5 Aug
2011
5 Aug
'11
1:12 p.m.
On 08/04/2011 11:59 PM, rosea grammostola wrote:
Unbelievable that we are missing the chances here.
That's no wonder. You'll probably agree with me that there are like 4 or
5 people using Linux audio on a serious basis in the Netherlands. The
Netherlands has 16,7 million inhabitants, worldwide there are 6,9
billion souls so some maths yields: (5 / 16.700.000) * 6.900.000.000 =
2066 serious Linux audio users world wide. If this would be a realistic
figure we have a long way to go, it is just a too small user base.
My 2ยข: social media don't work for Linux Audio. I think the only thing
that does work is good video tutorials, that's really big at the moment,
good blogs and decent articles on authorative sites and in printed
magazines. All the other things are imho not useful. Twitter, Facebook,
Google+ won't work, simply too much dispersion, people don't collaborate
on these platforms, they only click on buttons and leave pointless
comments. My girlfriend just bought me the latest Linux Format and the
only audio related article it contains is an article by Jono Bacon who
recommends using Jokosher. Ok, it's about podcasting but we can do
better than that! There are so many people making music with their
computers and still Linux is considered not a viable option because it's
supposedly for geeks, nerds and technically savvy folks. I call BS, with
the band I convinced the others to ditch Cubase in favor of Qtractor
because every rehearsal session we were totally lost again on how to
record a simple track. And it takes me longer to properly configure a
Windows machine than a Linux one for audio usage. People need to open up
and look further than what they get crammed in their mouths. And some
others on the list have said it before, musical breakthroughs don't
always come from talented artists but also from people who do things
differently. Who cut up speaker cones to get a distorted sound
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_distortion#History), who experiment
with multitrack recording while it doesn't even properly exist
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multitrack_recording#Process) or who start
using autotuners as an effect
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autotune#In_popular_music). And you know
what? Linux Audio is the perfect starting point imo for doing things
differently, not only because it is different but also because it's
completely free. And that's what musicians might appeal in the near
future, sheer freedom. Within 50 years the record labels have managed to
destroy their own businesses simply by taking away the musician's
freedom, it's a matter of years before musicians start to follow the
examples of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails and regain their freedom. So
yes, we have to play that political card, the time is right, more and
more people are considering FLOSS as a viable option (that includes
Neelie Kroes, the EU Commissioner for Digital Agenda:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neelie_Kroes#Commissioner_for_Digital_Agenda)
and those are not just the people buying biological food or pieces of
land in the Amazon to reduce their ecological footprint.
And what we really need is quality stuff, quality music, quality videos,
quality live stuff. There is waaaaaaaay too little available at the
moment while it is perfectly possible to create quality music with
Linux. We need more Ken Restivo's, more Sebkha Chott's, more Louigi
Verona's (and any other talent hanging around here that I might forget,
sorry beforehand). We need a buzz, a technique, a workflow that yields
something unique that makes people wonder how it was done, that makes
people crave to reproduce that uniqueness so they can start destroying
it again ;)
Best,
Jeremy