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[two_star]

Back from Conflikt 6. I had a bit of a realization about filk. On the one hand, I truly loathe badfilk, but at the same time, if it weren't around, I wouldn't get nearly as much out of the filk circle experience. The filk circle that closed the con contained an unusual number of Real Musicians™. I am a very good singer, and my songwriting has

Comments

[mneme]

My opinion: you've solved the math wrong. The problem is, by your math, your best approach is to improve your skills to the point where you are near the median, then avoid circles that could have bad filkers in them and only associate with Real Musicians. There are a number of reasons that isn't ideal, starting with the fact that being inclusive (which is one of the things that makes filk filk) means being able to have strong performers and weak ones in the same circle. More, -someone- always has to be on the weak side of a circle; if your performance is enjoyable in a weak circle, it should also be enjoyable in a stronger one even if it's not -as- strong as most of the other performances; if it's not enjoyable in a strong circle, I'd warrant that even if you're above the median, it's not really that enjoyable in a weak circle either (except that the tastes of those in the weak circle may find it more acceptible, in theory).

Obviously, improving your performance and other skills is always useful. But it's not, in itself, sufficent.

Better things:

1. Filk gardening. Try to contribute to making filk circles you're in pleasant places to be not just with your own performance, but by discouraging filkhogs (especially weak ones, but really all of them) and requesting (and otherwise encouraging/helping to break in) strong performers that haven't gone for a while.

2. Work on becoming a better listener. There is a lot of goodfilk out there, and only a tiny handful of badfilk (a lot more "filk you aren't into at the moment"). Some filk is good because the lyrics are inventive and interesting. Some is good because even if the lyrics aren't that great, the tune is fun and you can happily harmonize or play along on it. Some is good because the singer is a very good performer and fun to watch/listen to. Being a better listener means being able to identify what makes a performance worthwhile and focus on enjoying that rather than being able only to see the parts that may not be perfect -- perhaps the singer isn't staying on the notes, but they're rhythmic enough that singing/playing along can improve the experience for everyone. Perhaps their voice/rhythm isn't the best, but the lyrics are good enough that it's funny/enjoyable if you treat it as a story or poem that happens to be set (nominally to music). Perhaps there are openings for schtick, and you can enjoy adding to the performance that way -- and so on.

3. Vote with your feet. In every circle, there comes a time when one must leave. When the circle is bad, this usually happens sooner rather than later (it helps if the con has more than one active circle, but there's always somewhere to try to start a new one even if there isn't somewhere -allocated- to do so). Knowing when it's time to leave (and when you can still do so with grace) is important, not least because if you're not having fun you may drag down the mood of the circle if you stay too long.

For my part...I can enjoy weak circles, and I can enjoy strong circles. (note: not all strong circles are the same. I've been in strong circles where I was comfortable performing reasonably frequently (and maybe harmonizing/playing along on other things). I've been in strong circles where I didn't, and mostly just stuck to harmony (unless, -maybe- I had a really amazing follower). I enjoy strong circles more -- not least because if I really want to perform a lot, there are places I can request and get a concert slot (probably more than I -want- a concert slot)--although the best circles, for my time, are the "everyone sings/plays along on -everything- ones where it almost doesn't matter who is leading what.

[two_star]

The level of inclusivity of the filk community is not entirely to my tastes. (I know that I benefit from it, and I recognize the irony.) I suspect that filk is driving away quite a few people with out of tune singing. (This isn't so much a problem at filk specific cons, where people know what they are getting. It's a pretty big problem at general cons, which is where the new blood is.) It would drive me away, but I like to write geeky songs and sing them, and short of having instrumental skills (or a bandmate with such skills) there is not actually anywhere else to go.

I know that being able to stand out of tune singing would make me a better person. I don't think this is anything I can work on, any more than I could work on my inability to stand bell peppers.

[mneme]

There are certainly people I won't encourage into filk circles as they have too low a tolerance for mediocre singing for them to (in my, and often, their opinion) find it comfortable.

That said, my advice was much more "learn to mitigate out of tune singing and make it more tolerable" rather than "learn to be able to stand it better." (also: learn to behave well in a stronger circle without bringing down the level of the circle -or- simply staying silent).

Functionally, one can deal with the presence of weaker performers in filk by any combination of:

1. Don't spend time in a circle that has weaker performers (this might mean only going to/giving concerts, being out-of-circle social and thus has a lot of drawbacks).

2. Learn to be able to stand the occasional weaker performer. This may involve having a computer or book (or musical insturment).

3. Encourage stronger performers and (gracefully) discourage weaker performers, so you don't have to listen to as many, as often.

4. Do things to help the weaker performers be less weak (some weaker performers can be pulled onto the melody with some help; some mind the help, some don't; again there is some knowledge that's required here. There were a couple of times at the Conflikt dead dog that I explicitly acted to soften a weak performance -- but my approach was different in each case based on what I knew (or didn't know) about the performer.

I usually use a combination, myself -- I prefer small circles in principle, but won't go into one if I think it's too weak for me (bigger circles tend to be dominated by stronger performers for a variety of reasons, but if one is going south I will generally do likewise).