How to Write Bardcore Songs

So you want to make a song that sounds like it was performed in a smoky tavern with a lute and a level two wizard backing vocals. Welcome to Bardcore. That is the delightful musical genre that mashes medieval and renaissance textures with modern melodies and production. People on the internet will call it alt history. Your job is to make it feel obvious, singable, and memorable fast. This guide gives you a complete playbook. You will leave with concrete steps for writing melodies, arranging with period instruments, crafting lyrics with old world flair, and releasing the song so it actually reaches people.

Everything here is written for artists who want to work fast and sound like they answered a prophecy. You will find creative prompts, modular templates, real life scenarios you can steal, and technical tips explained like a friend who knows their way around a tavern and a DAW. DAW stands for digital audio workstation. That is the software you use to record and produce music. If you use GarageBand, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro, or Reaper, you are in a DAW. We will use everyday language so you can build without getting lost in jargon.

What Is Bardcore

Bardcore is an aesthetic and a sound. Think medieval instruments and modal scales paired with modern chord progressions and pop phrasing. It often features instruments like lute, hurdy gurdy, viola da gamba, recorder, hand percussion, and small choral textures. Musically, Bardcore borrows from two sources at once. From history it takes instrumentation, ornamentation, and modal color. From contemporary music it borrows hooks, lyrical accessibility, and production clarity.

Real life scenario. You post a lute cover of a current pop hit on TikTok. People see the contrast between the familiar hook and the unexpected instrumentation and they stop scrolling. The song goes viral. You follow up with an original that keeps the same vibe. That is Bardcore working like a charm.

Why Bardcore Works

• Contrast Ancient timbres against modern hooks create instant novelty.
• Texture Organic, buzzy instruments feel handcrafted and therefore intimate.
• Memorability Modal melodies have a different contour from typical pop and they stick.
• Community Renaissance fairs, historical reenactors, fantasy fans, and meme cultures converge on this sound.

That is why one well executed Bardcore cover can generate streams and attention. Once you have attention you can direct listeners toward originals and merch. The style is flexible. You can write a ballad about heartbreak and make it sound like a tavern confession. You can write a banger that makes people fist pump at a lute solo. Both are valid. The rest of this article shows exactly how to do that without sounding like you Googled chain mail chord charts five minutes before recording.

Core Ingredients for Bardcore Songs

• Instruments Lute, acoustic guitar used like a lute, hurdy gurdy, recorder, violin, viola da gamba, harp, small choir or ensemble vocals, bodhran, tambourine, frame drum, rustic percussion, thumb piano.
• Scales and modes Dorian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and the natural minor scale. These give the medieval feel. We will explain modes below.
• Vocal approach Intimate storytelling or dramatic bardic delivery. Use ornamentation like mordents and appoggiaturas sparingly.
• Production Natural reverb rooms, tape or vinyl warmth, minimal low end, and melodic clarity. We will cover a DAW friendly workflow.
• Lyric style Old world images, plain speech, short refrains that behave like mantras, and occasional archaic words used for texture not to confuse listeners.

Understanding Modes Without a Music Degree

Modes are like moods for scales. If the major scale is a sunny square apartment, modes are the same notes rearranged to feel mysterious, wistful, or cheeky. Here are the key modes Bardcore writers use and how they feel.

• Dorian Feels minor but with a hopeful top note. It is like a rainy market day with a hint of kindness. Example: D Dorian is the notes of C major starting on D. That means you play D E F G A B C D. The raised sixth gives it the slight lift.
• Mixolydian Feels major but a little off. It is celebratory with an edge of irony. Example: G Mixolydian is the notes of C major starting on G. You get G A B C D E F G. The flat seventh makes it feel old timey and chant like.
• Aeolian Also known as natural minor. Feels dark and honest. Use it for ballads and laments.
• Ionian That is just the major scale. You can still use it for bright Bardcore moments.

Real life example. You want a chorus that sounds wistful but not defeated. Try writing in Dorian. The raised sixth will give listeners a subtle lift that they cannot name. If you want a tavern singalong that feels like a crowd chant, use Mixolydian. It invites call and response.

Instruments and Sound Design

Choosing instruments matters more than you think. The right timbre can communicate era faster than archaic words. Below is an instrument cheat sheet with practical tips for sourcing and recording sounds that do not break the bank.

