Conduct yourself
How to play Conduct yourself
Eight musicians sit on a small stage: two violins, a cello, a flute, a trumpet, a drum, a double bass and a triangle player who always comes in a touch late. You are the conductor. Tap anywhere on the stage on every beat, press Space, or wave the mouse up and down so every downward stroke is a beat. The orchestra plays at exactly the tempo you set: a steady beat gives a lovely performance, rushing turns a waltz into a chase and dragging turns it into a dirge. Stop altogether and they hold the note, look up at you and fall asleep one by one until your next beat jolts them awake. Swipe up for louder and down for softer, or use the arrow keys or the buttons under the stage, and make a big sweep across the stage for a crescendo that gets the drummer on his feet. Under the stage you can see what the score asks for, from soft to loud. When the piece ends you get a score out of 100 for steadiness and expression and a review from the critic. The daily performance gives everyone the same piece and the same orchestra once a day, with a streak and a share card that gives nothing away. Free play lets you pick any of fourteen pieces and conduct them as badly as you like, with no score.
Tips
- Steadiness counts most. An even beat at any tempo scores better than a fast or wobbly one
- Keep an eye on the dynamics under the stage and match them for expression points
- A section marked as getting louder is the moment for a big sweep
- The trumpet only joins in when the orchestra plays loud
- With the sound off, the faces tell you how it is going: bliss when you are steady, panic when the tempo lurches
- The triangle player glares at you when his cue comes late, even though he is the one who is always late
About Conduct yourself
Conduct yourself is a music toy about the oldest job in the orchestra: keeping everybody together. Every piece is a traditional tune or the work of a composer who died long ago, written out by hand for this game and played by instruments synthesised in your browser, so there are no recordings anywhere. The stage, the eight musicians and their faces are drawn in code, and the critic and every line of every review were made up for this game.
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