At 02:45 PM 12/7/2003 -0500, Roman Turovsky <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Look,--- if some things like this do not get commercialized to some degree > > no one would be able to get strings because no one would make them for > free, > > and music would only be available to those near enough to a library > that had > > manuscripts available for us to look at and copy out of. >That is not untrue, but Lute is not yet like Piano that takes care of itself >economically. The lute has never been like any of the other instrument. It was always on the outside looking in, and as the Sieur Perrine noted in 1697, it will always continue to be there, as long as lutenists insist on a notational system that is not shared by other musicians. There is no reason to believe that the lute in our time will be more successful in reaching the status of the piano, or even that of the guitar, different than it was at any other time in history. > It is a quasi-religious thing and it relies on proselytism to >perpetuate itself. This is a statement I can easily agree with. The problem is that this proselytizing can never achieve any results when the emphasis is not on the music but on the instrument and its notational peculiarities. Most of the people in this group and in other lute groups have come on to the instrument through the music, not the other way around. Hence the best possible avenue for proselytizing is making the _music_ available to people who can read it and play. Eventually, people become curious and seek out the instrument itself. It happened before. No one becomes a lutenist by having free access to on line facsimiles of lute tablature. >The equipment producers must be paid to keep them in >existence, but at least some "socialist" distribution is essential to foment >interest and awareness. That is a political point of view which is simply unrealistic. It lies in the basic contradiction between hardware and software. The only reason "socialist" distribution is applied here to the music, is because it can be done with impunity. Only a few days ago we were told by one enthusiast that the only reason he does not copy Michel Cardin's CDs is because he does not know how to do it. IOW, he has no compunction about producing illegal copies of 9 CDs thus depriving the performer of royalty income to which he is entitled. No one talks about a "socialist" distribution of instruments and hardware accessories. RT's Add-a-Lutenist pitch is not "socialist" distribution. It is charity. And as for socialism in general: do tell me how many lutenists there are in Cuba, Vietnam or North Korea? Keeping the equipment producers in existence, and at the same time preaching for "socialist" distribution, is thus a self cancelling paradigm. You can't have it both ways. Matanya Ophee Editions Orphe'e, Inc., 1240 Clubview Blvd. N. Columbus, OH 43235-1226 Phone: 614-846-9517 Fax: 614-846-9794 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.orphee.com
