The Sanity Project

Book discussion: Taking Funny Music Seriously   Recently updated !

This entry was posted in Music Reviews and tagged books filk humor music on by

An earlier version of this review is posted on my LibraryThing account.

I came across Taking Funny Music Seriously on Hoopla while doing research on P.D.Q. Bach. Half of a chapter is about P.D.Q., and it told me some things I hadn’t known, so it was worth it right there. It also has a lot to say about other people whose musical work I like: Dr. Demento, Weird Al, Tom Lehrer, Victor Borge, and more. I liked it enough that I’ve ordered a paperback copy.

Lily Hirsch writes, “I am a musicologist gone rogue.” She knows that humor is important. She rejects its dismissal as “just a joke”; that expression can trivialize an important insight, or it can excuse unnecessary nastiness. She complains, “We do not always take comedic music seriously because we aren’t supposed to consider and discuss it seriously. And we cannot consider and discuss it seriously because it’s funny music — unless, of course, the comedy crosses a certain line.” But she forges ahead regardless.

The book covers many areas, though it’s bound to the English-speaking world for the past hundred years or so. It deals with areas of music I’m familiar with, such as novelty music and classical music comedy, as well as ones I don’t have strong experience with. It’s fascinating to see how different musical cultures approach humor.

Filk music is briefly mentioned. The author defines it as “music based in fandom,” which is at least close, and mentions the filk group Omicron Ceti III. There are a couple of mentions of FUMP, the Funny Music Project; the book mentions one member of the filk community in this connection. Dr. Demento (Barry Hansen) is discussed at length, and he’s often helped to make filkers better known.

I have to note a typographical point which is rather important. It’s become faddish lately to capitalize some skin colors and not others. That isn’t right; it smacks of racism. Capitalize them all or none, I don’t care which.

If you like humorous music, I strongly recommend this book.

Music discussion on Leaflet   Recently updated !

This entry was posted in Music Personal and tagged atmosphere leaflet music on by

I’ve started a new publication on Leaflet, focused on music in all the ways it interests me. Leaflet is part of the Atmosphere network, about which I have mixed thoughts. It puts a bunch of different services under one account, sort of like Google. For now I’m treating this publication as an extension of my Bluesky account. How long I’ll continue with it depends on what happens with Leaflet and what kind of response I get.

The three areas of music I’m most interested in are filk, classical music, and silent film accompaniment. They might all turn up there. Please subscribe if it’s something you’d like me to follow. That will help me to know someone’s reading.

A P.D.Q. Bach discovery

This entry was posted in Music and tagged music PDQ Bach on by

I’ve put up a video on YouTube of a P.D.Q. Bach piece which perhaps no one had heard in years. It’s “Two and a Half Variations on In Dulce Jubilo. Peter Schickele’s website lists the piece and says it was performed on the December 23, 2000 episode of A Prairie Home Companion. I couldn’t find any recording of it on YouTube. Thankfully, all or most of the show’s episodes are available online. Less fortunately, the site only lets you play episodes from beginning to end, with no fast forward capability.

So I captured the whole episode on audio and then excerpted the piece and cleaned up the clip a little with Audacity. Then I combined it with a stock still picture and uploaded it to YouTube. If I’m lucky, no one will request a takedown. A lot of other P.D.Q. Bach pieces are on YouTube.

The circumstances of the composition and the instrumentation were unusual, even for Schickele. The show arranged a face-off for him and Bill McLaughlin to create the most unusual arrangement of a Christmas song. Each one assigned four instruments to the other. Knowing there’s no instrument unusual enough to faze Schickele, McLaughlin had him write a piece for koto, musical saw, krummhorn, and serpent. He then asked whether the piece should be credited to Schickele or P.D.Q. Bach, and Schickele claimed it was his newest P.D.Q. Bach “discovery.”

Unlike most pieces by the fictional composer, it doesn’t have a Schickele number. I’ve assigned it WoS (Werke ohne Schickelezahl) 11.

