Our first sound theme!

[Elad Alfassa]

Hello everyone!
I'm glad to announce I've created our first sound theme [1].
It is based on Beethoven's fifth symphony, processed with audacity
from a public domain recording[2][3][4][5].

Thanks to Anuj More, Onyeibo Oku, Lennart Poettering and Adir Shemesh
who helped me in the process of making the theme. And a really big
thanks to the Fedora Audio Creation SIG, I couldn't have done it
without you ;-)

Don't forget to visit our wiki page [6]!

[1] https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=697425
[2]
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beeth...
[3]
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beeth...
[4]
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beeth...
[5]
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beeth...
[6] https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SIGs/Sound
-- 
-Elad.

[Christopher Antila]

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Hello:

The following is as posted on Bug 697425.

Is this theme intended to be standard-issue in all Fedora installations? 
Either way, has anybody thought about the socio-cultural implications of this 
particular sound theme? I'm not definitively either for or against this sound 
theme, in principle, but the very fact that it is what it is means that we are 
likely to endorse it as a good, neutral, positive change for the distribution. 
Because musical cultural problems are otherwise likely to go unnoticed, I feel 
obliged to stand here waving my arms and pointing at them.

Here's what I think we need to consider, and I'm being brief:

1.) Everything stems from the fact that most of the Fedora developers live in 
the Western European music culture, or its out-growths that include North 
America and Oceania. If we intend to make a universally distributable 
distribution, which seems to be the project's intention, then we cannot *just* 
let this music culture dominate without deciding that we want it to do so.

2.) Music is not universal. Sometimes, we fall into this trap as a result of 
sloppy thought-processes, and sometimes we wilfully mislead ourselves into 
thinking that music is universal. It's not, and in 2011, it isn't difficult to 
explain how not and why not. There are cultures that use very different music 
from our own - many of them unburdened by the artificial distinction between 
"art music" and "popular music." When we say that music is universal,
what we 
mean is that music has the ability to transcend natural language barriers.

3.) Beethoven is, and historically has been, often constructed as the ultimate 
genius. His music, therefore, is very frequently called upon by people wishing 
to forward the argument of universality. When we access any Beethoven 
composition, we automatically invoke this argument.

4.) Worse still, Beethoven's fifth symphony, which is very obviously the basis 
for this sound theme, is one of the most well-known pieces of "classical 
music," that is - even more than the ninth symphony - called upon to lead the 
"how could you not appreciate this?!?!" charge. By hijacking this symphony, we 
add yet another element to the train of thought that holds this work as 
"universally good," which represents the universally good composer, the 
universally good classical music tradition, and the universally good Western 
European tradition that allowed it to develop.

5.) And "universally good" means "superior to every alternative."
Classical 
music is also often upheld as one of the supreme achievements of... well... 
anything. It may or may not be, but do we want to be pushing this message as 
part of the Fedora Project? And moreover, do we want to be pushing it very 
forcefully by using Beethoven's fifth symphony? We need to think about this, 
and because we're an open-source project, our thought process needs to be 
documented for future reference by ourselves and others.

Basically what I'm saying is that, if this is to be the default sound theme 
(or even just the first sound theme), then we as a collective Project must 
decide whether or not we want to push the Western classical music tradition, 
and therefore the achievements of Western society, as superior to the 
achievements of all other cultures.

And for the record, Ubuntu has not, in my opinion, successfully solved this 
problem. They're simply co-opting a generic "African" culture, both with
their 
name and with their sound theme, and thereby falling victim to good, old-
fashioned Primitivism. I think, however, that "Microsoft" has solved the 
problem.


Christopher.

>  Hello everyone!
>  I'm glad to announce I've created our first sound theme [1].
>  It is based on Beethoven's fifth symphony, processed with audacity
>  from a public domain recording[2][3][4][5].
>  
>  Thanks to Anuj More, Onyeibo Oku, Lennart Poettering and Adir Shemesh
>  who helped me in the process of making the theme. And a really big
>  thanks to the Fedora Audio Creation SIG, I couldn't have done it
>  without you ;-)
>  
>  Don't forget to visit our wiki page [6]!
>  
>  [1] https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=697425
>  [2]
>  https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beetho
>  ven_-_symphony_no._5_in_c_minor,_op._67_-_i._allegro_con_brio.ogg [3]
>  https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beetho
>  ven_-_symphony_no._5_in_c_minor,_op._67_-_ii._andante_con_moto.ogg [4]
>  https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beetho
>  ven_-_symphony_no._5_in_c_minor,_op._67_-_iii._allegro.ogg [5]
>  https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beetho
>  ven_-_symphony_no._5_in_c_minor,_op._67_-_iv._allegro.ogg [6]
>  https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SIGs/Sound
>  --
>  -Elad.
>  _______________________________________________
>  music mailing list
>  music(a)lists.fedoraproject.org
> >  https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/music
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[Onyeibo Oku]

