. founded march 12, 1995 _| : _____ t r a x w e e k l y # 63 ______________ |___| _ _______/ /\___________________________ / ____________/ /\__\ _ _______/____/_____________________________ / / _________ \/__/ ______\ \_____________________________ / / / `_ . .~ \____\/ _ __ ___ / / / _____ . _ \ __ ___ _/__/\ / / / / /\ _ The Music Scene Newsletter __ __\__\/ _/__/ / ____/ /__\_________________________________ _____ ___ _ / /\/ /___ __________ _ ______ _ ___ \/ /\ / / /____/ \ \ / /\ / __/\ / /\ \ \ / \ /____/ / / \ / \/ /_ \___/___/ \ \_/___/ / \_/ / / \ ___\ / /_/ /______/\/ \ /______/\/ \ /_____/ // \ \ / / / \ / / \ \ \ \_\ \ \ \_\ \ //____/\____\/ / / / / / \______\/ \______\/ \_____\/ \ \ \ \ / / / / \____\/\____\ / / / / _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ / / / /__/ w /\___/ /\___/ e /\___/ /\__ / l /\___/ /\____/ / / __/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/________/ / __\ \____\ e \____\ \____\ k \ ___\ \____\ y \__________/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/ \____\/WW ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - | TraxWeekly Issue #63 | Release date: 07-11-96 | Subscribers: 672 | - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Introduction]------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ Welcome to TraxWeekly #63. Due to unforseen circumstances, TraxWeekly didn't manage to make it out during the last to weeks. Sorry about that. I returned from my two week Australia/New Zealand-International Music Festival trip Tuesday. Our orchestra managed to be grounded Monday night at Auckland International Airport thanks to volcanic activity. Luckily, all that ash managed to shift away by the next morning, so we made it home. In any case, TraxWeekly is back on track (I hope) for this summer (winter) season! This week, we feature an excellent article on the style of Industrial music from Trifixion, along with an excerpt from "The Mod Revolution" by Eric Bell. We follow with a lengthy interview with Ryan, and close with information about a new music distribution group. Please note, I am currently deluged with numerous emails, and clearing up this backlog of TW submissions to find decent articles is going to take some time. Jtown would like to offer a brief apology concerning the vegas interview: 'i am sorry if anyone was offended by opinions expressed in this interview. i realize that my job as an interviewer is to take a neutral position, and i will refrain from offering my personal comments or opinions in future traxweekly interviews.' NOTICE: On Friday, July 12th, 1996, AudioFile Issue #1 will be distributed over this listserver. For those of you not acquainted with it yet, AF is a serious, quality, music/tracking related newsletter. You won't find any scene commentary or TraxCulture in it, I'm afraid. =) But you will find some in depth, complex, and useful articles dealing with technical and musical issues. Any questions concerning AudioFile can be emailed to Basehead at bh@fm.org. Gene Wie (Psibelius) TraxWeekly Publishing gwie@owl.csusm.edu /-[Contents]---------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ ________ _________________________________________________________________ / ____/_/ __/ \ __/ / _____/ \ __/ __/ ___/_ < \____\ \ \\ \ \\____ __/ __/_\ \ \\____ \_____ \__ \ \ \ \\ \ \ww\ \\ \\ \ \ \ \ \_ _\________\________\\___\____\ \_____\\_______\\___\____\ \_____\_______\ General Articles 1. Disertation on Industrial.....................Trifixion 2. Excerpt from "The Mod Revolution".............Eric Bell Faces in the Crowd 3. Interview with Ryan...........................Kleitus Advertisement 4. Music Trackers International Closing Distribution Subscription/Contribution Information TraxWeekly Staff Sheet /-[General Articles]-------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ --[1. Disertation on Industrial]-------------------------------[Trifixion]-- I've been meaning to write an article on this for quite some time now. This article is going to try and explain exactly what the term Industrial Music refers to. Industrial, in the way I'm going to explain it, is going to pretain to a certain musical genre. Some "main stream"(in the loosest sense) bands that would be considered industrial by most if not all the industrial community are Nine Inch Nails (Sadly the most well known), and Ministry. Believe me when I say there are MANY more industrial bands out there who don't get any press but are really the innovators in this genre. First some history on Industrial music. Contrary to popular belief the term "industrial"(Used to describe this type of music that is) does not come from the fact that a bunch of punks sampled noises in a factory of machines working and all that shit. It comes from the record label formed in 1976 by what is considered the first "Industrial" band, this band is Throbbing Gristle. "It was to be a vehicle to explore a new form of expression through analysis, presentation and aural stimulation. All of the individuals involved used different means to achieve their goals, but