CGR
Pianist, Composer & Arranger
Ethnomusicology is one thing. Exploitation is another . . .
See here:
Ethnomusicology is one thing. Exploitation is another . . .
They knew Fanshawe for many years and many of the proceeds of the original library went to his family and legacy. CH and PT’s relationship was more than just a vendor/contributor. They have done the same by paying royalties to all musicians they have used. I would expect nothing less here than what they’ve done in the past.To my ears, the sounds are wonderfully crafted.
But I have an ethical question: Are Spitfire being sensitive in their use of the source recordings? Were any of the original performers documented by Fanshawe and are they credited?
I know many composers have used folk sources in their works (e.g. Stravinsky, Bartok, Chopin, Ravel, Vaughan Williams, etc.) but I think it's easy to be unintentionally arrogant with sources like this. An example of this would be Deep Forest's "Sweet Lullaby": https://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2004/11/23/turmeric-pygmies-and-piracy/
Ethnomusicology is one thing. Exploitation is another . . .
Yes, Moby's use of the Alan Lomax archive is a good case in point.
Most of his recordings were done in-situ in the field, in some fairly remote locations. Making a clean attribution to the performers will be pretty near impossible. I’ve recorded some Dhungjen and drums in Tibet and Nepal myself and know I’d never be able to know who played them even if I’ve been able to extract a few notes here and there to turn them into my own custom instruments.They knew Fanshawe for many years and many of the proceeds of the original library went to his family and legacy. CH and PT’s relationship was more than just a vendor/contributor. They have done the same by paying royalties to all musicians they have used. I would expect nothing less here than what they’ve done in the past.
Oh, I understand completely. Provenance and attribution can be almost impossible with some field recordings, especially when documentation is the last thing on your mind. I also think Christian and Paul at Spitfire are epitomes of the Nice Intelligent Guy and have probably worked closely with the Fanshawe family.Most of his recordings were done in-situ in the field, in some fairly remote locations. Making a clean attribution to the performers will be pretty near impossible. I’ve recorded some Dhungjen and drums in Tibet and Nepal myself and know I’d never be able to know who played them even if I’ve been able to extract a few notes here and there to turn them into my own custom instruments.
I have listened to the demos and watched the walkthrough. I think this sounds fantastic.
I think I was right some time ago when I said that Spitfire is running out of ideas. And what the hell was with the live demo? Two patches played, a lot of waffle, and that's it?
I don't think NKS will be doable going down the road with their own player (could be wrong on that)...
I think I was right some time ago when I said that Spitfire is running out of ideas. And what the hell was with the live demo? Two patches played, a lot of waffle, and that's it?