Maker Music Festival: Musician

Musician

Musician is an UI add-on for the World of Warcraft MMORPG that implements music playing features into the game.

Musician is an UI add-on for the World of Warcraft MMORPG that implements a new feature to allow players to play musical instruments in the game, despite several technical limitations.

Unlike other popular MMORPGs such as Lord of the Rings Online or Final Fantasy XIV, World of Warcraft lacks a “bard class” or “music performance mode” which is highly appreciated by roleplayers. The goal of Musician is to fill this gap the best as possible using the limited features of the WoW UI API.

The add-on consists in a rudimentary sample-based synthesizer that can play existing MIDI files or can be played live using the PC keyboard or an external MIDI controller. The other players who also have the add-on and who are within range of the character can also listen to the music.

The available instruments are mostly medieval and renaissance instruments to match WoW’s medieval fantasy universe but modern ones such as electric guitar, drumkit and bass can also be used to play more conventional pop/rock music.

The project started 4 years ago and is being improved constantly.

The add-on is becoming quite popular on roleplaying realms. While most of the players play pre-recorded MIDI sequences, some of them do perform in real time by forwarding the MIDI stream from their electronic piano keyboard to the game.

Project links:
* Main add-on repository: https://github.com/LenweSaralonde/Musician
* CurseForge add-on page: https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/musician
* Discord server: https://discord.gg/ypfpGxK
* Wiki: https://github.com/LenweSaralonde/Musician/wiki
* GitHub project: https://github.com/users/LenweSaralonde/projects/1
* Project tools repository: https://github.com/LenweSaralonde/MusicianTools

Some YouTube demos:
* Bohemian Rhapsody (band sync test): https://youtu.be/C9HAHtgs4nc
* Game of Thrones opening (synth stress test): https://youtu.be/dOcvydDKy7E
* Daft Punk - Get Lucky: https://youtu.be/Me6ImHBPdIQ
* Windows 3.1 CANYON.MID: https://youtu.be/RBqN74y_o4k

More an amateur than a truly experienced musician, my inspiration mainly comes from electronic music pioneers such as Jean-Michel Jarre. I like to explore various ways to make music and sound using unconventional means.

Frequently Asked Questions

What inspired you to do this?

Other games such as Lord of the Rings Online that already come with music playing features.

How long did it take to make it?

The project started 4 years ago and is being improved constantly.

How long have you been doing things like this?

I've been trying to make using a computer music since I had one so let's say... 30 years!

How much did this cost to do?

I spent less than 400 € into music software for creating the instrument libraries. All the programming is done using free tools.

This project actually costs time, not money.

Have you done other things like this?

I remastered some old chiptunes and demoscene songs I like on my YouTube channel using modern software so we can listen to them as if they were made on a modern PC but still sounding the same.

What did you wish you knew before you started this?

I learned a lot doing this project since it started of experiments so it would have been way less fun if I knew how to do things right in the first place.

Are there plans available to make this? Do you sell this?

The source code is available on GitHub: https://github.com/LenweSaralonde/Musician
Like all add-ons for Wow, it's free to use.

What’s next?

Adding more instruments, new features (in-game looper, drum machine etc.)

Resoures?

Documentation:
* Wowpedia: https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/World_of_Warcraft_API
* The MIDI Association: https://www.midi.org/specifications

Software:
* Microsoft VS Code
* Node.js
* ffmpeg
* FL Studio
* Adobe Audition

Various soundfonts and virtual instruments.

Special thanks to the Musician Discord community, the translation team and the WoW players for using it!