| Gafilk video |
[Apr. 21st, 2009|02:10 pm] |
This video includes clips of our own ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) chirosinger as well as some other well-known filkers.
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| Minicon- beacoup kudos to Chas |
[Mar. 25th, 2008|05:08 pm] |
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The music track was most excellent.
There was a real feeling of rebuilding community throughout the con and especially in the music circles.
Jamming 101 helped.
Many suggestions from the Jamming 101 panel were used in the music circle that night which made for a really nice musical experience.
Some of the suggestions were as follows:
- Tune your instrument
- Pick your song before your turn comes up.
- If you are new to a circle, pick something short and easy when you enter a circle. If at a con, humorous helps.
- When joining a circle, keep in mind that you are joining a community with spoken and unspoken rules.
- Announce the key or the first chord so the instrumentalist have a better shot at picking up the tune -or- if not too long, play through
- If your are not sure of the tune, play/sing very softly until you are.
- Encourage jams by listening then calling out the person you want to solo....avoids cacophony.
- A jam is a conversation - Listen to what themes are going on in the circle and choose your next song based on what is being played.
I know there was alot of information and I'm sure I missed a point of two.
Group Sing was fun fun fun.
I enjoyed leading the group sing and hope to do it again next year. I will be making some changes to help it flow better and work toward having some time to continue the sing after the lead portion is over.
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| Thank you! |
[Mar. 23rd, 2008|07:43 pm] |
Thanks, Chas. The music programming at Minicon was a wonderful addition to the convention and the music circles were terriffic!
I can't say how much I appreciate the rare opportunity to get together with you and other Mnstf musicians, and the wide variety of musicians who turn out for the convention. It's a real treat, and thank you for organizing things this year (and next!)
(My concern that some people who might appreciate the music missed it because of its distance from the food and drink, is in no way a reflection on the great job you did in managing things - I know space allocation is decided by others, who have to balance music programming with other concerns.) |
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| Minicon Music |
[Mar. 19th, 2008|02:32 pm] |
Hi! The Minicon Website has lots of information up now on parties, art show, dealer's room, etc., but I can't find anything there on music.
Specifically, will there be a room available for some filk/open music on Friday night?
thx |
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| Minicon 43 Concerts |
[Mar. 1st, 2008|01:53 pm] |
This seems as good place as any to announce the Minicon 43 concert line up.
Friday March 21:
8:00 Peggy O'Neill
9:00 Dave Clement
10:00 Graham Leathers
Saturday March 22:
7:00 3 Pints Gone
8:00 Riverfolk
9:00 Nate and Louie Bucklin
10:00 Eric Coleman
Other music programing will include panels on jamming, songwriting, and performing. A group sing is planned as well. There may be room for some spontaneous participatory events in between these. |
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| NYTimes on Rise Up Singing |
[Feb. 13th, 2008|09:57 am] |
New York Times article on Rise Up Singing circles
Toshi Seeger, Pete’s wife, led a singalong group in a tent. Ms. Potter saw the same people returning day after day to sit cross-legged and sing, and she realized that participation was folk music’s core pleasure.
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“I’ve watched so many concerts, and I know what works,” Ms. Potter said. “When people are singing, you’re giving them the power, you’re giving them the music.”
Peter Blood agrees. “A lot of the experience of music in our culture is listening to someone else sing,” he said. “What I find exciting about community sings is that people feel they own the music.”
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At 88 Mr. Seeger is still a song leader, helping to run a singalong at the monthly meeting of a volunteer environmental organization near his home in Beacon, N.Y. “I like the sound of average voices more than trained voices,” he said. “Especially kids singing a little off pitch. They have a nice, rascally sound.”
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| Ok. So I threw my posts up and sat back to watch the comments. |
[Nov. 16th, 2007|07:50 pm] |
I just sat down to add my own comments and found the need to repeat some in several places. So here they are on their own.
Size of circle: Any size can work and has. I called for an ideal. Keep in mind, my expectation is a jam. Six song leaders (no more than eight) with a scattering of accompanying musicians. I would also welcome the occasional spoken word or acapella performer stepping in. My experience varies widely form this and I appreciate that broad experience, but pressed for an ideal this may be it.
