From:   rboulanger@csounds.com

Date: November 2, 2007 1:30:30 PM EDT

To:   rboulanger@berklee.edu

Dear Colleagues, Students, and Friends,

As many of you know, I have been working with Barry Vercoe, Jean Piche, Greg Thompson, Jim Gettys, and Walter Bender and others at One Laptop Per Child http://laptop.org developing, collecting, and testing Csound5-based activities and instrument models on thier amazing $100 laptop.

Some months ago, I put out a call for sample donations, and I want to thank all of you who contributed.  These amazing sounds

are currently being organized and edited and will soon be avaialble for you all to check out.

In fact, using these samples, and those donated by Berklee, and especially those by Avid/M-Audio, I am currently putting together a General MIDI sample set for OLPC that will allow all the children of the work to play any GM file on thier laptops.  Currently

they use Csound5 to play (ANY GM file!) on a brilliant set of instruments designed by Victor Lazzarini, Istvan Varga, and Steven Yi.

I am putting together the final sample set and the corresponding orchestra/activity this and next month and it is going very well.

But... Here is where I need your help.

I need General MIDI Music to include on the laptops:

- children's songs

- world music

- classical music

- pop

- rock

- jazz

- dance

- spiritual

- hymns, religious

- standards

- sing-alongs

+ General MIDI versions of YOUR music.

+ General MIDI arrangements of Children's Songs, Sing-Alongs, Classical Masterworks, World-Music Sound-Alikes

Here, for instance, are links to a great sources of children's songs and folk songs in General MIDI format - BUT

I can't use them because these specific *arrangements* are copyrighted.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I need NEW GM arrangements (your versions) of some of these public domain children's songs (your favorites)

I need NEW GM arrangements (your versions) of classical masterworks

I need NEW MUSIC - YOUR MUSIC - in General MIDI format

You would be offering YOUR original General MIDI arrangements of these public domain songs and masterworks -

(or your original *sound-alikes* and music to the world under the Creative Commons *BY* License - where YOU would

get full Attribution for your creative work and no one could steal your songs, but you would be letting anyone

play them, share them, remix them, and re-distribute them.

Can you help me?

Can you send me some of your original General MIDI *arrangements* of Public Domain FolkSongs,

ChildrensSongs, Classical Masterworks

(Just use Quicktime Musical Instruments or the Windows equivalent and email me the .mid files you create.)

Timeframe: the sooner the better

I would like to get some of this GM arrangements out there in time for the OLPC *Give One Get One*

program (which you should all check out - For a limited time, you can make a donation to OLPC and

give a laptop to a child somewhere in the world - and get one for yourself!  You will be blown

away by the machine and the activities but especailly by Piche and Company's *TamTam* - and won't

believe that it's all Csound5 under the hood!)

Check out:

http://www.xogiving.org/

The G1G1 program begins on November 12.

I should be done looping, and fine-tuning my OLPC GM Sample Set by the end of December.

So - how about getting me your music and arrangements by Christmas.

It would be an awsome gift - to me... and especially... to the children of the world!

Thanks so much,

Wishing you ALL the happiest of holidays

- filed with inspiration, peace, friends, family and great music.

Dr. B.