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Swanmay · **01-15-2017, 07:20 PM**

So I'll preface this by saying I am sure this has been asked before and I apologise in adavance.

My character Rosalie is a bard, in the sense that she plays music and performs in exchange for coin. I know this isn't a unique concept by any stretch of the imagination, but I've always loved music so I thought I might as well give it a go.

My question is this; how do people tend to go about performances? Since that is something I would like to work towards.

-What instruments do you use?
-Do you write songs or choose songs and like them on Spotify or YouTube?
-If you write songs, how do you choose backing music?
-Are they songs or more poetry set to music?

Any more tips, advice etc is very much appreciated.

Thank you in advance everyone.

Karu · **01-15-2017, 07:31 PM**

My lalafell character Ulemo is a performing minstrel that wanders about playing melodies. He uses magick in his performances, allowing him to summon his instruments to his side whenever needed. He generally sticks with a mandolin and violin as his two main choices. Personally, I use youtube to play melodies for people to enjoy if they so wish.

My experience in regards to singing is a bit more diminished. What he does sing are more poems, rhymes, and limericks. He favors instrument only melodies while also doing magical acts and stunts. Sorry that I can't really help in that regard. Yet, I am sure that other bards and performers can fill in that regard.

Best of luck with your own character. Lovely to see another pick up an instrument rather then a weapon!

Rosehip · **01-15-2017, 07:33 PM**

While Raine is more of a storyteller than a bard, I have played bard characters in the past, and what I've usually done is a combination of things:

I write my own songs for her. Those are the character themselves has written.
If I use a song written by someone else (from youtube, etc), I also do not claim credit ICly. My character might say something like "I learned this tune from a bard in Limsa Lominsa" or some other explanation as to where they got it from. I'll also OOCly link to the actual song + provide proper credit.
Finally, one of the things I love is to share songs with other bard type characters. Play something you heard someone else play at an event, but of course ask permission to use it first and make sure to give proper credit!

Swanmay · **01-16-2017, 04:07 AM**

(01-15-2017, 07:31 PM)Karu Wrote: My lalafell character Ulemo is a performing minstrel that wanders about playing melodies. He uses magick in his performances, allowing him to summon his instruments to his side whenever needed. He generally sticks with a mandolin and violin as his two main choices. Personally, I use youtube to play melodies for people to enjoy if they so wish.

My experience in regards to singing is a bit more diminished. What he does sing are more poems, rhymes, and limericks. He favors instrument only melodies while also doing magical acts and stunts. Sorry that I can't really help in that regard. Yet, I am sure that other bards and performers can fill in that regard.

Best of luck with your own character. Lovely to see another pick up an instrument rather then a weapon!

(01-15-2017, 07:33 PM)Rosehip Wrote: While Raine is more of a storyteller than a bard, I have played bard characters in the past, and what I've usually done is a combination of things:

I write my own songs for her. Those are the character themselves has written.

If I use a song written by someone else (from youtube, etc), I also do not claim credit ICly. My character might say something like "I learned this tune from a bard in Limsa Lominsa" or some other explanation as to where they got it from. I'll also OOCly link to the actual song + provide proper credit.

Finally, one of the things I love is to share songs with other bard type characters. Play something you heard someone else play at an event, but of course ask permission to use it first and make sure to give proper credit!

Thank you both. I will definitely take these on board. ^^

Ririla Rila · **01-16-2017, 05:02 AM**

hey there bards! if anyone is actually looking for some bard RP then look no further!
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=18133 hope that you sign up!

FallenFedora · **01-16-2017, 05:21 AM**

RPing as an entertainer myself, I can tell you that it's a challenge often tackled very differently player to player. Stroud makes use of the piano, so it becomes much easier to just write off the need for vocal input and queue up a few piano remixes of songs, or yank the occasional Chopin piece from youtube for atmosphere if anyone in the scene happens to be interested in deepening the immersion.Â

Given he's a Xaela, I like to make use of his tail while performing though, to give him a sort of exotic and arrogant flare to his performances, using it to take the place of his hand for a slower piece, so he can drink or take a drag from his cigar while sitting at the piano. I also like to accentuate his body movements, such as 'bobbing' with his shoulders, doing the 'exaggerated Beethoven', his movements in sync with the music... lends a more passionate persona, I like to think.

