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TraxWeekly Issue 114
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founded march 12, 1995 _| : _____ t r a x w e e k l y # 114
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| TraxWeekly Issue #114 | Release date: 11 Nov 1997 | Subscribers: 1102 |
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>-[Introduction]--------------------------------------------------------------
Greetings, readers.
Several people have requested that I mention this again, so I will: the
IRC channel #trax has moved from AnotherNet to its own network, scenenet.
There are several servers to choose from, including irc.kosmic.org,
irc.groove.org, irc.spin.org, and irc.demoscene.net.
Thanks to all of you faithful readers who have continued to stick with
this publication, even with our infrequent release schedule as of late.
I personally feel that it is more important to bring articles and debate
that have a significant impact on the musicians of the scene than to pump
out an issue with lots of "filler" each week. Contributors, you've been
*awesome*.
This week, Coplan brings us "In Tune" again, this time reviewing the music
of Pyro, along with a survey he did at school on tracker music and its
appeal to non-sceners. Behemoth raised some hell in the last issue on
the commercial viability of tracking, and I'm still trying to sort out all
of the feedback. There's a little sampling of those opinions here; we'll
have an all out spread next week. And speaking of "sampling," ior has a
short piece on understanding sampling rate.
Enjoy the issue, and until next time!
Gene Wie (Psibelius)
TraxWeekly Publishing
gwie@csusm.edu
>-[Contents]------------------------------------------------------------------
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/ ____/_/ __/ \ __/ / _____/ \ __/ __/ ___/_
< \____\ \ \\ \ \\____ __/ __/_\ \ \\____ \_____ \__
\ \ \ \\ \ \ww\ \\ \\ \ \ \ \ \_
_\________\________\\___\____\ \_____\\_______\\___\____\ \_____\_______\
General Articles
1. In Tune.......................................Coplan
2. Understanding Sampling Rate...................Island of Reil
3. Open Letter to the Scene......................BizKid and Ming
4. Common Folk on Tracked Music..................Coplan
5. 1997 - Is There Sense in the Module Scene?....Distance
6. MC5 Voting Complaints.........................Schm0
The Scene: Commercially Viable?
7. The Commercial Scene..........................Dilvish
8. Live Tracking.................................xiagox
9. Commercial Tracking...........................Chris Jarvis
Closing
Distribution
Subscription/Contribution Information
TraxWeekly Staff Sheet
>-[General Articles]----------------------------------------------------------
--[1. In Tune]------------------------------------------------------[Coplan]--
Welcome back for another installment of In Tune. I've made a few changes
to the articles format this week. Mainly, I added a little information
section at the end to not only help readers find the song, but it also
gives some of the fine details that I don't always discuss within the song
(like filesize). I give this idea credit to Mairsil who wrote me earlier
in the week with his comments. Apparently, those of you who use Netscape
Mail, AOL, Eudora (I assume) can simply click on the link in that section,
and the song gets delivered directly to your hard drive. Thanks for the
comments Mairsil.
All said and done, lets get down to the meat and potatoes. This week,
I am reviewing a song by Pyro called "Sad." The song is basically an
orchestral peice, though it has quite a bit of influence from modern music
styles. This is Pyro's first orchestral tune, and I congratulate him on
his success. He definately did his research when composing this song.
Pyro brings you into the mood with an introduction consisting of only
a few percussion instruments: A distant snare, a tom and a hihat. The
repetitive nature of the tom begins as the controlling instrument, and one
that succesfully defines the character of the song. However, since it is
such a key instrument, I think it could have benefited from an echo, or at
least a panning envelope dodging back and forth creating an echo effect.
The sample data contains an echo, but playing it static on the panning
spectrum doesn't allow the fullness and realism that an echo would add.
Shortly after the song begins...the flute lead instrument is introduced,
as well as the Atmosphere sample. Those of you GUS owners out there will
recognize this sample. Your PAT libraries are wonderful sources for song
samples. In this case, Pyro used the Atmosphere sample as a mid-range
string section. It is the most effective use of this sample I have ever
seen (I have 4 songs on my hard drive using this sample, including one of
my own). I imagine this song was written on a GUS, and that brings
up something that should be brought to your attention.
In the case of this song, the Atmosphere sample would not have the same
sound quality if Pyro chose to play it in only one channel at a time. The
GUS has a unique tendancy to change the sound quality of two samples played
at the same note at the same time...not much, but enough to notice. On a
card like the Sound Blaster, this would simply just get louder. I listened
to "Sad" on both sound cards, and the doubleing of the notes using the
Atmosphere sample sounds nicer on the GUS. Fortunately, it doesn't sound
bad on the Sound Blaster AWE32 either. It's just a problem to be aware of.
I must compliment Pyro on his percussion. Percussion useing a drum set
is a whole different animal than useing a timpany and other orchestral
instruments. Pyro had no problems dealing with the Timpany. He even made
sure that his Timpany was in tune, which is something many people overlook.
Timpanys are considered melodic instruments, so make sure they are tuned.
Order 28 starts us with a significantly well done drum solo. Notice in
channel 3 there is that little Bubble Blip sample...barely audible, until
you take it out, then you know it was there. It's amazing the simple things
that can add to your song in general, let alone Pyro's drum solo.
