Subud Life
General Chat - SPI Recording Feedback
Stew - Jan 15, 2004 - 06:18 PM
Post subject: SPI Recording Feedback
HELP Subud Publications International
Apart from publishing the newly translated talks of Bapak in the volumes, we also do what we can to ensure that the talks are available in other forms. Currently we send the talks to the Boston website for people to download if they wish, and also, on request, we send one talk at a time by email to members. Recently we have begun to publish the talks in large type for members experiencing sight problems.
As part of this ongoing initiative we have produced two sample recordings(below) of two of Bapak’s talks read in English. We believe that there are some people who would prefer to listen to what Bapak said without having first the Indonesian and then the, at times very patchy, interpretation in English. The two translations are from the new volumes.
Remember these recordings are a pilot project, and should we go ahead the quality of the reading and production would be greatly enhanced. We are particularly keen to know if you think the concept is a good idea and worth doing, and if you believe such recordings on CD would sell. Also if you are able, could you arrange for a number of other members to listen to the samples and make a note of their feedback below.
Yours, Edward Mackenzie::Trustee SPI
SAMPLE 1 :: SAMPLE 2
GIVE FEEDBACK
Anonymous - Jan 16, 2004 - 07:38 PM
Post subject:
Greetings,
It was very interesting listening to this sample, as I was curious as to how it might sound. I was fortunate to be present at some of the talks Bapak gave in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, New York, Rochester and Skymont and I heard Usman and Sharif translate. Sharif commented once that he had to be in a quiet state of receiving when he was translating. And Bapak said that we should not try to analyse the talks with our minds but just listen and let our inner get the meaning as far as each of us was capable at that moment. It's my understanding that one of the reasons the talks were recorded is so that we can listen to them repeatedly, and progressively get more and more from the talks as our inners develop. I found myself tuning this recording out, and it became background noise. Listening to Bapak's words being read by a person who is using their ordinary forces might work for some people, but to me it feels "off." On a more constructive note, I suggest bundling this new "Nafsu Version" (sorry I couldn't resist) together with the traditional recordings, and allowing people to select which one they want to listen to. I would totally support that. All the best,
- Valentine Narvey, Canada
Anonymous - Jan 16, 2004 - 07:59 PM
Post subject: New Talks' Project feedback
There is bad, so and so, and good things done! New Talks' Project it confirms the old saying that "last one's are (indeed) the first one's!".
Anonymous - Jan 16, 2004 - 08:43 PM
Post subject: SPI Feedback
I found the sample with the male reader to be most agreeable. Let's face it: nobody does English better than the English. The female reader does an excellent job pf reading, but I was distracted by the thought that this is a misplaced attempt to be politically correct. The male voice is more evocative of the original recordings, and I would not listen to the female versions.
Yes, the original is better, one can not always slow down the feelings sufficiently to benefit from listening to Bapak's original Indonesian and the halting translation, so one ends up really listening only to the translator and resenting the slow pace. The real comparison for many of us is between the originals sitting there unlistened to, and these listened to.
Ridwan
HarunKennedy - Jan 17, 2004 - 08:28 AM
Post subject:
Regardless of how relaxed the mind and will of the person who is receiving the talk is, surely its the quality of the person delivering the translated talk that counts.
When Sharif Horthy sat with Bapak interpreting his every talk, he was in a quiet state.
Perhaps it should be a requisite that after the talks are 'translated', and before they are delivered on to the chosen recording device(s), the woman or man that does so has asked for a latihan that prepares them to deliver the talk in accordance with God's Will.
Harun.
sophtpaw - Jan 17, 2004 - 09:24 AM
Post subject: samples
Clearly its a personal thing. Myself i found the male voice surprisingly dreary, as i expected a male voice to better represent Bapak as a man too, and i note from seeing some of the feedback that some liked it! On the other hand, surprisingly again, i actually enjoyed the woman's delivery(no doubt there will be some who didn't) It opened a nice space in me, and i felt inspired. Perhaps it was to do with the subject? Who knows? There are probably alot of factors and variables, including where one is at oneself any given day, that make it difficult to say in absolute terms.
