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. founded march 12, 1995 _| : _____ t r a x w e e k l y # 42 ______________ |___| _ _______/ /\___________________________ / ____________/ /\__\ _ _______/____/_____________________________ / / _________ \/__/ ______\ \_____________________________ / / / `_ . .~ \____\/ _ __ ___ / / / _____ . _ \ __ ___ _/__/\ / / / / /\ _ The Music Scene Newsletter __ __\__\/ _/__/ / ____/ /__\_________________________________ _____ ___ _ / /\/ /___ __________ _ ______ _ ___ \/ /\ / / /____/ \ \ / /\ / __/\ / /\ \ \ / \ /____/ / / \ / \/ /_ \___/___/ \ \_/___/ / \_/ / / \ ___\ / /_/ /______/\/ \ /______/\/ \ /_____/ // \ \ / / / \ / / \ \ \ \_\ \ \ \_\ \ //____/\____\/ / / / / / \______\/ \______\/ \_____\/ \ \ \ \ / / / / \____\/\____\ / / / / _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ / / / /__/ w /\___/ /\___/ e /\___/ /\__ / l /\___/ /\____/ / / __/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/________/ / __\ \____\ e \____\ \____\ k \ ___\ \____\ y \__________/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/WW ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - | TraxWeekly Issue #42 | Release date: 01-12-96 | Subscribers: 478 | - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Introduction]------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ _ _________________ /_\ \__ / ____ ______ \____ ____/____________ ______ _/ \ _/ \ \ww_/ \ _/ ________/_/ _ \ __/ \/ \ \/ \/ \ / | \__ ___ ___ _______ _/ \\ \ \\ \\ | \\/ | \_ ___ __ __ ____ /___________\__\_______\________\____|______\____________\ \__\ Welcome to the 42nd issue of TraxWeekly. Deus Ex joins Atlantic as part of the TraxWeekly music review team, every week bringing you in depth ratings of new songs from musicians of all skills and experience. Zinc joins the writing staff as well, covering an interview with Balrog/KFMF for his first assignment. Jeffrey Lim (Pulse) has been steadily making improvements to Impulse Tracker, and plans to release version 1.1 fairly soon. Please email him if you have any questions about this excellent program. SceneWeb and the Group columns are still pretty empty. Feel free to plug your favorite music scene World Wide Web site, or your own group! Group columns and advertisements are, and always will be, FREE in TW. Enjoy! Psibelius [TW] gwie@owl.csusm.edu /-[Contents]---------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ ________ _________________________________________________________________ / ____/_/ __/ \ __/ / _____/ \ __/ __/ ___/_ < \____\ \ \\ \ \\____ __/ __/_\ \ \\____ \_____ \__ \ \ \ \\ \ \ww\ \\ \\ \ \ \ \ \_ _\________\________\\___\____\ \_____\\_______\\___\____\ \_____\_______\ General Articles 1. New Music Reviews................................Atlantic and DeusEx 2. Impulse Tracker v1.01............................Pulse 3. What People Like Most............................Atlantic 4. SceneWeb.........................................Psibelius Competitions 5. 20 MeEnUtHz Compo................................AmusiC Faces in the Crowd 6. Interview with Balrog............................Zinc Group Columns 7. Epinicion Productions 8. New Objectives in Sound Exploration (NOISE) Closing Distribution Subscription/Contribution Information TraxWeekly Staff Sheet /-[General Articles]-------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ --[1. New Music Reviews]-----------------------------[Atlantic and DeusEx]-- Bad things are sweeping the nation around this time of year. They're called exams. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to do any of my own reviews because i had to spend all my time studying. This week was also my first as a stage manager for a theatre festival here in t.o., so that's taking up some hugoid amounts of time too. I do apologize to the people who submitted to me, to whom i said that their review would be in this issue, and i promise that i'll catch up next week. Those being Pulse (who submitted music by Chris Jarvis), Q / Aim Higher, and i still plan on getting to you, Screwdriver... There were a couple others too. In the meantime, Deus Ex did a whole bunch of stuff. Btw, I didn't include it last week, but he can be reached at deusex@io.org. If the music you are submitting is of a dance, hiphop, techno, jungle, or house kinda style, you'd probably get more appropriate advice from him than you would from me. One more thing. Last week I praised a song by Hunz, but misunderstood him to still be in the group SMASH. Instead, he is now in the group Heretics. On top of that, I said that the person who submitted went by the alias Squidgalator, but actually that should've been Squidgalator II. My apologies again dude. Enjoy this week in review. Reviews for Week of January 4 - January 11 --------------------------------------------------------- Artist......... J. Redfern Song Title..... "Calling Earth" [Images #1 Music disc..ce2.xm] DOR............ January 3-7 Email Addy: redfern@physics.ucg.ie Found: ftp.cdrom.com (/.21/demos/incoming/music/discs/ Composition: 50% Sound Quality: 70% Originality: 70% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: I have to give this guy credit - he has a lot of ideas about techno. Only problem is there are too many ideas in this one song. Next time, concentrate on one or two grooves and work them to death. The 37th pattern is stunning and could have easily been the main focus of the song. I'd like to see a remix of this track. Artist......... Dynamis Song Title..... "Amber Wave" [wave.zip] DOR............ September 25th Email Addy: not available Found: ftp.cdrom.com (/music/songs/1995/s3m/w/ Composition: 50% Sound Quality: 60% Originality: 40% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: This song has a nice melody, and chord progression, but it needs work in a lot of areas. Watch your samples...quality is everything! The piano needs a longer sustain in the intro, it cuts out and sounds dry. The rhythm track is also lacking in originality and creativity. The song should venture away from the main idea, but instead plays it safe, and becomes bland. This song was also labeled as an ambient/hiphop song... well, it isn't ambient, and it certainly isn't hiphop. If I had to categorize it, it's a demo style song, with a house beat. As I said before though....you got a nice melody happening, and that's half the battle, now just work on your compostion and arrangement. Artist......... The Third Man / VSL Song Title..... "Oblivious Monologue" [v-monolg.xm] DOR............ January 3-7 Email Addy: not available Found: Da Club BBS Composition: 95% Sound Quality: 90% Originality: 80% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: This is a stunning track! You have to hear it even it's just for sound quality. Strong ambient/acid/house track. I've been following this guy for a while, and just when I think he can't get better... he comes out with another new track that blows my mind. Artist......... Point Zero / Phychosonic Collective Song Title..... "Close your Eyes" [pc-close.zip] DOR............ January 3-7 Email Addy: chrisj@sentex.net Found: ftp.cdrom.com (/.21/demos/incoming/music/songs/s3m/ Composition: 80% Sound Quality: 80% Originality: 90% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: Supercallafragabalistic! Ambient trance at it's finest. The groove's are haunting. Could be a bit longer :( Nice balance of rhythm and sounds. Pick this up! ** Radical Rhythm's can always be counted on for professional/quality house/trance/acid/techno tracks, and their latest disk Chapter8 will not disappoint. I set out to pick out my favourite tracks to review, and ended up reviewing 75% of the disc! Artist......... Bomb20 / RR Song Title..... "Desert Storm" Composition: 90% Sound Quality: 95% Originality: 90% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: Damn...I left my E in the back pocket of my jeans, which are now in the wash....don't you hate when that happens? Just my luck...no E and this warped song in front of me. The only complaint I have is that it's too short. Highlight - the rhythm break about 20 patterns into the song. Warped and beautiful! Artist......... Bomb20 / RR Song Title..... "Techno's most Hated" Composition: 70% Sound Quality: 75% Originality: 75% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: There is a beauty to all this noise! Artist......... Cannibal / RR Song Title..... "0003 - set" Composition: 60% Sound Quality: 80% Originality: 80% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: Nice piece of minimalist house - could work on arrangement though. Artist......... Cannibal / RR Song Title..... "Steppaz Hell" Composition: 70% Sound Quality: 90% Originality: 90% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: Intersting! Great rhythm track. Good try at something different. *note* the 70% in composition isn't exactly for the composition. The arrangement is good it just failed to keep my interest. Artist......... Cosmic the Clown / RR Song Title..... "It Ain't a Funny Bass" Composition: 90% Sound Quality: 90% Originality: 90% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: This pumps from start to finish. It has everything a good dance track should......balance, relentless build up, and a great rhythm