Two sentences...

[Guest]

Dear Teachers,

Here I have questions about understanding two sentences:

1. "Her performance droned on and her tone-deaf voice blared away in ever bolder flourishes."

I look up my dictionary for "drone on", "blare away", "bold" and "flourish". But still can understand the whole sentence.

2. "I took a soul-searching slug of wine."

What does "soul-searching" mean here?

[Mister Micawber]

.
1-- 'Her performance droned on and her tone-deaf voice blared away in ever bolder flourishes.'-- her slow and boring performance continued, and her loud, monotonous voice became even louder.

2-- Here, soul-searching = long and deep. A big drink of wine.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber