Conterpoint, part 1 (plus some reflections on music and me)

[damont]

Something occurred to me over this past weekend at Conterpoint that clarified some thoughts I'd had about my getting a Pearl at Crown Tourney.

Most of my musical performance these days happens as part of an ensemble, be it a choral group or some sort of band. I was, in part, a bit croggled by getting a Pearl because I don't tend to associate being part of an ensemble with something worthy of such an honor for achievement in the arts and sciences... and in the SCA I don't do much by way of solo performances, particularly not of the "bardic" strain. But it's not really stage fright or anything. It took Conterpoint to clarify what's going on with me and solo-ing in the SCA: when I get right down to it, in both milieux I basically don't have a fitting repertoire.

In the filk milieu, I know very few filk songs. I know lots of songs, and not a few that would be labeled "folk" -- but they're not really right for the filk milieu. So as much as I wish to contribute to a filksing, my ability to do so is limited right now. It also doesn't help that I don't play guitar or harp; my main axe for filking purposes is keyboard, which is a lot more difficult to deal with.

In the SCA bardic milieu, not only do I know very few songs to sing, I have further limitations that I have knowingly imposed upon myself: for exhibition or competition at an event, anything I perform must be pre-1600s, (or composed in such a style). Yes there are solo songs that date back that far, but far more of what music we have from back then was written for ensembles.

That aside, I had a good time at the con, despite commuting to Gaitherockburgville from Chantilly all three days and staying up too late on all three to boot. I hadn't placed my overall expectations too high. I knew going in that I would know very few folks there, at least until the wedding that would top off the convention. "Very few" turned out to equal seven -- Kludge, gorgeousgary, the_sheryl, osewalrus, blackpaladin, starmalachite, and stevemb (the latter two being the bride and groom).

While at the convention I got to meet quite a few people, though some I met only briefly: the beauteous and talented cadhla and vixyish (both adjectives apply to both of them), filkerdave, tollers, tfabris, scifantasy, hms42, katrinb, thnidu, batyatoon, ladymondegreen, maverick_weirdo, erin_writes, sweetmusic_27, and new LJ friend mrgoodwraith, among many others who either don't have LJs or whose handles I can't place. sorakirei wasn't there for a lot of Saturday but we talked for a bit on Sunday, sharing stories of being in band and such.

The concerts I saw ranged from good to kickass; I'm working on some reviews which will appear in part 2 of my con report. I was *NOT* disappointed by Seanan (whom I gifted with a couple of orange tea mugs, because they're tea mugs and they're, y'know, orange), nor by Vixy & Tony. Clam Chowder came Sunday evening to play at the wedding, though Bob Esty wasn't there; Kathy, John, and Cliff performed, with a poster in front of a Campbell's Soup can -- "Condensed Clam Chowder" as Kathy said ("Just Add Bob!" several of us replied from the back of the room).

The open filks were fun. I was kind of dazed Friday night (got a late start, then a 30 minute delay at the Legion Bridge for a backup behind an accident) so I just listened. I did get to hear cadhla sing "Mario's Lament" (*giggle*). Sang "No Coyote's Land" on Saturday night, which I'd learned from 3fgburner many years ago. Sunday night I broke out a snippet that Kludge and I had come up with 20-odd years ago (parodying "Life's Been Good" by Joe Walsh -- and I sang it in my best faux-Joe Walsh accent):

My Maserati does 1c+5;
Lorentz distortion makes it hard to drive.
Don't think I'm crazy, ungrateful or crass;
It's tough to steer with an infinite mass.

This drew quite a few laughs, plus amused comments about how tough it would be to *brake* in such a car.

Sunday evening, jastaelf officiated the wedding ceremony -- a pleasant surprise! A few more friends from FanTek came to the wedding: I saw kmusser, zammis, a somewhat unwell maugorn, and patches023 (who waltzed with me when the Clams played "Windmills"), plus a couple others who don't have LJs AFAIK.

In addition to all the filking going on, I also sang in church Sunday morning; Alle Psallite was providing music at the church where Ponte Alto has its business meetings, as the church's choir is on summer break. So it was a very musical weekend, though rather tiring.

This weekend we've got friends coming in (Daði and Petra and their two kids Meg and Stu) en route from Williamsburg back to upstate NY, doing the DC tourist thing.

Comments

[weatherman2111.livejournal.com]

Nice parody. Joe Walsh is very much underrated as a performer and musician.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Thanks (on behalf of Kludge and myself) -- and I agree that Walsh, though he did have his time in the spotlight, is quite underrated and a lot more durable than most.

[alina-s.livejournal.com]

dumb question--what's filk?

[montuos]

It's an amorphous and recursive sort of thing — filk is what a filker says it is — but think of it as folk music crossed with parody with a sci-fi twist, and you're on the right track. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filk .

[gorgeousgary]

Well, I was going to comment on Dave's post anyway, so I'll wrap two replies into one.

The *short* answer is that filk is the folk music of the science fiction/fantasy fan community, and filkdom is the community of musicians within SF/F fandom that write, sing, perform and listen to such songs

The *longer* answer is that filksongs are songs on science fiction or fantasy themes, or other related fannish topics, written by fans and sung at SF & fantasy conventions (whether general conventions like Balticon or specific filk conventions like Conterpoint) and other fannish events. They were originally mainly parodies set to popular or traditional folk songs, but now are just as likely (if not more likely) to be completely original lyrics and tunes.

It should be noted that many folks who consider themselves part of the filk community are part of the SCA and frequent either Pennsic or it's sister events. So most filkers would consider SCA-inspired songs to be "on-topic" at a filk event.

Also most filkers are fans of folk music in general, whether traditional (both songs and tunes) or contemporary (Tom Paxton, Christine Lavin) and on up to folk-rock (Indigo Girls) and Celtic/Celtic-rock (Great Big Sea). Which actually means that in some filk circles you're as likely to hear traditional ballads, folk standards, and Celtic rockers as you are to hear actual SF/fantasy.

So there's your answer, and my comment to Dave (which I pretty much just implied above) was going to be that you'd be *really* surprised what you can get away with singing in a filk circle.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

I could probably get away with singing Gordon Lightfoot -- in fact, I was planning to sing one of his just as the hotel staff came in and effectively threw us out. Beatles? Maybe not so much...

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Here's a recursive (because it's a filksong) Definition of Filk (http://filk.cracksandshards.com/DefFilk.html), even if you don't know (either of) the tune(s).

I'll add that a number of non-filk, non-sf, non-fantasy, non-science songwriters and performers are popular with many filkers. Off the top of my head I'd name Tom Lehrer, Stan Rogers, Flanders & Swann, and Weird Al Yankovic.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Most of the non-{filk|sf|fantasy|science} songwriters and performers popular among filkers are comedic. (Certainly three of the four you mentioned, and partially Stan Rogers too.) I think that's another common thread.

FWIW, I'm a big Tom Lehrer fan and can sing most of his songs without too much help. Unfortunately, to really do his work justice requires a full width piano, which I would gladly play (and reasonably well too), but such a beast isn't easy to find at most of the cons I've been to.

[cellio]

First off, I think it's completely valid to receive an arts award for ensemble work. Yes, the ensemble performs as a whole, but each member contributes different levels of individual skill, team-building, arranging, organizing, and all that good stuff. Sometimes an ensemble would fall apart without that one core musician who isn't in charge but is the inspiration, the mark to aim for, etc. (I don't know your ensemble in enough detail to make specific comments for you; I'm speaking generally.)

You and I have similar performance constraints in both the SCA and filk contexts. I don't play a suitable accompaniment instrument; while I'm a good a-capella singer, it can be hard in certain types of filk circles. Further, like you, I'm more of a folk singer. And I think filk circles are, in general, not all that interested in covers of stuff that's been around for a while; while the original performer can keep bringing out classics, others have more trouble doing so. So, bottom line, I don't know a lot of filk songs and I'm not putting in the work to stay ahead of the freshness curve. So, when I go to filk circles, I mostly sit and listen because I feel like I would be imposing otherwise.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Yes, I understand where you're coming from w/r/t performing.

I will say that going to Conterpoint has given me a better insight into some things, which may help me in future. I've also picked up a couple of songs; blackpaladin has said I can sing the song he wrote on the way down, and I think I might ask cadhla for permission to try "Evil Laugh" at Darkover... if I can find someone to accompany me. (In A minor; Am, C, Dm, E, E7, F, and G would be the chords needed, methinks.)