Drake OranwoodThis Sunday, we will be hosting a bardic circle once more at our home in Paramus, from 1-6 pm. (Note that this is an hour earlier than we had been doing them, to make it easier for people to get dinner afterward.) Modern dress, come to perform or come to listen. (Email or PM me if you need the address. I will be sending it by PM to everyone who indicates on the event that they are interested or planning to go.)
I spent time in the home studio today, banging out lead vocals for a few different projects. The main one, of course, was “We Are the East”, which now has a complete set of male vocals in place. I’m excited, because this is a sign that I’ve learned from experience. Working on Hidden Gold, I left pretty much all my finalized lead vocals for the end of the project. This was a mistake, because (a) it meant the other musicians and singers didn’t have a finalized lead track to match up with, so I had to do a lot of digital editing at the end, getting things lined up, and (b) I had to cram in weeks of singing at the very end of the recording process without time to recover in between, so at the end it got really challenging (and painful).
I also did vocals for my filks, though I want to check what I need to do to be in the clear before I share those. Still, all in all a very productive day. A couple of hours of recording, a few hours of editing and compositing the vocal tracks. It’s enjoyable to see that the muscles I developed on my last recording project are still available for me to use.
I look forward to sharing the results of these endeavors with you when the time is right.
This evening, in response to a series of discussion threads in the SCA Bardic Arts group on Facebook, I felt inspired to issue something of a bardic manifesto. It was well received, and I think it is worth sharing here in full:
I want to say, as a bard who is not a Laurel…there are bardic Laurels who will defend to the death your right to write your own original SCA-appropriate material (or learn such material that other bards have written), and to perform it at appropriate venues, and that the number of venues where such material is completely appropriate is quite large. There are Laurels and non-Laurels who want to hear more period work being performed in the SCA. Be aware that these include some of the self-same Laurels I mentioned above.
And know too that I am acquainted with at least one Laurel who writes in Old Norse, and can be as fierce a curmudgeon around periodicity as anyone, and that guy writes (and performs) some of the funniest damn filks of Disney songs you’ve ever heard.
It does not have to be either/or. And you are not obligated to do both/and, if that’s not your bag right now.
I will defend to the death your right to perform what pleases you, trusting that (a) you will find others who are pleased by it, (b) you will grow as an entertainer if you want to grow, (c) there will be plenty of folks who will encourage you in valuable new directions over time, and (d) regardless of what people suggest, and regardless of what you choose to do, the Known World will continue to turn on its axis and we will all be just fine.
Drake Oranwood