Iteza · **01-16-2017, 05:23 AM**

It seems to me that most write their own material, which I've always admired. I think it's more fitting if you're doing a kind of street musician approach.Â

My character, Wendy, is part of a songtsress group (pop), and we usually use existing pop music and tweak the lyrics to fit an ff14 setting. Sometimes we'll do mash up songs. I think a few of our members have written their own stuff though. For some of Wendy's solo songs I've translated some of my favorite japanese songs into english and then fit the lyrics to be a singable version too- so it's semi writing my own lyrics. While the girls canÂ play instruments, our accompaniment band is called the Primogs.Â

I say get creative! The emotes are really what make it come alive.

Mermaid · **01-16-2017, 06:43 AM**

I've barely gotten to RP since joining Balmung due to my schedule being later than most but this is something I was also wondering about for my own character.

Tsubaki learned the bow from her parents and studied music for several years. She realized she knew little of the world and decided to try being an adventurer in order to experience it. She plays the harp and sings though she's very shy/self conscious about her singing. She's also capable of playing the piano at an okay level but doesn't really get the chance to.

I'm no good at writing my own material so I made it part of her character. Her being no good at writing her own material is one of her many motivations to adventure and find inspiration. If anyone convinces her to sing I plan on grabbing some poems (such as Shakespeare sonnets) or folk music (stuff like Danny Boy) to have her sing and would of course mention it was not her own work. Pieces on the harp or piano would most likely be classical music (Mozart, Beethovan, Bach, etc.).

Nebbs · **01-16-2017, 10:07 AM**

In answer to the questions, let me see, in verse perhaps.. for all to see?

No.. just plain old scribbles from my pen.

What instruments do you use?Â

The harp, very classic bard. Though it tends to be a rather old and patched thing.

Do you write songs or choose songs and like them on Spotify or YouTube?Â

I prefer to write them, though I only do lyrics. Quite a few give musical descriptions, but alas such is beyond me.
On occasion I may choose a song as a basis, either from some sea shanty source or other. Then I modify to fit the the setting and the story I want to tell.

If you write songs, how do you choose backing music?Â

I don't have an IC music, though I have sometimes picked something on the orchestration player.
I often pick an OOC tune to get the cadence(?) right, and afterwards I may youtube the performance with that tune in the background

Are they songs or more poetry set to music?Â

Maybe both?

Now to add, how to get RP from it rather than just a performance. After all a performance is a done and gone thing, very little RP reward for your craft I think.

I have written songs for weddings, and to do this I interview the couple asking about how they met, what they mean to each other etc.. Great for them to tell a third person their story. This works very well.
Write a song about some RP that happened, this creates some feedback from making your friends famous or infamous.
Sing your advertisements, as Nebula is a peddler of witchy things she is often heard to sing as she walks..

â™ª Potions and lotion and fortunes for saleÂ
â™ª No need to dally, come see my tallyÂ
â™ª For potions and lotion and fortunes for saleÂ

Hope that helps.

Sahde Vhidgo · **01-16-2017, 10:59 AM**

Heya! My character, R'miah Tosh, is more and more starting to fit the bill of an amateur bard, primarily with the help of the friends she's making... (shady eyes at Ulemo)

I'll provide as concise of answers as I can, without repeating the very good advice and experience that others have already revealed Smile

* Miah only knows how to play the lyre. However, as she continues learning, I only plan to incorporate instruments that have a representation in-game. Mostly, this is because it makes me happiest to suit the setting and the times as closely as I can!

* I write all of her music, for two reasons. First, I enjoy the heck out of it. Second, it allows her songs to provide the same reactive, fluid responsiveness as dialogue might in RP. She sings about her own experiences and the people that she's met, which allows me to contribute way more to others' roleplay than if I didn't write them.

* That said, I'm not a musician! If background instrumentation would suit a scene, a song, or a particular setting, I usually have a collection of simple pieces on YouTube bookmarked for use.

* Almost all of her songs read more like poetry. Because of the world setting that she exists in, most of her songs use concrete, straightforward imagery that conveys a very specific theme or tale. Again, I always want her songs to be able to contribute to RP, in addition to entertaining Smile

If they're relating a particular experience, or are about another character, I don't want anything to be lost in the language!

Hope it helps! The most important thing is to make sure that you enjoy the methods you choose, since an entertainer ends up using them so often! Cactuar

ExAtomos · **01-16-2017, 11:16 AM**

Alberic Sr. is my only semi- musician. He plays the harp and guitar in fair to middling capability. I'm not a song writer nor musician by any stretch myself; pretty much my only regular brush with live music has been along the Irish session or Renaissance type, so this is what I pull from. I'll make up song names on the fly and emote how he's playing and flourishes and the like. I kind of do the "what type of songs /could/ be from X area" thing, playing lively reels and jigs 'from' Limsa or more melancholy or martial Ishgardian songs, for example. I've done some research for out of game reasons into historical music, so I just grab old public domain stuff from books or websites and change any location words or specifics to fit in-game places. He's traveled a lot (and he's not young), so he's picked up many different pieces of music along the way.