the ideas they shared were on common ground. Examples of early people on the industrial label include Monte Cazzazza, Clock DVA, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Leather Nun, and William S. Burroughs. Although critics felt they were too deviant, their brand of confrontation signaled a desire for a change in the political and social system currently in place. However bleak and distressing, their music was merely a reflection of the society that surrounded them. But what's really important in that they cultivated ideas on topics ranging from serial killing to sex and censorship as well as countless others which are not encouraged in genteel discussions. This was the first strike against the information war launched by the propaganda leaders and it positioned them as more than just a musical movement, but an alternative culture." (quote from the RMI faq) Brace yourself for another huge quote. these essential ideas are what makeup(made up perhaps) the Industrial movement: Organizational Autonomy. A conscious choice to record independently. To preserve the intention of music and to take it away from the tainted and greedy major record companies who enjoyed success at others expense. Access to Information. With the perception of control techniques leaving any physical boundaries and moving into the realm of the mind and the mouth, it was of vital importance to discuss and be aware at all times. Use of Synthesizers and Anti-Music. Using found materials and unconventional means of composition, industrial music was more antagonistic its intended audience, than being music true itself. It was "sounds without content". Extra-Musical Elements. Because television has become a more powerful agent of control than any pop music song, the use of films and video arrangements often accompanied these aural counter attacks. Shock Tactics. The final blow in the scheme for control has to be the use of hitting home what you have to say, making sure that it gets noticed. By far, this last technique is what is most often used by modern day "industrialists" and most probably the connecting puzzle piece that gave them such a distinction at all. Unfortunately, we've all witnessed death and war so often in this day and age, that we're far too jaded to care, rendering such an attempt almost useless. (Another major quote from RMI) During the early 80's and on through the whole century, a number of bands interpreted the ideas set down by the first in the movement, and brought into the mix a new breed of industrial music, examples of industrial bands of the time include: Non, SPK, Einstuerzende Neubauten, Test Department, Laibach, Rhythm and Noise, Ono, and Trial. After the 80's and and also during the 80's, some industrial bands started to take industrial into a very different direction. Industrial, along with society progresses and evolves. Bands such as Skinny Puppy, Revolting Cocks, Ministry, Front 242 and Front Line Assembly brewed up a pleasing mix of dance style beats, sound bites, heavy synths, and general noise that was very different from the sounds heard in the early days of industrial.Industrial is still basically the same, except the industrial scene has seen a lot more use of death metal/heavy metal/rock/grindcore/ whatever style guitar work thrown into the mix. Many hardcore industrial fans have mixed feelings about the heavy use of guitars in industrial music these days. Now for another rather large quote from RMI about some of the extremely early inspirations for industrial music. The fascination with noise and machinery which is so much a part of what one tends to think of as "classic" Industrial music had historic precedents. In the late 1800's ideophones (noises, concrete sounds) were used in orchestral music, Luii Russolo performed using his "intonarumore" (noise machines) (1913) and around 1920 Erik Satie used pistols and typewriters in the music for his surrealist play Parade. The twenties also brought the "Futurist" and "Machine Music" schools in both Italy and France. Other important historical figures include Edgard Varese, whose "Ionisation" (1930) was the first piece of Western music for percussion instruments alone and who produced an important tape piece called "Poeme Electronique" in 1958; the "Musique Concrete" works of Pierre Schaeffer an others (tape pieces made exclusively from electronically altering recordings of natural sounds like water drops, glass breaking, etc. He was also responsible for probably the earliest 'loop' which used groves cut into vinyl records); and John Cage, whose "First Construction in Metal" (for metallic percussion) and "Imaginary Landscape No. 4" \ (for 12 radios)were landmarks in American music. (Again, another quote from the RMI faq) As you can see there's quite a history behind industrial music. One thing I would like to stress, not all industrial is a bunch of machine noises, recordings of things breaking, etc... Some industrial is very melodic, and uses no element of "noise" what so ever. The industrial band Front Line Assembly is a good