Lute and acoustic guitar used like a lute

If you do not own a real lute, use a nylon string acoustic guitar and use fingerstyle patterns. Mic the guitar close and add a tiny room reverb to mimic a small hall. If you want authenticity, use VSTs. VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology. A VST is a software instrument or effect that you load inside your DAW. There are lute VSTs that sample real instruments. If you use MIDI you will send performance data to the VST so it plays the sounds you want. MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. MIDI does not sound like anything without a sound source. It is the instruction sheet for your virtual instruments.

Hurdy gurdy and drone instruments

Drones are background notes held steady to support modal melodies. A hurdy gurdy or a synth pad can provide a drone. Keep the drone subtle. Loud drones will push the mix into a swamp and drown the voice.

Viols, violins, and bowed strings

Use sustained bowed notes for emotional pulls. Play with simple counter melodies that do not compete with the main hook. If you cannot hire string players, single sustained patches or sampled ensemble patches work well.

Recorders and flutes

Use recorder lines as ornamental flourishes. Think of them like medieval ad libs. Play simple motifs that echo the vocal line. Keep phrases short so they sound like period call outs.

Percussion

Small frame drums, tambourines, hand claps, and shakers add groove without modern trap processing. If you want a modern beat under the medieval skin, keep the kick soft and high passed so it does not fight the lute. You can blend a sluggish trap kick with a tambourine loop. Keep the low end light. Bardcore is not a subwoofer genre.

Writing Melodies That Feel Medieval and Singable

Melodies are everything. You want a tune that can be hummed in a courtyard and also loop in a TikTok. Here is a workflow that gives you both.

1. Pick a mode Choose Dorian for wistful, Mixolydian for chant like, Aeolian for laments.
2. Make a two chord loop Use a tonic and a modal neighbor chord. For example in D Dorian use D minor to G major. Loop it for a minute.
3. Vowel pass Sing on pure vowels over the loop until something sticks. Record it. This is the topline seed. Topline means the main vocal melody above the chords.
4. Phrase length Keep phrases short. Think four to eight syllables for a hook. People must be able to sing it on a bus or at a festival.
5. Ornamentation Add small grace notes like appoggiaturas. In the recording do one ornament pass. Do not overdo it.

Real life test. Sing your chorus in a small voice while making coffee. If the barista pauses mid pour and hums under their breath, you are close to a hit.

Harmony Without Modern Overload

Harmony in Bardcore should support the mode and not erase it. Avoid heavy contemporary chord extensions like 11ths and 13ths unless you know how they will color modes. Here are simple strategies.

• Drone plus chord Keep a drone on the tonic and move a simple two or three chord progression over it. That creates modal tension.
• Pedal point Hold the lowest note while the chords change above. This is common in medieval music.
• Parallel organum In medieval practice singers sometimes move in parallel fourths or fifths. Use a perfect fourth or fifth as an occasional harmony interval for authenticity. Be careful with parallel movement. In classical harmony it can be considered a mistake. In Bardcore it is a flavor.
• Counter melody Write a simple counter melody for a viol or recorder that mirrors the vocal rhythm. Keep it diatonic to your mode.

Lyrics That Sound Old Without Being Illegible

Lyrics are the identity of the song. Bardcore lyrics work best when they feel like they could be sung in a great hall but still make sense to a modern listener. Use a mix of archaic images and direct modern sentiment. Keep language clear. If a word requires a footnote you are doing it wrong.

Archaic color words to use sparingly

Ye, thou, thee, hither, yon, wroth, merry, sorrow, hearth, ale, plight. Use maybe one or two in a chorus as texture. Overuse will make the song feel like a school play.

Concrete sensory detail

Write like a camera. Mention the tavern’s smoke, the candle wax on a sleeve, the scrape of a coin. That grounds emotion and makes imagery vivid.

Modern lines in old clothes

Take a modern hook and dress it in period imagery. Example modern line I will not call you back. Bardcore variant I will not call thee back from ale and dusk. The sentiment is the same. The image places it in the world.

Arrangement Maps You Can Steal

The Tavern Ballad Map

• Intro: single lute motif with soft drone
• Verse one: voice and lute, minimal percussion
• Pre chorus: add recorder harmony and hand percussion
• Chorus: full ensemble, small choir on the last line, a little reverb bloom
• Verse two: introduce bowed strings counter melody
• Bridge: quiet solo voice with drone and distant choir
• Final chorus: bigger choir, added tambourine, a recorder call at the end

The Processional Map

• Cold open: percussive march motif
• Verse: chant like low melody with drone
• Chorus: wider melody in Mixolydian, call and response between lead and choir
• Instrumental break: hurdy gurdy solo with rhythmic frame drum
• Final chorus: stacked harmony and clap patterns for modern energy

Vocal Approach and Performance Tips

Bardcore vocals live between intimacy and theatricality. You can be raw or polished depending on your aesthetic. Here are performance tips that work in any studio or bedroom.