The other section of the song I would like to point out starts around
order 36. Here, we have a near replica of the beginning, with the addition
of that bubble blip sample again. But this time, Pyro cuts to the chase.
Suddenly, the flutes come back in a more vibrant manor. They perform their
own solo with almost no other instruments in ear shot. This adds to the
character of the solo, and upholds the theme of the song. Belive it or not,
a base line would make the solo seem happy (I tried, belive me). This style
is common in the Star Wars soundtrack (Empire Theme -- violin solo).
Eventually, the solo fades back into the style that the rest of the song
is written in.
Though I think it is a first, I am going to comment on his song text. I
am one of those people that reads song text, belive it or not, we do exist.
I personally like the big letters made of periods and colons. But the real
reason I am commenting is that "quasi-orchestral" statement. As far as
I'm concerned, this was a full blown orchestral song. I didn't find any
samples within the song that couldn't be taken from a real live orchestra.
Its orchestral, and a good one at that.
In closing, I feel that I may have come off as being a little hard on
Pyro in some spots. I don't intentionally try to seem like I'm being over
criticle of his work. Of the orchestral pieces out there, "Sad" is one of
the better ones I've heard. I have a lot of respect for the song, and a lot
more for a tracker willing to try something new and perhaps not as common.
If this week's article seemed silly, keep in mind, it is final project time.
Until next time, cheers.
--Coplan
Song Information:
Title: Sad
Author: pYro
Filename (zipped/unzipped): 237k
File Size (Zipped Unzipped): 246k
Source: http://www.hornet.org/music/songs/1997/p/py_sad.zip
"In Tune" is a regular column dedicated to the review and public
awareness of newly released tracked tunes. If you have heard a song you
would like to recommend (either your own or another person's), I can be
reached at the following address: coplan@thunder.temple.edu
Any format playable in either Cubic Player or Impulse Tracker is
acceptable. I review single songs only (no musicdisks). Please do not
send files over 1MB without first contacting me.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--[2. Understanding Sampling Rate]--------------------------[Island of Reil]--
We all know about sampling rate. It's that weird 44.1kHz number that we
can change around in some of our trackers. We can set it to whatever we
want, but the most common are 22.05kHz, 44.1kHz, and 48kHz. What exactly
does this number mean? It's simple, really. This number is how many times
per second (the definition of 1 Hz is 1 cycle/second) the waveform of the
sound that is being sampled has been measured. The higher the sample
rate, the more accurate the reproduction of the sound that is being sampled.
Take this (poorly drawn) ascii sine-wave.
__ __
/ \ / \
/ \ / \
\ / \ /
\__/ \__/
Notice how nice and analog it is. Analog is our friend. Except for
certain little problems (such as tape hiss) analog is generally better
than digital. It sounds much nicer. The great thing about digital is that
it gets rid of extraneous noise (except for rare digital noise or
oversampling, which I won't talk about here). But back to sampling rate.
Lets say that that sine wave is playing at 1kHz. That's 1000
cycles/second. One of the problems of digital is that it can't draw these
nice perfect sine waves. It has to stop at a certain point, measure the
height of the wave, record it, move forward a specific distance, measure
the height again, record it, move forward the same specific distance, ad
nauseum. So if I sample that 1kHz sine wave at 44.1kHz, my computer will
seperate that sine wave into 44,100 little snippets per second. Some
quick math tells me that my computer will record the height of the wave
ever .023 cycles. This will create a decent reproduction of the sound,
although it will still remain a bit blocky. Why will it be blocky? Well,
think about how it samples. When it replays this sample, your computer
will move forward a specific amount (based on sample rate), play the
height of the wave, move forward a specific amount, play the new height,
ad nauseum. It will look something like this:
_
_| |_
| |_ _
|_ _|
|_|
Of course, the steps will be a lot smaller than I can draw in ascii.
But what happens if I halve the sample rate? Well, since I'm not an ascii
genius, go grab a piece of paper. Draw a nice little sine wave. Now put
dots on that sine wave at even intervals. For the purposes of this
demonstration, don't put them _too_ close together ;) Now connect every
OTHER dot. Notice a new curve appearing? Notice that it is essentially
twice as long as the previous curve? This means that my nice 1kHz sine
wave will technomagically become a 500Hz sine wave.
There's just one more thing to think about. You can only accurately
sample and replay any signal that is _less than half of your sampling
rate._ Think about this for a second. Just pretend that you could hear a
44.1kHz tone. Now what happens when I sample my 44.1kHz sine wave at 44.1kHz?
It becomes a flat line! Look:
__ . __ . __ . __ .
/ \ | / \ | / \ | / \ |
/ \ | / \ | / \ | / \ |
______\|___/______\|___/______\|___/______\|___/___
\__/ \__/ \__/ \__/
(the dots represent where the sample is taken, the vertical lines to show
you what frequency is sampled [the height of the waveform], and the
horizontal lines to show you the resulting tone)
The sampling is at the same spot every wave because it happens as often
as the wave does. Now, if you reduced the wave by any amount, but keep it
higher than half the sampling rate, you'll get a pulse wave (aka square
wave) that looks something like this:
---| |---| |---
| | | |
|___| |___|
Neither of those resulting wave forms are quite what I sampled, are they?
So ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS keep your sample _under_ half the frequency of
your sample rate.
Most people think that sampling at 44.1kHz is good enough. The reasoning
behind this is that the human ear can really only hear from about
20Hz-20,000Hz (give or take a little for individual circumstances). Half
of 44.1kHz is 22,050Hz. Plenty of room left over, right? Wrong. Although
we can't actually hear those tones, higher frequencies (20,000Hz+) are
perceptible. If I remove those frequencies, I will still be able to hear
a difference. I won't be able to put my finger on it and say exactly
what's missing, but I will notice something isn't quite the same.
Right now, there are 3 'standard' sample rates. Well, only 2, really, but
there's a 3rd one that I'll add anyway. If you've got a cheesy soundcard,
you probably won't be able to sample over 22.05kHz. Newer sound cards,
and CDs, are all generally 44.1kHz. Lastly, as the recording industry
realized that some people were complaining about the lack of high
frequencies, they began recording at 48kHz. Since 48kHz still isn't
satisfactory, and since technology can now handle a higher sampling rate,
there is talk of making new CDs, CD players, recordings, etc. all at
98.2kHz. This will accurately reproduce frequencies up to 44.1kHz, which
is a great improvement over what we have now. There will still be
something lacking from digital recordings and samples, but it will be a
lot harder for anyone to tell much of a difference (remember, natural
analog sounds have frequencies that a are a lot higher than that).
98.2kHz should suit most people just fine (of course, this also means
that digital recordings will take up twice as much disk space).
On a final side note, frequency loss is what caused several early digital
formats to flop. Remember DCC (Digital Compact Cassette)? It used a
severe lossy compression algorithm that slaughtered the sound wave,
removing high frequencies, low frequencies, and even SOFT frequencies
(now that was a bad idea). The early versions of MiniDisc also had
similar lossy compression. Sony is now on it's third incarnation of
MiniDisc, and they have finally designed a compression algorithm that
sounds decent. Not great, mind you, it's still missing something (and
it's noticeable), but it's not as bad as it once was. Now MiniDisc sounds
like a good Type II tape without the hiss. I'm not including DAT in this
list, as it doesn't use any lossy compression at all; the reason it never
caught on is because the recording industry didn't want consumers to be
able to make high quality digital recordings (they kept it out of the US
marketplace for 5 years with lawsuits). Same thing goes for CD-R. The only
reason it's finally catching on is because of its use as a computer
peripheral. We'll see what happens with DVD.
Well, this isn't as short as I originally intended it to be. Such is life.
Enjoy
Jesse Rothenberg
ior
jroth@cats.ucsc.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--[3. Open Letter to the Scene]----------------------------[BizKid and Ming]--
A Personal View By Steve Gilmore (BizKid of Rebel Riffs)
and Mattias Inghe (Ming of DiSC and Impression)
[The Story Of BizKid]
Ever since I got my first soundcard way back in 1991, I have been
fascinated by computer based music forms. That first Soundblaster
opened up a whole new world of music making that I'd only dreamt of
before - imagine having unlimited studio time! Of course, like most
newbies, my dreams crashed into the abyss as soon as it dawned on me
just how primitive it actually was. I tinkered around with MIDI styles
for a while and soon discovered it's extreme limitations - and that
sound brrrrr<g> Might as well have bought a Casio, I was making music
that rightly belonged coming from one.
I came online in 1992 and immediately started delving more and more into
MIDI and - quite by chance - I wandered onto Aminet's MOD site. At this
point I had heard a little about MODs having just bought a GUS
soundcard, so I downloaded a track by the aptly named Dr Awesome. After
I had climbed down from the immense high this track gave me, I wandered
amongst Aminet like a man possessed. I hoovered up everything I could
see and made my provider and telecom service very rich indeed - but I
didn't care. I was on another planet, peopled by some of the most
amazing talents I had ever heard. And the sound was absolutely
*devastating* - all of it....
Since then I have watched this scene grow from a *very, very* few
composers, to this mass of new music talent we see in 1997 - probably
the biggest year of the MOD scene yet. A couple of things have been
troubling me though, and from the conversations I have with other people
in the MOD world, I'm not alone.
From this vantage point I see a definite spilt in the way the MOD world
is developing, and at it's heart is the first problem that has held back
this scene for so very long.
When I started tracking it was immensely difficult to find MODs, let
alone information about how to make the damn things. I tried asking
wherever I could, but got shot down in great big 'there goes another
lamer newbie' flames so often my ass is still scorched to this day. Of
course, without that knowledge I blundered around wildly, made endless
mistakes and generally *wasted* good ideas that should have borne
fruit. I didn't need to be told how to make the music mind, just a bit
of technical help would have done.
All I met was the wall of silence and elitism that *still* plagues
newbies. Why is that?
[The Story Of Ming]
Music has always been a major part of my life, listening, composing,
even performing. As I can´t tell one end from another on a guitar, or
even where to sit at a piano, it was not until I accidently stumbled
over a program called Mod4Win on some obscure bbs in the early 90s,
that my interrest for composing music was beginning to grow. Not
because I all of a sudden felt I wanted to compose, but because I
finally began to realise I could.
