About Bard's Drum
Join a travelling band and play one real part of each song: the frame drum in a village tavern, the lute at a market fair, and the voices of a cathedral choir. Your part sounds in the band while you play it well and drops out when you miss. Every song is composed for the game, with three ways to play it and a top ten for each.
How to play
- Goal
- Play your part of the song: strike or hold each note as it reaches the line, and the band sounds whole.
- How it ends
- The song ends and the hall grades you, from Booed to Legendary; lose the crowd completely and you are hissed off the stage.
- Record
- The best score of each song at each difficulty, with a top ten.
- Press each note as it reaches the line. Two lanes use F J, three use F J K, four use D F J K (or A S L ;, or the arrow keys); on a phone tap the pads under the lanes.
- A note with a tail is held to its end. Horn and choir notes also score for letting go on the breath mark; a bent tail is a slur, sung by holding on.
- Perfect is within 40 ms, Good 80, Ok 125. Unbroken notes build the streak (×2, ×3, ×4); misses and stray presses lose the crowd, and if the crowd is gone the band stops. If notes feel early or late, set the timing offset in Settings (the tap test measures it).
Controls
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| F J · F J K · D F J K | Play the lanes (also A S L ; or the arrow keys) |
| Hold | Keep a held note to the end of its tail |
| Tap | On a touch screen: the pad under each lane |
| Gamepad | LB X A B or the d-pad; Start pauses |
| P · Escape | Pause (a song paused while playing counts for your own best only) |
| R · ↻ | Restart the song |
Good to know
Wired headphones or speakers give the most reliable timing. If notes feel early or late, use the timing offset and tap test in Settings. Each song loads when you open it. More venues and instruments arrive as their songs are finished. Best results save in this browser; ranked runs are replay-checked.
