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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
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