The hidden secret of digital music

This entry was posted in Music and tagged Internet music publishing on by

Last weekend I came across a YouTube video on a resurgence in CD sales. It made me realize how many people are unaware of any part of the music business outside streaming. The commentator talks about CDs as having the appeal of “no subscription, no registration, buy it one time, play it forever.” There’s a mention of Spotify, but no hint that it’s possible to buy and download music that you can move from device to device and keep playing without depending on DRM.

In fact, a lot of companies sell DRM-free music downloads. Back in the early days of the Web, users who wanted unrestricted music files battled companies who didn’t want copying. The companies had to concede that they’d sell more music without copy protection than with it. Today you can buy music in the antiquated but widely supported MP3 format, or in higher-quality formats such as FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and AAC. I buy a lot of music on Bandcamp and Presto Music, and I download them so that I’ll still have the files even if the companies drop the albums or go bankrupt.

Buying music helps to support artists. Streaming sites tend to pay very little per play, and Spotify is one of the stingiest. I like Bandcamp because most of what I pay goes toward individuals and performing groups who created the albums. Presto also offers streaming, and I use it to try out music; it pays a much better rate than most of the big streaming services.

I also have a ridiculous number of CDs. It wouldn’t surprise me if I have the largest collection of C. P. E. Bach on CD of any individual owner in New Hampshire. I’ve digitized some of them so I can play them in my car. My collection of purchased audio files will never catch up with it, but it’s growing steadily.

Why buy rather than stream? To support the musicians. To have the assurance that the music will always be available. To be able to play it even when you don’t have a good Internet connection. To have the satisfaction of owning rather than renting.

Where do atheists in America stand?

This entry was posted in Commentary and tagged atheism liberty religion on by

Atheists in modern America enjoy a high level of religious freedom. In New England, where I live, we also enjoy a good level of acceptance. I don’t encounter hostility for being an atheist. Once the Eagle Tribune in Massachusetts mentioned on its front page that I am one; no one minded. But conditions can change, and there have been some signs of growing hostility to people who don’t think there’s a deity.

Pausing for a definition: I define “atheist” as a person who does not believe in a deity, not as a person who affirmatively believes there isn’t a God. Arguing for the non-existence of a vaguely defined being is a hopeless task; let those who claim there is one define their terms and offer their arguments.

There has always been hostility to atheism. Lately, though, it’s become a bit bolder, with backing by the White House. On June 24, 2023, Donald Trump said, “Together, we’re warriors in a righteous crusade to stop the arsonists, the atheists, globalists, and the Marxists.” In 2025, Trump formed a so-called “Religious Liberty Commission” with the ostensible purpose of identifying threats to religious freedom. Every member appointed to it was Christian or Jewish (with an overwhelming Christian majority). No Muslims, atheists, Hindus, or pagans. That’s like having a coastal flooding commission whose members are all from Colorado, North Dakota, and Kansas.

A White House report on domestic terrorism claimed that “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity” animate violent conduct against American institutions.

At a White House Faith Office luncheon, Trump threatened any atheists who might be in the room: “Is there an atheist in the room? Any atheists? I don’t think so. I wouldn’t want to raise my hand if I were. You’d be in big trouble.”

Eight state constitutions, mostly in the South, specify religious tests for holding office. They’re dead letters at present, but it was only in 1961 that the Supreme Court ruled that states couldn’t require a statement of religious belief before a person could hold public office.

What are the actual risks? Outright denial of religious freedom isn’t likely to become a major problem. There are always bigots in local offices who abuse their power, but they’ll lose when challenged in court. A greater risk is that views outside Christianity may be lowered in some ways to second-class status. In some ways, they have been for a long time. The currency says “In God we trust” and the pledge to the flag says we’re “one nation, under God.” Those are just annoyances, though. It’s more ominous that a large minority wants to turn the US into a “Christian nation.” The First Amendment and mountains of legal precedent stand in their way, but a determined government can make life difficult for the non-religious without explicitly targeting them. The non-profit status of irreligious organizations and non-theistic churches can be attacked for made-up reasons. Religious affiliation is often a de facto qualification for high-level appointments, and the situation could get worse.

I’m not particularly worried at present, but things can change with alarming speed. It’s important to watch for signs.