However, coming back to my original point, i would say that as long as it appeals to some people at least some of the time and brings Bapaks message, guidance and inspiration to people's latihan then another creative avenue as this is of value and i welcome it.
conrad linde
Rosanne - Jan 17, 2004 - 10:26 AM
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re: tapes of Bapak's talk / English translation only - For me, it's hearing Bapak that makes the listening a true experience, and when my mind can just let go. If i feel i missed out (maybe falling asleep?) i can then take the book and read the English. And I like the fact that it captures also the moment of the talk, sensing the crowd listening, the squeaking chairs, the coughing, the laughters, and Sharif's translation and voice are inspiring too!
roger - Jan 21, 2004 - 05:40 PM
Post subject:
Dear SPI team,
Thanks for all your hard work and this new initiative. I think that perhaps sometimes people would like to hear this new version and other times the original, so if there would be CD's or DVD's with both versions (and multiple languages??) that would be great. Obviously a pleasant reading voice and tempo are important. I personally preferred the man's voice.
All the best with this great new initiative.
Love,
Roger van der Matten
MahmudHenry - Jan 21, 2004 - 06:13 PM
Post subject:
How about comparing these two with and American man's voice, and that of and English woman? I wonder if all people would prefer to hear talks read in their own regional accent. Most likely, those of us brought up listening to the existing tapes will all prefer a voice as similar as possible to Sharif Horthy's.
HarunKennedy - Jan 21, 2004 - 08:23 PM
Post subject:
My last post was a diplomatic fudge.
I reckon this whole idea misses the point.
People approach Bapak's Talks for countless reasons. Making them accessible, for whatever purpose people approach them, is fine. However, perhaps we need to underline the essence of what they were intended for. Perhaps a blurb or introduction of why Bapak gave these talks should be compiled by the international helpers and inserted with all media on the talks.
As Rosanne above points out, falling alseep or one wandering off in whatever way is often a natural feature of many people's Bapak Talk listening experience. It's a time when many people's minds and wills have eased off, when your soul and overall state are peacefully open and available to be touched by the words and inner content that Bapak's talks offer.
How about seeing it like angels singing, or the Sufi Chant, the Christian hymn - all have a harmony and content that touch our inners. Bapaks Talks are just from someone that resonated on a more profound and in tune level. Where the impurities and nafsus that others possess had been cleared out. Bapak was a clearer channel through which God's grace can touch the receptive being. Our minds and mental activity really are the wrong receptors for Bapaks talks.
Bapak's Voice and the content of his Talks are beyond the cerebral. Sharif Horthy was chosen to perform a job and committed to it well. Perhaps the quality of his interpretation may have been patchy at times, however, the essence of what was said does not need 100% transmission from Bapaks mouth to our heads. For those that wish to read and gain pointers and markers on their latihan and this and that, Volumes of Bapaks talks in print in various form are improving all the time.
The listening experience is not food for thought but inner vibration and connection.
Anonymous - Jan 22, 2004 - 09:48 AM
Post subject: Subud Publications Int feedback
I am Edward, the person who put the letter in asking for your feedback on the idea of the CD. I would like to thank everyone who has replied . this has been really useful.
I also sent a pilot CD to members around the world and their feedback is beginning to come in as well.
What I would also like response to is: if the voices were professional and the English was preceeded by Bapak's uninterupted talk would that make a difference?
Looking forward to your replies.
Edward
roger - Jan 22, 2004 - 10:14 AM
Post subject:
Dear SPI Team,
Another idea. Perhaps you could combine Bapak's indonesian with the newly recorded translation.
Much love,
Roger van der Matten
HarunKennedy - Feb 08, 2004 - 03:19 PM
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Open letter to those who gave feedback to SPI on the CD initiative.
I would like to thank everyone who took the time to listen to the CD and then comment on it. Your comments and those from members who were sent a CD through the post were central to SPI coming to a decision of whether to continue with the initiative or not. The decision is not to go ahead with the initiative at this time. The main reason for this decision was the general sense of unease, which was expressed in many different ways, at the impossible task of the reader of the talk to do so in a way that could capture the essence of what Bapak was intending. The more likely outcome being that the reader imbues the text with meaning that is not there or intended.
With many thanks
Edward Mackenzie
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