So I ran around from computer store to computer store, asking for
composing software like Farandole Composer, Scream Tracker and Fast
Tracker. To my big surprise, those all-knowing well-combed necktie
wearing experts had no idea what I was talking about. And then I
found it, free, on the Internet. I found a swirling mass of sounds,
innovation and creativity, a melting pot of impressions, impulses and
ideas. I found trackers, free.
I saw the Scene. (dramatic music here)
And it was was all down to those superb, free or low-price trackers,
and still I didn't know how to use them. So I thought; "If you don't
know, ASK.".
I bitterly regret I did that. What I over and over got was not a helpful
hand and some words of advice. Nope, I got scorn, arrogance and ignorance.
"Go bother someone else, you flea bitten little fuck. Idiot lamer." is one
of the more colorful quotes I´ve got from that period. Kinda cute. :)
This was three years ago. I thought that maybe I had bad luck, maybe
things had gotten better, as the scene keeps growing. But from my
discussion from today's newbies I am again proven wrong.
All I got, and all they get, is the wall of silence and and elitism that
still does indeed plauge newbies.
And, as BizKid asks: Why is that?
[The Scene As We See it]
[BizKid]
The answer seems to be coming out of a different area of MODdom than the
standard #trax/compo clustering normally associated with the scene.
There are a great many composer trackers out in the web who have no
point of contact with this older MOD scene; they have never entered a
competition, and probably never even *heard* of #trax. Those we know who
have been on #trax are more liable to dismiss it as irrelevant, a place
where the artform we love is discussed rarely - if at all, and even that
usually in private chats.
But things *are* changing on the web...
Many of us started making MODs as a hobby - a sideline to being a'serious'
musician even. It's no longer a hobby, it's our *lives*. We all pour
enormous amounts of time, sweat, energy and our hard earned cash into this
'hobby' More especially since the advent of the Web and all it's wonder...
Web based MOD production and interactivity has been greatly enhanced with
the emergence of the excellent MODplug and now, for the first time ever,
newbies no longer stumble onto us. Now we're beginning to reach out to
them. The MODring, the MODPluggedIn ring, the Weekly Module Review, MODPlug
Central, Mod Mecca, Trax In Space and certain other excellent web sites
and last but not least; the alt.mods newsgroups are where new people are
coming, and staying. It's also where the most fervent discussions on
the scene are taking place - and where newbies finally do get answers
to their questions. Lately, this voice has become stronger as site after
site is starting to produce and distribute their own newsletters/talk sheets,
simply because there doesn't seem to be any other way to make their opinions
heard. Why something as worthy as Trax Weekly itself is being overlooked
here, is also indicative of that split.
[MING]
Why *are* we engaged in the scene? There may be a lot of reasons for this.
Here are a few I´ve heard from various composers.
"I track to freely share my music with others, because
I like to make music. People want to hear it, as I want
to hear *their* music. I want to collaborate and interact
in creating."
"I track to practice my composing skills, so I one day
might make a go at a commercial career."
"I track because that is the easiest way for me to
compose, and there are a lot of fun people in the Scene."
This is all good. They´re in it for the music. The music. THE MUSIC.
If I´m not mistaken, the mod scene is supposed to be about that. The
media of electronic interchange via BBSes, web, newsgroups, whatever
was made for people like traxers. It is designed for spcifically for
communication. Again, let's repeat: C O M M U N I C A T I O N .
Unfortunately, communication has somehow become a low priority.
Acting cooler than you are and striving for King of the Hill
status in some obscure unspoken ranking system, may not actually be
the person you are. It is the one view most clearly visible
to an outsider. Thus, this attitude is also visible:
"I am in the Scene to win compos, get an op at #trax and
to get the opportunity to show I´m bigger, better and
smarter than all them damn newbies, so I can pick on them."
Now, that is not what I call a good reason.
The root is obvious. Lack of communication. It´s so easy not to communicate.
In fact, it doesn´t take any effort at all. And who has the time to answer
all those stupis emails when they are busy polishing their image? There is
only one problem. To get you gotta give. In terms of feedback, support of
newbies, support of our fellow composers and groups (dammit, we're supposed
to bea community, not a talent competition) This also means support for
the hard working people who provide us with the necessary software, which
brings us to the second problem...
[BiZKid]
The second problem has come up time after time on our scene - the problem of
'cracking' programs.
Both problems have the same root cause: lack of respect for what *we* do.
By we, I include those brave and hardy souls who provide our industry
with the tools we need - the programmers. After all, if they didn't
make the programs, we couldn't make the music. If we didn't make the
music...ah, but you probably get the picture<g> One of the longest
running and most virulent conversations on alt.binaries.sounds.mods is
about the enormous number of people who want a 'crack for ITWAV.drv',
and the consequently shabby way Pulse was treated. The same problem
will occur to *all* further tracker program makers if they also decide
(rightly in my opinion) to make a small charge for it. The makers of
the forthcoming PC version of the OctaMED tracker are already beginning
to feel that larcenous breath on their neck. It seems that unless you
give something away, this scene of ours means nothing to 'crackers' -
and it is all of us who are damaged by that.
Unless, that is, we decide to do something about it...
[The Solution(?)]
There are many ideas floating around those places we've already spoken
about:
1 A MOD MAD campaign very similar to ZDNet's popular MAD campaigns. The
term MAD means Make A Difference, most sites who carry this logo could
agree to a certain way of behaving towards the listening public.