• Speak then sing Say the line in a conversational tone then sing. It helps align phrasing so the lyric feels natural.
• Close mic technique Record some takes close up to capture breath and warmth. Record other takes at a distance for a more ambient vibe and blend them for depth.
• Choral layers Record three to five takes of the chorus and stack them lightly. Slight pitch and timing differences create a convincing small choir texture. If you cannot sing that many parts, double and detune slightly or use a choir VST carefully.
• Ornamentation pass Record a separate pass where you add ornamental trills and mordents. Keep them short and tasteful.

Production Tips for That Medieval But Modern Sound

Production is the place where your song becomes listenable to the streamers and the festival crowd at the same time. Here are DAW friendly tips written for humans who do not want to spend weeks mixing.

Room and reverb

Use a plate or small hall reverb on voices and instruments to place them in a shared space. For authenticity use impulse responses from small chapels or halls. An impulse response is a recording of how a real space responds to sound. Most reverbs in modern DAWs let you load impulse responses. If you do not know how to use impulse responses, pick a reverb preset labeled small hall or chapel.

EQ and clarity

High pass everything below around forty to fifty hertz unless the instrument needs it. That removes rumble. Cut a bit of box around two to four hundred hertz on dense instruments so the lute and viola do not fight. Boost presence around three to five kilohertz on the vocal to help the voice cut through without more volume. EQ stands for equalization. That is the process of changing the volume of specific frequency ranges.

Saturation and warmth

Add subtle tape saturation or tube emulation to the master bus for warmth. Do not over cook it. You want grain not bright fuzz.

Samples and VST usage

If you use VST instruments for hurdy gurdy or medieval choir choose one that allows round robin sampling and humanization. Round robin means the instrument cycles between multiple samples to avoid mechanical repetition. Humanization adds small timing and pitch variations to make MIDI performance sound less robotic. Again write in a way that sounds human first. VSTs should follow your musical choices not the other way around.

Legal and Cultural Considerations

If you cover modern songs in Bardcore style and post on platforms like YouTube or TikTok you will reach new listeners fast. Covers are usually allowed but they can create complications. If you use a modern song you do not own the composition rights to, you will need to follow platform rules and possibly give up monetization to the original publisher. For streaming release use a cover licensing service or contact a mechanical licensing provider. Mechanical license is permission you get to record and distribute someone else s composition. Services exist that handle the paperwork for a fee. If you write originals you avoid that whole headache.

Cultural respect. Some medieval and traditional music belongs to cultures with living traditions. Use melodic or textual elements responsibly. If you borrow from a living tradition credit the source publicly and consider collaborating with musicians from that tradition when possible. This is not legal advice. If you are unsure consult a music lawyer.

Songwriting Exercises and Micro Prompts

Use these drills to generate ideas fast. Time yourself. The goal is to make music that feels direct and strange at the same time.

• Lute object drill Pick one object in the room. Write four lines where the object is part of an action. Ten minutes.
• Mode switch Write a two line chorus in Ionian. Rewrite it in Mixolydian and note the emotional shift. Five minutes.
• Drone practice Set a one note drone on your instrument. Improvise a melody for three minutes staying within the mode. Record the best minute and mark three motifs.
• Tavern dialogue Write a two person exchange where one character begs and the other refuses politely. Keep it short and theatrical. Five minutes.

Title Ideas and Hooks You Can Steal

Titles in Bardcore should be short, evocative, and singable. Here are seed ideas you can use or twist.

• The Candle s Last Wax
• Song for a Broken Lute
• Ale and Second Chances
• Where the Road Bows
• Thief of Morning
• Sing Me To The Hearth

Turn these titles into refrains by repeating a simple phrase in the chorus. Example chorus line Sing me to the hearth and I will stay. Repeat the first half as a ring phrase.

Before and After Lines

These examples show how to translate modern lyric ideas into Bardcore worthy lines.

Before I miss you when the lights go out.

After When candles gutter low I miss thee like a lost coin.

Before I cannot call you back tonight.

After My palm keeps your name from the quiet bell.

Before We used to dance all night.

After We danced until the rafters learned our names.

