#six string

Seeing this shot again from a post by @philodenmonstera reminded me that Rob is a musician. Like, an actual one. He may not consider himself a particularly good one, but, like Roland, he is a multi-instrumentalist. And each of his instruments requires a completely different set of skills and modes of thought.

No seriously, think about it. He plays at least one example of every major category of musical instrument there is, except the keys category. He plays stringed instruments, wind instruments, AND rhythm instruments. And let’s face it, he can prolly pick out a tune on a piano, too. (We are intentionally not mentioning the theremin for reasons.)

Wind instruments: Tin whistle, recorder, possibly the flute cuz he knows the fingering and the lip position, and of course, his own wind instrument for whistling.

Have a look at a tin whistle and how it’s played. Fuuuuuuuuuuck that’s fast.

Stringed instruments: Banjo, guitar, and ukulele. All three of which have completely different tunings, the strings are in different orders, and therefore the fingerings on the fret boards are completely different, and you have to learn all new shapes to make for chords. And in the case of playing banjo, the picking hand uses completely different motions. No pick at all on a ukulele. A thumb’ll do. So he had to relearn both hands for each new toy he got. Playing one is NOT the same as playing another. (Though, since he plays a six string guitar confidently, that means he could also play a bass and a twelve string if he felt like it.)

Rhythm instruments: The bodhrán drum, spoons, and he knows how to handle himself with drumsticks well enough to play rolls. (No bad notes on a drum!) Again, all three rhythm instruments he’s chosen are completely different to each other. Drumsticks are traditional, we know what they look like when banging away, but rolls are among the most difficult things to learn, yada yada marching band. Spoons ain’t a bit like that. They’re spoons. Frequently played on a thigh, no less. And the bodhrán is unlike anything I’ve seen except some Native Americans’ hand-held drums. And bodhrán is equally as tribal — just the indigenous Celtic version. You run your left arm through the back, rest it on your knee if you want, and then flip flop your right hand in intricate patterns with a double ended stick you hold in your fist. (I suck at it.) Check it out... You’re welcome.

You can also hear a more modern usage of the bodhrán in the soundtrack of Lowland Fell during the controversial sexytimes scene. And that movie is all about feeling your tribal roots in your blood. (X)

“I play a few other things.”

And just like Roland and his secret multi instrumentarianism, Rob never talks about any of it ever. If he’s asked, he downplays it. All of his Bios talk about him learning to play a bunch of cute little instruments as a kid for fleadh / ceilidh festivals. People ask him to play the spoons in interviews, because they think it’s adorable and completely irrelevant as an “instrument” someone “plays.” (Tell that to the Bluegrass genre.)

Lest we forget, he sings, too. So add that to the wind instrument category.

Ok, rant complete. Thank you for being the only person who read this far.

It's called Power Gig: Rise of the Six String. And it's... Not Guitar Hero. It's the same basic idea, but it plays *very* different. But that's not the important part.

Nah, we boot that thing up, we start a game, we're ready for the ten second cut scene. And we hear a deep grizzled voice, "This city wasn't always like this. But when the Mandate of Silence fell it fell into dissonance."

Guys... Gals... Non-binary pals... It has a plot. And a world. With a *Setting*.

So... The world runs on Mojo. (Tutorial is called the Mojo Dojo btw). When the Mojo is in balance everything jives in Harmony. And there are three Mojo Gods, each of which created a Sacred Instrument and left them in the care of humanity.

Well of course the instruments end up in the hands of Capitalist Bastards, here called The Headliners. And they're all, "If you don't sign on with us, you can't perform." That's the Something of Silence (it's like Mandate but Alliterative) There's literally Laws.

Anyway, so 2 people from each of the 3 rival "Tribes" get arrested and thrown in prison. After they decide to stop fighting because Fuck The Headliners one starts a harmonious note, they all join in, and the cell explodes because music is magic.

But now they need to first reach harmony, and now we're at the part where we need to calibrate the Mojo types to really Vibe. Also: "I don't believe in destiny." "it believes in you."

I don't know what about this story has me so invested. I Care. I wanna know what happens. Which is dumb cuz I already know. But like... I would play a tabletop in this setting. And I truly believe this should be the plot of Sonic Underground if it gets remade.

Working so hard lately