track! Artist......... Cosmic the Clown / RR Song Title..... "Moments of Losing Control" Composition: 90% Sound Quality: 80% Originality: 80% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: This is one of those tracks you have to listen to a few times. I didn't think I liked it at first, but the second time, I thought "hey, this isn't bad!" and now I can't stop playing it! The only thing bad I can say is that it has a bit of muddled distortion in some places. Artist......... Keith303 / RR Song Title..... "Acid Exstacy" Composition: 95% Sound Quality: 90% Originality: 90% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: I think the originality in this track comes from the composition. He tries some great new arrangement techniques.....and they work! Artist......... Randy Andy / RR Song Title..... "Puff" Composition: 90% Sound Quality: 95% Originality: 85% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: This song is cute and highly addictive and did I say cute? Artist......... Randy Andy / RR Song Title..... "Rote Sonne" Composition: 85% Sound Quality: 85% Originality: 95% Reviewed By: Deus Ex. Comments: Now this is what I like to hear in techno....people experimenting. So what if it doesn't always work. At least you've tried to break new ground. Happily though, this works. I hope you enjoyed the reviews, you have only Deus Ex to thank this week. Take care, Atlantic [as566@torfree.net] & Deus Ex [deusex@io.org] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[2. Impulse Tracker v1.01]---------------------------------------[Pulse]-- A few days ago, I released version 1.01 of Impulse Tracker. Unfortunately, there is one major bug that users should be aware of, especially since there is a simple short-term solution. Here's the problem: If you save a song without ANYTHING in the order list, then when you load it, it won't decompress pattern 0! To do this, all you have to do is go to the pattern editor and press alt-backspace. Sorry for the inconvenience. It has already been corrected. A couple of other things that have been corrected (just so you don't bug me :) ) - the retrig command on a GUS should work ok, and also the pattern delay command should be fixed up. Hopefully, you'll be able to find the next version of Impulse Tracker in about a week. ---------------- OK.. not very much... sorry, it's not nicely formatted or anything. And something for you: I've modified the "Viewing channel" routines so that you can choose whether the view channels should follow the cursor. What this means is that you effective now have an x channel editor - depending on how you set up the patterns to edit. I intend to release another version of Impulse Tracker in about a week, and I'm looking for a nice demo-song to accompany it. So send your contribution to pulse@smug.student.adelaide.edu.au. Try to make it show off the features of the tracker, while not exceeding 32 channels or 200k in size. Any other comments/suggestions... make sure you write straight away :) [Editor's Note: Yes! Finally, the possibility of a ST3 compatible full 8 channel editor! My blessings to Jeff..] Jeffrey Lim ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[3. What People Like the Most]--------------------------------[Atlantic]-- Well, a new year is here.. I hope '96 holds nothing but the best of life for all of you. This week I felt like taking a look back at what the scene offered us in '95 in the way of music. My purpose in this is to generate some sort of ballpark idea as to what kinds of music people consider to be the best writing. Perhaps knowing the general consensus may influence some of your decisions about compomusic... Best-Tracked Rookie Tunes of '95 [In no particular order] [Rookie being those trackers composing for *about* 1 year or less, or someone not well-established in the scene ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Composer... Song Title... Chosen By... Comment... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aahz the Demon Daydream [s3m] Atl Wild solo work Gravedigger Return to Io [s3m] Ahz Go gotee! Hunz Synthetic Attack [xm] Atl Fast and variant Mick Rippon Brother [s3m] Pag Beautiful melody Mick Rippon Brother [s3m] Pic none given Mick Rippon Existing [s3m] Pic none given Mick Rippon Igsignif [xm] Atl Love that drum track Jazz Escapism [xm] Mod 1st place SE'95 (mchn) Pariah Have Yourself a... [xm] Atl Funky Christmas remix Best-Tracked Veteran Tunes of '95 [In no particular order] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Composer... Song Title... Chosen By... Comment... