The Empire Oath Project...

Okay, so I have been commenting here and there about this idea for while now. Here is something of a breakdown of what The Empire Oath Project is, how it started, and what we would like to accomplish...

What is The Empire Oath Project?

In short, it is still little more than a "Concept" which has been discussed only briefly to date, but which I and a few others feel has Merit. And further the potential scope of this project can and likely should extend well beyond the original idea. The Klingon Oath of Empire was originally printed on the inside back cover of One of the Klingon supplements to the FASA Role Playing Game. It was later adopted by many Klingon Fan Clubs in the early years of Fandom as an Oath which new members would (In Role-play) recite as part of their induction into the Club. K.L.A.W. 4th Fleet still uses it to this day.

The Original text follows:

KLINGON OATH OF EMPIRE

Beneath the stars that drip with blood
I stand, defiant and alone.
I am here my Emperor. Call on me, I beg of thee
I was nothing before this day and nothing
shall I remain if I cannot serve thee now.

Pain and suffering are my just rewards.
Do with me as serves thee best.
It matters not that I survive,
only that which I Defend.

Forfeit of life, but not of honor,
in thy cause, death at last is welcome.
I am here, My Emperor, ready at last
to be an instrument of thy will.

Ready to obey and die.

How did The Empire Oath Project get started?

Well, to date it has not really "Gotten Started". However, with enough interest and support I can see a variety of likely uses Once it has.

That said, the original idea came in the form of the Ambassador of K.L.A.W. 4th Fleet (Kita zantaI-Juriss), having developed a great idea for her talent when she entered Dragon Cons 1995 Miss Klingon Empire pageant.

Ambassador Kita did not however simply recite the Oath of Empire, she SANG it, and when she did she sung it to the tune of O Fortuna, a piece of music in Carl Orffs Infamous Carmina Burana. And believe me when I say that it was incredible.

However, as amazing as the operatically talented voice of the Ambassador might be, the One element that was missing was the music itself. Now as anyone who is a fan of O Fortuna will undoubtedly know, there is NO Karaoke version of this music, and the few MIDI versions out there leave something to be desired.

So at First the idea was to perhaps find someone suitably talented enough to be able to take a more traditional recording of the piece and edit out the original vocals so that Ambassador Kita might Sing along to, and/or Record over the music. While this was an awesome idea, it did not take long to realize that there were very real copyright infringement issues with attempting to do this sort of thing. Especially if it were ever to be "Distributed" even for free... (The Band KMFDM ran into this when they sampled a portion of O Fortuna in One of their songs).

Anyway, suffice it to say that One, no one needs to (Or likely can afford to), worry about any additional proprietary issues beyond those which already exist for Klingon Fans. And Two, if such a recording were to be made we would DEFINITELY want it to be used by and distributed amongst other Klingon Fans.

So the next plan had to be to find a musician (Or group of musicians) of sufficient skill and interest in such an idea to create some original music for the project.

What we would like to accomplish with The Empire Oath Project.

Noting the information already expressed above, it does not take a genius to realize that the potential for such a project extends well beyond simply creating some good "Klingon" opera.

The reality, is that almost every Forum or Bulletin Board that I have come across has a Thread or Topic nestled in amongst the rest of the Klingon Cultural exchanges talking about existing Klingon Music, or attempting to "Define" exactly what Klingon music is.

It seems to me that the answers are quite varied. In my own questing for Klingon music, I have heard Death Metal, Disco, Filk, Heavy Metal, Rap, Techno and some really great Original Klingon Kompositions. So it is clear that there are a lot of very talented musicians and song writers out there, not to mention some truly skilled and technically proficient Techno-philes. Some of these offering have been in tlhIngan Hol (The Klingon Language), while others have been in English. I see a great opportunity to make use of both.

Ultimately, what I would love to see accomplished is to take the Skills of those who are interested and see them focused towards a common goal, which is basically to create enough Original Klingon Kontent to fill a CD.

Now I am not naive. I recognize that when it comes to creative and artistic endeavors inevitably there will be differences of opinion. It is quite simply the "Nature" of creativity, and those who are creative to have their own "Vision" so to speak. But that need not stop such a project from moving forward. In fact it could really help it along, by giving a lot of latitude to the "Definition" of what Klingon music actually is.

I also recognize that it may not be possible or even desireable for EVERY person who wishes to be involved to collaborate completely on every piece of music. The range of interests, and styles of music likely expand beyond that. However, it would be quite possible to have Collaborations where they were desired, and solo contributions where preferred. The point being that the effort would be to produce some good music that would be readily available to Klingon fans for use during Ceremonies, Conventions, Gatherings, Parties or whatever...

Some obvious benefits (And potential Issues), which would of course have to be addressed are:

- Proprietary rights. (Who would "Own" the music. My suggestion would be that it would be owned by the individuals who created it, and that they would have to be willing to give permission to distribute the material with appropriate acknowledgment).

- Could the resulting material be sold for profit. (My opinion is that the answer would be no. Since this is meant to be a resource for Fandom, and the legality of Royalties and so on could be overwhelming).

- How would such a project be achieved? (I am not really sure, but with the use of tools like the Internet the possibilities seem wide open).

- How would such a project ultimately be distributed? (Again I am not really sure, but I imagine making individual tracks available for D/L somewhere would be ideal).

- Those who chose to participate would be getting their names out there in circulation within the Klingon Kommunity. (Nothing but a plus in my book)!

- Such a compilation could showcase a variety of different perceptions about what *IS* Klingon music.

- ANY and ALL interest in participating in ANY way will be greatly appreciated. THose who are interested may contact me at: Klingonsummergames@hotmail.com.

maj! {Good}...