Music

Songs

Song-writing in Bastion generally hasn't evolved much since the Cataclysm, with the exception of a privileged few in the richer parts of the city who may practice music as an art. Broadly, Bastion songs fit one of the following genres:

• Old Folk: songs who's authors have been lost to time from before the Cataclysm. These are song passed down from bard to bard or through families. Generally songs that commonly reference nature (such as rivers, lakes, forests and so on) are assumed to be Old Folk music.
• Wall Folk: songs that have been written since Bastion was founded. Older songs are passed along much the same as Old Folk, but not all survive, with some songs passing with the bard that wrote them.
• Shanty: also known as chantey, or chanty is a type of work song that was once commonly sung to accompany labour. It's particularly common amongst human labourers, builders and dwarven miners. Some historians believe some shanties were sung during the building of Bastion. Old marching songs favoured by the military have also been passed down, though these are mainly used for entertainment rather than their original purpose due to the nature of Skirmisher duties.
• Elven Opera: Though scholars have tried to recover operas of other races, the easiest to reproduce have been Elven operas, thanks to their long lives and sharp memories.
• Dwarven Epics: Often recited as prose as there are few who have the stamina to sing early Mortal Age epics as they were intended.
• Dirge: the most common ritual music are the songs for the lost, laments sung at funerals or in memoriam.

Instruments and Singing

As resources are tightly controlled, instruments are not commonplace, particularly those made of wood. Most are family heirlooms, passed down across generations. That's not to say bards don't find a way, with those in that sphere taking care to preserve past traditions and knowledge of instrument crafting; however it is rare for new instruments to be crafted.
With instruments not always available, singing without an instrument is very normal, including lilting and other styles to provide rhythm and variations in the absence of instruments.