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zodiak Respirator [xm] Atl Tremendous power Zodiak Respirator [xm] Pic none given Scirocco Persian Starfall [xm] Atl Wild persian feel Scirocco Full Sail [xm] Pag Kewl scirocco panning Ng Pei Sin Misty Heart [xm] Pic Best tune of the year Leviathan Dust-to-Dust [s3m] Atl Great progression Leviathan Journey Skyward [s3m] Pic none given Chris Moland Bass [s3m?] Bse 9th place TG'95 (4chn) Nemesis Drift [s3m] Atl 3rd place MC3 (vet) Basehead Passion Play [s3m] Pag Wickid bassline Basehead Passion Play [s3m] Grd Great 80's tribute The Zapper Liberty [s3m] Atl Play it loud =) Lizardking Wild McArthur Pic none given Fencer Dreaming of the Girl [s3m] Atl From Laws of... mdisk Big Jim Foreign Skies [s3m] Scd Mellow guitar duet Big Jim Foreign Skies [s3m] Knb Soothing and realistic Big Jim Foreign Skies [s3m] Pic none given Big Jim Voyage to Eternity Pic none given Marvin/Voice Revelation [xm] Pic none given Necros Ascent...Cloud Eagle [s3m] Grd Unique style, 5hr edit Necros Ascent...Cloud Eagle [s3m] Pic 1st place NAID '95 Necros Revelation [s3m] Atl 7th place TP'95 Necros Realization II [s3m] Pic none given Necros The Crossing [s3m] Pic 2nd place MC3 (vet) Necros Metroplex [s3m] Bse From Progression mdisk Necros Collage [s3m] Mdo From Progression mdisk Necros/Basehead Search ... Lost Riff [s3m] Scd Funky solo FM release Rage Guild of Sounds [s3m] Atl 2nd place ASM'95 C.C.Catch Modern Society [s3m] Pag 3rd (?) place NAID'95 Skaven He Has No Face [s3m] Ahz ASM'95 Invitro song Dune X14 [s3m] Bse Music from "X14" demo Mellow-d Tuesday [xm] Pag Pretty damn relaxing Moby Waves of XTC Pic none given Jase Kingdom Skies [s3m] Atl 1st place MC3 (vet) Jase Kingdom Skies [s3m] Pic none given The REW Rivendell [xm] Atl Very original - neato Timelord Mystique Series [s3m] Mod A non-internet person Zake Echoes in my head [s3m?] Znc Very unique sound Craziest Tunes of '95 [In no particular order] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Composer... Song Title... Chosen By... Comment... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mystical Vi har Skumle Planer [s3m] Atl "Open the door"?! Mystical Fishpower [s3m] Mod 2nd place SE'95 Charlatan Rainforest [s3m] Pag Ringamoo Wookie What? Charlatan Hadji Sucks [s3m] Atl Sorrie Hadji.. =) Mental Floss Return of Cornholio [s3m] Bse "Fuqn Funny" Mental Floss Return of Cornholio [s3m] Ahz Gave me teepee f0r my.. Skaven Catch that Goblin! [s3m] Scd 1st place ASM'95(mchn) Leviathan Baygle from Heaven Grd Dorky voice sams Those who Chose: Atl = Atlantic / Aim Higher, Traxweekly. Pag = Paganus / Aim Higher, Epinicion. Ahz = Aahz the Demon / Carcass PC. Mod = Master of Darkness / Aim Higher, Demonews, Traxweekly. Bse = Basehead / Five Musicians. Mdo = Mondo / FLiP, Green Grapes. Scd = Screwdriver (currently groupless). Grd = GraveDigger / Demonews, Hornet. Znc = Zinc / Radiance. Knb = Kneebiter / 3some. Pic = Picman / Aim Higher. Again, I wish y'all the best in the new year. Atlantic. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[4. SceneWeb]------------------------------------------------[Psibelius]-- In TraxWeekly issue #41, we requested that you readers send in your music scene related World Wide Web page URL's. The result is "SceneWeb," which becomes a regular section of TraxWeekly. Following this week, SceneWeb will be reviewing a selected music site every week, in order to draw more attention to our presence on the Web. Until then, some places for you to look at: -Stuff About #trax http://www.unc.edu/~ttp0581/trax.html -New Objectives in Sound Exploration [NOISE] http://www.citenet.net/noise -North American International Demoparty (NAID) 1996 http://www.autoroute.net/~naid -Force Ten http://www.autoroute.net/forceten -Kosmic Free Music Foundation http://kosmic.wit.com -MOD of the Week http://www.rpi.edu/~tillbm/mod.html -The Superunknown http://www.csusm.edu/public/guests/fm Please feel free to send in more addresses! Gene Wie (Psibelius) gwie@owl.csusm.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Competitions]------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ --[5. 20 MeEnUhTz Compo]------------------------------------------[AmusiC]-- _____. 20________Me\_ __l___EnU___hTz_________ _\_ ___/_ | \___ \_(___) _\_____ \_ / |/ \_ |/ \ \_ _l/ / \ | / | / / \_____/ \_________/:____:____/:____/| | tRAX wEEKLY:____: _ _.