For the second year in a row, professionally-recorded Christmas carols in the Polish language have been uploaded to Wikimedia Commons.
Here are some of the compositions now available as free .WAV or .OGG audio files:
A few years ago, Borys Kozielski a member of Wikimedia Polska who describes himself as a “journalist by profession, a podcaster by heart”, noticed a lack of musical and audio recordings in many Wikipedia articles.
“Iâm looking for ways of improving communication, exchanging views, thoughts and experiences” says Kozielski.
In September 2013, Kozielski received a suggestion from a friend. “A friend of mine from France, Patryk Michalski (Paterm) pitched the idea of a professional recording of Polish Christmas carols.” This idea excited Kozielski. âMy son [BartĆomiej Kozielski] is a director of a group of young artists called Studio Accantus, who all love singing. When I told him about the project he instantly got interested. The possibility of enriching the biggest encyclopedia of the world with musical illustrations of their own was a really important and noble task for these talented and rising artists.â
Kozielski worked with Wikimedia Polska to provide funding for the orchestrations and arrangements of the songs. âThe task that seemed easy at first turned out to be quite a challenge,â says Kozielski. âYoung artists had to face the tradition going back a few hundred years and we didnât want the rendition to be too conservative or too modern. It was also a big challenge for Marcin Kuczewski, the arranger. A factor that was quite significant and motivating was signing the project with their own names, in line with the requirements of the CC-BY license.”
CC-BY licensing requires appropriate attribution credit be given to authors who release their works under such a license.
“First we prepared the list of the christmas carols, whose copyright has expired. We got the lyrics and the sheet music from Wikisource. The arranger prepared the draft versions of the backing tracks. The director chose the appropriate vocalists and the people for the backing vocals. The recordings of the vocalists took more than a month and then went back to the arranger, who prepared the final version of the backing tracks. In accordance with the agreement, the files uploaded to Wikimedia Commons were not only the final songs but also the backing and midi tracks. Thanks to that many families in Polish homes can cultivate polish traditions since last year, singing and experiencing these family holidays.â says Kozielski. âAfter we finished the project we shared the recording on many websites, which are still visited by many people.â
One of the songs from the 2013 project was captured on video as well.
Since the first set of carols were released in 2013, policy on Wikimedia Commons has changed to include the popular high-quality .WAV audio format (more here about allowable file types on Wikimedia Commons). When the team released a new set of Christmas carols for 2014, they were released as .WAV files.
Borys Kozielski and his team continue to work on other audio projects. Kozielski hosts radio workshops for young people, and is the founder of a foundation called Open up which is a part of the Coalition for Open Education in Poland. He first discovered Wikipedia in 2002, but it wasnât until 2010 when he attended Wikimania in GdaĆsk that he became interested in becoming more involved. âI was struck by the enormity of the project, its global reach and mission. That was when I came up with and idea of recording Lekcje z Wikipedii, which are available today in the form of podcasts,â says Kozielski. âBecause of the dynamic changes in Mediawiki, they are no longer up to date and are only there for the archival purposes, but thanks to these podcasts and some fellow Wikipedians I got to know the rules of creating the Wikimedia society, as many listeners did with me.â
The group continued to record the podcasts live in Radio Wnet and later uploaded those recordings to Wikimedia commons. From there, Kozielski devised a plan to create a platform of communication for all Wikimedia projects, and has regularly recorded weekly episodes called “Nowiny Wikiradia“, commenting, describing and informing about new ventures, ideas and initiatives in Wikimedia since 2011. “Thanks to Radio Wnet we maintain an internet radio stream at www.wikiradio.org.”
âWe live in the times when itâs not enough to learn, we have to learn how to learn, we learn constantly, daily, and I think that itâs already coming to fruition in the new generation.â says Kozielski. âWe came that much closer to the future.â
Profile by Yoona Ha, Wikimedia Foundation Communications Intern
Interview by Victor Grigas, Wikimedia Foundation Storyteller
Original interview, translated in English
(via email by BartĆomiej Kozielski – August 27, 2014 — see below for original answers in Polish)
Tell me about yourself, who are you? Where are you from?
