Message-Id: <199810062238.SAA00280@xkey.com>
Subject: Re: minstrel: Re:  To All Filkers
To: Faulconess@aol.com
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 18:38:52 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Greg Lindahl" <lindahl@pbm.com>
Cc: minstrel@pbm.com
In-Reply-To: <95c44dbd.361a9a93@aol.com> from "Faulconess@aol.com" at Oct 6, 98 06:32:51 pm
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> I am also new to this list, so let me take this opportunity to "test the
> waters."  What is the general consensus of this list towards filk singing?

I don't think there is one, which is why I wrote this into the FAQ you
didn't ask for when you joined:

> 5. What's appropriate material to perform at an SCA event?
> 
> Ah, so you had to ask a *difficult* question!
> 
> This is a difficult question over which opinions are sometimes heated,
> so I hope that it won't cause any ill will on our little list. Suffice
> it to say that some folks are out for the appropriate SCA feel, which
> means that they do what _seems_ to them, and perhaps to a majority of
> SCAdians, to be pre-1600 material. On the other hand, other folks only
> perform material which is actually pre-1600. An example of the
> difference would be in ballads: many bards perform "traditional"
> ballads, which generally weren't written down until the middle 1700's.
> You can make the claim that perhaps some of these ballads might
> actually be very old, but that claim is where the heated discussion
> would start.
> 
> In the end, everyone must decide for themselves. I hope that this
> mailing list will be a good way to exchange material with like-minded
> and unlike-minded individuals, no matter what your opinion is, while
> avoiding flamewars which won't change anyone's mind.
> 
> 6. What about "filk"?
> 
> The practice of putting new words to an existing tune is quite period.
> Most british broadside ballads discussed in Livingston's book, for
> example, are sung to existing tunes, and weren't even printed with
> music. Filking new songs to _modern_ tunes is very popular in SciFi
> fandom, and also in the SCA. However, if your listeners know that
> you're singing a modern tune, they may not feel that the result is
> very medieval. And your idea of words that "sound medieval" might not
> be correct, either.

-- gb


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