Square Enix has been surprisingly generous about the selection of instruments in the game. At first, there was only the harp, but they have continuously added more instruments over time. Everyone has their opinions about how good (or not so good) the chosen sound fonts for each instrument sounds, but every instrument can, in the right hands, be used in a song.

For every instrument, there’s a few things you must know about it.

• Octave range. Obviously a flute is going to be higher in pitch than a tuba, right? Every instrument has the same number of notes, three octaves from a high C to a low C, but not every instrument plays in the same three octaves. You should try to match parts to an instrument in the same octave range whenever possible.
• Reverb vs Sustain. This is how long the sound rings out AFTER you’ve let go of the note, as well as if you even have the ability to control how long the note lasts. For the vast majority of the instruments, the sound ends nearly immediately after you let go of the note, but for a select few instruments in the ‘plucked string’ family the note will reverberate for a set amount of time regardless of how long you press the button. The main use of this is arpeggiated chords. Strumming a chord on an instrument with some sustain creates a more ‘complete’ sounding chord, since all the notes get to play at once. The downside is ensembles using these instruments may hit the “voice limit”, but this is not a concern for smaller ensembles or soloists. (More on the “voice limit” in a future chapter on midi editing for ensemble.) On the other hand, some instruments have neither reverb NOR sustain, having abrupt sounds that you can’t really control the length of at all.
• Dynamics. This is the sum of many things, such as the volume of the instrument, the ‘attack’ at the beginning of the note, and its harshness or aggressiveness over other instruments. In real music, you can control the dynamics of an instrument by playing louder or softer, but in FFXIV we do not have this luxury. Thus, a good bard ensemble arranger will have to carefully pick which instruments best fit the necessary dynamics for that part. A backing part given to a loud, aggressive instrument may drown out the lead part, whereas a lead part given to a quiet, soft instrument may get lost in everything else playing.

Octave Range Reference Sheet

Some of the below information is factual, but much of it is my opinion. Everyone has their styles and biases when it comes to instrument selection. Give two bards the same song to arrange, and they will likely pick entirely different instruments, and neither of them are wrong.

Everything below is honestly superfluous information. Feel free to skip to the next chapter unless you want detailed opinion on ensemble instrument usage.

- Mevari Navalo

Plucked String Instrument Family

The plucked string instrument family contains some of the most common soloist instruments: the harp, lute, and piano. The reason why they’re the most popular with soloists is that these instruments all have reverb, which makes them great for strumming an entire chord. However, the trade-off is that the note is ENTIRELY reverb. You have no control over the actual length of the note.

Harp

• Octave range: C3 - C6
• Long reverb, great for soloists
• Nice, soft sound.

The first instrument in the game. If you want to arrange for solo, you can’t go wrong with the harp. It sounds great across all three octaves and is perfect for strumming a chord. And if you’re starting with a piano piece, you can possibly assign this instrument to the ‘right hand’ notes and the lute to the ‘left hand’ notes.

Piano

• Octave range: C4 - C7
• Long reverb, great for soloists
• Unlike a real piano, you have no control over note length.