Andromeda · **02-10-2017, 08:50 PM**

Rommie plays lute - a twenty-three string one to be exact. And most of her songs are Eorzea-ified real songs, whose creators are properly credited on Tumblr when I post the edited lyrics. Where most of my effort creatively goes in is the performance. Rommie is a very emotional singer, so she's typically either energetically dancing, or singing particularly rawly, or longingly staring at audience members, et cetera. That's where my focus traditionally goes in writing performances.

Savo · **02-11-2017, 05:37 AM**

The character i play is a musician. Â She is only that, nothing more. Â She has no magic, no special traits aside from the fact that she IC can play the living hell out of a viol.

How i choose to translate this into the game, where sound isn't really an option, is in three ways. Â Firstly i describe music using either analogy (if one seems appropriate given the situation) or by simply using musical terminology (which i had to learn for this purpose). Â The second method is to have the character step up and perform at events and just tell the audience 'hey this character doesn't suck' and for the most part, it is believed. Â And lastly, i write entirely original pieces (some of these are fair, some are down right awful, but i try). Â

The performances themselves are done by a combination of custom macros, stock emotes and typing my tits off at/with/opposed to whoever happens to be in the vicinity. Â Since it is all in a written medium i would imagine it is more akin to poetry than music, but the intent is to have the reader 'imagine' music and I have found that the blunter one can be, the better. Â Thus, my character is the closest thing i could make to a punk musician without taking the lore out back and putting two bullets in the back of its head.

So below is, 'Necrophiliac Paladins' a tune that IC Savo wrote quite some time ago. Â It is pretty typical fair for the character, slightly amusing and a little profane. Â I'll show the macros as i had written them for a show at the cliffs, and hence you will notice some references to the place it was performed, e.i. the canyon, cliffs, mines. Â It also assumed that the readers have some idea of who savo is and the instrument she uses (in this case: Â Savo is a keeper miqo who is half starved, has fleas, and lives in a drainage pipe. Â Her instrument is a 10-string Black Alto-Viol (which over time has become more memorable than the cat that plays it)). Â You'll notice that this piece is split into seven macros. Â This is to allow me a chance to type into the chat log various changes, adjustments and customization between them. Â (though often i'll write right over a macro if i feel like i simply must). Â Here shows the macros for this particular song as i would/and have use them:

first
/em slides the palm of her hand across her ten-string, in response the instrument hums. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.6>
/em slaps the low drone strings in an accelerando. Â She tears into a harsh and aggressive riff. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.6>
/em â€˜s music thrums in the canyon like a combination kick in the teeth. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.5>
/em hisses and thrashes, swirling about the promenade. Â (this may have the unintended effect of launching a few luckless fleas in random directions) â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.9>
/em Â The churning noise settles into a driving groove that would make a statue tap its foot. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.7>
/em â€˜s voice is entirely unequal to the demands of the sound, but the girl tries her best. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.7>
â™ª So thereâ€™s this great paladin... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Returned to confess his sins... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Knowing full well it had been a while. <wait.5>
â™ª He knows that everyone thinks... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Heâ€™s pure and unburdened by kinks... <wait.4>
â™ª ...For instance bondage really ainâ€™t his style. Â â™ªâ™ª <wait.5>
/em plays expertly, the complex barrage of sound flawlessly evoked from the black 10-string viol. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.7>
/em sets up another verse with an astonishingly dexterous fill. Â She slashes her dreds over her shoulder and singsâ€¦ â™ªâ™ªâ™ª.

second
â™ª But just behind his nervous eyes... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Worry and regret haunts his mind... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Kinda thinks he just might be sick. <wait.5>
â™ª So heâ€™s come back here since... <wait.4>
â™ª ...The priests might ease his conscience... <wait.4>
â™ª ...For sins committed with his dick. Â â™ªâ™ª <wait.5>
/em rakes her claws up the fretboard and the viol growls from the bass notes to the treble. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.6>
/em yells at the top of her little lungs â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.3>
â™ª Thereâ€™s a devil dancing in his head! <wait.3>
â™ª Hovering some few feet above his bed! <wait.3>
(And the kindly priests exclaim!) <wait.3>
â™ª Â HEY! Â HO! Â We know how this story goes! <wait.3>
â™ª Â HEY! Â HO! Â The plot it thickens and grows! <wait.3>
â™ª Â HEY! Â HO! Â We priests understand your pain! <wait.3>
â™ª Â HEY! Â HO! Â Virtue hides all kinds of strange! Â â™ªâ™ª.

