Dear Vector Prime, could you name some cybertronian musical instruments, and perhaps shortly describe what they sound like?
Dear Musical Maestro,
Surprisingly, music is not an art that comes easily to my kind. Perhaps it is something to do with our planet’s atmosphere—or, in some cases, its lack of one. Perhaps it is the fact that a set of audio receptors programmed to instantly, perfectly transmit radio-wave pulses makes us less sensitive to the subtle atmospheric acoustics and changes in vibration that mark organic symphonies. Either way, our early efforts into the field of music trend towards the crude. In some Primax universal streams, Praxian dulcimer-synths adorn the cultural wings of our museums. In Viron realities, Autobots study the ornate, handcrafted ætherphones of their forebears and historically-minded Predacons might practice the percussive instruments their ancestors maintained.
Either way, when we developed space travel, we found ourselves in an entirely new world of music. Nothing we performed on our instruments could possibly hope to compare to the depth of radio-acoustic experience from an Abraxan Laser-Harp or an Aghartan electrobass.
In pre-war days, it became common for aspiring musicians to travel abroad, mimicking the musical cultures of any given world and adapting it for Cybertronian audio receptors—whether this be the refined harmonies of a Eurythmian vox-amplifier, the pulse-pounding rhythms of a Quartexian lithophone, or the crackling shock-pop endemic to rebellious young Ilxians. Of these, the most devoted musicians seek to understand their chosen instrument at the innermost level by adopting it as an alternate form, then learning to play themselves. This kind of single-minded monasticism is rare, but a Cybertronian who can master such a feat is a talented and much-celebrated artist indeed. Ah, but I remember once attending a fantastic concert in Harmonex, where one such “living orchestra” regaled the audience with a captivating performance of Eucryphia’s Empyrean Suite...