___ ________ _______ ____ | \ _________ _______ _\_ ___/_ _\____ \_\_ _\_/_ \_\_____ \_\____ \_ / |/ \_ |/ \ \_/ \ _l/ / |/ \ \ | / | / | / \_____/| | / \_________/_________/\____|____/| | :________/ !MB :____: A Quick Breifing Of The Week That's Gone And The Week To Come... ~<_/ What is 20mc? \_>~ Many dont know, and many have wondered... but what is 20mc? 20 MeEnUhTz ChipCompo, or 20mc for short, is an iRC online competition which challenges the contestants, to compose a chiptune with given samples, using only 4 channels, and limited byte size in just 20 minutes (meenuhtz). Then a voting occurs and results are announced normally every Thursday, one day before each competition. If you don't already know everything about 20mc, then dont hesitate to subscribe to the Newsletter Mailing List, and find out all you'd ever want to know. Information on how to subscribe follow after the results. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ____ 20mc #14 \ \ ____ ____ __ __ ______ ____ / / // __// __//\/ // / \_ _// __/ / \// __//\_ \/ / // X__ / / /\_ \ \/\ \\__/ \___/\__/ \/__/ \/ \___/ +-------------------\/-----------------------------------------------+ Rank Nickname Pts 1st) Oce 7.2 2nd) Luv Kohli 6.6 3rd) Sikamikanico 6.2 4th) Aahz 5.8 4th) Roma 5.8 5th) Draygen 5.0 6th) In Tense 4.8 7th) Rimbo 4.6 8th) Loki 4.4 9th) Balrog 4.2 10th) Calvin 4.0 10th) Feather 4.0 10th) Pfister 4.0 11th) Blackwolf 3.6 11th) Thunder 3.6 12th) C_Ray_C 3.0 13th) HeiZahn 2.2 14th) Kasettspi 2.0 15th) Zinc 1.6 Total Tunes: 20 Voters Were: Luv Kohli, Pfister, Taz, Roma, and one unknown. ~<_/ How To Subscribe \_>~ If you want to be recieving the full Newsletter which includes all the latest news from the 20mc field, plus interviews, word of the mass, rules and all the info you'll ever need, then you can subscribe to the Newsletter Mailing List (NML). To Subscribe To The Mailing List, e-mail to amusic@beryl.kapatel.gr and as subject use the word: "subscribe Newsletter", and as body write the nickname you are known by. To unsubscribe Use the same procedure, but instead of "subscribe Newsletter" use "UNSubscribe Newsletter". Piece Of Cake.. ~<_/ Contact \_>~ For ANY comments, suggestions or Ideas, you can Contact AmusiC, Floss, Cyberdmon or pandoRRa at the following places and adresses... Nickname Occupation In 20mc E-Mail Adress Real Name ---------------------------------------------------------------------- AmusiC [Main Organiser ] amusic@beryl.kapatel.gr Sotiris Varotsis Floss [Votepack Arranger] norg@cyberspace.com George Nowik Cyberdmon [2nd Organiser ] bry_n_al@inetnebr.com Brian Wickman pandoRRa [Vote Collector ] pandorra@peak.org Kristen Cramer ---------------------------------------------------------------------- All of the above can occasionaly be found on channel #trax (anothernet) and channel #chipcompo every friday night. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Faces in the Crowd]------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ --[6. Interview with Balrog]----------------------------------------[Zinc]-- <zinc> Hi Balrog, how are you this early in the morning? :) <balrog_> very fine, a bit tired but not really asleep yet <zinc> okay, well have you made any resolutions for 1996? <balrog_> yeah, i want to get a job, buy lots of gear, and release something on vinyl or cd by the end of 96. that's about it :] there's also this college thing, but that's secondary, really :] <zinc> Sounds good. You mentioned to me before you haven't been interviewed. Have you just been forgotten about? ;) <balrog_> i dunno, i guess i'm just one of those people that roam into the shadows and have been around forever. i think i might explain the fact that i've never been interviewed before by the fact that i didn't release much anything in the last year or so. The thing is, i was seriously depressed for the last year or so, so i wasn't much into the scene and tracking and all those things. but everything is better now that I'm finally in college :] <zinc> Well, quality is better than quantity. Perhaps you could tell us a bit about yourself. (age, real name, pets, sex!) <balrog_> my real name is Samuel Cote, i'm 18, i'm in 1st year of computer engineering in laval university (quebec, canada), and i have one hell of a stupid dog. as for sex, well, let's just say things have been pretty quiet lately :] <zinc> Are you the only Canadian in Kosmic? <balrog_> nope. i was the first ever to join, but there are several canadians in kosmic right now, like krystall, gooroo and barrye (well, there are probably others, but those are the ones i know of) <balrog_> well, at least i THINK i was the first ever to join :] <zinc> Speaking of Kosmic (how's that for a crossover!), what is your tracking/music background? Any other groups before kosmic? <balrog_> well, i have a bit of musical background. i played bass and guitar for about 3 years, and then i dropped it because i just didn't like it. i