Answering questions about tracking could be a good start. A listing of
the most extensive MOD FTP sites may be another...Composer operated
sites could also agree to credit samples whenever possible. We feel
it's only right and proper that people who make samples *should* be
credited for their own hard work.
2 Weekly/Nightly programmed Java chat MOD sessions is an idea way past
its time. A lot of sites now have their own chat rooms (usually Chat
Planet type thingies), these could be used on a rotating basis to host
nightly scheduled MOD workshops where newbies and other interested
parties can talk directly to composers. We really hate rules normally,
but when common sense or decency is not working, what to do? To get
the answer "Read the damn FAQ", and having no ides as to where that
might hide doesn´t really help, now does it?
3 A MOD scene Code of Practice between program makers and composers
agreeing we should all support each other - and crack down on the
crackers. If we don't deal with this, there will be many more scenes
like the IT scandal. It is possible to change peoples attitudes
towards this problem, because it won't go away if we all ignore it.
It'll just get a lot worse.
4 We know there are a lot of people out there with enthusiasm and ideas.
We need to help those people. What would bring the scene forward is
not endlessly releasing more tracks, but getting some *major* activity
going. Workshops, projects, compos, collaboration, debate, debate,
debate. To setup a forum for all kinds of "things" happening and being
planned in the scene, requests from people who don´t have the abilites
to arrange those things themselves, reports from all ongoing events,
and on and on...Instead of locking yourself up inside your groups,
you could take the time and effort to be the host for some cool
creativity project now and then. Thiswould give so much to the
scene, and so much to yourself.
These are just some of the ideas that have come up in newsgroup
conversations, and we're sure there a great many others floating around.
What we would like is for as many people as possible (composers/groups,
coders, programmers and MOD listeners) to get involved with this ongoing
discussion either here on Trax Weekly, on either alt.binaries.sounds.mods
or alt.music.mods or by emailing MING or BizKid direct. We wholeheartedly
welcome all email, views, slanders and opinions on this subject. We hope
that by initiating this process we can finally make this scene of ours as
viable to the general public as the MIDI scene...
Contact Steve Gilmore at Rebel Riffs Redoubt
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/clan_gilmore
rebriffer@netcomuk.co.uk
Contact Ming ---disc.imp.tupp-----thedisc.home.ml.org--------------
mattias.inghe@mailbox.swipnet.se-
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--[4. Common Folk on Tracked Music]---------------------------------[Coplan]--
This week, in addition to my regular column, I am submitting this
section for your reading enjoyment. Since I've moved into the dorms at
school (Beautiful Temple University Ambler), I have had the opportunity to
expose quite a few people to tracked music. In fact, one friend of mine
frequently plays tracked tunes on his school radio show. Well based on a
pole he did, combined with my personal pole...I was able to come up with
this list of the most favorite tracked tunes at Temple University Ambler.
This list is based on 31 people who called into the radio station during
his show, as well as 18 people who personally listened to the music from
my computer. Sorry, I don't have statistics, nor do I have a ranking. In
random order, the top 20 songs loved by the student body of Temple
University Ambler are:
Song Title: Author:
----------- -------
Kingdom Skies Jase
Mendelian Miscarriage Chuck Bicuits
Warcraft Fred
Princess Lost Vegas
Rise of the Tides Rhythm Greene
Tranquility Leviathan
Dirt Khyron
Ice River Necros
Shadow Caster Necros
(Orbital is a big favorite here)
Catch That Goblin Skaven
The Beast Graffix
Pour Toi, Belle Ari
Cool City Purple Motion
Wish of Freedom Parity Error
Astaris Karsten Koch
Twang Silk Cryptic Blood
Starshine Purple Motion
[FM-GUITR.S3M] Necros
(I don't know the real song name)
Party On, Funk-o-Tron Dynamic Harmony
Wrong Way Home Hunz
There ya have it. Quite a wide selection if you ask me. Granted, this is
not an official pole. Those who called into the radio station were given
the opportunity to listen to nearly 80+ different songs. Those who I
personally spoke with have, in some cases, heard nearly my entire hard drive
of over 260 songs. Granted, any song by myself or any other member of my
own group was tossed out...with the exception of "Rise of the Tides" by
Rhythm Greene, because it had such an overwelming response. Though I have
lost all my statistic sheets, I do remember one song that caught everyone's
ear. "Shadow Caster" by Necros is, as many of you may know, a remix of
Orbital's "Girl With the Sun in her Head." Orbital is quite popular on
our campus. Thus, a remix of a popular Orbital song (a good one at that) is
bound to catch any fan's ear. The song was unanimously popular among all
the listeners who contributed. It was the only song with a perfect rating.
All those songs listed above had at least 26 votes or more. Keep it up all,
people love you guys.
--Coplan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--[5. 1997 - Is There Sense In The Module-Scene At All? ]---------[Distance]--
There has been a beginning to Trax-Weekly. If you are in "scoff-mode",
and decide that it is stupid to start an article this way, you are free
to skip to the next article, and perhaps "find" it "more meaningful".
