I wish I had more experience with the communal side of fandom, since I feel somewhat ill-equipped to really get into this entry without that much knowledge of the topic; I don't really interact with other people in the context of fandom, and I'm not at all involved with any of the collective online communities dedicated to writing fiction/creating artwork/what-have-you.
That said, I sort of feel that I have to say something, both as a dance musician playing the sort of music you wrote about as well as because I think there's a lot of truth in this entry and it appealed to me in general.
I was thinking about your description of traditional music in the third paragraph and how that relates to my (admittedly limited) exposure to most of the elements of fandom that you write about. There are, as you said, two ways in which one can become involved in playing this sort of music: you can learn the old melodies, or you can write new ones. But in both cases, the activity is bound by the necessity of adherence to a certain number of forms, most notably a certain amount of respect for the history of the art itself. The primary complaint I see/hear about someone's newly-written tune is that "It doesn't sound X-ish enough", and there's always been a certain amount of objection from people who think that your rendition of some well-known tune managed to lose the essence of why that particular piece has survived through the decades/centuries, or even on a more basic level, that your style of playing doesn't fit with the musical tradition in question (I've found this attitude to be most prevalent in Irish circles, but I've also heard contra dancers complain that a particular band sounds 'too English'). But especially in the latter case, where you're modifying an already well-worn tune, I would argue that the true mark of artistry isn't making a tune your own -- that comes naturally, to a certain extent, just because you aren't the original author, you have a style of your own, etc. The hard part is in the inverse; keeping the essence of the old while you put your own stamp on the tune.
Of course, there's always the 'way out there' option, where you're doing something not so much because it's a traditional style of tune for that dance, but precisely because it's *not*. One of the bands I play with includes "Plastic Jesus" as one of our polkas, and we've also been known to throw Grieg's 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' into the B part of one of our reels, just because the chord structure is the same. What I enjoy about these sort of situations is that you get to figure out just *why* these sorts of things work, even though you wouldn't expect someone to be using such tunes. And through this, you gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the tradition/style of the music/dance itself.
Both of these musical approaches seem to inform what I generally have tended to like, as far as fan art/fiction go. If someone's trying to create a serious fan work, my primary concern tends to be whether or not he/she has remained true to the characters in question. Well-written is also necessary on some level, just as playing well/in tune is part of any good musical performance, but for me, it's been more a matter of "Do I believe this is really Character X?", as opposed to "Wow, that was an incredibly creative interpretation". Not that being inventive is bad, but if you're going a route of 'new over realistic', you should have a good reason for doing so. As you said, "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."
no subject
That said, I sort of feel that I have to say something, both as a dance musician playing the sort of music you wrote about as well as because I think there's a lot of truth in this entry and it appealed to me in general.
I was thinking about your description of traditional music in the third paragraph and how that relates to my (admittedly limited) exposure to most of the elements of fandom that you write about. There are, as you said, two ways in which one can become involved in playing this sort of music: you can learn the old melodies, or you can write new ones. But in both cases, the activity is bound by the necessity of adherence to a certain number of forms, most notably a certain amount of respect for the history of the art itself. The primary complaint I see/hear about someone's newly-written tune is that "It doesn't sound X-ish enough", and there's always been a certain amount of objection from people who think that your rendition of some well-known tune managed to lose the essence of why that particular piece has survived through the decades/centuries, or even on a more basic level, that your style of playing doesn't fit with the musical tradition in question (I've found this attitude to be most prevalent in Irish circles, but I've also heard contra dancers complain that a particular band sounds 'too English'). But especially in the latter case, where you're modifying an already well-worn tune, I would argue that the true mark of artistry isn't making a tune your own -- that comes naturally, to a certain extent, just because you aren't the original author, you have a style of your own, etc. The hard part is in the inverse; keeping the essence of the old while you put your own stamp on the tune.
Of course, there's always the 'way out there' option, where you're doing something not so much because it's a traditional style of tune for that dance, but precisely because it's *not*. One of the bands I play with includes "Plastic Jesus" as one of our polkas, and we've also been known to throw Grieg's 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' into the B part of one of our reels, just because the chord structure is the same. What I enjoy about these sort of situations is that you get to figure out just *why* these sorts of things work, even though you wouldn't expect someone to be using such tunes. And through this, you gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the tradition/style of the music/dance itself.
Both of these musical approaches seem to inform what I generally have tended to like, as far as fan art/fiction go. If someone's trying to create a serious fan work, my primary concern tends to be whether or not he/she has remained true to the characters in question. Well-written is also necessary on some level, just as playing well/in tune is part of any good musical performance, but for me, it's been more a matter of "Do I believe this is really Character X?", as opposed to "Wow, that was an incredibly creative interpretation". Not that being inventive is bad, but if you're going a route of 'new over realistic', you should have a good reason for doing so. As you said, "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."