-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hello: I would like to respond to Karsten and Onyeibo in the same email. As last time, I will be as short as possible, so if anything doesn't make sense, then please ask. Karsten said: > [C]ould a resolution be as simple as, "Let's get > some examples of world music, such as X, Y, and Z, as sound themes > before we start pulling in the Great Canon of Western Music"? Yes, I think that's the answer. I wasn't sure at first what to do, but at no point was I thinking that we should destroy or ignore this first sound theme. A large part of what scared me is that it seemed like an "open-and-shut" case for changing the default sound theme--principally because this new theme is so good. The sounds are high quality, they're made from a free recording, they're non- intrusive, and even a little bit crafty. "system-ready" and "desktop-login" coincide nicely with each other and the form of the symphony. Not only do the motives follow each other in the symphony, but the motive used for "desktop- login" introduces the second theme in the symphony as well as the second screen you interact with after turning on your computer. I don't know if this was intentional, but it's there. Karsten again: > I wouldn't so much say that having Beethoven as a first sound theme is > a bad thing, more that it is what you might expect given the cultural > connotation. What can we do to encourage people to make themes from > all over the world? This will be the sticky point. Personally, I'd like to see some other sound themes go along with it - and I'm willing to take part. If, in the end, everybody disagrees with me, I'm not going to throw another tantrum. Plus, the biggest issue was default or opt-in, and as Onyeibo replied, this new sound theme... > does not represent a default sound-theme for fedora product but an option > different from the freedesktop theme which has been the only theme > shipping with fedora for 3 yrs AFAIK On a different topic, Karsten again: > Part of your argument is political, and interesting, and probably > on-topic for this music-oriented list (if you think the way I do.) But > that part is also a lighting rod, and I think your point about seeking > a broader range of sound themes stands on its own without invoking > concern about Western music canon hegemony. There should be a good variety, and Onyeibo mentioned that this is just the Fedora Sound SIG's first product. I wouldn't for a minute, however, suggest that we withhold the theme on grounds of there being an insufficient range of personal choices; I suggest this only for political reasons. Again, I don't want to ignore the effort that's gone into creating this particular sound theme. It's difficult to predict the broader implications of small-scale actions, so it seems to me like we should just wait for a month or two, until we can release a few sound themes as a collection. It even makes sense from a packaging perspective: if there will eventually be 20 sound themes, for example, why not package them in groups of 5 or 10, rather than forcing users to install 20 packages just to try out all the sound themes? Karsten said: > There is another argument I think you are making, if the sound themes > quickly fill up with Western "best of" music, it might make people > outside of that niche feel their music doesn't have a place. "Oh, our > cool local rhythms are all right, but not Great and Good like > Beethoven, so I won't waste Fedora people's time with them." I do > think that is a real concern, and applies to any area of participation > in Fedora. We're a long way from that, but now is the time to start thinking about these potential problems. In fact, when I first heard about this project, I began contemplating using my own favourite (canonic Western classical music) work for a sound theme. Two sound themes are twice as intimidating as one! Onyeibo said: > It follows that no particular culture is being favoured although the > present appear to suggest a preference to Western European Music. Unfortunately, appearance is everything in cases like these. Nobody can guess your motives, but everybody can see the apparent preference. Onyeibo again: > 'Old-Fashioned Primitivism'? That doesn't sound objective -- not nice > either. I admit to using biased language, but "Primitivism" is indeed what's going on at Ubuntu, and it isn't nice. > If you believe Microsoft has solved the problem then it can be > done, more so, by Fedora Contributors when they put there resources to > it. I agree! > I see a lot of reasoning in your argument though it doesn't fully > apply in this case. My point is exactly that it doesn't all *seem* to apply. I don't expect to be able to convince everybody in one go, so please ask specific questions. I am more than happy to explain everything in much greater detail, and to provide proof in the form of recognized scholars talking about issues like this. > We could use more of your constructive > approach/analysis at #fedora-sound channel (freenode). > Thanks I will start lurking around there when I'm using IRC. For this discussion, I think it's important to keep things on a easily searchable mailing list, for future reference. Thank you for your thoughtful and quick responses. As long as this isn't a pre-approved default sound theme, I'm much less concerned. In retrospect, I should have started with just that simple question! Christopher -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.16 (GNU/Linux) iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJNrRlkAAoJEInCktGVqZ8VQYEH/jqH0gIpYsP10u6swEQ5zRSh ta9xWFtczcLNCiamAdtA/vSzjVar1nayEMco0fNEd9GGoGaaOLhEYBUgONi5kywr 5crsePrJmntmuPmJPeOlXV+0ALlldicLpthJQlyJ/lM5aYEzYbnJyDP9dBNMfOAS uPeVageRuy4FIYbWgmShm/SokOWif8+FTXq4Lsu5cqAJc6Cxsgb3swls30cLOq9v v+TDTSHf4h+qbBT8KfSuh7DR7wvndm5Jq92E6kwwo3NhP2P09+sfz7Tslo7xJW/+ z2c3aZp7K2gOaLwSpO8w7uTNXsiynuMMXBb+TPKPOlzAIXLpcVIzSrPxdK8ZGeg= =PS0Q -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ music mailing list music@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/music
