TriviaMusic

Bandle

Name the day's song as the band comes in one instrument at a time, starting with the drums.

Every day: One song a day, the same for every player, played back one instrument at a time from drums to vocals; you can guess or skip at each step until every part is playing. New puzzle: Midnight in your local time zone.

Play Bandle on bandle.app

Play BandleBandle on the App StoreBandle on Google Play

Bandle share image: guess the song, one instrument at a time

Bandle is a daily music quiz where you hear a song rebuilt layer by layer. It opens with the drum part alone, then adds the bass, guitars, keys and finally the vocals, and you can guess at every step. The fewer instruments you need, the better your score.

About Bandle

Bandle was made by Johann Levy, a French programmer and drummer, who launched it quietly in August 2022 after Wordle and Heardle had made daily guessing games popular. He runs it from Marseille with a few volunteers he met through Reddit. It began as a website, and after the mobile app came out the game spread through TikTok, Twitch and YouTube, where players filmed themselves guessing.

Each day there is one song, and you are told the year it came out. The track is not a clip of the original recording: Levy and his helpers rebuild each part separately, so the game can play the drums alone, then drums with bass, and so on until the singer comes in. You can guess at each layer. If you still have not got it by the vocals, there is a text clue to help.

That structure is what sets Bandle apart from Heardle, which plays longer and longer pieces of the same recording. In Bandle you are listening to the arrangement: a drum fill, a bass line or a keyboard riff can give a song away before you hear a single word. Alongside the daily song the site and apps offer themed packs and bonus rounds.

Bandle suits anyone who has a big mental library of songs and likes to listen closely. Drummers and bass players have a small advantage, but regular radio listeners can do well once they learn to hear the rhythm of a familiar hit.

How to play Bandle

  1. Open bandle.app or the app and start today's song; the release year is shown.
  2. Press play to hear the first layer, usually the drums on their own.
  3. Type a guess and pick the song from the list, or skip to add the next instrument.
  4. Each skip or wrong guess adds another part to the mix, building up to the vocals.
  5. If the vocals come in and you are still stuck, use the text clue for one more chance.

Tips

  • Use the year: think of what was on the radio then before you even press play.
  • Listen for tempo and the drum pattern; disco, rock and hip hop beats sound very different even without a melody.
  • Hum the bass line back to yourself; bass parts are often more recognisable than you expect.
  • Do not waste a guess on a hunch you cannot place; adding one more instrument usually helps more.
  • Try the themed packs if a genre you know well is on offer, to train your ear on arrangements.

Questions

Is Bandle free?

Yes, the daily song is free to play on the website and in the iOS and Android apps. The site shows ads.

Who made Bandle?

Johann Levy, a programmer from France, who launched it in 2022 and works on it with a few volunteers.

How is Bandle different from Heardle?

Heardle plays longer stretches of the original recording. Bandle rebuilds the song so it can add one instrument at a time, starting from the drums.

What happens if I do not guess the song by the vocals?

You can take a text clue for a final try before the answer is shown.

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