started getting interested in tracking in 91. i had alot of friends with amigas, and tho they used them mostly for games, some demos made their way around here, and i made my first contact with those wonderful things that are demos. i started to get interested by techno music a little while later, and got a computer stilla little while later and i alos got a modem :] so i started collecting mods, and i eventually fell on some tracker (namely scream tracker v2.23 i think), and i started playing with it. <balrog_> after a while, i 'majored' (ahem :) to modedit 2.0, and i joined a small local group which never went anywhere (well, we had a german courier, but that was about it :). i think kosmic was actually my second group. <balrog_> as for the amiga scene, let's just say that the scene is so big that i barely keep an eye on it. i only check the demos that win compos, basically.. <zinc> I noticed you make XMs now, but started out making MODs and STMs.. What features drew you to Ft2? <balrog_> well, first of all, ST3.0 was buggy as hell on my machine. so i didn't play with it much. then d-lusion gave every members of kosmic a copy of xtracker, and i started working with that. i think i stayed with that until FT2 came out. i also used MMedit back when ST3 was only a rumor :] still, i think FT2 is a great tracker, tho the interface takes a while to get used too. but with all those envelopes and things, i just couldn't resist :] <zinc> Okay, I have a few semi-philosophical questions about the scene, and life in general.. <balrog_> go ahead, i dig philosophy :] <zinc> 1. If you could change 3 things in the music scene just on your say so, what would they be? <balrog_> hmm, good question :] i think i'd first change the sound card and repace the (altho very nice) GUS by some card with a fast programmable DSP, loads of mem and digital outs (sounds like the AWE32 :). next i'd make sure all those newbies stop releasing every single song they track, and make sure the quality stays at a decent level. finally, the scene should be more friendly. i'd like people to realize that all that arguing about which soundcard/os/tracker/sampler/soda is nothing short of futile. just check all those *.advocay newsgroup and see what i mean. i also think there should be more cooperation between musicians (like what they did in FM) <zinc> okay neat.. Coke is the best btw! :) .. 2. If you had a billion dollars and could host the last demo/music party ever... what would you do to make it special? <balrog_> first of all, i'd make sure everybody could attend it (i'd pay their plane tickets and all.) next, i'd make sure it would last at least a week. and, instead of organizing it in some euro country, i'd choose a more, hmm, interesting site, like the beaches of Goa, in India, for example. then i'd get a bunch of groups (as is music groups) to come and do some live acts between the compos. <zinc> would there be any unique rules or categories? <balrog_> well, rules wouldn't matter much, we'd be there to have the most fun we can, not to win some compo with yet another 3dvector demo with lots of phong-shaded motion-blurred environnement-and-bumped mapped torusses and ducks :] so i guess i'd just organize the usual compos with eased-out rules (can i say that? :), add a bunch of on-site compos, and throw some other weird-ass compos. i'd need input on those tho, after all i'd organize the party for the scene :} <zinc> what color scheme do you use in ft2 btw? (so much for philosophy!) <balrog_> a pretty damn cool one :] the desktop is of a dark blue with some green. the rest is basically mauve and light green, it's very nice and soothing (well kinda ;) <zinc> If you could organize a 'dream-team' of trackers, and anybody at all could be in it, who would you choose? <balrog_> well, from the PC scene, i'd get necros, basehead, maelcum, chuckb, skaven, mellow-d and keith303. i dunno much about the amiga music scene, but audiomonster, dizzy, jogeir, heatbeat, 4-mat and nuke would prolly be part of my dream team. <zinc> And what would it be called? <balrog_> hmm, i have no idea :] i'd prolly dig some weird-ass-it-means-nothing-but-it-plain-rocks kind of name, or i'd just call it 'kosmic' :] oh, and add Zodiak and Dune to that dream team :] (how could i forget them :) <zinc> ehehehehe... :) <zinc> What are your distant future goals? Like, 5 years, 25 years, and 50 years from now? :D <balrog_> well, i'd like to get some gear and release stuff on some label. i'd also like to finish college and get a ph.d in something like VLSI design, so i could get a job designing CPUs for synthesizers company. i might stay in college