I suggested earlier that we look at the different types of mediation and pointed out how writers mediate. The next step in the chain, leaving aside for now the printers, is perhaps the singers. How did they mediate what they chose to sing and what they actually performed and recalled and passed on to the collectors. Part of this will be their families, communities, and audiences if any.

One example: shapenote singing in Protestant America. The recordings made in traditional settings have note names in place of real words. The idea being that sacred texts should not be performed in secular contexts like a collector's recording session. The Alevi of Anatolia and the Yarsani of a bit further east have similar restrictions - psalm/hymn tunes may be performed instrumentally outside a ceremony but the texts are only performed for real.