There has also been a beginning to the module-scene. I will start
talking about this from the "Amiga"-situation. Soundtracker
(and of course other programs) were coded, and people used them
to create music. Musicians like Groo, Dizzy, Strobo, Vinnie, Chromag,
Virgill, Scorpik, Jogeir Liljedahl - - - etc. I could go on for forever.
They all started at "some point" of the "Amiga-scene". They all are
(to various extent) famous. Some "pc-musicians"...
If you are disturbed by my usage of quotation marks, please write me.
I am *definitely* not meaning harm to any special "word" that I use,
nor am I trying to "underline" it's meaning. I see that some of
the "Amiga-musicians" have gone to the PC.. -> Therefore I
say that they are "Amiga-musicians" because they "started" on the
Amiga! It is simple if you think about it.
Ok. Some musicians on the PC platform *do* remember them and dearly
hold their creations in a special "pedestal" somewhere. You might
have seen that happen. Or read it somewhere.
Ok. The Amiga-scene was in a total chaos when these people emerged.
"Nothing special had been done". They hadn't composed yet.
They hadn't gone to be the legends that they *might* be nowadays
(to some extent).
But. There weren't "that many" of them starting from the ground.
And *perhaps* because of that, they are held in awe.
*They were the first*. You may want to point out that I am
"totally wrong" in this message, that they weren't the first,
but hold the thought for a while. Please?
Ok. Let's zoooom from 198x / beginning of 199x to 1997.
What do you see? A ten-thousand-fold of beginners, legends,
and everything in between. amateurs, professionals, veterans.
Tricksters, Jokers, "Just For Fun"-ers.. Anything.
There are places where you can get modules from, and you
can also *put your *own* creations there!* . Oh joy!
"Hello. I am a beginning musician. This is my first module ever.
I am so happy that I created it. So happy! I want to give it
to everyone. I want respect, like those "hotshots" like
"?" and "?" and "?" " ("?" because of not wanting to hurt
*certain* musicians) "Will you please take my module?"
Who can resist that offer?
"Of course I will take your module and listen to it".
Then you listen to it.. <fearful drumroll>.. And it's
"nothing special". Or even "crappy"! Or ----.
.-------------------------------------------'
`-->"just another damn lame module by a beginner"
If you say anything to this beginner, this person, this
budding musician. You are giving him feedback.
If it is truly such a happy incidence, that you are not
responsible of holding a largish FTP-site (guess which one)
and are not *too busy*, you can give him comments and
suggestions *before* the module gets too well-spread.
Everyone knows. Sometimes there are things you regret
having done. Sometimes you have been too happy/drunk/stoned,
to remember you've done it.. And you've done a mistake.
"It seemed to be the right thing to do at the moment,
now I regret it. Sorry!" .. But it has already been done.
Let's zoom into the subject: <a damn large ftp-site>.
Things get out of control. Especially if they get large enough.
"I have created a monster"
Ever heard that?
Ok. Ah. I'm getting hazy around the edges.
Here's my point.
In "the beginning" there weren't that many musicians,
and everybody had the chance "to be noticed" and "gain fame".
In "the now", In "1997", we have thousands and thousands
of musicians who "want to get noticed". Everyone wants to
"leave his/her/it's mark" everywhere.
It is much easier to "put something out by mistake",
than it was before. And people take advantage of
<damn large ftp-site>'s, and put *everything* they have
created into that place/offer it to ANYONE in IRC/
massflood it in bulk-mail (or suchlike) to anyone and
everyone/*anything!*.
Am I writing this article because I am trying to justify
"my acts of spreading songs"? You never know.
Because I have never been in any *major* music-group,
I haven't had the possibility of spreading my songs
"nicely enough". Some might disagree. You are free to do so.
But. I have made the inexplicable mistake of uploading
my 100th (or so) module to ftp.cdrom.com. It is not quite
as nice as it should be (or could be), but I put it there,
because I got nice comments about it, *AND* thought:
"Who cares".
It might still be there, or it might not be.
But I have gained from the experience of composing the
module, and I have put it out, and people have listened to it.
But I am sorry anyway. Do you see my point? It takes space.
And when thousands+thousands of people put modules out,
they "take space" too. Aha. It is better to stop this
article here.
regards.
distance/lackluster
easier to remember --> distance@mindless.com ----.
harder to type ------> a950918@myy.helia.fi <----'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--[6. MC5 Voting Complaints]-----------------------------------------[Schm0]--
Psi and Traxweekly,
I've heard that there was some complaints about the voting process in the
last MC5 competition, and I got to thinking of an alternative voting
process. I should explain some of the background to this. In recent years,
competing marching bands around the U.S. have become increasingly
competitive, requiring a very detailed and accurate way to judge and
evaluate a given marchin band show. Well, a marching band show is much
like tracking music. There is a musical aspect as well as a technical
aspect. And of course, just like many competing bands, there are different
skill levels. (Anyone who has ever marched or played in a High School band
program knows this.) So, here is what I propose: A 100 point system.
50 Points: Musicality
Effect: 20 points
This section deals with the overall musical impression received by
the judge, according to the song's particular style. Bias should
definately be kept out of this section. (i.e. a hard rock composer judging
an orchestral piece.) How does the song flow? How does it sound? Is it
high quality?