Managing the circle: I am currently the music head for two conventions in the coming year. I hope to enlist the help of a few of the prominent musicians attending to participate in this. First an agreement to participate in the open circles. Secondly to break out and split up if there is a need to make a too large circle into smaller ones. I would also like to provide an opportunity for the featured musicians to participate together in a public showcase jam.
More about the jam: (Most of this was in an individual comment, but I thought I would bring it out here.) The band of the moment that is a jam is unrehearsed. The skill one develops is to find a piece to add.
Jamming regularly has been my greatest training ground as a musician. The bar where I go regularly hosts an open jam that sees players from a wide variety of genres. It is different every time, but some of the regulars and semi-regulars include folk, blues, rock, bluegrass, jazz, flamenco, and Irish. A lot of guitars played in a variety of styles, with doses of mandolin, fiddle, bass, flute, harmonica and other assorted instruments. A couple of weeks ago there was a jazz saxophone player in the mix.
As I've gained experience jamming I've learned to find something to add in most cases. In doing so I have taken much away with me to add to my musical arsenal. |
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| The Jam |
[Nov. 15th, 2007|11:26 am] |
I tend to think of music circles as jams. Not everybody does.
My experience in playing with other people comes out of bluegrass festival campfires, open jams at bars and “Minnesota” style circles at cons. These are cultures in which while you are not leading a song, it is not only accepted that you play along it is almost implicitly expected that you do. There are those that play their song, then sit back and wait until their turn comes round again. But this is not the norm.
Something I often see when people describe filk circles is some kind of reference to people singing out of notebooks without instruments. This in and of itself is more common in the filk circles of my experience. There is other commentary often following this description that is less than fair. I think it is a cultural difference. I think that the people I know who “don’t like filk” have different cultural expectations. They are quite willing to make many exceptions when it comes down to specific cases, but don’t see filk as the jamming culture they expect.
There is a continuum here. At one end is what in essence is a series of recitals given in turn to the other members of the circle. At the other end are frenzied, extended instrumental jams with everybody playing at once with individual leads in turn. I’m not particularly attracted to either end. I will pass over hymnal sings at cons and fiddle jams at festivals. I’ve been identified as one of several who are bridging the gap between folk and filk. I don’t see a gap. If one moves a little farther away from the end of that continuum they are most comfortable with, much common ground can be found. There is a cultural difference. Multi-culturalism can be rewarding. Good music is good music. |
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| Size Matters. |
[Nov. 15th, 2007|11:25 am] |
People have made the claim to me often that big circles don’t work, aren’t fun, drive musicians away, etc. I have come to agree now that this is generally true. I came to accept this slowly and use the “generally” qualifier, because I have experienced very large circles that have worked. About five years ago at Minicon, the music circle was held in a gymnasium sized room. There may have been as many as twenty musicians in the circle. It was bardic and took well over an hour to make it around. It was sheer magic. It was also the exception.
By and large, my best experiences in music circles have been in much smaller groups. I am all for the shared community experience that the circle of music brings. But trying to be all inclusive can backfire and lead to a circle that by it’s very workings becomes exclusive of its participants and is unattractive to some who might otherwise join in. I saw this all happen in the Sunday night circle at OVFF.
I think it has to go beyond just make other space available, although that would certainly help. I think it needs to be managed in some way. I have some ideas on this, but call for comments now.
So, here I am doing something I was going to try to avoid, calling for comments on more that one thing in a single post.
What is the ideal size for a music circle?
How can the size of music circles at cons be managed? |
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| It is time to jump start this forum again. |
[Nov. 15th, 2007|11:24 am] |
First a couple of comments:
I have in recent weeks experienced music circles at two new (to me) conventions, OVFF and Windycon. I have gained an appreciation for chaos circles have experienced a few now that really worked. I’m still a fan of bardic, but now know chaos can work.
I have come to realize that the perhaps the single factor that can make a circle less enjoyable may well be size.
I overlooked a kind of music circle or rather a way of approaching any type music circle: The Jam.
