Welcome! We're glad to hear that you're interested. We're always welcoming newcomers who wish to join our ranks. There's a few basic things you should know, though.
Although you may have heard the word used differently on the mainland or elsewhere, in Puddleby the title "Bard" refers to someone who composes their own music and shares it with others. If you're only interested in a shiny gold belt or playing songs of other bards, being a bard probably isn't for you.
Composing is tricky. Writing songs takes a lot of time and effort, even if you have previous music experience. But if you're driven by a desire to create, or to entertain, then becoming a bard may be for you! Starting on the path to a gold belt doesn't require any prior knowledge, it takes persistence and determination to learn the things you don't know yet. It takes a certain amount of guts to get up on stage and display the fruits of your labor to a crowd that may not care about how you feel. It takes a certain amount of humility to be able to accept that not everyone likes the same kind of music as you, and you may not yet be as good a composer as you want to be. It takes a certain amount of belligerent stubbornness to show up at a concert and hear another bard completely show you up, and still be able to sit down afterwards and write another song.
Well, if I haven't scared you off yet, you may have the makings of a bard! Now we can get on to the nuts and bolts of actually becoming a bard.
[This is where I give up on being in character. Writing music is an inherently out-of-character activity, and every time I've tried to talk about it in character, I've just ended up confused. ]
Music in Clan Lord is written in a sorta-proprietary format invented by Michel Pollet called Clan Lord Tune Format. Based on something Michel originally designed for creating custom cell phone ring tones, CLTF is a way of notating music using only ascii characters. When you first look at it it looks like gibberish, but over time you'll become more comfortable reading it. Baraboo covers the syntax on a web page, but you'll probably want to finish reading this before looking at it. You can find it here: http://www.donaldsonworkshop.com/baraboo/cltf.html.
You'll need a tool that can turn CLTF notes into sound, and that tool is mTooth, by Baraboo. It's Macintosh, OSX only. If you're running on Windows, you may be out of luck. I you're still running OS9 there is an older program called CLTH (Clan Lord Tune Helper) that may suit your needs, but the author (Michel Pollet) no longer distributes it. I still have copies of the older versions, so send a private message to me if you need one. However, I suggest using mTooth if you can... it has many more features than CLTH, is more stable, and is still distributed/supported. You can get mTooth here: http://www.donaldsonworkshop.com/baraboo/mtooth.html.
Okay! Now that you're physically capable of writing songs in CLTF, you need to actually write some songs. That's a big topic, and will be covered in another post.
Now that you have some songs, you'll need to audition. You will need to go through two auditions before you become a full bard, able to play your instruments everywhere. The first audition is to gain the rank of Bard Quester, an intermediate stage between bard hopeful (with no formal guild standing) and full bard. For this audition you must present four songs, in which you demonstrate a basic grasp of music's basic concepts: melody, harmony, and rhythm. Your songs must all be for one instrument, but it can be any instrument. Just... not orga drum, okay?
It can be nerve-wracking to play your songs in front of a panel of bards (and quite possibly a large audience as well), so it's wise to talk to one or more bards beforehand, to get their opinion on your music. Most bards are happy to help hopefuls, as long as they are polite.
Talking to a bard beforehand can be very handy, as they can give you an idea of whether they think you'll pass your audition, and they may be able to point out to you things about your pieces that you might want to adjust. They can also help you with learning the commands to play an instrument in the game, although you may be able to do that on your own if you use the practice rooms in the guild building.
The quester audition can have two possible outcomes. If the panel feels that your pieces are not of a quester level, they will ask you to work on them more and audition again. Don't be discouraged if this happens... it's not uncommon. More than likely, a member of the judging panel will take you aside and explain to you which aspects of your pieces they'd like you to work on. And no, it's not considered rude to ask for help, not even from the guild leaders. After all, that's what they're there for! The other outcome is that the panel feels that your pieces demonstrate a sufficient understanding of composition for a quester, and accepts you into the guild! Even if this happens, it's quite possible that you'll receive feedback on aspects of your pieces that could use some improvement.