On Mon, 2011-04-18 at 18:34 -0400, Christopher Antila wrote:
>  Hello:
>  
>  The following is as posted on Bug 697425. 
My response follows here as is there:


>  Is this theme intended to be standard-issue in all Fedora
> installations? 
>  Either way, has anybody thought about the socio-cultural implications of this 
>  particular sound theme? I'm not definitively either for or against this sound 
>  theme, in principle, but the very fact that it is what it is means that we are 
>  likely to endorse it as a good, neutral, positive change for the distribution. 
>  Because musical cultural problems are otherwise likely to go unnoticed, I feel 
>  obliged to stand here waving my arms and pointing at them. 
To cut the long story
short.  The answer is no!  I believe the author of this sound-theme intended it be one of
many sound-themes that will be developed by the musicians and creative artists at Fedora
Sound SIG.  It 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  


>  Here's what I think we need to consider, and I'm being
> brief:
>  
>  1.) Everything stems from the fact that most of the Fedora developers live in 
>  the Western European music culture, or its out-growths that include North 
>  America and Oceania. If we intend to make a universally distributable 
>  distribution, which seems to be the project's intention, then we cannot *just* 
>  let this music culture dominate without deciding that we want it to do so.
>  
>  2.) Music is not universal. Sometimes, we fall into this trap as a result of 
>  sloppy thought-processes, and sometimes we wilfully mislead ourselves into 
>  thinking that music is universal. It's not, and in 2011, it isn't difficult to 
>  explain how not and why not. There are cultures that use very different music 
>  from our own - many of them unburdened by the artificial distinction between 
>  "art music" and "popular music." When we say that music is universal,
> what we 
>  mean is that music has the ability to transcend natural language barriers.
>  
>  3.) Beethoven is, and historically has been, often constructed as the ultimate 
>  genius. His music, therefore, is very frequently called upon by people wishing 
>  to forward the argument of universality. When we access any Beethoven 
>  composition, we automatically invoke this argument.
>  
>  4.) Worse still, Beethoven's fifth symphony, which is very obviously the basis 
>  for this sound theme, is one of the most well-known pieces of "classical 
>  music," that is - even more than the ninth symphony - called upon to lead the 
>  "how could you not appreciate this?!?!" charge. By hijacking this symphony, we
>
>  add yet another element to the train of thought that holds this work as 
>  "universally good," which represents the universally good composer, the 
>  universally good classical music tradition, and the universally good Western 
>  European tradition that allowed it to develop.
>  
>  5.) And "universally good" means "superior to every alternative."
> Classical 
>  music is also often upheld as one of the supreme achievements of... well... 
>  anything. It may or may not be, but do we want to be pushing this message as 
>  part of the Fedora Project? And moreover, do we want to be pushing it very 
>  forcefully by using Beethoven's fifth symphony? We need to think about this, 
>  and because we're an open-source project, our thought process needs to be 
>  documented for future reference by ourselves and others.
>  
>  Basically what I'm saying is that, if this is to be the default sound theme 
>  (or even just the first sound theme), then we as a collective Project must 
>  decide whether or not we want to push the Western classical music tradition, 
>  and therefore the achievements of Western society, as superior to the 
>  achievements of all other cultures. 
See above answer:
The People at Fedora Sound SIG are basically giving meaning to an
existing and mostly overlooked implementation in the Project. The XDG
sound theme specification has been used in the Project since 2008 but
unlike other aspects of Fedora Project, it remains unexploited by
contributors and end-users. By Contributors I mean those that are not
directly involved in the implementation ... those who probably know
nothing about scripting or programming.  Those contributors can be
anybody from any discipline with a good taste of sound and music.

The Beethoven Sound theme is proof of concept -- if you will.  It does
not represent the collective decision of the Fedora Project members. It
is to the Fedora Sound SIG like what echo-Icon-theme is to the Fedora
Design-team.  Echo Icon theme is not the default icon theme in Fedora
product but contributors continue to improve it.  Users have a choice of
using it at its present state.  What we should be considering is the
provision of options (which promotes 'freedom' for which the project
stand for).  So far, our users have not been that privileged in the
sound event section.  That is what the SIG is trying to change and the
Beethoven Theme is their first product.

It follows that no particular culture is being favoured although the
present appear to suggest a preference to Western European Music. A
contributor from a different part of the globe may submit something
entirely different.  Its all about options ... and freedom.  Later, when
the SIG matures we can start thinking of a theme that the Project can
call theirs == The Fedora Sound Theme.

