In development · not out yet

Accidental Orchestra: A Music Experiment

The game writes its own songs. At first it’s just a few notes. The more you listen, the more ideas you unlock (a rhythm, an instrument, chords, a solo…), and the fuller the songs get, until a whole band is playing them.

Steam page coming

Windows · English · Français

It’s not out yet. It’s going to be on Steam, for Windows, but I don’t have a date to announce. The trailer will come with the Steam page. The wishlist button will show up here.

Screenshot of the game: a pixel-art band (keyboard, trumpets, guitar, drums) plays on stage in front of its audience. — The band plays the current song. The audience shows up little by little during the story.

So what is it?

At the start there’s almost nothing: a few notes, a single sound. The game writes its songs by itself, one after the other, and the time you spend listening is what moves the story forward.

As you go, you unlock ideas in the Ideas tree. There are close to a hundred: a rhythm, an instrument, a bass line, chords, a scale, a solo… The next song uses them right away, so you really hear what each idea changes.

There’s a small pixel-art band that plays every song, note by note, and an audience that grows during the story. And every song becomes a falling-notes video, with a keyboard for the piano, a fretboard for the guitar, fingering charts for the woodwinds and brass, and a drum kit.

In the game

The Ideas treeSix branches (rhythm, instruments, accompaniment, solos, scales, harmony) and close to a hundred ideas to discover.
The band on stageEvery musician plays their part along with the music. The audience grows as the story goes on.
Falling-notes videosEach instrument has its own view: piano roll, guitar fretboard, woodwind and brass fingerings, drums.
The MIDI playerOpen any MIDI file and a pixel orchestra will play it, with one musician per track, a conductor and a balcony. Click a musician to mute them, right-click to hear them alone.
Free playOnce the story’s done, you get every idea, as many at once as you want. Keep the songs you like (♥) and ask for another one in the same style.

Screenshots

Screenshot of the Ideas tree, Accompaniment branch: Bass line, Duet, Backing chords, Walking bass, Ride cymbal… — The Ideas tree, Accompaniment branch. Every idea you switch on changes the next song.

Screenshot of the MIDI player: dozens of pixel-art musicians play the 1812 Overture, with an audience in the balcony. — The MIDI player playing the 1812 Overture.

Videos made with the game

The game also makes YouTube videos: the same falling notes and the same pixel band, but on public-domain classical pieces.

Bach, Two-Part Invention No. 9 (the pixel band + one instrument)

Debussy, Arabesque No. 1 (one instrument at a time)

Schubert, Écossaise (the pixel band + one instrument)

Every video on the channel All The Piano Tutorials

At a glance

Status: In development, not out yet
Platform: Windows, on Steam
Languages: English, French
Music: Written by the game, with its own rules

Free software and source code → The free components included with the game, their licenses and their source code.