third
/em beats down on the viol and forces the music back into the criminally infectious verse riff. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.7>
â™ª Since heâ€™d left his old life behind... <wait.4>
â™ª ...This Paladin became the worst of his kind... <wait.4>
â™ª ...And canâ€™t believe he got away with it so long. <wait.5>
â™ª Heâ€™s fulfilled his needs... <wait.4>
â™ª ...With Ball-gags, anal beads... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Heâ€™s fucked a corpse then hit the bong. Â â™ªâ™ª <wait.5>
/em plays through a phenomenally fast counter melody here. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.5>
/em smirks at the audience and resumes the verse. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª.

fourth
â™ª The eroticism of the dead... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Are his butter and his bread... <wait.4>
â™ª ...But heâ€™s hidden it to this very day. <wait.5>
â™ª If you fought to your last... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Heâ€™d resurrect your ass... <wait.4>
â™ª ...But first heâ€™d kinda have his way. Â â™ªâ™ª <wait.5>
/em claws into the fretboard again and her instrument shrieks in protest. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.5>
â™ª Â Thereâ€™s a devil dancing in his head! <wait.3>
â™ª Â Saying, â€˜hey there, why not fuck the deadâ€™ !? <wait.3>
(And the rather alarmed priests shout!) <wait.3>
/em throws up her fist on the accents â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.2>
â™ª Â HEY! Â WHOAH! Â Thatâ€™s more than we needed to know! <wait.3>
â™ª Â HEY! Â WHOAH! Â We think that you ought to go! <wait.3>
â™ª Â HEY! Â WHOAH! Â Do as you will with yâ€™own genitalia! <wait.3>
â™ª Â HEY! Â WHOAH! Â We draw the line at Necrophilia! Â â™ªâ™ª.

fifth
/em swings the viol behind her back and catches it in time when is whirls around on the strap. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.7>
â™ª The priests, they were sincere... <wait.4>
â™ª ...But it wasnâ€™t what he needed to hear... <wait.4>
â™ª ...He drew his sword and he drew near. <wait.5>
/em â€˜s claws and fingers thread across the strings picking out 128th notes all over the place. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.7>
â™ª Before the paladin attacked... <wait.4>
â™ª ...There was this priest in the back... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Who had an idea to fix all this crap. Â â™ªâ™ª.

sixth
/em sings as if she is the priest with the solution. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.4>
â™ª He said â€œThereâ€™s this chick laying in stateâ€¦ <wait.4>
â™ª â€¦I think you two should dateâ€¦ <wait.4>
â™ª â€¦See, sheâ€™s what we call: the undead.â€ <wait.5>
â™ª â€œSheâ€™ll love you for your brainsâ€¦ <wait.4>
â™ª â€¦And youâ€™ll dig her mortal remainsâ€¦ <wait.4>
â™ª â€¦At least the parts between her legs.â€ Â â™ªâ™ª <wait.5>
/em takes a moment to point at her own crotch. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.3>
/em shouts the moral of the story. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª.

seventh
â™ª Â Thereâ€™s a devil dancing in his head! <wait.3>
â™ª Â And he did just what that priest said! <wait.3>
â™ª Â AND! Â SO! Â He took that Zombie in tow! <wait.3>
â™ª Â AND! Â SO! Â She goes wherever he goes! <wait.3>
â™ª Â AND! Â SO! Â Heâ€™s absolved and sheâ€™s loyal! <wait.3>
â™ª Â AND! Â SO! Â Here and there he fucks her mortal coil! Â â™ªâ™ª <wait.3>
/em gives her viol a moment to breatheâ€¦the instrument seems to be heaving in exhaustion. â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.6>
/em returns to the verse theme, but a softer, calmer version â™ªâ™ªâ™ª <wait.5>
â™ª Next you see a paladin... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Shouting, â€˜my virtueâ€™s why I winâ€™... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Remember just where this one stood. <wait.5>
â™ª Despite the purity claimed... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Theyâ€™re all sorts of strange... <wait.4>
â™ª ...Apparently there's leeway in beingâ€¦Lawful Good. â™ªâ™ª <wait.5>
/em cautiously strums out an A-minor7 and lets it sustain. Â â™ªâ™ªâ™ª.

