tardis_stowaway (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tardis_stowaway) wrote2011-01-23 01:23 am
tardis_stowaway) wrote2011-01-23 01:23 am
How is fanfic like banjo music?
Tonight 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.
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I am reminded, too, of visual kei bands and the people who follow them. They go to tiny, tiny venues jammed packed with people... mostly all the same people from the last venue they saw two cities ago. People followed "their" band like fans follow their fandoms/writers, adding to the entirety of the performance by performing acts of devotion like choreographed synchronized dancing. It was quite an experience to subsume my identity into the crowd dancing body to body with everyone and knowing if I messed up I'd hit someone in the face with my fan. Sort of like fandom! :D
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I had to google visual kei. That sounds like a fascinating immersive experience, and I see your point about the fandom parallels! Certainly some people in fandom spend a lot of time acting like they've just been hit in the face with a fan. :)
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSSrRHRr2Sk
(I always stood in the back, where it was less crowded and thus less likely for me to accidentally hit someone in the face... rather like my approach to fandom, actually!)
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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."
I hit the character limit. Woohoo! So, Part the Second.
It's the middle ground that I have trouble with, the "I like these two characters and it would be *totally awesome* if they fell in love, so that's what I'm going to write"; the "I'm going to do something no one's done before: 'Character X in Time Period Y'", or what-have-you; the "I want to have adventures, too, so I'll insert myself into this storyline". I mean, if writing that sort of thing makes that person happy, I say go for it, but the lack of respect/forethought shown for the source material bugs me. If you're creating for yourself, it's one thing, but if you present your work for public consumption, you should keep in mind that this is also art and that there should be an overarching point that can affect people other than yourself. Just as in playing for a dance, you should ask yourself whether doing something strange and out of the ordinary is really a good idea; are you klezmer-izing a contra tune because you think it's a good idea for the dancers to experience something new and you think they'll get something out of it, or are you doing it because you like klezmer tunes?
...and, after having looked at the clock and noticed that I've been in the process of writing this (off and on) for 3 hours, I think I'll try to wrap up by saying that I didn't really intend to be as argumentative as this came out. I think it's just that we approach this confluence of musical creativity and fandom from opposite sides; you emphasize the creative aspect and the inspirational drive, while I focus on the history and trying to ensure that the original work/style doesn't get lost in the outburst of creativity and interpretation.
Re: I hit the character limit. Woohoo! So, Part the Second.