Snake Charmer

## Summary

   **Snake charmer** is a puzzle where the goal is to play the correct pattern of notes to raise the snake statue. Each step of the pattern is either the same note, a lower note, or a higher note. Once you have played the correct sequence, you have to play the same sequence again until the statue has completely risen out of the ground. The number of times you must repeat the pattern depends on the difficulty of the charmer statue:

Easy: 2 repeats

Medium: 4 repeats

Hard: 6 repeats

 Medium
 Hard

## Solving

*By AbrahamGlibsly*

*Disclaimers: don't worry. This is an extensive guide for what can eventually boil down to about 10-20 seconds for each snake. After your first desert, these puzzles are a breeze, and one of the most lucrative in the game!*

*This guide assumes the default control scheme for keyboards: Q through \ to play white piano keys, and 2 through = for black piano keys.*

*Quick access to your instruments can be found by holding the semi-colon (*;*) key, and dragging your mouse towards the instrument of your choice! You're welcome!*

### Synopsis and details:

Solving comes in two phases, the first and harder of which is finding the pattern.

Each snake is looking for a sequence of **changes** in notes, not notes themselves. as listed above, Easy snakes have 2 **changes** in their sequence, Medium snakes have 4 **changes** in their sequence, and Hard snakes have 6 **changes** in their sequence.

Sequences are comprised of combinations of note shits upwards, downwards, or staying the same. *colloquially, we have been calling these UP, DOWN, and SAME. or U D S, referring to the note shifts UP or higher, DOWN or lower, or staying the same, on the musical scale.*

When playing notes on any instrument near a snake statue, the statue "listens" to notes, remembers the last note you played, and compares any *new* note played against the *last* note played, decides if it matches or does not match the current part of the sequence, and then, functionally, sets the *last* *note played* to the *new note*.

```
Example:
 *- I take out my banjo and play [T].*
 *- The snake analyzes nothing yet.*
 *- I proceed to then play [Y].*
 *- The snake compares [Y] to [T], and determines [Y] to be UP, or HIGHER, from [T].*
 *- If this matches the current portion of the sequence for the snake, the snake rises a small bit.*
 *- Otherwise, it lowers, or does nothing if it is inside the rock.*

```

While playing, if a **change** matches the current step in the sequence, the will snake rise a small bit, and proceed to the next step of the sequence. *Note: the snake will still recall which note you have just played! be aware that this is your new "last note".*

While playing, if a **change** does *not* match the current step in the sequence, the snake will *lower* a bit, and wait for the current step in the sequence. *Note: the snake will still recall which note you have just played! be aware that this is your new "last note".*

*Note: playing one or two "wrong" notes/changes is ok if the majority of the notes/changes you play are correct! I will address the occasional* need *to use "wrong", or what I call "dirty" notes, later!*

### Finding Patterns

It is advised to start fresh and assume no prior steps in the current sequence. If you are unable to clearly view a snake and its movements, assume no correct **changes** have been detected. If at any time you forget your sequence, it may be best to *completely start over*.

Carefully test **changes** in notes. There is no recommended pattern to test; you will likely find your own preferred method and pattern. The most important consideration is that you *do not forget your **last note***. Snake statues will always remember every note you play, and respond to every change in pitch you make, even if you did not intend to play a new note!

Easy snakes may often be solved by shear guessing. They come in 1 of 6 patterns:

 DOWN DOWN
 SAME SAME
 UP SAME
 DOWN SAME
 UP DOWN
E O E O E O E O ~

Medium snakes are slightly more difficult to determine, and will often be much quicker solved if using the proper methods to find their pattern. Test for 4 **changes** instead of randomly hitting notes, if you find you're unable to guess a solution. Proceed to the next phase when you have a UP-DOWN-SAME pattern

Hard snakes almost always need to be solved using the proper methods. Test for 6 **changes**. Use pencil and paper, or another window, to write down your progress if necessary. (*eventually, your memory will serve, as you get used to testing* and *remembering at the same time!*)