I hope this helps you on your way to playing a bard in game. Â It's nerve wracking at first, but i think all of us who do it will agree, it is freakishly fun, though none of us has fully articulated why. Â : )Â
[Image: fishb.jpg]

Ciel · **02-11-2017, 10:19 AM**

Rosalie, there are as many different ways to do it as there are bards out there.Â There is no one tried-and-true way to perform as a bard.Â A few have already given some examples of how they go about it.Â

Some are very creative and able to write their own verses for performances with relative ease, others like myself, I'll freely admit, aren't quite so gifted.Â We find songs we like and we try to adapt them to the game's setting, and this is perfectly fine!Â If the song feels like it could fit, we may alter lyrics to make it work if they don't already, such as removing or changing references to real world things (cars, TV, etc).

Plenty of performing bards still swear by the harp as their instrument of choice.Â Others have taken on piano or harpsichord if available at the venue, lute, guitar (and even gone so far as to spoof electric guitars by replacing electric with Electrum and ceruleum as aÂ power source), violins, and I've seen shamisen for at least one Doman-born performer.

Now HOW you go about putting on a performance is also just as varied.Â Most of us either go through the labor (and by labor I mean sometimes close to the pains of childbirth) to macro the hell out of everything. This can be time consuming to do it this way, and it takes extra testing to re-run all of the finished macros and weed out any potential typos.

Others will copy/paste their emotes and lyrics from a word doc.Â And if this is the avenue you go with, I do recommend using a word doc as it allows for unix encoded symbols to be input which will translate into the game just fine, such as musical notes. â™ª

These symbols won't work in Notepad or other similar programs liked EditPad Lite. You may even combine use of Word to write everything, and then copy/paste it into macros, keeping in mind the line limit in macros is something like 15, so it will take some finagling to make everything fit and it won't always be seamless.

Either method can still fall prey to the legendary chat gremlin in that, at least now, if a string of text gets eaten, it actually lets you know something happened as opposed to someone telling you later that something didn't come through.Â In this case, my experience has been copy/paste is a more sure way to be certain everything gets through, since you can't pause a macro, and it will continue to run if one line doesn't make it. But again, with the complexity of performances from folks like Savo and Odette, copy/paste isn't always efficient.Â Your malmage may vary.

I do recommend that you try to weave lyrics and emotes together if possible, or alternate. And this is where macros CAN make life easier. Emotes can be several lines or blocks of text describing movement while the character sings/plays, or it can be the existing /emotes, or a combination thereof. If you do use /emotes during performances, it's best to turn off the text description for when these trigger, as the chatlog descriptions don't always match the intention you're trying to portray with the given action. Turning it off means the motion still happens, but the automated text will not distract from your performance.

We also explore a variety of genres.Â Some keep it folky, others lean toward punk, Ciel is opera-trained and loves opportunities which allow her to use this background.

Don't hesitate to sign up for events as a performer if they're asking for them.Â Many events are themed in some way, which gives us a base to work from as far as choosing and tailoring material which will fit the subject matter.Â For example, lots of events this month are themed on love.Â If you were to sign up for a future Grand Company memorial event, something with a somber or patriotic feel would work. In my opinion, themed events are usually worlds easier to work from for this reason, as opposed to unthemed, anything goes events, where you can just do whatever.

It's ok to start small, too.Â If you're not ready to jump into the big shows like that yet (and trust me it can be nerve-wracking even for the most seasoned among us), it is perfectly acceptable to sit in one of the taverns and play an instrument/sing, or to get up in front of the tavern patrons and do the same thing.

So in short, it's whatever you're comfortable with, being a performer is very, very flexible, and our audiences love variety.Â The two most important rules of it all: Have fun with it.Â Don't let yourself get discouraged.

Ellmida · **02-11-2017, 11:09 AM**

My character Ellmida is a real beginner to music, she's someone who GT into it for ulterior motives and just decided she liked it. As for instruments I feel I'm a bit of an outlier on this as she plays the Hurdy-Gurdy which is a bit more obscure and tends to be harder to find music for. I'm trying multiple methods to get the sound and music across and if it's not a you tube video I will try my best to get the sound across in emotes.

Because Ell's music is very personal a lot of the time I will use an already existing tune or sound then create my own lyrics but I am by no means great at this.

Bard/musician/performer roleplay

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