[Bards] Situations That Ruin Bardic Circles

[Quill]

 In following this thread I've found most of what I wanted to put in
eventually got said, which leads me to believe they're more or less
universal truths. (And especially gives credit to Sherlock's "The exception
disproves the rule.") It remains only to add my last tuppence.

First, Alden put much of what I've been feeling perfectly:

>>2.  What you're there for
Are you at the circle to perform, or to listen?  Do you have pieces you want
to try out, or do you want to get folks joining in a sing-along?  Do you
want to impress people with your own A-list material, or do you want to
encourage that person who is at their very first circle to stand up?  A
large circle of mostly bards - no, you're not going to get to perform a
whole lot.  A small circle of a few bards - no, you're not going to get much
chance to sit back and listen.  Go with an open mind and no agenda and
you're more likely going to enjoy yourself.

Having a statement of intent, for yourself if not for the circle in
general, might give you as an individual a good place to sort out what's
going "bad in bardic".



Yet most of all I feel that what really needs to be encouraged is not a lot
of rules and guidelines, nor even an urging to match precedent, but rather
an encouraging of the Bardic spirit by which I mean that sensitivity to
yourself and your audience. It is not "wrong" to perform filk, epic poetry,
original work or "period Icelandic fish stories presented in their native
tongue" because there is a time and a place for everything.



In order to know when and where these are, however, many of us rely on our
own intuition, and just like being tone deaf or crap and memorization, some
haven't as strong a sense as others. Thus it is up to those of us who can
SEE the bad growing and take the stand against it. It may not be the most
comfortable or even polite thing to do, but for the sake of the circle
sometimes you've just got to stand up and say "And they all lived happily
after, the end!" (or play the uninhibited inebriated one and yell "No thanks
we don't want to hear any more of this. Next!"). Sometimes you have to be
blunt, however nice you want to be about it. ((There is of course a
distinction between a new Bard and one who just doesn't know when to stop;
the former would have to be treated with a little more tenderness. But that
still goes back to your own sensitivity. Also: know your limitations, and be
honest about them. If you can't sing, you can't sing, and so on.))



The point is this: though there are a million ways to fix up a circle, be it
preventive, defensive, or offensive action, the way to really ruin a Bardic
Circle is to take _no action_ when it's clear there's something rotten in
Denmark.



-Quill



*"The pen is mightier than the sword! (But just the same I'll have both, and
a dagger besides...)"*



"On the outside Trelac blue,

but to kingdom I am true;

Azure is but armor for

the Sable soul and heart of Or!"



[Trelac Rapier - We Only Pez The Ones We Love]

 -------------------------------------------------------


Message: 1
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 06:13:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: Alden Drake < alden_drake at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: [Bards] Situations That Ruin Bardic Circles
To: Ansteorran Bardic list <bards at lists.ansteorra.org>
Message-ID: < 543938.87147.qm at web81507.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ascii

Bardic circles....what makes a good one...what makes a bad one...  This
topic comes up from time to time.  As I see it, I think it boils down to
just a few key elements.

1.  The composition of the circle
This includes how many people are there, but also the demographics of bards
of varying degree, bardic patrons, and everyone else.  I don't want to say
large or small circles are good or bad, because I've been to large circles
that were good and small circles that were bad.  It mainly depends on the
ratio of bards to non-bards.  In a pick/pass/play format, a large circle of
mostly non-bards usually leaves me sung-out by the end of the night.

2.  What you're there for
Are you at the circle to perform, or to listen?  Do you have pieces you want
to try out, or do you want to get folks joining in a sing-along?  Do you
want to impress people with your own A-list material, or do you want to
encourage that person who is at their very first circle to stand up?  A
large circle of mostly bards - no, you're not going to get to perform a
whole lot.  A small circle of a few bards - no, you're not going to get much
chance to sit back and listen.  Go with an open mind and no agenda and
you're more likely going to enjoy yourself.

3.  Having a good facilitator
Someone needs to be in charge of the circle.  This is the person who "makes
it happen".  Getting a space on site, getting it on the schedule of events,
advertisement, decorations, drinks, snacks, fire(?), etc., all goes into
making for a good circle.  The facilitator also has to keep things moving,
keep order, stop interruptions, gauge the atmosphere to encourage more
enjoyment (hmm..there's been five epic ballads in a row....."Hey <insert
name of next person>, why don't you sing something we can all join in?".
 The facilitator is much like a court herald, he/she keeps things moving and
should keep everyone engaged.

4.  Choice of material
This is very subjective.  20 minute stories, modern filks, period icelandic
fish stories presented in their native tongue, jokes, juggling, etc. can all
have a place in a bardic circle, if the atmosphere seems right for them.
 Bards should be mindful of what's going on around them and judge if they
think such a piece will go over well with their audience.

