laramie | All for One and One for All

My Cross-posted comments from a discussion in another LJ

I've been in the middle of this issue in Mpls since the early 90s. I've never liked the way the Snotty Elitist Musicians tried to distance themselves from all things Filk, splitting Minneapolis into two separate camps of music that don't exist elsewhere in fandom.

I got stuck in the 'Filk' camp, partly* because I do like music about spaceships and aliens and I like putting alternate (related) lyrics to existing music - but that's never been the ONLY thing I like. I like a wide variety of music drawn from a wide variety of sources. (*And partly because I have not been as accomplished a performer as I am currently, and have never thought professionalism should count more than friendliness in this non-pro, community-based venue.)

I do think that there's something about filk (sf related) music that's special to fandom and should be respected for that if nothing else. It's the tradition of our tribe and ought to be preserved in face of the seductive influx of music from other cultures. So, for about six years I hosted a monthly filk circle and continue to attend them now that someone else is hosting.

And I was distressed when Minicon started scheduling Filk in rooms separate from the other music, and separate from the con suite areas where all the people, food and drink were to be found. And particularly distressed that none of the people doing the scheduling thought of consulting the filkers about what we wanted.

I'm torn on this issue. Because in my heart I'd love to see the musicians of this community take an 'All for One and One for All' stance - but I do see the practical difficulties of music parties that get too large for the available spaces, as well as taking too long to go 'round.

What I found at OVFF was a community that took the size problem in stride and planned for splitting into smaller circles when necessary. And planned on having a distribution of more accomplished and less accomplished performers in each circle, so that it didn't become a Cool vs Feeble Circle competitive atmosphere and things remained friendly all around.

I don't think filk should be separated out from general Music at minicon. I'd like to see one large or two smaller music areas side by side, open to whatever music all musicians concerned would enjoy playing and singing with each other.

At the Dessicated Dodo party last night I was talking with people running the next Minicon, and making the case for having the music right in the same area as the Con Suite. (It looks like the best bet is to take over the suite that Tor was using.)

jiawen asked me if I want to be in charge of music for MiniCon 43, and I'm looking into what that would entail.

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Hi, just dropped in thanks to a pointer from

markiv1111. I'm a long-time, active filker in Michigan. I do know who the SEMP people are, but have only ever been to one of their parties, many years ago.

I'd say you put your view very diplomatically. And I would completely agree that ". . what filkers want out of a music circle may be different from what other musicians want out of a circle". One of the primary values of the filk community these days, at least at the cons I go to, is to encourage everyone to express themselves. In the short term, that does lead to some performances that range from less-than-professional to not-very-good-at-all. In the long term, I find it leads to a lot of people getting better at it with time, which I regard as, well, joyous. For more, take a look at this link (http://www.filking.net/filkfaq/what-is-the-filk-community), where a number of people, including me, talk about what the filk community means to them.

I don't bear any personal animus against the "snobby elitists". They're just a bunch of long time friends, who like to get together and make music with each other, and keep control of who they invite to their parties. And I certainly don't think any less of Nate for attending - they're his long time friends too. (If the Tor Books party was a SEMP party, that probably just means it was being run by Patrick and Teresa, who are both editors at Tor, and part of that circle of friends.)

Questions, from someone who's never been to Minicon: Does the SEMP party take place in a hotel room, or a function room? If it's a hotel room (which I suspect, given usual hotel policies on outside food in function spaces), who's paying for the room, and who's paying for the food and drink? If it's the people throwing the party, then they have the right to handle things as they see fit. If it's the con, well, I would object on principle to part of my membership money going to any purpose that's not available to all members.

Most of the filk circles I go to are in function rooms, and as such aren't allowed to bring in non-hotel food and drink. Getting a room that's closer to the con suite may well be possible, depending on hotel layout. Getting facilities equal to those of a private party probably isn't. Nonetheless, if I ever make it to Minicon, the open filk is where you'd find me.

The Tor party was indeed a private party, privately funded.

The problem that some of us had with it, was that almost every musician who attended the open music circles was invited, so that the few who were not invited were left on our own with no alternate circle to attend.

I got together with a couple friends and we made some music in our small way - but it was nothing like the fun of getting a larger circle together. The effect was, as Nate pointed out, more 'outvitational' than invitational, and, while I consider it a waste of energy to harbor resentments, some people felt very hurt.

The _music_ was available to all con members; the invite to play in the circle wasn't.

I don't have a problem with invite-only circles, no more than I have a problem with individuals or select groups of musicians scheduling a performance in con space which by definition is limited by the number of time slots that are available. I would have a problem if that monopolized the music entirely though, or forced other filkers to play off in some isolated spot somewhere.

In that case, what you have is a performer's circle, which is recognized in filk; I just haven't seen too many of them occur at night. Interesting.

(I have no ties to Minneapolis, so I'm just an interested observer here.)

I was looking for

skylarker's LJ name for my Thursday con report and came upon this thread. I know the SEMPs and they know me, but my problem with them is that they don't consider singers to be musicians. If you have an instrument, but play badly (as was true in the Friday party), you can be in the circle. If you're a professional trained musician but sing, you can't be in the circle, or at least only until another instrumentalist shows up. I don't see any use in singing outside the circle because it's not really participating -- you don't really hear the intricacies of the music.

That wasn't why I skipped the Tor party, though. My ankles were +4 pitting edema by then so I spent Sunday night in bed with my feet up on pillows.

I've known a capella singers to join the Open Music. And even be well received, though it's hard for instrumentalists to join in with them, other than simple percussion. There've been some very lovely opportunities for vocal harmony, though. (I always enjoy it when

mplsfish sings LCohen's Hallelujah.)

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble with your ankles. I got a small open circle going in the bar for a while on Sunday, and another singer would have been welcome.

I have the curse of perfect pitch, so I could sing and instruments follow, but usually I sing an instrumental part. Sometimes harmony, if it's right for a piece, but usually something like a clarinet or trumpet part that would be there if the piece was orchestrated. I have enough lung now to sing, maybe I should rent some wind instruments and see if I have enough for them.

The ankles are always bad when I sit up straight for most of the day. At home, I use the recliner most of the time.

I meant that not all the local instrumentalists are so expert that they can tell what key a singer is in and play unfamiliar material by ear. There are some who could do it, but they might hesitate without a specific invitation to try it.

All for One and One for All

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