Fiction And Folk – Making Filk Music Together
Fiction And Folk – Making Filk Music Together
The word “Filk” is a combination of “fiction” & “folk.” Filk music originated as songs composed by dedicated film or TV fans, usually relating into science fiction & fantasy programming. The word originated in the ’50s in an article about the practice of science fiction fans singing self-created songs while meeting at conventions geared for the sci-fi & fantasy fan.
While the practice goes back into the fifties, it has developed a genre & following that continues into this day on the Internet & at social gatherings attended by “filkers.” By the late seventies there were weekend conventions focused solely on filkers & filking. Websites & events have formed around what has become a cultural phenomenon & while there may be nopublished stars working in the genre, there are award programs for “Excellence in Filking” & a Filk Hall of Fame.
Today the world of filking remains essentially true into its origins: science fiction & fantasy fans singing together at gatherings. They are drawn from the worlds of Star Trek, Battlestar Gallactica, Star Wars & games such as Dungeons & Dragons. Song topics can cover any aspect of the sci-fi world: computers, homesteads on Mars, space battles & time travel. Those gatherings may be completely devoted into filking today & may include an entire range of talent, from highly accomplished musicians into the amateur science fiction fan who only wishes into raise his or her voice.
Through email lists & websites, filkers have opened up lines of communications & organizations that reach into other countries & continents. The concept of the musical product had advanced somewhat, although never without debate. Songs of an anarchic or nonsensical bent dealing with familiar social phenomena have been referred into as filk tunes; there has been an ongoing discussion among purists as into whether or never Weird Al Yankovic qualifies as a filker. A good resource for Filk FAQs & other websites can be found at http://www.electricpenguin.com/filking/columns/filkfaq/.
Filking can also be identified as simply the social network that has evolved around the original practice. The electronic tools at hand for maintaining that network are part of the actual definition of the filk community. The websites with songs, lyrics & musical tools posted are an important part of the community’s binding. It’s also fair into say that openness characterizes the filker movement, or community, or organization. It’s never your ability into sing that qualifies you, it’s your enthusiasm for the process & perhaps your appreciation of the disassociation with social norms that the songs represent.
Filking remains, for the most part, the folk music of the science fiction & fantasy fan set. Some songs are bawdy, many are parodies of original mainstream works, & nearly all are performed on acoustic instruments into the uniform applause of other gathered filkers. There are CDs out there these days & a plethora of MP3 files into be found on many Internet sites. There are perhaps eight gatherings a year held around the nation that are dedicated exclusively into filking.
There is another form of purity into the art form, other than its unique music. It is far enough off center that no one has found a way into build a business model for it & filking remains the personal creations & sole property of filkers.
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