Just to clarify, a "filk circle" doesn't necessarily have to be a circle, though it is usually shaped that way. A filk circle is a gathering of filkers who wish to make music together, to perform their own music, or a combination of both. Filk circles are generally informal, with everyone being invited to participate, unless otherwise explicitly stated, such as an official convention panel where only certain filkers are performing (with everyone else being in the listening audience).

Chaos filk circles

In a chaos filk circle, there are no rigid "rules" about who gets to sing. People jump in with a song when they feel they have a good follower to a song that has just been performed, or when they feel like it.

Advantages:
Because filkers can "follow" with appropriate songs, there is a more natural ebb and flow to the atmosphere and energy in the room.

Disadvantages:
In large circles, the more aggressive or outgoing performers tend to be heard more often, and filk-hogging is more of a possibility. Less confident performers, those without instruments, or those sitting further back, are less likely to be able to "jump in" for their turn.

Bardic filk circles

In a bardic filk circle, there is a regimented system to make sure that everyone who wants to sing gets a chance to sing. The simplest bardic system is just to go around the circle, one person at a time. Each person can pick, pass, or play. "Pick": pick a person to perform (if they're willing), or song for someone else to perform. "Pass": forfeit your turn. "Play": perform a song.

I've seen poker chips and coloured beads used in bardic circles, with each person being handed one chip or bead. If you want to sing (or pick or pass), you throw your marker into the center of the circle. You can't sing again until everyone has thrown in their marker.

Advantages:
Everyone who wants to sing gets a chance to sing, including shy or insecure performers who would not have the courage to jump in and sing in a chaos filk circle. There is no filk-hogging.

Disadvantages:
Some don't like the regimented system because of the inability to "follow" a song with a related one (the marker system helps in this regard). Also, the predictability of performance order tends to determine the comings and goings of filkers in the circle. It can be humiliating for a less confident filker to find half the people in the circle suddenly deciding to take washroom or chat breaks once they realize that his turn is next.

Phil Parker points out that the wait for one's turn to sing can be painfully long in large bardic circles. He adds: "One of the major reasons given for why chaos is bad is filk-hogging, but I see much more filk-hogging in bardic circles than in chaos circles. That's because the "pick" requests tend to be directed very strongly to a small number of performers, or in some cases, a single performer. In the bardic circle, there may not be any element of the hogs being pushy or nasty about it, but the end result is the same -- a few people get to sing a lot, and the rest hardly at all."

ALSO SEE:

Welcome to the filk circle by Lee Gold.

FAQ entry: How To Have A Successful Chaos Filk Circle.

FAQ entry: How do I get a turn to sing in open filk?

Comments? Suggestions? Please post below.

You completely fail to mention the overwhelming drawback to bardic circles: if there is even a moderate sized crowd in the room, each performer has an extremely long wait between turns. If the average song takes 4 minutes (including time spent between songs on deciding whose turn it is, choosing the song, finding it in a book, introducing it, etc., the average is probably more than that) and there are 30 people in the room, it is two hours between turns. Even if the filk starts at 10, which is unusually early, and you are the first performer, that means you'll get 3 turns by 2 AM when enough people are usually getting tired and things are winding down. In a large room where the filking doesn't get going until midnight, it's quite possible to not get even a single turn. Of course, there is the possibility that one of the "audience" (the people who only choose to pick, rather than perform) will ask for one of your songs, but even if they do, they're not likely to ask for the new one you just got ready to sing in public this week, or the one that you really feel like doing right now. In my whole filking career, I can only recall one time that someone has picked a person, rather than a song. I don't know how other performers feel, but when I come to a filk, I try to have a small number of songs that I've specially practiced and want to do. If the sing is bardic, I don't get to do them.

One of the major reasons given for why chaos is bad is filk-hogging, but I see much more filk-hogging in bardic circles than in chaos circles. That's because the "pick" requests tend to be directed very strongly to a small number of performers, or in some cases, a single performer. In the bardic circle, there may not be any element of the hogs being pushy or nasty about it, but the end result is the same -- a few people get to sing a lot, and the rest hardly at all.

Proponents of the bardic circle claim that it is more fair, but I would argue that a big bardic circle is the most elitist form of open filk. Only the people with fans or friends in the audience get to play.

What you say is true, Phil, but a lot of the same arguments can be said about Chaos.

Large circles, whether Chaos or Bardic mean long waits. Unless, of course, people are passed over, in which case a small number of performers get to do more. Just the same as the pick problem in a Bardic. Bardic is more fair to those less experienced performers. The new filker, the shy filker, those who don't perform much, will have a better chance of being heard in a Bardic.

Large Chaos circles become amazingly cutthroat, and I think the main reason is many of the people in the circle are there to be heard, rather than there to participate in the community. Now, I am a performer and I do understand the desire to be heard, especially if you have something new, or specially prepared. But it is exactly the performers who are focused on themselves and being heard that causes the majority of the problems in circles.

So one easy solution is - don't let circles get too big. Split off a new circle. Find a smaller room. Filk circles are the BEST when they are a smaller number of people, at least smaller number of performers, involved. This works out better for the performers as well as the listeners.

To that performer who has a couple tunes that they just HAVE to have heard - nearly every filk convention as one-shots or something similar. This is what they are for - use them wisely. :)

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