Once you are a quester, you can begin the infamous Quest. This quest has two parts... you need an instrument, and you need songs for that instrument. Although you were lent an instrument for the Quester audition, you must perform on your own instrument(s) for your Full Bard audition. To obtain an instrument, you must find one of a number of objects (such as starbuck antlers, reeds, and tor shells) and bring it to Hendrux. He will determine if the object is of sufficient quality to be fashioned into an instrument. If it is not, he will dispose of the object for you. If it is, then congratulations! You'll have a brand new instrument in about a week (ooc time). It can be difficult to find instrument parts, and most bards end up receiving most of the parts that they try as gifts or through raffles and purchases.
Once you have an instrument, you will need to write songs for it. Full bard auditions require a minimum of four songs, and a maximum of six. These songs must all be new... you aren't allowed to recycle songs from your quester audition. You can write for (and use) any instruments you have, if you're fortunate enough to have more than one by the time you're ready for your audition.
The full bard audition is much more demanding than the quester one, and many current bards have had to audition more than once before passing. Things that are tolerable in quester-level songs such as weak endings or uneven rhythms are much less likely to be overlooked. The criteria many bards use when judging a quester's songs is "Do I want to hear this song being played in town square?" Your character and behaviour will also be considered... once you have your belt you are a representative of the guild, and bad behaviour by any bard reflects badly on the whole guild. The guild exists at the sufferance of the public, and now that we've built up a good reputation we want to keep it.
Once you pass your audition, you will be accepted as a full Bard, with all the rights and privileges thereunto appertaining. You will be able to play everywhere, help judge at future auditions, get discounted clothing repair*, all that good stuff.
Whew. So much for this being a brief introduction to barding. Hopefully this answered most of your questions. If you have more, feel free to contact bards in the land (look for the gold belt), or in this forum. We also have a mailing list (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/CLBard/), but these days it's mostly used for announcements.
We hope to hear from you soon!
- The Bard Council
* - not really.
Although you may have heard the word used differently on the mainland or elsewhere, in Puddleby the title "Bard" refers to someone who composes their own music and shares it with others. If you're only interested in a shiny gold belt or playing songs of other bards, being a bard probably isn't for you.
Composing is tricky. Writing songs takes a lot of time and effort, even if you have previous music experience. But if you're driven by a desire to create, or to entertain, then becoming a bard may be for you! Starting on the path to a gold belt doesn't require any prior knowledge, it takes persistence and determination to learn the things you don't know yet. It takes a certain amount of guts to get up on stage and display the fruits of your labor to a crowd that may not care about how you feel. It takes a certain amount of humility to be able to accept that not everyone likes the same kind of music as you, and you may not yet be as good a composer as you want to be. It takes a certain amount of belligerent stubbornness to show up at a concert and hear another bard completely show you up, and still be able to sit down afterwards and write another song.
Well, if I haven't scared you off yet, you may have the makings of a bard! Now we can get on to the nuts and bolts of actually becoming a bard.
[This is where I give up on being in character. Writing music is an inherently out-of-character activity, and every time I've tried to talk about it in character, I've just ended up confused.
]Music in Clan Lord is written in a sorta-proprietary format invented by Michel Pollet called Clan Lord Tune Format. Based on something Michel originally designed for creating custom cell phone ring tones, CLTF is a way of notating music using only ascii characters. When you first look at it it looks like gibberish, but over time you'll become more comfortable reading it. Baraboo covers the syntax on a web page, but you'll probably want to finish reading this before looking at it. You can find it here: http://www.donaldsonworkshop.com/baraboo/cltf.html.