Iâm a Wikimedian from Poland. A journalist by profession, a podcaster by heart. Iâm fascinated by how small local social groups and and interest groups communicate. I conduct radio workshops for young people. Iâm looking for ways of improving communication, exchanging views, thoughts and experiences. I started a foundation called âOpen upâ which is a part of Coalition for Open Education. Iâm a member of Wikimedia Poland Association.
What do you do with Wikipedia or other Wikiprojects?
I do sound-related projects. Iâm writing a beginnerâs guide for podcasters in Wikimedia Books, I am doing the recordings in The Actors Literature Interpretation Studio from Wikisource, I am recording Wikipedia articles for Commons (Spoken Wikipedia) and I got involved in the Voice Intro Project. Along with some colleagues I am creating Wikiradio and the broadcasts about Wikimedia Poland Assocation, we describe and comment on the Wikimedia and open culture events all across the world.
Tell me about the Polish Carols you have worked on?
The idea came to life last September. A friend of mine from France, Patryk Michalski (Paterm) pitched the idea of a professional recording of Polish Christmas carols. Wikimedia Commons often lacks in recordings of good music, even when itâs in public domain. My son is a director of a group of young artists called Studio Accantus, who all love singing. When I told him about the project he instantly got interested. The possibility of enriching the biggest encyclopedia of the world with musical illustrations of their own was a really important and noble task for these talented and rising artists. Wikimedia Poland Association provided funding for the orchestrations and arrangements of the songs. The task that seemed easy at first turned out to be quite a challenge. Young artists had to face the tradition going back a few hundred years and we didnât want the rendition to be too conservative or too modern. It was also a big challenge for Marcin Kuczewski, the arranger. A factor that was quite significant and motivating was signing the project with their own names, in line with the requirements of the CC-BY license. First we prepared the list of the christmas carols, whose copyright has expired. We got the lyrics and the sheet music from Wikisource. The arranger prepared the draft versions of the backing tracks. The director chose the appropriate vocalists and the people for the backing vocals. The recordings of the vocalists took more than a month and then went back to the arranger, who prepared the final version of the backing tracks. In accordance with the agreement, the files uploaded to Wikimedia Commons were not only the final songs but also the backing and midi tracks. Thanks to that many families in Polish homes can cultivate polish traditions since last year, singing and experiencing these family holidays. After we finished the project we shared the recording on many websites, which are still visited by many people. We also recorded a video starring the vocalists taking part in the project (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mx2fWHOSAY). We are currently working on some other projects for Wikimedia Poland with the young actors and singers.
How did you get involved with Wikimedia projects? Can you describe the first time you began to understand how wikis work? How have you seen your work influence others?’
I first heard about Wikipedia in 2002. After a short period of being fascinated by the method of cooperation, when confronted with its effects, I losed interest. After a few efforts of supplementing the Wikipedia articles in which I had some knowledge I stopped taking care of it. It wasnât until 2010 during Wikimania in Gdansk than I met people form all over the world and started to become interested in the structure, relations and methods of cooperation used by the Wikipedians. I was struck by the enormity of the project, its global reach and mission. That was when I came up with and idea of recording Lekcje z Wikipedii, which are available today in the form of podcasts. Because of the dynamic changes in Mediawiki, they are no longer up to date and are only there for the archival purposes, but thanks to these podcasts and some fellow Wikipedians I got to know the rules of creating the Wikimedia society, as many listeners did with me. We recorded the podcasts live in Radio Wnet and later put them on a special website and on Wikimedia Commons. In time Lekcje z Wikipedii evolved into Wikiradio, an idea to cocreat a platform of communication for all the Wikimedia projects. Since 2011 we regularly record new episodes, about once a week, commenting, describing and informing about new ventures, ideas and initatives in Wikimedia. Thanks to Radio Wnet we maintain an internet radio stream at www.wikiradio.org. We record and share recordings from NGO conferences on open license, so that the notion of free access to the resources of human knowledge are available for free in every corner of the world and everyone who canât participate in these events live is able to somehow take part in them in any chosen time and place. We live in the times when itâs not enough to learn. We have to learn how to learn. We learn constantly, daily, and I think that itâs already coming to fruition in the new generation. We came that much closer to the future.
Original interview in Polish
(via email – August 7, 2014)
Tell me about yourself, who are you? Where are you from?