Ensemble: 20 points
Here the judge analyzes the way the music fits together. Is it a musical
peice, or a bunch of solos? Do the samples all fit together, does it
sound too loud, is there an annoying hi-hat? The general work is looked
upon as the sum of its parts and judged.
Creativity: 10 points
The judge gives credit here for originality, melodic structure, and
overall creativity in the musical part of the song. Does the same melody
keep going and going, or is there a neat little bridge that goes into a
brilliant piano solo, then calms down to a soft flute trio and ends with a
giant gong reminscent of ancient Asia? You get the picture.
50 Points: Technicality
Effect: 25 points
The judge analyzes the technical aspects of the song: commands, notes,
samples and/or NNAs. The judge then sums up the general effect it has on
the listener. (Does it sound cool when it pans off to the left and loops
back around in stereo?)
Ensemble: 15 points
The judge takes the effect of each command, note and sample and asks, does
it fit together nicely? Basically, the judge bases this score on how well
all of the technical aspects of the song fit together.
Creativity: 10 points
Here the judge writes down how well the composer is at putting a certain
effect into a song and using in the right musical manner, not just putting
together a bunch of neat little commands. The judge will base his score on
the technical skill level of the composer.
TOTAL: 100 points.
Now, this may seem a bit unbalanced, bu t in fact, it isn't. The younger,
less experienced composers (such as I) will score lower, and will be
placed in comparison to one another. Thus, the competition won't be for a
high score, but a highER score than the guy above you. It makes things a
bit more fair. The judges should be competent in most types of tracked
music, if not all, and should not judge songs on the merit of their style,
but on how that song fits that particular style. The points can go down to
tenths to provide a closer spread. (i.e. Music Effect score of 13.5)
What do you think?
Schm0
Scott Lambert
sdlamber@umich.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--[7. The Commercial Scene]----------------------------------------[Dilvish]--
Reading Behemoth's comments in TraxWeekly Issue #113, I almost got
the sense that he was purposely trying to push buttons with those
of us involved in commercial music projects. A few of his comments
were not entirely accurate.
The first comment that started pushing my buttons was this:
"We don't track, code, or make gfx for money! We do it because we
LIKE to do it." Some of you may not want to choose music, coding,
or art as their career, but some of us *do*. Some of us were born
to express ourselves, and we'd be miserable doing anything else!
If you have the talent to make professional quality music, why not
earn a living at it? It sure beats McDonnald's.
"Tracking software is DOS-based and is not very easy to use.
While you and I may be able to track, most people (speaking
in the commercial market, remember) don't know what panning
is, what timing is, what key signatures and chord progressions
are, or what a melody and harmony are. This is why you won't
see tracking software on store shelves, at least for now."
Are we talking about the music being commercialized, or the software?
These seem like two entirely different subjects, but as long as we're
on it, I might as well share my opinion.
When was the last time you saw Cakewalk Pro Audio sitting on the
store shelves next to Microsoft Office? Of course, selling a tracker
in a consumer-oriented environment wouldn't work out well, but selling
it through musical channels might hold some potential in the future.
I agree that tracking software will never be a casual toy for the
average consumer. On the other hand, the technology has matured and
developed so much over the last few years that it's starting to lend
itself well to commercial endeavors. The average consumer might
not have the knowledge you need to use the software, but somebody
with a background in music, and a little experience with a computer
should have little trouble adapting.
"You cannot perform tracking live. While this may not sound entirely
true, have you ever seen Prodigy perform? They look like a bunch of
idiots. The reason is because it's all pre-sequenced, much in the
same way tracked music is."
Depeche Mode uses a lot of sequenced music. This doesn't stop them
from performing a lot live. That's why the mixer was invented. You
*do* know what a mixer is, don't you? It's very easy to perform
along with sequenced tracks. I know, because I've been doing it for
years.
"We can produce better music than most of the crap that lines the
shelves of most CD stores, but how can one possibly expect to
market a tracker? There sure wouldn't ever be concerts or tours."
First of all, the quality a tracker produces depends upon his
abilities more than anything else. For every great song trackerX
sends me, trackerY sends me 10 songs completely unworthy of being
produced and sold.
Who says you have to market a tracker as a tracker? When was the
last time you heard a band billed as "Korg players"? The tools
you use to create music don't mean a lot to consumers.
"The music industry is really stupid about the way they handle
talent"
They're not stupid. They have money in mind. Commercial radio
stations have to play something that a large audience will listen
to. Otherwise, it would be very hard to attract advertising and
stay in business. Record companies rely largely on radio to promote
sales. How often do you buy CD's made by someone you've never heard
of? This may seem like a tough cycle to break, but that's where
the indie scene picks up the slack. Independent labels often deal
with very different acts. As these acts gain popularity, radio begins
to notice, and before you know it, that unheard-of act is backed
by a major record company. It takes a lot of marketing and promotion
to make it in music. Just like any other business.
"there must be SOMEBODY out there who has done something as far as
commercially marketed tracked music...right?"
I'm at the planning stages of creating an independent electronic
label. I'm not focussing strictly on tracked music, in fact, most
of the acts I've been in contact with have never heard of mods,
but I won't turn away trackers interested in making a legitimate
CD (not just pre-ordered CD-r one-offs).
I'm also working on a CD single. The radio version has already
been heard in mp3 format by several of my music industry friends.
