At War of the Wings this past weekend, the point was driven home even more the value and uniqueness of performance as a skill. A bard who I respect highly and whose guitar skills are superb, who was chosen as a bardic champion for Sacred Stone in the war point competition [I was a "pinch hitter" for Byrum's side], said he has always admired my ability to bring a song alive, that I don’t just sing a song, I *perform* a song. He said the only other person he knows who does what I do is Dervila, which I took as an immense compliment. Dervila was an early influence, and perhaps I picked up more than I realized. It was flattering, but it also really highlighted the importance of performance, that what I consider a standard tactic is that noteworthy.

It also would explain why I’m not fond of much that I’ve recorded. If so much of the value of my performing is in the gestures and facial expression, how do I get that emotion into an audio-only recording? Amp up the vocal acting perhaps. Dervila is attempting to record her stories and is rather wary that they’ll have any of the same effect. Perhaps I should research more voice acting techniques.