Jestem Wikimedianinem z Polski. Z wyksztaĆecenia dziennikarzem, z zamiĆowania podkasterem. FascynujÄ
mnie metody komunikacji maĆych spoĆecznoĆci lokalnych i grup zainteresowaĆ. ProwadzÄ dla mĆodziezy zajÄcia radiowe. Szukam sposobĂłw na poprawienie komunikacji, wymiany poglÄ
dĂłw, myĆli i doĆwiadczeĆ. ZaĆoĆŒyĆem FundacjÄ “OtwĂłrz siÄ”, ktĂłra jest czĆonkiem Koalicji Otwartej Edukacji. Jestem czĆonkiem Stowarzyszenia Wikimedia Polska.
What do you do with Wikipedia or other Wikiprojects?
ZajmujÄ siÄ projektami zwiÄ
zanymi z dĆșwiÄkiem. PiszÄ poradnik dla poczÄ
tkujÄ
cych podkasterĂłw w Wikimedia Books, realizujÄ nagrania w Studiu Aktorskich Interpretacji Literatury z WikiĆșrĂłdeĆ, nagrywam hasĆa Wikipedii do Commons (Spoken Wikipedia) zaangaĆŒowaĆem siÄ w Voice Intro Project. Z kolegami tworzymy Wikiradio i audycje o dziaĆaniu Stowarzyszenia Wikimedia Polska, opisujemy i komentujemy wydarzenia ze Ćwiata wikimediĂłw a takĆŒe wolnej kultury.
Tell me about the Polish Carols you have worked on?
PomysĆ zrodziĆ siÄ w zeszĆym roku we wrzeĆniu. Kolega z Francji, Patryk Michalski (Paterm) podsunÄ
Ć myĆl, ĆŒeby zaproponowaÄ Stowarzyszeniu Wikimedia Polska nagranie profesjonalnie wykonanych kolÄd polskich. W Wikimedia Commons brakuje dobrej jakoĆci nagraĆ nawet tych utworĂłw, ktĂłre sÄ
w domenie publicznej. MĂłj syn kieruje grupÄ
mĆodych artystĂłw Studia Accantus, ktĂłrzy kochajÄ
Ćpiewanie. Kiedy powiedziaĆem mu o projekcie od razu siÄ zainteresowaĆ. Dla utalentowanych twĂłrcĂłw stojÄ
cych u progu kariery, moĆŒliwoĆÄ wzbogacenia najwiÄkszej encyklopedii Ćwiatailustracjmi w postaci wĆasnej twĂłrczoĆci byĆo niezwykle nobilitujÄ
cym i waĆŒnym zadaniem. DziÄki zgĆoszeniu do Stowarzyszenia Wikimedia Polska projektu “KolÄdy Polskie” uzyskaliĆmy finansowanie niezbÄdnych orkiestracji i aranĆŒacji potrzebnych do nagraĆ wokalistĂłw. Z poczÄ
tku Ćatwe zadanie okazaĆo sie duĆŒym wyzwaniem. MĆodzi artyĆci zmierzyli siÄ z tradycja siÄgajÄ
cÄ
kilkustet lat a nie chcieliĆmy, ĆŒeby byĆy wykonane zbyt konserwatywnie, lub zbyt nowoczeĆnie. Dla kompozytora Marcina Kuczewskiego, to teĆŒ byĆo niezwykĆe wyzwanie. Nie bez znaczenia i bardzo motywujÄ
cy byĆ fakt podpisania swojej twĂłrczoĆci imieniem i nazwiskiem, zgodnie z wymaganiami licencji CC-BY.Najpierw przygotowaliĆmy listÄ kolÄd, ktĂłrych prawa autorskie majÄ
tkowe z pewnoĆciÄ
wygasĆy. Z WikiiĆșrĂłdeĆ zaczerpnÄliĆmy teksty i nuty. Kompozytor przygotowaĆ robocze wersje podkĆadĂłw. ReĆŒyser wybraĆ odpowiednich wokalistĂłw i osoby ĆpiewajÄ
ce w chĂłrach. Nagrania wokalistĂłw zajÄĆy ponad miesiÄ
c i potem wrĂłciĆy do kompozytora, ktĂłry przygotowaĆ ostatecznÄ
wersjÄ aranĆŒacji. Zgodnie z umowÄ
do Wikimedia Commons trafĆy nie tylko finalne nagrania kolÄd, ale takĆŒe podkĆady muzyczne i pliki midi. DziÄki temu wiele rodzin w polskich domach juĆŒ od zeszĆych ĆwiÄ
t BoĆŒego Narodzenia moĆŒe kultywowaÄ polskie tradycje wspĂłlnie ĆpiewajÄ
c i przeĆŒywajÄ
c te najbardziej z rodzinnych ĆwiÄ
t w ciÄ
gu roku. Po zakoĆczonym projekcie udostÄpniliĆmy nagrania na wielu poratlach, ktĂłre cieszÄ
siÄ nadal wielkim zainteresowaniem odbiorcĂłw. NagraliĆmy wideo z udziaĆemwystÄpujÄ
cych wokalsitĂłw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mx2fWHOSAY). Z mĆodymi aktorami realizujemy kolejne projekty dla Wikimiedia Polska.
