Rosalie, there are as many different ways to do it as there are bards out there. There is no one tried-and-true way to perform as a bard. 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. We find songs we like and we try to adapt them to the game's setting, and this is perfectly fine! 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. 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 a 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. 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. 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. ♪
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. For example, lots of events this month are themed on love. 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. 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. The two most important rules of it all: Have fun with it. Don't let yourself get discouraged.
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. We find songs we like and we try to adapt them to the game's setting, and this is perfectly fine! 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. 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 a 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. 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. 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. ♪
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. For example, lots of events this month are themed on love. 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. 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. The two most important rules of it all: Have fun with it. Don't let yourself get discouraged.
