The Arts
Throughout the world, different cultures have pioneered different types of music and dance, each culture is reflected by how people dance, and make music.
Much can be said about a culture based on their favorite dances, and what they dance to.
There are several major centers of culture in the world, which have popularized different types of instruments and dancing styles.
Dendorian
The dendorians are simple people, they like simple dances, with basic repeated motions, led my the sound of the flute, and wooden string instruments.
Their favorite dances are those done around a campfire after a good amount of drinks.
Dwarven
Their choice of instruments reflects the dwarven love of metal, they like to make blow instruments out of metal, and even their version of the drum is metallic, they call it a xylophone.
But even things as simple of metal triangles, are developed into the maximum extent of possibility by the dwarves. the most famous dwarven instrument is the organ, a massive array of pipes, through which wind is channeled to create the loud and deep sounds of the mountains.
Their dances are generally fast-faced, with intricate footwork, accompanied by flashy hand movements, often in pairs.
Elven
The elves dance is slower, their string instruments large. There can be made a distinction between Enyanian, and Anmyan styles, where the Enyanians prefer soft tones, of calm music created by instruments such as harps and lutes, to go with their large fluid movements, the Anmyans have a move deep sense of music, they like more diverse and rugged string instruments such as guitars, and they use a lot of base in their music, their dances reflect this too, being more fast-paced, and often done in large groups.
Their movements, still fluid, but more sudden.
Orcish
The orcs are not known for their artistic side, but they are more creative than they get credit for. They pioneered the drum, which is a basic instrument on the surface, but the orcs perfected it. They are the ones who first started hitting drums with sticks, and they also invented a lot of other instruments, all of which are based on hitting things with different kinds of sticks
Their most famous example is their rib drum. It is an instrument made with ribs, that are hollow on the inside, with one open side, and they are hit with hard wooden sticks, to create different tones. It is thought that they make these out of the skeletons of slain enemies, but in actuality, it was first made with the ribs of giants, which are much easier to hollow out and create a deeper, louder sound. The rib drums created for slain enemies are rare, and only chieftains ever bother to make such a thing, as it is quite a taste to neatly split each rib in half, carefully hollow it out, and glue it back together, even the slightest inaccuracy, and the sound will be off.
Orcish dance is wild and spontaneous, and always under the influence of alcohol.
Yavinian
The Yavinian people have received musical influences from all their neighbors, and they were the first to use many different instruments, from different origins, to create a unique sound, which they call an orchestra.
They adapted elven string instruments to create the violin, and they used dendorian and dwarven flutes as a basis for their trumpets, which were invented in northern Westingham.
They even used the orcish drums, and combined them with strings, to create a snare drum.
Yavinian dance is simple, and often group-based, where people form pairs, and repeat basic movements around each other, before moving on to the next partner, continuing the dance. This basic structure has many variations depending on the specific culture.
In the Rend, such dances are often also guided by strange flute-like instruments, with bags of air attached to them.
Yanoan
The Yanoans created their own type of string instruments, traditionally with hair from their camels, they use flat wooden paddles to strum the strings, and they come in three, and five-stringed variants, their music is often accompanied by simple drums, and bone flutes.
Their dance is focused on individual performance, it is large circular motion, combined with martial arts, to make it appear fierce and impressive. When they perform in a group, they focus on synchronized movement and consistent rhythm, but sometimes with increasing tempo, leading to a climactic highpoint, and a release followed by a more calm ending.
Baskythenian
The Baskth have mastered the bass tones, they mostly use an instrument made from the hollowed-out tusks of a local variety of elephants, which creates a deep hum, to accompany their different dances.
They have many rhythms and tempos, but all their dances are a show of balance and skill, they twirl and swirl like the wind, using their four arms to maximum effect.
Nalsai
The Nalsai use anything they can hunt to make instruments, they hollow horns out, to make their version of a blow instrument, and they have a particular type of flute, that they make from the ribs of wolves. they also have a lot of varieties of bone jingles, these are easy to make, and easier still, to use.
Their drums traditionally still have the animal's hair on it, and are often large and round, with two sides to be hit.
Their dances are focused on individual expression, with often people taking turns in the middle of a circle of people, to show of their superior dancing skills.
Felmen
The Felmen are diverse, and so are their musical practices. it would be foolish to attempt to explain all of them, but the most iconic is the rat races version of a flute, as these people had the ingenious idea of stringing multiple flutes together, to quickly and easily have access to many different sounds, they call it a pan flute, and it has since become popular among all the Felmen races.
Soundtrack
To put you in the mood:
Cultures
This is simply a basic overview, meant to convey a basic theme for music and dance per culture, there are many further differences for different subcultures, and most cultures have dances than there are stars in the sky.
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