and study in some other field, like artifical intelligence, operating systems, or philosophy. let's just say that i don't have much set plans, only dreams and alot of time in front of me :] <zinc> For those who haven't heard your music, could you describe your style, or attributes? <balrog_> oh. well, i dunno if i really have a still, but i guess my stuff is pretty close to what you'd call trance. i like songs with lots of fat pads, lots of acid, very smooth and beat-less parts, and alot of groove <zinc> What would be your non-tracked musical influences or inspirations? <balrog_> well, i listen to alot of techno (in a very broad sense.) my fav artists are hardfloor, eat static, koxbox, spicelab, resistance-d, the orb, aphex twin, cores, sour mash, explizit, djmisjah&groovehad, sun electric... i also like classical alot. As far as classical goes, i like bach, stravinsky, orff, mussogorsky, prokofiev, saint-saens and mahler a lot. <balrog_> oh, and tangerine dream too :] <zinc> Is there anybody you'd like to say hello to, or thank at this point? <balrog_> oh. tough one :] hmm, well, i'd like to thank and greet these people: maelcum (for letting me into kosmic and not kicking me out because i didn't release much), doomsday (for being a great friend), blue angel dream, krystall, cyre, white wizard, chuckb, necros, basehead, flossy, the other mental floss, phoenix, the whole kosmic gang, maral, the finn, diablo, ior, gd, ms_saigon, the rr crew.. err.. man, i feel like i'm forgetting a zillion people :-/.. i'll guess i'll just say hi to the whole #trax gang and to the rest music/demo scene, and also to those i met at naid <zinc> Well I'd ask where to get your stuff, but I know Kosmic has a zillion distro places. Do you have any you like in particular? :) <balrog_> well, i get most of what i need from ftp.cdrom.com, ftp.arosnet.se, kosmic.wit.com and ftp.germany.eu.net. as for boards, i used to call on nice board like the spasm-o-tron and trancentral2, but i don't call any LD boards anymore. i only call a few local boards, and i run my own board (Imagina). <zinc> what's the number? hehe.. okay, well we are nearing the end of the interview, so do you have anything you'd like to say to the tracking world before I ask my final two questions? <balrog_> the number is 1-418-832-9266 :] and as for what i'd like to say to the tracking scene, well, i'd just like to say "hi, you are all great friends, stop arguing about trackers and hope to see you all at naid96" :] <zinc> Okay, here's my second to last question: Are there any new/young trackers who you think have a great future in the music scene? (future necroses :) <balrog_> well, i think Sybaris/TiME's stuff is VERY good, tho it's not exactly the kind of stuff necros would do the most (we all the necros can do virtually anything :). he'd be my first pick. as for the rest, well, i wouldn't be able to tell, i don't follow the scene that much (i only get what i know will be good), so i'd rather not add anything :] <zinc> Okay, and my final question is: Do you think tracking modules has any real future in software? (seeing how cd-rom is now standard) <balrog_> yes, i think it has a future, mostly in games. imo, a tracked song sounds much better than, say, some general midi song, and it's MUCH smaller than pre-recorded songs (which leaves less space for other data on the CD.) moreover, since CD-ROMs aren't all that fast, reading the latter of a CD can seriousely clog the bandwidth, which could be made available (if you are using modules instead, which fit into the memory), to do full-motion video and the like. <balrog_> Besides, tracking is an easy and inexpensive way to compose music, which is a good thing since music is, for alot of people, bot much more than a hobby, and i doubt alot of people are ready to invest in expensive sound gear <zinc> That about wraps it up! Thanks for allowing me to interview you. <balrog_> my pleasure, good bye, and happy new year 1996 :] <zinc> cya r O u n d ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Group Columns]----------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ --[7. Epinicion Productions]------------------------------------------------ ___ _______ _____________ ______ ______ _______ ______ _______ ___________ | // \\ \\_____) \\_____) \\_____) \\ \\ | : / o \ o \ \ \ \ \ \ o \ \: // _____// / \ : / \ _____/ \ / : \. \\_______/ _//______\\_|__//______\\_____//______\\_____//____| /: : \\____\\ ______________________________ oT /___//| |________________________// e p i n i c i o n \\________________| New songs this week include Bert's "Misplaced Childhood" and Maad's "DreamScape." Restructuring for Epinicion Productions has begun! All members, please be prepared for a massive change in operations, as well as a brand new group structure. All of you will recieve a memo in about two or three weeks detailing the changes. ALL of Epinicion's 1995 and 1996 releases can be found through ftp at: kosmic.wit.com /kosmic/epinicion Epinicion's revised webpage can be found at the following address: http://www.csusm.edu/public/guests/gwie/epi.html. The page has gone under many changes, and we will have a complete listing of all songs available for download along with reviews by summer! Psibelius (Gene Wie) Epinicion Founder gwie@owl.csusm.