How did you get involved with Wikimedia projects? Can you describe the first time you began to understand how wikis work? How have you seen your work influence others?’
O Wikipedii pierwszy raz usĆyszaĆem w 2002 roku. Po krĂłtkim okresie chwilowej fascynacji metodÄ
wspĂłĆdziaĆania i konfrontacji z jej efektami porzuciĆem to zainteresowanie. Po kilku prĂłbach wzbogacenia Wikipedii z dziedzin, ktĂłre byĆy mi znane pzrestaĆem siÄ niÄ
zajmowaÄ. Dopero w 2010 roku podczas Wikimanii w GdaĆsku, gdy spotkaĆem ludzi z caĆego Ćwiata zaczÄ
Ćem interesowaÄ siÄ strukturÄ
, zaleĆŒnoĆciami i metodami wspĂłĆpracy wikipedystĂłw. PoraziĆa mnie wielkoĆÄ projektu, jego globalny zasiÄg i misja. Wtedy narodziĆ siÄ pomysĆ nagrywania Lekcji z Wikipedii, ktĂłre do dziĆ sÄ
dostepne w formie podkastĂłw. DziĆ, ze wzglÄdu na dynamiczne zmiany w Mediawiki majÄ
juĆŒ w wiÄkszoĆci charakter archiwalny, ale dziÄki tym podkastom i kolegom wikipedystom poznaĆem lepiej zasady tworzenia spoĆecznoĆci wkimedian, a razem z nami wielu sĆuchaczy. Podkasty nagrywaliĆmy na ĆŒywo w Radiu Wnet, a poĆșniej byĆy umieszczane na stronie podkastu i w Wikimedia Commons. Z czasem Lekcje z Wikipedii przerodziĆy siÄ w Wikiradio, pomysĆ na wspĂłĆtworzenie komunikacyjnej platformy dla wszystkich projektĂłw Wikimedia i wikipedystĂłw. Od 2011 roku regularnie nagrywamy audycje, mniej wiÄcej co tydzieĆ, komentujÄ
c, opisujÄ
c i informujÄ
c o nowych przedsiÄwziÄciach, pomysĆach i inicjatywanch wikimediĂłw. Utrzymujemy dziÄki wsparciu Radia Wnet strumieĆ radia internetowego pod adresem www.wikiradio.org. Nagrywamy i udostÄpniamy na wolnych licencjach nagrania z konferencji organizacji pozarzÄ
dowych, dziÄki czemu idea wolnego dostÄpu do zasobĂłw ludzkiej wiedzy ciÄ
gle siÄ poszerza. DziÄki naszym audycjom, treĆci prezentowane podczas audycji i konferencji dostepne sÄ
za darmo w kaĆŒdym zakÄ
tku Ćwiata i kaĆŒdy, kto nie moĆŒe uczestniczyÄ w tych wydarzeniach na ĆŒywo ma moĆŒliwoĆÄ uczestniczenia w wybranym przez siebie miejscu i czasie. Ć»yjemy w czasach, gdy nie wystarczy siÄ nauczyÄ. PowinniĆmy siÄ uczyÄ jak siÄ uczyÄ. Uczymy siÄ stale, codziennie i myĆlÄ, ĆŒe to juĆŒ owocuje w nowym pokoleniu sprzÄĆŒeniem zwrotnym. DziÄki temu przyszĆoĆÄ staĆa siÄ bliĆŒsza.
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