>  And for the record, Ubuntu has not, in my opinion, successfully
> solved this 
>  problem. They're simply co-opting a generic "African" culture, both with
> their 
>  name and with their sound theme, and thereby falling victim to good, old-
>  fashioned Primitivism. I think, however, that "Microsoft" has solved the 
>  problem.
>   
'Old-Fashioned Primitivism'?  That doesn't sound objective -- not
nice
either.  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 see a lot of reasoning in your argument though it doesn't fully
apply in this case.  We could use more of your constructive
approach/analysis at #fedora-sound channel (freenode). 
Thanks 

>  Christopher.
>  
>  > Hello everyone!
>  > I'm glad to announce I've created our first sound theme [1].
>  > It is based on Beethoven's fifth symphony, processed with audacity
>  > from a public domain recording[2][3][4][5].
>  > 
>  > Thanks to Anuj More, Onyeibo Oku, Lennart Poettering and Adir Shemesh
>  > who helped me in the process of making the theme. And a really big
>  > thanks to the Fedora Audio Creation SIG, I couldn't have done it
>  > without you ;-)
>  > 
>  > Don't forget to visit our wiki page [6]!
>  > 
>  > [1] https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=697425
>  > [2]
>  > https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beetho
>  > ven_-_symphony_no._5_in_c_minor,_op._67_-_i._allegro_con_brio.ogg [3]
>  > https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beetho
>  > ven_-_symphony_no._5_in_c_minor,_op._67_-_ii._andante_con_moto.ogg [4]
>  > https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beetho
>  > ven_-_symphony_no._5_in_c_minor,_op._67_-_iii._allegro.ogg [5]
>  > https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/wiki/File:Ludwig_van_Beetho
>  > ven_-_symphony_no._5_in_c_minor,_op._67_-_iv._allegro.ogg [6]
>  > https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/SIGs/Sound
>  > --
>  > -Elad.
>  > _______________________________________________
>  > music mailing list
>  > music(a)lists.fedoraproject.org
>  > https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/music
>  _______________________________________________
>  music mailing list
>  music(a)lists.fedoraproject.org
>  https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/music

[Karsten Wade]

On Mon, Apr 18, 2011 at 06:34:42PM -0400, Christopher Antila wrote:

<snip thoughtful musicologist argument>

The only comment I have about your argument is not a pro or con, but a
situational awareness of what happens with similar arguments in a
complex, global, FOSS community. The concern is that while looking to
be inclusive of the wide world, we have to be careful not to alienate
existing participation. That is, let's not let anyone working on sound
themes feel they shouldn't be doing the great work they are doing. A
nice, working, freed sound theme is a great contribution, regardless
of which music type it is.

Rather than get in to the political-side of this discussion, I'll
acknowledge that Fedora is best when it strives for political
neutrality. For example, a standing practice is *not* to use a
national flag to represent a specific language. Nations are political
entities and may have legitimacy under dispute, but a language is a
usually a language.

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 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.

>  Basically what I'm saying is that, if this is to be the default
> sound theme 
>  (or even just the first sound theme), then we as a collective Project must 
>  decide whether or not we want to push the Western classical music tradition, 
>  and therefore the achievements of Western society, as superior to the 
>  achievements of all other cultures. 
Let's presume for the moment that your argument is worthy (which it
does appear to be), could 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"?

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?

- Karsten
-- 
name:  Karsten 'quaid' Wade, Sr. Community Gardener
team:   Red Hat Community Architecture & Leadership
uri:               http://TheOpenSourceWay.org/wiki
gpg:                                       AD0E0C41

[Christopher Antila]

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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
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[Elad Alfassa]

On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 8:10 AM, Christopher Antila
<crantila(a)fedoraproject.org&gt; wrote:
>  -----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
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>  
Christopher, I also responded in the bug, but I'll do it again here.
I'll start with a clarification: I am not European, I am not a
musician, I am just someone who wanted to do good. I am, in fact,
Israeli, and I did not start with a local sound theme.
We, at the Fedora sound SIG welcome every sort of theme, every genre,
as long it is free. I do not think "classical music" is better than
any other genre. In fact, I will be happy if our second sound theme
would be something from a certain, less widely appreciated local.
We want as many sound themes as possible. The Beethoven sound theme
was not even meant to be are first, I just had some free time during
the weekend and I felt creative. In fact, Onyeibo was the one who was
supposed to make the first sound theme, his suggestion was much more
interesting than another well known piece of "classical music". You
can check out his mockup recording in the wiki.

Note that I did not even made a blog post about this theme. I don't
want it's creation to get too much publicity because the nature of
this theme, and especially because it is not an original creation (I
am not the one who played or wrote the music).
So, users are not going to notice this one unless they explicitly
search for sound themes. To solve the "intimidation" issue I agree to
change the package description to say it is a proof of concept and we
welcome more themes, from any genre, as long they are free.

-- 
-Elad.