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[8. New Objectives in Sound Exploration]---------------------------------- new objectives in sound exploration . new objectives in sound exploration $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ^^S$$$^^^^^^^^^$^^^^$^^^^^ $^^^^^ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $ `$ $ $^^^^$ $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ssss$ $ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ $ $^^^^s $ sssss$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $ $ $ $ $sss.' $sss.' $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ssss$sssssssss$ssss$$$$$sssss$$$$$sssss$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ .. noise noise .. ascii by st! .. noise noise .. New Objectives In Sound Exploration is proud to announce the release of ANTI-MATTER, an EP by Harry. It contains four new tunes in Harry's unique style. It is available at an FTP site near you, under the name NO-ANTI.ZIP. It should be in ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/incoming/music/disks/no-anti.zip. Go check it out! It can also be found at our web site. List of Members 1. Shawnm ..........[Organiser/Musician/WWW].shawnm@citenet.net 2. Benoit Charland .[Musician]...............benny@deltacom.cam.org 3. Van Halen .......[Musician]...............van.halen@digital.magicnet.com 4. Danielm .........[Musician/WWW]...........danielm@citenet.net 5. Harry ...........[Musician]...............harry@digital.magicnet.com 6. SamH ............[Musician]...............sxh1772@psu.edu 7. Delta X..........[Musician]...............delta.x@digital.magicnet.com 8+ Always looking for new members! How to Contact N.O.I.S.E. If you would like to contact N.O.I.S.E. for any reason, send an Internet Email to shawnm@citenet.net We would love to hear your comments! Check Out Our WWW Site! http://www.citenet.net/noise ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Closing]----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ TraxWeekly is available via FTP from: ftp.cdrom.com /pub/demos/incoming/news (new issues) ftp.cdrom.com /pub/demos/info/traxw/ (back issues) TraxWeekly is also available via WWW from: http://kosmic.wit.com/~kosmic/traxweek http://www.partek.fi/traxweek To subscribe, send mail to: listserver@unseen.aztec.co.za and put in the message body: subscribe trax-weekly [name] (NOT address) To unsubscribe, mail same and: unsubscribe trax-weekly (in message body) Contributions for TraxWeekly must be formatted for *76* columns, must have a space preceding each line, and must be readable and understandable. NO HIGH ASCII IS ALLOWED. 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For questions and comments, you can contact the TraxWeekly staff at: Editor: Psibelius (Gene Wie).................gwie@owl.csusm.edu Columnists: Atlantic (Barry Freeman).............as566@torfree.net DennisC (Dennis Courtney)............dennisc@community.net Deus Ex (...)........................deusex@io.org Master of Darkness (Todd Andlar).....maz@io.org Mhoram (John Niespodzianski).........niespodj@neonramp.com Trifixion (Tyler Vagle)..............trifix@northernnet.com Zinc (Justin Ray)....................ray@direct.ca Reporter: Island of Reil (Jesse Rothenberg)....jroth@owl.csusm.edu Graphics: White Wizard (...)...................aac348@agora.ulaval.ca WWW Page: Dragunov (Nicholas St-Pierre)........dragunov@info.polymtl.ca TraxWeekly is a HORNET affiliation. Copyright (c)1995,1996 - TraxWeekly Publishing, All Rights Reserved. /-[END]--------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ . :: ::: : . ..... ..............................:::.................:.... ::: : :::: : .::::. .:::::.:::. ..:::: :::: : :: :: ::: .:: :: :: WW:::: : ::. :: ::: .:: :: .:: :::: : :::.::. ::: .:: .:: .:::::... :: :::.. ... ..: ... ..:::::::::::::::: .:: .::::::: :::::::: ::::::.. ::: ::: ::: : until next week! (= .. ... .. ....... ............... .................:..... .. . :