Bardic Bedlam 2019

General Information

• Date: 11 May 2019
• Location: St. George and the Dragon 2019
• Royalty:
• Bardocrat: Lady Elaisse de Garrigues

Flytes

Try something you might otherwise not have tried! No judging, no winners, and no need to worry about whether something is "good enough." Jump in with both feet, because the goal is always to have fun. We have a busy day planned, so we’ll work the flytes in during lunch, dinner, and the evening bardic fire.

“Something for Everyone—A Comedy Tonight” sponsored by Honorable Lord (patent pending) Johann Steinarsson. A flyte where the focus is on laughter and comedy, NOT death, doom and gloom.

“Songs that Need Singing and Tales that Need Telling” sponsored by Master Dolan Madoc. Share a new piece you have not had the chance to offer us very often or an old one we have not heard in a while.

“Calontir History” sponsored by Mistress Katriana op den Dijk. Share a song or story, about or from, Calontir's history. It can be something you put together (like Dolan with his "Pavel Gets Hurt" saga) or something created by someone else (like the Pict Song popular in our rebel days).

“Unfinished Business” sponsored by Mistress Dorcas Whitecap. Come perform something that is incomplete, waiting around in your "works in progress" file. Perhaps having others hear it will provide that last little motivation to "get 'er done!"

“Some of Dulcibella's Favorite Things” sponsored by Honorable Lady Dulcibella de Chateaurien. Share/compose a story, poem, or song that includes the following five words or phrases in some form: pirate. Eire. broken heart. magic mirror. and wayward.

“Ultreia y Suseia” sponsored by Honorable Lady Adalyde bint Junus al-zaarqa. “Ultreia y suseia” translates loosely to “onward and upward”, which can mean many things to people. Share a performance that shows us what those words mean to you.

“On-site Contrafacta Challenge” sponsored by Honorable Lady Fiondel Songspinner. There will be a “hat” filled with themes for your filk song. You will pick a random theme, and write a filk song on that theme, to be performed at the fire that evening. I will provide a list of suggestions of period music (and, yes…I will have handy recordings of many of them, just in case you don’t know the melody). Extra points will be given for using the period music. But, if you want to “branch out” and use a melody of your own choice as the basis for your filk, you do you! There will be prizes! Come show us how creative, funny, heart-wrenching, or inspiring you can be! You are a BARD! Dazzle us!

Classes

Friday

8:00 p.m.

• “Bardic Fire Bootcamp” with Lady Elaisse de Garrigues. Come learn some of the most popular songs in Calontir so that you’re ready for Saturday night’s bardic fire. And if you’re an old pro, come sing along!

Saturday

9:00 a.m.

• “Tips for Vocal Performers” with Lady Christabell Rose Alwin. Real world exercises to improve volume, diction, overcome stage fright, and protect your vocal instrument. Suitable for all levels. Also good for voice heralds and stage actors.

• “Medieval Filks” with Honorable Lady Fiondel Songspinner. How often have you heard a song and thought, “I could write a really good filk of that!” But, then thought, “But filk songs aren’t really period, so maybe I shouldn’t.” Take heart, oh creative Bard! Filk songs ARE period. In the middle ages, they were called “contrafacta” and they were very popular. Not ONLY did they provide the “melody-creating-impaired bard” with a convenient way to write songs, but they frequently had the added bonus of annoying the church (because many of these filk songs were written to well-known hymns). Come and learn about “period filk songs”! We will discuss source materials, and places to find period music.

10:00 a.m.

• “Together and/or Apart” with Honorable Lady Vǫlu-Ingibiǫrg. Learn songs that sound good alone but can become something more complex if someone else at the fire knows them. We'll include songs that can be rounds, such as "Lifeblood: a Viking Drinking Song" (a.k.a. “Drink for the Wind Blows Cold”), and songs that make harmony, such as "Stella Splendens in Monte."

• “All About Sonnets” with Honorable Lady Dulcibella de Chateaurien. We will explore what sonnets are, their history, different types of sonnets, the technical and artistic aspects of sonnets, and how to write a sonnet.

11:00 a.m.

• “Performance Feedback” with Lady Christabell Rose Alwin and Master Ravasz Janos. Bring one to two pieces ready to perform for feedback from Lady Christabell, a professional singer/actress with 35+ years stage experience, and Master Ravasz, Calontir's acting Laurel, with decades of experience in Commedia, comedy and mime, as director, teacher, and performer.

• “Music Theory for Medieval People” with Honorable Lord Janos Katona. An explanation of music theory from the perspective of period practice. Covered will be the Circle of Fifths,

a brief look at period musical notation, and some exploration of harmony and modes and scales.

LUNCH AND FLYTES

1:30 p.m.

• “Open Discussion on the Bardic Arts in the SCA” with Master Dolan Madoc.

• “Poetic Meters for Songwriters” with Mistress Dorcas Whitecap. Poetic meters are ways to talk about the rhythms found in poems or song lyrics. This class will cover the different poetic “feet”, with lots of examples to help you remember them. Learn what iambic pentameter means, and understand why it’s great for a sonnet, but not so good for a song. Learn the secret of ballad meter, and why it makes a song linger in the mind long after the last note is sung.

2:30 p.m.

• “Calontir Canon” with Mistress Dorcas Whitecap. A roundtable discussion on songs that are important to Calontir and why.

• “Songwriting 101” with Honorable Lady Adalyde bint Junus al-zaarqa. Learn about songwriting from the creator of some of Calontir’s favorite songs, including “Drums of War” and “Lady in Blue”.

3:30 p.m.

• “Roundtable Discussion about the CD-Making Process and Experience” with Honorable Lady Adalyde bint Junus al-zaarqa. Hear about Lady Adalyde’s experience recording and releasing her debut album, “Ultreia”.

• “Calontir—A Bardic Telling of History and Culture” with Lord Jon Chesey. Come learn of the history and culture of Calontir by hearing (and singing) the songs that define it.

Following court, grab your dinner and join us for more flytes and the bedlam of a Calontir bardic fire!