Be very careful not to forget which note you *played last*, while you test. A common mistake is to play a new note, and mark down an incorrect **change**. You must be *positive* of all 6 **changes** in the sequence, or else the next phase will fail.

```
Example:
 - I begin testing a yellow snake with [T].  Nothing is tested with the first note; there have been no previous notes
 - Next, I play [Y], and the snake rises a little. therefore, the first step in the sequence is UP.
 - Next, I play [Y] again, and the snake rises a little. Therefore, the second step in the sequence is SAME.
 - Next, I play [Y] again, and the snake drops a little. Therefore, the third step in the sequence is NOT SAME.
 - Next, I play [U], and the snake drops a little. Therefore, the third step in the sequence is NOT UP.
 - Next, I play [Y], and the snake rises a little. Therefore, the third step in the sequence is DOWN.
 - Next, I play [Y] again, and the snake drops a little. Therefore, the fourth step in the sequence is NOT SAME.
 - Next, I play [T], and the snake drops a little. Therefore, the fourth step in the sequence is NOT DOWN.
 - The fourth step is UP.  The pattern for this yellow snake, 4 steps total, is:  UP, SAME, DOWN, UP

*Note: the next step in the sequence is still UP. Currently, the pattern is: UP, UP, SAME, DOWN, as we never satisfied the final step we had been testing for!*

```

As you play notes, remember that Easy snakes have 2 steps to their sequence, Medium snakes have 4 steps to their sequence, and Hard snakes have 6 steps to their sequence. As soon as you are certain you have the mentioned number of changes accounted for, you can move on to the next phase!

### Key-ifying Patterns

Once you have a list of changes, the easy(er) part is to create an easily repeatable pattern that you can play to raise the snake as quick as possible. This step becomes absolutely mundane and second-nature very quickly, but it demands some addressing.

For Easy snakes, the process is fairly simple. I have listed example patterns for all possible combinations above, but repeating the pattern as closely as possible with minimal or infrequent "dirty" notes should suffice! Note that UP DOWN and SAME SAME do not *need* to have "dirty" notes. Simply follow the suggestions above.

In the case of Medium or Hard snakes, it's likely that a pattern will have more UPs than it has DOWNs, or DOWNs than it has UPs. In this case, remember that the snake doesn't care *how far up or down the scale you play*, it just cares that your note is higher or lower, in general! In these cases, it is advised to make whichever direction you have less of, UPs or DOWNs, larger "jumps".

```
Example:
 - I have determined my pattern to be: UP SAME DOWN DOWN.
 - If I start on [T], then proceed to play the pattern 'jumping' only one note at a time, I will begin to descend on the keyboard as follows:
[Y], [Y], [T], [R], [T], [T], [R], [E], [R], [R], [E], [W] etc.
 - A preferable method would be to, starting on [T], make a larger jump UP, such that I can begin with [T] at the start of each repeat:
[T], [U], [U], [Y]  ~~~  [T], [U], [U], [Y]
 *- (notice how [Y]->[T] satisfies the final DOWN in the sequence)*

```

Ultimately, whatever combination of keys you would like to press is up to you. In the example above, I chose: [T], [U], [U], [Y] repeat.

I could have just as easily chosen any of the following:

* [E] [O] [O] [Y]
* [5] [7] [7] [6]
* [Q] [P] [P] [O]
* [W] [U] [U] [5] [3] [I] [I] [3]

In each scenario, the UP DOWN SAME pattern of UP SAME DOWN DOWN will be satisfied, on-repeat!

In some cases, Patterns will have NO UPs or NO DOWNs. These have been colloquially called "Dirty" patterns, since playing them perfectly would necessitate the player span several octaves of notes to complete them without a failed note! In these cases, it's much simpler to allow yourself a "dirty" note, to *reset* the pattern somewhere easier!

*Note: most Easy snakes are "dirty" patterned. Some are easiest using quicker, more simple and repeatable, but less 'perfect' patterns!*

In these scenarios, for Medium and Hard snakes, play out the pattern simply (single-note 'jumps'/intervals), and then allow yourself a broad jump/interval back to the beginning to repeat!

```
Example:
- I have determined a Hard snake pattern to be U U S U S S.
- Starting from [T] I play:
[T] [Y] [U] [U] [I] [I] [I]
- To repeat this, I could continue:
[O] [P] [P] [[] [[] [[]...
- but a more simple, albeit "dirty" solution would be to play the original pattern on repeat!
[T]* [Y] [U] [U] [I] [I] [I]

*Note: Colloquially, T has been marked with an asterisk (\*) to denote that it will* appear *wrong while playing the pattern! This is to give a quick heads-up to other snake charmers that this is a "dirty" pattern, but that it will work!*

```

### Playing the Patterns

Finally the simplest part: Playing the pattern!

There are very few notes left to give. In general, Easy snakes will be easiest to play, Mediums will *also* tend to be very easy to play. Occasionally, Hard snakes will be tricky and befuddling, but it is, after all, just a sequence of keys to play on repeat.

If you would like to play the notes faster, however, try learning to use *both hands*. Once you've found a key pattern you're comfortable with, experiment with adjusting it to play faster with two hands. Some examples I've come up with:

 "Red String"
 "7 10 Split"
R(O P P)
 "Mystical"