You'll need a tool that can turn CLTF notes into sound, and that tool is mTooth, by Baraboo. It's Macintosh, OSX only. If you're running on Windows, you may be out of luck. I you're still running OS9 there is an older program called CLTH (Clan Lord Tune Helper) that may suit your needs, but the author (Michel Pollet) no longer distributes it. I still have copies of the older versions, so send a private message to me if you need one. However, I suggest using mTooth if you can... it has many more features than CLTH, is more stable, and is still distributed/supported. You can get mTooth here: http://www.donaldsonworkshop.com/baraboo/mtooth.html.
Okay! Now that you're physically capable of writing songs in CLTF, you need to actually write some songs. That's a big topic, and will be covered in another post.
Now that you have some songs, you'll need to audition. You will need to go through two auditions before you become a full bard, able to play your instruments everywhere. The first audition is to gain the rank of Bard Quester, an intermediate stage between bard hopeful (with no formal guild standing) and full bard. For this audition you must present four songs, in which you demonstrate a basic grasp of music's basic concepts: melody, harmony, and rhythm. Your songs must all be for one instrument, but it can be any instrument. Just... not orga drum, okay?
It can be nerve-wracking to play your songs in front of a panel of bards (and quite possibly a large audience as well), so it's wise to talk to one or more bards beforehand, to get their opinion on your music. Most bards are happy to help hopefuls, as long as they are polite.
Talking to a bard beforehand can be very handy, as they can give you an idea of whether they think you'll pass your audition, and they may be able to point out to you things about your pieces that you might want to adjust. They can also help you with learning the commands to play an instrument in the game, although you may be able to do that on your own if you use the practice rooms in the guild building.The quester audition can have two possible outcomes. If the panel feels that your pieces are not of a quester level, they will ask you to work on them more and audition again. Don't be discouraged if this happens... it's not uncommon. More than likely, a member of the judging panel will take you aside and explain to you which aspects of your pieces they'd like you to work on. And no, it's not considered rude to ask for help, not even from the guild leaders. After all, that's what they're there for! The other outcome is that the panel feels that your pieces demonstrate a sufficient understanding of composition for a quester, and accepts you into the guild! Even if this happens, it's quite possible that you'll receive feedback on aspects of your pieces that could use some improvement.
Once you are a quester, you can begin the infamous Quest. This quest has two parts... you need an instrument, and you need songs for that instrument. Although you were lent an instrument for the Quester audition, you must perform on your own instrument(s) for your Full Bard audition. To obtain an instrument, you must find one of a number of objects (such as starbuck antlers, reeds, and tor shells) and bring it to Hendrux. He will determine if the object is of sufficient quality to be fashioned into an instrument. If it is not, he will dispose of the object for you. If it is, then congratulations! You'll have a brand new instrument in about a week (ooc time). It can be difficult to find instrument parts, and most bards end up receiving most of the parts that they try as gifts or through raffles and purchases.
Once you have an instrument, you will need to write songs for it. Full bard auditions require a minimum of four songs, and a maximum of six. These songs must all be new... you aren't allowed to recycle songs from your quester audition. You can write for (and use) any instruments you have, if you're fortunate enough to have more than one by the time you're ready for your audition.
The full bard audition is much more demanding than the quester one, and many current bards have had to audition more than once before passing. Things that are tolerable in quester-level songs such as weak endings or uneven rhythms are much less likely to be overlooked. The criteria many bards use when judging a quester's songs is "Do I want to hear this song being played in town square?" Your character and behaviour will also be considered... once you have your belt you are a representative of the guild, and bad behaviour by any bard reflects badly on the whole guild. The guild exists at the sufferance of the public, and now that we've built up a good reputation we want to keep it.
Once you pass your audition, you will be accepted as a full Bard, with all the rights and privileges thereunto appertaining. You will be able to play everywhere, help judge at future auditions, get discounted clothing repair*, all that good stuff.
Whew. So much for this being a brief introduction to barding. Hopefully this answered most of your questions. If you have more, feel free to contact bards in the land (look for the gold belt), or in this forum. We also have a mailing list (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/CLBard/), but these days it's mostly used for announcements.
We hope to hear from you soon!
- The Bard Council
* - not really.