I just started a new bard and I know nothing about them. Whats this about mastering 2 handed instruments and casting? Here is where I am at:

Half-elf
At level 0

State	value	Bonus
STR	62	6
CON	62	6
DEX	62	11
AGL	55	12
DIS	82	11
AUR	62	6
LOG	73	11
INT	70	10
WIS	70	10
INF	62	11
42 ptp, 47 mtp
at level 15 he will have:
Armor Use	16	(1.0X)
Brawling	34	(2.1X)
Two Weapon Combat	32	(2.0X)
Physical Fitness	16	(1.0X)
Perception	16	(1.0X)
Harness Power	15	(0.9X)
Mental Mana Control	16	(1.0X)
Spell Research	15	(0.9X)
Bard	15	(0.9X)
Elemental Lore	16	(1.0X)
Air	16	(1.0X)
Mental Lore	16	(1.0X)
Manipulation	16	(1.0X)

I haven't decided on a society yet but TWC brawler so far is working well, fu might be fun but I haven't yet had anyone in GoS so might go that route. I am going to focus on bard spells because I usually hunt with an empath who provides me with defensive spells. I guess I should pick up some dodge, cm, moc at some point, but how does this look so far? Viable or no? I can stop perception and mana control at around 30 ranks and pick up what I am lacking right?

Brawling is a good choice for a Sonic Weapon/1012 Bard because they're all fast weapons, which means you get extra chances (per minute of combat) at flares & double-flares.

First point: you do know that you canNOT use two Sonic Weapon Songs/1012 at the same time, right? You can use one, certainly, but the other weapon must be an actual, physical weapon. Also, the Sonic Weapon should be in your left hand [Two Weapon pretty much requires that the lighter weapon be in the off-hand]... but (because of the flares and your EL:Air ranks) it is probably the better weapon, so you really want it in the right hand to do its thing.

Are you really truly honestly committed to the Two-Weapon path, or just doing it for a lark? If you're not a die-hard dyed-in-the-wool Two-Weapon fanatic... drop that, grab Shield Use + Dodge instead, and be a lot more alive.
(Two-Weapon doubled is 9p/6m, Shield Use singled is 5p/0m and Dodge singled is 6p/6m == 11p/6m combined. You can almost do fully singled in both protective skills for the same price as doubled in the second weapon.)

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You can make up some of the AS lack by switching from ML:Manipulation (which will help your Vibration Chant/1002 and Purification Song/1004... but your CS probably isn't all that high yet [for the first] and most of the gems you'll find are probably cheap to begin with [for the second] so you don't really gain all that much) and instead train in ML:Telepathy.
10 ranks is +4 AS
15 ranks is +5 AS
21 ranks is +6 AS
And those bonuses are to your entire group not just to yourself, like CM is. So at 13th level/15 trainings, if you're singled in CM you would have +7AS but singled in Lore would give +5 AS. You're only -2 behind, and groups will love to have you along.

Generally speaking, I would not advise Bards to even start training in ML:Manipulation until mid-to-late 20s, at about the same time they start migrating any Telepathy ranks over to make certain that they have 15 when they hit 30th level and can cast Disruption. (Obviously if you burn a FixSkills to do it all in one lump, it's not a big deal at all.) Telepathy will serve you MUCH better, just because of the mana savings on medley renewal durations.

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Also, some of the maneuver problems can be offset by using Sonic Armor Song/1014, due to how much lighter it is than normal.

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I'm not trying to say that it will be simple and easy... but if you're hunting mostly creatures that have no maneuvers (pure AS/DS equations to worry about) and are not in areas that have checks (not Icemule & environs), you can possibly make it work.

You can also make it work a lot more easily, by changing your plan slightly. :)

You can do whichever you prefer. The goal should probably be 30 ranks. 24 ranks is a cutoff but 30 ranks adds 1 mana per pulse over 24 ranks. I think I got to 30 ranks and stopped but didn't finish those until in my 80's. Of course MMC wasn't really even around til I was about level 50. There is no rush but I would say by the time you can cast 1040 you should have 30 ranks. By the time you can cast 1013, I would have no less that 10 ranks and possibly more.

~Galenok