![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
How is fanfic like banjo music?
Jan. 23rd, 2011 01:23 amTonight I went to a concert of old-time music by Evie Ladin and her band, part of a local concert series in an old barn converted into a community center. The music was excellent, able to set feet stomping or move my heart. In addition to the usual bluegrass instruments like her banjo, the group also did body percussion, and at one point the string bass player pulled out a bass harmonica. I had no idea that harmonicas came in bass, but apparently they do. It was a lot larger than a normal harmonica; you wonder if bass harmonica players get teased about compensating.
Most of the music I've seen live in the past few years has been in really small venues like this, like coffeehouses, contra dances, free community outdoor concerts, etc. Though the music I listen to at home includes plenty of genres like alternative, pop, and rock, the large majority of the live music I hear is folk and traditional music. While at the concert tonight, it occurred to me that there's a certain similarity between this niche of music and what we do in fandom.
The emphasis in traditional-style music is not producing something staggeringly new. Artists play plenty of covers of tunes that have been around for centuries and songs written by other contemporary artists, and even when they write original tunes they are working with a set musical vocabulary rather than trying to make something utterly unlike anything that came before. However, there is still ample room for individuality in old playing styles, and there's tremendous artistry involved in making an ancient tune one's own. Fandom is also not about creating something never before seen, but there is still plenty of creativity in making someone else's characters shine in a way unique to the fic writer.
Both fandom and traditional-style music emphasize community and participation. The concert I was at tonight featured an open jam session before the main performance started. Other community members participated by organizing the event, doing the sound, or arranging refreshments, and everyone in the audience gave feedback directly to the artist with our tapping feet and applause or talking to band members during the intermission. At a contra dance, the musicians and the dancers collaborate to create the beauty of the dance. In fandom, everyone is encouraged to pick up a metaphorical fiddle by writing their own fic if they feel like it, but they can also participate by making vids or fanart, hosting comms, etc., and even those who don't create or organize can still interact directly with authors in a way that TV and mainstream literature don't allow.
The point is making something that people enjoy, not money. Of course, many musicians, unlike fic writers, are trying to earn a living through their art, and I try to put my money where my ears are in support of them. Still, they know they could probably be making more money doing something else. Some of them have day jobs. It's about love of the creative process, love of the audience appreciation, love of listening or reading. Sometimes the songs and stories have a larger purpose, like protesting for social change or empowering a character neglected by canon, while other times they're just fun tunes to dance to or fun stories about favorite characters having sex. It's all part of the community.
People have made music and told stories since long before there was any way of recording them. It's in our souls. There is value in a well-played tune or a well-told tale: original or derivative, high art or low, for an audience of millions or a dozen. Capitalistic society has tried to convince us to follow a large-scale, top-down approach to stories and music, and the money mobilized by this approach allows for some pretty impressive creations. That's great, but it's not the only worthy way to create or enjoy other people's creations. The community of fandom is as grassroots as bluegrass and just as full of life and beauty.
Most of the music I've seen live in the past few years has been in really small venues like this, like coffeehouses, contra dances, free community outdoor concerts, etc. Though the music I listen to at home includes plenty of genres like alternative, pop, and rock, the large majority of the live music I hear is folk and traditional music. While at the concert tonight, it occurred to me that there's a certain similarity between this niche of music and what we do in fandom.
The emphasis in traditional-style music is not producing something staggeringly new. Artists play plenty of covers of tunes that have been around for centuries and songs written by other contemporary artists, and even when they write original tunes they are working with a set musical vocabulary rather than trying to make something utterly unlike anything that came before. However, there is still ample room for individuality in old playing styles, and there's tremendous artistry involved in making an ancient tune one's own. Fandom is also not about creating something never before seen, but there is still plenty of creativity in making someone else's characters shine in a way unique to the fic writer.
Both fandom and traditional-style music emphasize community and participation. The concert I was at tonight featured an open jam session before the main performance started. Other community members participated by organizing the event, doing the sound, or arranging refreshments, and everyone in the audience gave feedback directly to the artist with our tapping feet and applause or talking to band members during the intermission. At a contra dance, the musicians and the dancers collaborate to create the beauty of the dance. In fandom, everyone is encouraged to pick up a metaphorical fiddle by writing their own fic if they feel like it, but they can also participate by making vids or fanart, hosting comms, etc., and even those who don't create or organize can still interact directly with authors in a way that TV and mainstream literature don't allow.
The point is making something that people enjoy, not money. Of course, many musicians, unlike fic writers, are trying to earn a living through their art, and I try to put my money where my ears are in support of them. Still, they know they could probably be making more money doing something else. Some of them have day jobs. It's about love of the creative process, love of the audience appreciation, love of listening or reading. Sometimes the songs and stories have a larger purpose, like protesting for social change or empowering a character neglected by canon, while other times they're just fun tunes to dance to or fun stories about favorite characters having sex. It's all part of the community.
People have made music and told stories since long before there was any way of recording them. It's in our souls. There is value in a well-played tune or a well-told tale: original or derivative, high art or low, for an audience of millions or a dozen. Capitalistic society has tried to convince us to follow a large-scale, top-down approach to stories and music, and the money mobilized by this approach allows for some pretty impressive creations. That's great, but it's not the only worthy way to create or enjoy other people's creations. The community of fandom is as grassroots as bluegrass and just as full of life and beauty.