I think I’ll post those last two separately and invite comment. |
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| OVFF Progress Report 2 |
[Sep. 25th, 2007|09:33 pm] |
OVFF 23
October 26-28, 2007
Crowne Plaza Columbus - Dublin Hotel
Columbus, OH USA
(same hotel, different name)
All Dorsai.
All the time.
Until I can get this info electronically to our con's webmaster, I'm putting it up here:
http://robin-june.livejournal.com/2888.html
And cross-posting to several filk communities. |
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| The Invitational Music Party |
[Jun. 20th, 2007|12:31 pm] |
This is a themed party. Whether it be at a convention or at someone’s home, this is a party where the host has chosen to dress their party with musicians. In a sense, the musicians are both attendees and theme related décor. If the theme was Tiki lounge, you could expect to see torches, palm fronds and bamboo. It goes with the theme. If the theme were Dr Who, the host might opt to show video of the latest run of the series. If someone showed up with 30-year-old shows of their favorite Dr, the host might choose to show them or might stick to the chosen theme of the “new” Dr. “It’s my party and I’ll do what I want to.” The invitational music party is “dressed” with a circle of musicians selected and invited by the host.
( Much more ) |
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| Kinds of Music Circles |
[Jun. 19th, 2007|12:19 pm] |
What follows is built on facts, observations and opinion. Mine. If your experience is different, relate that view. That is how this forum is supposed to work.
There are several variables that affect the nature (flavor, feel) of a music circle. The musicians themselves present a mix of style, taste, ability and instruments that is highly variable. But there are some understood ground rules that generally define who participates, when and how much. This gives rise to two kinds of circles, ( Bardic and Chaos. ) |
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| Music at Minicon. Past, present and future. |
[Jun. 18th, 2007|03:16 pm] |
Mention of Minicon and music in the same breath tends to bring up reactions ranging from open-faced anger to warm nostalgia. Music at Minicon has a history that seems to me, given this range of response, to live largely outside of fact. I may not have heard it all, but I think I have heard enough. My experience with music at Minicon has been mostly good. It was one of the pivotal events that brought music back to me and me back to music several years ago. The history referred to above is not mine. I am dealing with what music at Minicon is now and what it will be. I can see that commenting on that past MAY help in shaping this future, but I am doubtful.
One of the things that will happen in this forum will be to shape what part music will take at the next Minicon and beyond. I can’t change the past, but I have taken on the task of building the future. My goal is simple. “Minicon: Musicians Welcome.” Contribute to that future.
I have made this an open and un-moderated community. If negativity and vitriol begin to pervade, that will change quickly. A circle of music is a circle of friends. |
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| Welcome to Circle of Music |
[Jun. 18th, 2007|01:05 pm] |
Here it finally is! Over two months ago, I said I would start this LJ community. Initially it was proposed as a forum to talk about music at Minicon. There were several discussions raging in the wake of Minicon 42 and I had agreed to be in charge of music at Minicon 43 These discussions were getting heated, angry, personal and spiraling out of control and civility. I called a time out. I am pleased at how responsive this community was to that call. I did not intend the time out to last this long.
Many of you contacted me in one way or another with suggestions and support for the creation of this forum. Several people thought a broader focus than the upcoming convention would be better. I agree, so this is going to be broader than even many of them suggested. It is going to reflect my experience and interaction with a variety of music communities. When I began playing again about seven years ago I began seeking out and playing with other musicians. (Something I hadn’t done in the past). At festivals, conventions, coffeehouses, bars and homes, musicians of a wide variety styles and abilities have shared a singular experience with me. I am a better musician and a better person for it. The story of my musical awakening will continue in my own LJ site, but in this site I hope to give back to those communities.
I puzzled over the name of this LJ community. Several suggestions were made. One of my favorites was “Schrödinger’s Musician”, thank you fredcritter. Taking from Grisman/Garcia recordings, I think of the music that most friends and I do as handmade music. Alas, that name was in use (in German no less). I could have used a variant of that, but thought it might be confusing to find. So I have settled on “Circle of Music.”
Welcome |
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hopeful