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Old 04-23-2016, 02:24 PM   #11
johndallman
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Mimicry and Singing

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I'm not an opera devotee but the casual listening I've done certainly doesn't sound like it's incomprehensible
I listen to a fair bit of opera in English, as well as other languages, and I don't really understand any of the words in English. The emotions being conveyed are usually clear, but that's what opera is good at.
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Anyways, I listen to a lot of foreign language music, and I'm not sure why there's the -2 penalty for not sharing language. If you're relying on the lyrics to help you manipulate the audience, yes that would be a penalty
I suspect the 1e rules were written thinking primarily about fantasy bards, who are often trying to get some fairly specific message over, in my experience of seeing them played. A D&D character of mine did once stage a performance of Wagner's Ring, with high-level illusionists for special effects.
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Old 04-23-2016, 06:42 PM   #12
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Mimicry and Singing

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Anyways, I listen to a lot of foreign language music, and I'm not sure why there's the -2 penalty for not sharing language.
What if you don't really listen to the lyrics? FWIW the lyrics are generally the last thing I notice.
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Old 04-23-2016, 06:46 PM   #13
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Mimicry and Singing

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What if you don't really listen to the lyrics? FWIW the lyrics are generally the last thing I notice.
The lyrics are what I listen to and I listen to a lot of foreign language music that I don't understand at all, but I still enjoy the heck out of it.
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Old 04-23-2016, 07:12 PM   #14
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Mimicry and Singing

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The lyrics are what I listen to and I listen to a lot of foreign language music that I don't understand at all, but I still enjoy the heck out of it.
Same, which is probably how I ended up learning some German. Of course, I like to dig up alternating original lyric / translated lyric / interpreted lyric texts and read them along with the work.

Folks not paying any attention to the lyrics (or who can't understand them due to unfamiliarity with the form) are going to be pretty similar to folks who don't speak the language. If it's your typical "I want to intercourse with you" lyrics, they're not really missing anything. If you're trying to impress them with your songtext or use it to unite for a cause or somesuch, you have to rely on your technical skills to catch their attention enough to actually listen closely, including some tricks with your lyrical content (use Poetry as a complimentary skill when composing).
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Old 04-23-2016, 08:32 PM   #15
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Mimicry and Singing

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Anyways, I listen to a lot of foreign language music, and I'm not sure why there's the -2 penalty for not sharing language. If you're relying on the lyrics to help you manipulate the audience, yes that would be a penalty - but that's assuming the lyrics were any good. There's a lot of pop and rock music where I think it sounds better if you don't understand them :)
I'm unable to feel that way; I rarely enjoy a song if I can't make out the words or if I think they're dumb or offensive. But then I'm not much good at anything musical.
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Old 04-23-2016, 08:35 PM   #16
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Mimicry and Singing

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
I listen to a fair bit of opera in English, as well as other languages, and I don't really understand any of the words in English. The emotions being conveyed are usually clear, but that's what opera is good at.
I've listened to some musical with classically trained vocalists. Commonly I find it hard to tell what the words are if the lyrics aren't in front of me, in a way that's not the case with rock or big band or even country (though I don't care much for country). The training for that type of performance seems to produce an emphasis on the vowels to the point where the consonants fade into near inaudibility.
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Old 04-23-2016, 11:56 PM   #17
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Mimicry and Singing

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I'm unable to feel that way; I rarely enjoy a song if I can't make out the words or if I think they're dumb or offensive. But then I'm not much good at anything musical.
Similar here:
If I can't understand the lyrics by ear, I at a minimum skim them as a text, and at a maximum I check the net for the lyrics' interpretation by people.
It's a big plus for me if the performers' lyrics are (a) clear enough to be heard even by me and (b) possible to understand the meaning of.
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Old 04-24-2016, 08:06 AM   #18
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Mimicry and Singing

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Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
Similar here:
If I can't understand the lyrics by ear, I at a minimum skim them as a text, and at a maximum I check the net for the lyrics' interpretation by people.
It's a big plus for me if the performers' lyrics are (a) clear enough to be heard even by me and (b) possible to understand the meaning of.
It may seem counter-intuitive but this is the same for me. Even if I don;t understand the language, I prefer to be able to make out the distinct words.


And in some cases I know enough of a language to get a feel for the song (but not even enough to qualify as knowing the language at Broken).
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Old 04-24-2016, 08:29 AM   #19
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Mimicry and Singing

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Singing is HT-based because it relies so strongly on respritory health, particularly for holding long notes.
But so does a flute, trumpet, oboe, or any other wind instrument. I like moving this to IQ, personally, with Per float for learning songs by ear. That's how I'd treat Musical Instrument, too. Any sort of inprov shiuld definitely be IQ-based. I am surprised that Singing covers the performance, too, since we have a skill for that - Perfomance. I'd probably (continue) keeping these separate skills, myself. I've seen plenty of technically good musicians on many different instruments play notes perfectly and still be plain and boring as plain, unsalted cream of wheat.
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Old 04-24-2016, 12:13 PM   #20
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Default Re: [Basic] Skill of the week: Mimicry and Singing

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But so does a flute, trumpet, oboe, or any other wind instrument. I like moving this to IQ, personally, with Per float for learning songs by ear. That's how I'd treat Musical Instrument, too. Any sort of inprov shiuld definitely be IQ-based. I am surprised that Singing covers the performance, too, since we have a skill for that - Perfomance. I'd probably (continue) keeping these separate skills, myself. I've seen plenty of technically good musicians on many different instruments play notes perfectly and still be plain and boring as plain, unsalted cream of wheat.
Years ago, I ran a campaign where four of the five PCs were talented musicians. They all rolled both their music skill and Performance, and one of them also rolled Sex Appeal for most of her songs.

In today's GURPS, you would use Performance as a complementary skill for Singing or Musical Instrument in a serious venue. In a more casual one where making an impression was a bigger deal than technical competence, you could swap them.
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