(A couple label owners, and a few other bands.) None of them have
any idea that parts of it were tracked. I know of several similar
projects involving tracked music.
When it comes right down to it, tracked music may never be mainstream,
but that doesn't mean that trackers can't cross over and work on
commercial projects.
As for those of you who believe that all music should be free,
consider this: I can't work a 9 to 5 job due to severe health
problems. Up until very recently, I was completely broke, and dealing
with debt collectors and court dates. If it weren't for the music
industry, I would be in serious trouble right now. I'm feeling
financially secure for the first time in my life, and if it weren't
for that first guy on the C64, I may have never considered music
as a career option.
- dilvish
dilvish@cyberspace.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--[8. Live Tracking]------------------------------------------------[xiagox]--
> We do it for one main reason: it's FUN. Oh admit it, it is! The Scene is
> revolutionary because never before have we been able to share our work with
> so many others
I agree wholeheartedly. This is one of the things that initially attracted
me to tracking. I'm in "conventional" bands and we play shows and record
tapes but its really hard to get feedback from your musical peers. But in
the tracking scene, i can get all sorts of insulting comments made about my
stuff with in minutes. :)
> While it is not necessary to know the details of music composition, most
> people will not even consider the possibility that a computer can do more
> than just beep and make retarded noises when Windows screws up. Most of
> the lecture time was spent trying to prove that the computer was able to
> take pre-recorded sounds and manipulate their pitches and durations to
> create tones. I had to even load up Sound Forge to prove that the puter
> was in fact manipulating the samples. You should have seen the audience's
> faces light up when I played the first song of the lecture, a piano ditty
> I whipped up just for that evening.
I want to congratulate you for doing this lecture. You tackled a tough
topic, and seem to have done a good job capturing the audience's interests.
However, as your numbers indicate they didn't believe that tracking is
something that they are able to do. This is unfortunate because I have
spread tracking around a bit in my circle of friends and even my -drummer-
is able to track some cool tunes! Plus, because of the accessibility (low
hardware requirements, low economic requirements) its too bad that more
people don't give it a chance as a way to experiment.
> You cannot perform tracking live. While this may not sound entirely true,
> have you ever seen Prodigy perform? They look like a bunch of idiots. The
> reason is because it's all pre-sequenced, much in the same way tracked
> music is. All they can do is parade on the stage while Liam Howlett mans
> the synths in the rear. To accomodate for the lack of doing anything that
> resembles playing music, Prodigy had to drag a guitarist on stage who
> really serves no purpose. If you think about it, we as trackers would
> have even more difficulty playing live, since all it would look like is
> someone sitting on stage with a computer, hitting "Play Song" (or F5 in
> Impulse Tracker) and 5 minutes later, stopping the song. How exciting. We
> can produce better music than most of the crap that lines the shelves of
> most CD stores, but how can one possibly expect to market a tracker?
> There sure wouldn't ever be concerts or tours.
You can perform live if you are using your tracked music as a part of a
larger picture. For a talent show last year, some friends and i assembled a
crazy act together. I tracked a bunch of bass'n'drums techno stuff on ST3
and we dragged a 486dx2/66 on stage to do some of the music. We had a
synth, a guitar, tin whistle, a set of marching band bass drums, a recorder,
a speak'n'spell and other various instruments of destruction. The catch was
that the song wasn't planned out, all the changes were based on visual cues.
So I had to man the computer and change patterns when the time was
right...so in a nutshell, I pre-programmed the different parts of the song
but I had to "play" my computer on stage.
> The music industry is really stupid about the way they handle talent,
> much the same as the movie industry. Nobody wants to take risks. Nobody
> wants to try something new. So if you've ever wondered why most music you
> buy on CD sounds like garbage, it's because of the lame-ass producers who
> can't stand to try anything out of the ordinary. This is why smaller
> startups and personal studios (such as Maelcum's awesome label, Area 51
> Records) have to carry most if not all the load for now.
You really have to go indie on stuff like this. Record it yourself on a
4track and print a bunch of tapes. Sell them to your friends and spread them
around. Keep making little demo tapes and soon enough you'll have lots of
stuff recorded. Eventually, your tapes will start to get around, (if your
friends like it)...hook up with other people that are in local bands and see
how they go about distributing their music. It can be done.
[x]iago[x]
of intellicore
aka Kevin Driscoll
driscoll@kersur.net
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--[9. Commercial Tracking]------------------------------------[Chris Jarvis]--
There are some channels open for tracking commercially that don't require
ease of use or live performance etc. As the Analogue people might know, I
recently composed a couple of little tunes as background music for a short
film that was screened in a cinema here in Adelaide, South Australia. It's an
18 minute arty, abstact film called Purgatory which is being entered in film
festivals around the world. It's unlikely that you'll hear anything about it.
I composed songs for the opening credits/first scene, and closing credits and
there has been good feedback from the film people that saw the screening.
Although this was a very small venture into the commercial world, there are
bigger things planned... I think trackers around the world should try to
expand their audiences any way they can, including commercially . That way
tracking will continue to develop and become more fit for commercial use.
- Chris Jarvis / Analogue
cjtrack@student.adelaide.edu.au
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>-[Closing]-------------------------------------------------------------------
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