Beyond those four items, I think issues become less impacting.  I've been to
one bardic circle that also served as the branch's championship.  It worked,
but it was awkward in that it was difficult to discern the competitors from
the non-competing performers at the circle.  Encouraging more non-bard
audience members is difficult because we are generally a society of people
who find more entertainment in the doing than in the watching/listening.
 People aren't as likely to stay for a bardic circle after feast becaus in
their minds, "they had their fun for the day," and are ready to go home.
 Sadly, this also translates into bardic performances at court/feast/during
the day.  There's a crappy attitude out there that people call "hostage
dinner theater" - where people just want to eat and socialize, and they are
so used to hearing bad bardic that they feel trapped and interrupted from
what they want to do.  This generally disheartens good bards from even
bothering to perform
 in those settings.  Also, the fact that camping at events has generally
decreased contributes to smaller circles.  Beyond that, the thing I'll
mention is the "lack of circles".  This generally comes down to one thing -
someone not standing up to make it happen.  As Stargate's Titled Bard, I
make sure that every event Stargate hosts has a bardic circle, and if I
can't be the one to run it, I find someone who can (Thanks again Gerald!).
 You don't have to be the group's champion to host a circle, you don't even
have to be a bard!  You just have to say, "I'll do it."

In service,
Alden





Message: 4
Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 23:37:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: Esther < reese_esther at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Bards] Situations That Ruin Bardic Circles
To: Ansteorran Bardic list <bards at lists.ansteorra.org>
Message-ID: < 960065.87640.qm at web39610.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Like I said, it's about skill. It's also about interest, courtesy, and
knowing your audience, matching the piece to the situation and mood of the
crowd.

 So, it's down to good bards and bad bards, and at the end of the day -- how
do you deal with that? Any length of story badly told is deadly, as deadly
as me trying to sing would be.

 And I agree with you, someone reading badly is a killer. BUT, reading aloud
is as period a  bardic skill as any, and when done by someone who is skilled
at it, and who has practiced, is damned entertaining.

 Bad bards and an uninterested audience will kill any bardic circle, no
matter HOW well organized. It's really, really hard to pick up an audience
who has just endured a bad performance, and almost impossible to do so after
two in a row. So unless you have a known show-starter up your sleeve....

 Yeah, I have a headache, I am being unduly pessimistic and old arthritis
auntie misery by the fire.

 Esther


Gerald Norris <jerryn at houston.rr.com> wrote:
     See my reply before your reply, Esther.

 It oft depends upon the skill of the teller or poet.  Finnagen had us
enthralled with his story of the guardian of the keep.  There is a merchant
who does a wonderfully entertaining job of telling of a time he taught latin
to foreign troops.  Both of these were at least ten minutes long.  Thomas
and Cedric's piece was almost a half hour, but it flew by due to the setting
and the weather, which really made you feel as if you were in a long hut,
and the skald spoke with the tongue of the elders.

 Longer pieces are period, but if their recited as one would hear from a
grade-schooler with Mary Had a Little Lamb, it's painful to watch.  Master
Kief has no trouble with keeping an audience for a long story, but he is
masterful in his telling of a tale, and his use of voice and words to draw
his audience in.  I have seen the opposite, where someone drags a book and
reads by halting firelight for fifteen minutes, and ready to go another
fifteen to the end of the pages if not for a quick interjection.  These I
would avoid at all cost, and have only occasionally had to interrupt one
fellow and request that he finish his tale on the next round.  He wasn't
happy, and left, but the energy level of the group was quick to rise back to
a level of cameradery rather than comisseration.

   In service to the dream with a song in my heart, I am,
HL Gerald of Leesville
A bard of Stargate



---------------------------------
 From: bards-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org [mailto:
bards-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf Of Esther
Sent: Sunday, April 29, 2007 11:30 PM
To: Ansteorran Bardic list
Subject: Re: [Bards] Situations That Ruin Bardic Circles



   You know, I'm a story teller, not a singer or a musician. Most of my
stories run over ten minutes.

 So I guess bardic circles are out for me. See you at the Hafla!

 Might I suggest, it's not the length of the story, it's the skill of the
story teller. Perhaps short pieces are better for bardic circles, but I ask
you, when are the long pieces "acceptable"? The long pieces are more period
for most of us, after all. A bard/skald/minstrel was supposed to be able to
hold the attention of his audience for longer than ten minutes, a feat
stand-up comics and story tellers seem to have no problem with in the modern
world.

 Well, what the heck. To each their own, better to have short pieces and a
popular bardic than a dead bardic. They can always go to the movies to see
Beowulf.

 Esther


> 2. Problem: Stories that are 20+ minutes long!!!! Reason: Hogging airtime.

> Solution: If you have a 20 minute story, serialize it into 10-minute
> increments and do one increment per turn. Circle leader must state a
> 10-minute (or some other agreed-upon time) rule up front, and periodically

> thereafter.
>
anything over 10 minutes will kill an audience. If they don't get up
now, they likley just wont even come back next time.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ansteorra.org/pipermail/bards-ansteorra.org/attachments/20070430/be729580/attachment-0001.htm>