Release Strategy That Actually Works

Bardcore thrives on visuals and shareable moments. Your audio is the anchor. Your visuals are the arrow. Here is a step by step release plan built for attention first and revenue second.

1. Short video lead Make a thirty to sixty second video showing your instruments and the hook. Keep the first seconds dramatic. If you play a short recorder flourish before the hook you will stop scrollers.
2. Cover or original Start with a well known cover in Bardcore style to build an audience. Follow with an original within two to four weeks to convert listeners into fans.
3. Merch and story Offer a small thing like a lyric card or a printable medieval style poster for superfans. People like physical tokens in a digital era.
4. Live shows and fairs Play renaissance fairs, small venues, and themed nights. Bardcore works great live because the visual element completes the fantasy.
5. Collaborations Work with creators in the fantasy, gaming, and history niches. Cross pollination reaches the most engaged listeners.

Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

• Too much archaic language Fix by keeping the chorus plain and using one or two color words for texture.
• Overproduced electronic low end Fix by removing heavy bass and relying on midrange warmth. Replace sub bass with low bowed viol notes if needed.
• MIDI sounding hurdy gurdy Fix by humanizing timing and velocity. Use round robin samples and add small pitch drift to simulate crank inconsistencies.
• Melody that copies modern pop exactly Fix by shifting to a mode and adding a small modal neighbor tone. This gives the contour an old world flavor.
• Too many instruments in the verse Fix by paring back to one or two elements and saving layers for the chorus.

Action Plan You Can Use Today

1. Choose a mode for the song. Pick Dorian or Mixolydian for immediate Bardcore identity.
2. Create a two chord loop that sits comfortably under your voice.
3. Do a vowel pass for two minutes and mark repeatable gestures.
4. Write a one sentence emotional promise for the chorus in plain speech. Turn it into a short title.
5. Arrange a simple instrumental palette. Lute or nylon acoustic, drone, small percussion, and one melodic ornament instrument.
6. Record a rough demo and make a thirty second video of you playing the hook. Post it to socials and measure reaction.
7. If the reaction is good, finish an original following the arrangement maps. If the reaction is small, try a cover next and repeat the test.

FAQ

What is Bardcore exactly

Bardcore is a musical style that blends medieval and renaissance instruments and melodic colors with contemporary songwriting and production. It emphasizes modal melody, organic textures, and imagery that evokes old world scenes. Think of it as a stylistic mash that invites both historical flavor and modern hooks.

Do I need authentic period instruments to make Bardcore

No. Authentic instruments help but are not required. A nylon string guitar played like a lute, a simple recorder, and a bowed instrument patch can produce convincing results. Key is the musical choices you make. Use modes, drones, and ornamentation to sell the era. If you use virtual instruments pay attention to humanization and round robin sampling to avoid robotic repetition.

Which modes should I start with

Start with Dorian for a wistful, minor but hopeful vibe and Mixolydian for a major like celebration with medieval color. Aeolian or natural minor works well for laments. Ionian or major is useful for bright refrains. Modes change emotional context quickly so test the same melody in two modes and pick the one that feels right.

How do I record a convincing choir on a budget

Record multiple takes of your voice and stack them with slight timing and pitch variations. Use different vowel shapes to create stereo depth. If you cannot sing many parts try a small choir VST but blend it with recorded takes for realism. Keep reverb consistent so the ensemble sits in the same space.

Can Bardcore originals go viral like covers

Yes. Covers are often the fastest route to attention because they leverage familiarity. Originals can go viral too if they hit a strong hook, a strong visual, and a cultural moment. Release a cover first to gather an audience then drop an original with the same aesthetic within a few weeks to convert followers into fans.

What are some quick lyrical templates to get started

Use a camera approach. Write three lines where each line is a camera shot. Use the object drill. Then write a chorus that repeats a short title phrase. Example template Chorus I call thee by the hearth one line that repeats. Verse Describe a small object and an action. Pre chorus Raise tension with a short rising phrase that points to the title.

Do I need to learn medieval theory to write Bardcore

No. Basic modal knowledge is sufficient. Learn how the Dorian and Mixolydian modes differ from major and minor. Listen to medieval chant and folk melodies to internalize horizontal motion and ornamentation. The rest is taste and practice.

How do I balance modern production with period authenticity

Keep low end light and focus on midrange clarity. Use natural room reverbs and subtle saturation. Avoid excessive sidechain pumping or aggressive modern low frequency processing unless you intentionally create a hybrid sound. Use modern mixing techniques to make textures clear rather than loud.

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