Daily Doings at the Line of Death Bar & Grill

After taking off a year from all filk conventions, I attended OVFF this year.

Rather than give a detailed con report, I'll give some of my own personal highlights as buillet points:
- Arriving early enough on Friday afternoon to talk with fellow attendees. Most were happy to see me and were glad I attended. (That was not my experience two years ago.)
- Performing "Starlight and Saxophone" with billroper, who was drafted at the 11th hour to play the song after filkertom was unable to attend due to missing car keys.
- Listening to Copy Red Leader while I was trying to figure out my new Novation Launchpad S controller.
- Karen Lindsley's concert.
- Being a "melodica ninja" at Debs & Errol's concert. (If I knew their song was to the tune of "If I Had A Million Dollars", and knew the key, I could have played it myself.)
- Hanging out with rms_butterfly and maedbh7 at the registration table.
- The Sunday afternoon jam, led by min0taur.
- The dead dog dinner party at BD's Mongolian Barbeque, and chatting with a convention attendee who knew of Raquy and Carmine.
- And most importantly for me, the feeling that I'm still wanted and welcome in the filk community.

( And why was this so important to me? )

This past weekend was the annual Ohio Valley Filk Festival in Columbus, Ohio.

Fri 10/21: Took the afternoon off from work so I could arrive at the con at a decent time. Met with jslove, whom I was rooming with foro the weekend. Found the registration table -- they were tucked away in a small room instead of being out in the open. Participated in the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, even though all I had to wear on my head was a baseball cap. Skipped the Pegasus Nominees concert to do some shopping at Micro Center and have dinner at Bravo. Came back to the hotel in time to attend and sit in on harperjen's harp workshop. Then went up to the room and crashed.

St 10/22: Had breakfast with fuzzyvanman, rms_butterfly, pondside, and Douglas in the hotel restaurant. I was still tired, so I went back up to the room to nap for a couple hours. Came back down to set up the gear for my Minimoog Workshop at 4pm. Sat in on gundo's blues workshop and min0taur's jamming workshop, while my instrument was getting warmed up. Then I moved the synth to the center of the room, explained and demonstrated what each of the knobs and switches did, and let people play around. robin_june and a few other folks took their turn. After the workshop was over, I packed up my gear and hung with maedbh7 in the registration room. Went to the Banquet and sat at a table with billroper, catalana, her husband Steve, Juanita, and scifantasy. After the banquet was over, I congratulated cadhla on her Pegasus Award wins, and then went back to the room for another nap. Came back down to listen to 19 Action News play....from a safe distance. Then went back upstairs for the night.

Sun 10/23 Packed up the car and paid my share of the hotel room. Had breakfast again in the hotel restaurant, this time by myself. Then left for home to pick up M. She played computer games all day. Took her home and had dinner at Burger King. It must have taken me 10 minutes to get my sandwich. Next time: Smashburger instead.

Yesterday, allisona posted about the history of her group, Urban Tapestry, and all the people who have influenced the group from its inception until now. She also asked about everyone else's musical links.

( Here's my filk music history. )

I'd like to get back into the swing of things, but I have a daughter to raise (with the help of her mother), an uncertain employment future, lots of stuff to do at home (namely, the ongoing decluttering project), and a parent to keep track of.

Had lunch with maedbh7 yesterday. One of the many things we talked about was how the filk community is oriented toward solo musicians. Ensemble players such as her and myself don't often get a chance to perform.

Years ago, there used to be instabands -- groups of filkers who would get together, rehearse, and perform a song during a convention. I think the only impromptu ensemble in filk these days is Philip Textor's Chamberfilk, which I've been a part of.

So, how can we get this ball started? Who else would be interested in such a project?

I started getting into music when I was young. When I was 5, my parents got me a three-octave, 12-button-chord Organaire organ for Christmas. They thought it was a good way for me to develop my eye-hand coordination, which at the time was pretty horrible. They soon upgraded the organ to a Thomas Californian 261 organ. I guess they liked the young man who played organ at the mall so much that they wanted me to be like him. Ugh.

In 4th grade, at the urging of my parents, I started clarinet lessons. In junior high, I transitioned from clarinet to alto clarinet to bass clarinet. I played bass clarinet in my high school marching band, wind ensemble, and pit orchestra for the school musicals. When I started college, I put the clarinet in the closet. (The bass clarinet belonged to the school district, so it stayed behind.) I didn't even play in the pep band. After I graduated from college, I met some filkers -- science fiction fans who were musicians. And so I started hanging with that crowd. I also dug out the clarinet I had stashed away years before.

( I liked playing again. )

Back when the original Battlestar Galactica series aired, I thought about doing a parody of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sounds Of Silence" to reflect the show. (This was back before I even discovered filk.) But alas, the words never came, and the only thing I could come up with was that the words "of Cylons" would be sung in a Cylon voice.

One Google search later, and I'm proud to say that someone else had the same idea, picked up the ball, and ran with it. The words are here: http://www.amiright.com/parody/60s/simonandgarfunkel108.shtml

I am so adding this to my covers book.

As a keyboard player, former high school band member, and composer, I often "hear" or imagine lines of music in my head that are played by specific instruments. I'll say to myself, "This needs to be played by a French horn", or "A flute line would be nice here". I'll even imagine solo or counter-solo lines in other people's songs. For example, "The Lady" cries out for a cello line starting in verse 2 behind/underneath the vocals, and "Saxophone In Spring" needs a soprano sax part in the background. (Alto sax would do, but a soprano sax has a higher, brighter sound.) And I can imagine a blistering synth solo in "Cold Butcher".

This is where having a synthesizer workstation comes in very handy. I can hammer out the line on the keyboard, using an orchestral instrument sound or patch. And I can hear the sound as I imagined it. And with the right software, I can even print out a part for that instrument.

I like to play with sounds as if they are colors in a box of crayons. If I had one instrument, such as an acoustic guitar or clarinet, I'm limited to one color. But with many instruments -- or one that can closely mimic others -- that gives me more crayons to play with. I call that box of crayons my "sonic palette".

( Some of my favorite keyboard sounds )