From: eg1n+@andrew.cmu.edu (Eli Brian Goldberg)
Newsgroups: alt.music.filk
Subject: Re: Myth Debunking 101
Date: 15 Nov 92 16:34:43 GMT
	<1992Nov15.074210.24533@netcom.com>
Organization: Sophomore, H&SS general, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

[Lynn Gold writes...]
>In article <kf1Kv1C00iV043y1BB@andrew.cmu.edu> Eli Brian Goldberg
<eg1n+@andrew
>.cmu.edu> writes:

>>It's probably a bit too late, but I know when Kathy [Mar] was a child, she
>>had the same guitar restrictions on her first guitar --- she replaced
>>the steel strings with plastic strings, and had much fewer problems with it.
> 
>I did, although I had to wait for one of the strings to break before
>Dad would let me replace them...

[Hmm...In that situation, I probably would have "accidentally" tried to tune
all the strings an octave higher and be so saddened when they all mystriously
broke...

>I'll ask Kathy about her nerve damage; we ought to compare notes.
> 
>>...in your case, (IMHO), it seemed reasonbly complex, but in need
>>of a bit of "stablization" or "smoothness".  
> 
>She's often on my case to simplify my material, but the music theoretician
>in me won't stand for it.  I rarely write three-chord songs because they
>seem so dull to me.

With no offense, you might want to try simplifying a few songs, and then get
a few filkers who haven't heard them and try a "blind taste test" to see if
there's one they all definitely prefer.  Interestingly, the pathetically simple
guitar work I do on _Wizard of Macke Town_ seems to create a much better
"mood" effect then if I...say...did a, "How would Leslie play this if she
was stoned, drunk and hadn't slept for a week?" arrangement simply because
it's smooth enough that I can get a lot more control over the emotional
"feel"..

No, I don't know how to explain what I mean...umm...Have you heard Julia
Ecklar perform _The Ballad of the Flying D_?  The guitar work is pathetically
simple, and can be picked up in a matter of minutes w/chords.  I can't even
play it because my hands start putting in the melody line, and I can't seem
to stop them.  BUT --- it's _astoundingly_ effective.  I was a bit
curious about
why, and I felt incredibly strange one day, so in between classes [20 minutes
total trip...;-] for one day, I listened to it over and over again.  And
I _think_ I understand most of what Julia is doing in that she's literally
setting moods, foreshadowing, adding in emotion, etc, just through the guitar.
(i.e. The intro/beginning sets a feeling of calmness AND tension at the same
time; kinda like the "pressure" feeling before a storm, with occasional 
increase in volume during "stressed" periods, goes to a few strums for
foreshadowing the storm with the intensity of the strumming being pretty
much related to how "critical" the event is, the fingerpicking in the part
with the devil does the same effect as the beginning, you get the idea.)

It's all pathetically simple, and could never be pulled off by a mortal being
[I will make an exception for Leslie Fish and probably Kristoph Klover...]
with more complex guitar work; the simplicity is critical in order to make it
sufficiently smooth to pull off all the necessary subtleties that you mostly
don't notice [ok, the average Joe Listener who doesn't play guitar..], but
DO have a pronounced effect on the listener.  The guitar work I do on it
is roughly an order a magnitude more complex, but doesn't sound anywhere near
as good, IMHO.  

[Likewise, listen to me do the guitar work on _Rimmon_ and then listen to
Fish's work. I dare say that my left hand work probably is more complex.
So what?  Leslie does some neat trumpet fanfares (!) with the guitar when I
just get the melody line in... ;]

>>Ah...are you one of those unfortunate college graduates who have one
>>of those obscure things...what do people call them nowadays?  A "life"?
>>Since I've never obtained one, I've never had to deal with the unfortunate
>>time constraints that result from it... ;)
> 
>Who said anything about a LIFE?  I work multiple jobs, write and practice
>music, and rehearse with my filk group instead of working multiple jobs and
>going to school.

That's compared to my average day of:

Wake up
Make/Eat Breakfast
Cram all the homework I didn't finish from last night
Go to Classes
Eat Lunch
Possibly go to more classes
Do Homework
Play Guitar
Possibly go jogging
Go to Sleep

(repeat if [DAY= weekday] and month IN [September, October, November...]
until (year = 1995) ;) 

(with exceptions for conventions, etc... you get the idea...)

>Speaking of which...to all of you out there, how much time do you spend
>practicing?  I'd especially like to hear from some of the "pros" on this.

I _KNOW_ I'm nitpicking, but quoting the ConCertino program book, "At 
filk conventions, the Listener Guest is somewhat like the Fan Guest
of Honor at other conventions.  For filk, that would be redundant; there
are no professional filkers."  I know you're aware of this fact, or you
wouldn't have quoted "pros", but may I request/suggest that you use the
expression "big-name fan" or "well-known filker" in lieu of pro?  I'm
probably more picky about this than I should be since the main person
I've heard preach about "professional" filkers [The people who work with this
person] vs. amateur filkers [The people who don't work with this person] 
is the antithesis of professionalism in my mind, and I don't like
artificial distinctions (read: BARRIERS) being formed in the community I
pretty much live in.  No offense intended.


  "Carnegie Mellon: Where the fun never stops --- because it never starts!" 
 Internet: eg1n@andrew.cmu.edu Filknet: "Hey, you with the 12-string guitar!"
 SnailMail: Eli Goldberg, Box 4352, 5115 Margaret Morrison Rd, Pitt, PA 15213