[OLPC-Oceania] TamTam OLPC project

[Sean Linton]

The situation; the OLPC organisation distributed computers with operating
systems and activities (or applications) built in, but not without the
possibility of developing these activities and system to better suit the
needs of individual communities representative of different parts of the
world. One of the educational programs on the system involves a suite of
music activities collectively known as TamTam. In the *TamTamMini* activity
for example instruments are arranged on a grid, with a photo and
an embedded sound sample for each photo (see screen shot attached). Each
instrument can be assigned to a sequencer control pannel.

Based on photos and sound samples I provided from the same instruments,
encouragingly, developers of the TamTam activities have been able to include
more instruments, to better represent the world's musical instruments,
relative to the location of the computer. So for this example I have
provided photos and samples of pan pipes, instruments from the Solomon
Islands, with the particular intention that those OLPC computers which were
distributed to the Solomon Islands may upgrade their TamTam activities to
the version which now includes the photos of pan pipes.

The version of the activity with the pan pipes may now be distributed around
the world, as well as to the computers in the Solomon Islands. To my
knowledge the pan pipes are included now in the TamTam activity for the
first time as a musical icon.

http://activities.sugarlabs.org/es-ES/sugar/addon/4061
Please read past "Release Notes"

I would like to suggest one psychological significance may be of instant
recognition of the other object photos as musical instruments. Where by if a
person sees instruments which he or she is familiar with along side photos
of instruments which have only been seen virtually then the recognition of
their own icons of traditional musical culture has further contributed to a
contemporary, you might say "dignified", education. It would be great to
travel to other parts of the world to implement similar changes where
appropriate, but for now this is the current state of my *ethnography,* and
I am glad that the open development philosophy of these activities and this
system are able to complement indigenous musical traditions*. *  * *
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Glad to know any thoughts you might have, regarding.* *
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Kindest,
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Sean
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