Skill for building musical instrument?

Vaevictis Asmadi · 10-23-2018, 07:22 PM

I'm also interested in the answer to this question.

Would treating Luthier and Reedmaker/Woodwinds as Artist specialties make sense? Then they would be Hard. I could see Luthier (at -3 or -4) and Reedmaker (at -2?) defaulting to both Artist (Woodworking) and Carpentry, but not being optional specialties of an Easy skill.

Natural horns (valveless), metal percussion, and mbiras could be Professional Skills with defaults to Smith-4 or so. Valved horns, and woodwinds with lots of fiddly keys, seem like Mechanic to me.

How challenging is making a drum? It seems to me (with no experience) that it would be easier than other types of instruments. Carpentry and Leatherworking are Easy, and Woodworking is Hard.

On second thought, it seems like all non-electric musical instruments should be the same type of skill, not scattered among Artist, Professional Skill, and Mechanic. Making each type a Professional Skill with optional specialties seems the most straightforward:

Bellfounder for bells, cymbals, gongs, and singing bowls
Horn-Maker for metal brass; harder Techniques for valved brass
Luthier for stringed instruments; harder Techniques for things like pianos and harpsichords
Metal Ideophones for mbiras, metallophones, jaw harps, and tuning forks (any suggestions for a better name?)
Ocarina-Maker for ceramic aerophones
Percussion-Maker for any non-metal percussion
Reedmaker for reeds and non-metal, non-ceramic aerophones; easier Technique for bullroarers, harder Techniques for keyed woodwinds
Sax-Maker for saxophones and other metal woodwinds

10-23-2018, 07:22 PM	#30
Vaevictis Asmadi Join Date: May 2007 Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota, U.S.A.	Re: Skill for building musical instrument? I'm also interested in the answer to this question. Would treating Luthier and Reedmaker/Woodwinds as Artist specialties make sense? Then they would be Hard. I could see Luthier (at -3 or -4) and Reedmaker (at -2?) defaulting to both Artist (Woodworking) and Carpentry, but not being optional specialties of an Easy skill. Natural horns (valveless), metal percussion, and mbiras could be Professional Skills with defaults to Smith-4 or so. Valved horns, and woodwinds with lots of fiddly keys, seem like Mechanic to me. How challenging is making a drum? It seems to me (with no experience) that it would be easier than other types of instruments. Carpentry and Leatherworking are Easy, and Woodworking is Hard. On second thought, it seems like all non-electric musical instruments should be the same type of skill, not scattered among Artist, Professional Skill, and Mechanic. Making each type a Professional Skill with optional specialties seems the most straightforward: Bellfounder for bells, cymbals, gongs, and singing bowls Horn-Maker for metal brass; harder Techniques for valved brass Luthier for stringed instruments; harder Techniques for things like pianos and harpsichords Metal Ideophones for mbiras, metallophones, jaw harps, and tuning forks (any suggestions for a better name?) Ocarina-Maker for ceramic aerophones Percussion-Maker for any non-metal percussion Reedmaker for reeds and non-metal, non-ceramic aerophones; easier Technique for bullroarers, harder Techniques for keyed woodwinds Sax-Maker for saxophones and other metal woodwinds __________________ I have Confused and Clueless. Sometimes I miss sarcasm and humor, or critically fail my Savoir-Faire roll. None of it is intentional. Published GURPS Settings (as of 4/2013 -- I hope to update it someday...) Last edited by Vaevictis Asmadi; 10-26-2018 at 11:00 PM.