there an issue with them at the moment?
Double bass, cello too - none of the stringed instruments seem to be working?

I'm testing this in a singleplayer world with no other mods installed, so it can't be another mod interfering with it

Absolutely adore everything else about this mod, just hoping to get the violins and other stringed instruments working

[jovial breach]

I’ll check it out when I get home tonight. There shouldn’t be any reason it doesn’t work for those. Thanks for the report! 🙂 In the meantime, clearing your cache sometime fixes things like this.

[jovial breach]

So I just checked, and it seems to be working on my end.

Some things to check:

• Do you have the most recent versions downloaded for VS Instruments Redux, Expansion A, and Expansion B?
• Have you tried clearing your Cache folder?

I'm sorry for the trouble, regardless!

[tulip sail]

I'll double check when I get the chance - my cache folder WAS already cleared when I did this, and I did it with just instruments redux, none of the expansions

[jovial breach]

Ah! That should be the issue then. The violin/viola/etc. live in Expansion B. Unfortunately, the expansions are needed because the sound files can take up a lot of space, and there is a 40MB limit for a single mod. Expansions are the only real way around that.

I would bet if you get Expansion B included, that would fix it right up. 🙂

[tulip sail]

Ahh, gotcha gotcha, thank you