Serpentsongs

Every so often, from a high balcony between two towering shelves, idle music and faint laughter spill downwards upon the lower levels of the Paramusicology section of the Library. It seems a group of aspiring musicians have started an improptu series of concerts, drawn by the Library's arching acoustics and cultural cross-pollination. There's no true organization to these events, only that they center around an ancient piano nestled into a shelf that always somehow stays in tune.

+ A group of strange brass constructs with phonograph horns for heads gathers around the piano.

Not one of them is actually playing the piano, the instrumental sounds coming from their horn-heads instead. They seem to be performing a live reading of an entry from Journal of the Walk, translated into their native, musical language.

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By Draven Addams, based on a story by Snapdragon133.

+ A suit of armor is seated with a twelve-string guitar.

One of the guitar's strings is broken, dangling out on the floor. The suit—is there anyone in it?—begins to pluck its pointed metallic fingers at the remaining eleven strings. Nobody else is around, but a single woman watching from a balcony across the hall.

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Another one! what a shocker. by carolynn ivy

+ A slow, droning piano piece played by a woman wearing a blue cardigan sweater.

The cardigan has scattered holes, eaten by moths. The bookshelves around the piano have unfurled into the pianist's childhood home, with brick walls and cluttered books. Overhead, the ceiling has been replaced with an arching blue sky.

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Day ??? of shelter-in, by carolynn ivy. (First one in a while. Also on my author page!)

+ Unrepentant sorcerer attempts the piano.

He cackles to himself as he slips through the shelves and finally, finally arrives at the piano. He begins to play, happy despite the holes in his teal robes and the arrowhead in his right arm. The music drives away his pain, and that of the patrons nearby.

Page DéBlue, by Avelon21
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+ The dark-haired woman with antlers returns to the piano, to play alone.

Her hair like a shroud. Her antlers, golden branches twisting into the air. Dust hangs from sunlight, streaming in over the ancient keys, heavy on her hands.

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Day five of shelter-in, by carolynn ivy. (Skipped a day or so to regain some creativity!)

+ Without anyone sitting at it, the ancient piano begins to howl.

Rain, from somewhere, begins to hit the windows of the Library. As the piano's strings vibrate like bells, the droplets on the window roll any way but down.

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Day three of shelter-in, by carolynn ivy.

+ A duet between a human with an acoustic guitar and a construct with an electric guitar.

If you look closely you'll notice the automaton's electric guitar is plugged directly into his metallic head—it seems he's using his body as an amplifier!

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Day two of shelter-in, by carolynn ivy.

+ An improvisation led by a four-fingered spider-headed figure cradling a worn acoustic guitar.

A dark-haired woman with long, curving antlers at the ancient piano. An ape sitting; a foreign, lute-like instrument nestled in his lap. A human concentrating on a taut string that is floating in the air.

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Day one of shelter-in, by carolynn ivy.

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+ What is this?

This is a little creative project started by carolynn w, where, for the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, she's attempted to post unique musical pieces to exercise her creativity during a shelter-in. However, it is also a collaborative project, in that any music-composing Wanderer who wishes to soundtrack the strange music of the Library should feel encouraged to add thematically-appropriate pieces of their own! These don't have to be any particular genre, and they can be as conventional or experimental as you wish! Authorship of each piece can be noted as size 0% text at the end of the collapsible (if you're confused by what I mean, check the page source.) I suggest the newest pieces be at the top. Happy noodling!

hidden track! :)

+Translations