example, they rarely use any "non-musical" sounds, and rely mostly upon analog synths, drum loops, and samples of "real" instruments. You may ask, "well that just sounds like techno, what the hell makes that industrial?" Well, me and TheHacker got into this discussion #trax quite awhile ago, it would have been interesting to have had a capture of the whole conversation, but we did come up with conclusion of how to define industrial, TheHacker saved it to a text file, but I had an HD crash awhile ago so that's gone, but I remember the basics of it. Industrial(This is the music not the movement, the movement is and has been dead for quite some time) has some very major characteristics these being: Created with an Anti-Utopian mind set. Perhaps the most important trait. No matter what industrial song you hear,it's gonna be dark, and is generally really angry or somewhat depressive, sometimes though it can be a kind of neutral sound not really either... if it sounds happy, the band is being cynical and sarcastic, and you'll probably have to listen to the lyrics(If it doesn't have any... who knows ;) ) to really notice this. Some sort of electronic element. Self explanatory really, but it's a biggie, all industrial music is created with some sort of electronics, often exclusively with only electronic instruments and processed through all sorts of shit. That's really all there is to the definition, It's extremely open. You may ask what the difference between industrial and dark techno is.. There isn't really, but you could make the argument that dark techno uses big bass b00ms, which industrial music rarely makes use of, but then notice I use rarely. So it can be considered industrial, I really don't care really.. The only reason I label music at all, is so that I have a common frame of reference to use in discussion with other people. And with that, I bring this rather long article to a close. Note: Most of this article is an interpretation of the rec.music.industrial(a news group in case you don't know what these look like, I've been abbreviating it RMI the whole time) FAQ. This is a really great source of information on industrial music in general. Go check it out for yourself.. http://www.jmas.co.jp/FAQs/music/industrial-faq.html Trifixion '96 - Founder of Immolation(The only all industrial tracking group around) Email addy: trifix@orion.polaristel.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[2. Excerpt from "The MOD Revolution"]-----------------------[Eric Bell]-- Ripping Good Music from Your Computer ... for Free by Eric Bell What Is a MOD? If you haven't yet explored the world of MOD music, get ready to experience an exciting, creative, underground culture of pure musical expression. (If you have, check out the sidebars for mountains of MOD resources.) MOD composers create their works primarily just for the pleasure of having them heard by themselves and others. The scene thrives on taking minimal resources and getting incredible results by ingenious creativity and just plain hard work, with a pinch of larceny thrown in. How do MODs sound, anyway? MOD music is based entirely on sample playback. Because of this, it is often convenient for composers to add "found sounds" to their tracks. MODs with common sound bites like "Make my day","Doh!", and the like abound. There are even programs that extract samples from other MOD files, a process called "ripping." MOD composers owe a lot to the musicians who pioneered the use of sample playback in composition, like Thomas OScience!O Dolby, Paul "N-N- Nineteen" Hardcastle, and the Art Of Noise. It's easy to use hackneyed phrases with little thought to get a "cool" effect with no artistic merit, and this happens a lot in the MOD world. But then there are the true artisans of the sampled sound, who really use sampling as a new instrument. A piece called "Batmeat" built on samples from the old Batman TV series and the modern movies is an excellent example of this. This MOD uses every trick in the MOD book to get new sounds out of the limited number of samples included in the file. As mentioned above, MODs are built up from multitrack sequences called patterns, and patterns in turn are subdivided into 64 notes, or "rows," of equal duration. This means that there is a limit on rhythmic expression in MOD music, unless you use a few funny tricks to achieve the desired effect. Let's say a composer uses one pattern to create two bars in 4/4 time. That's 64 rows or divisions for two bars, or 32 divisions for one bar. Therefore, each quarter-note can be divided into eight divisions. In basic tracking, everything is quantized to that level, and it makes it difficult to get any kind of human feel to the music. A swinging shuffle feel (relaxed dotted quarter, eighth-note) is very difficult to achieve without the use of advanced tweakological techniques. MODs are very popular for dance and techno music composition since the note patterns in MODs are subdivided into small even parts, and because samples reign supreme in these types of music. Trance, acid, house, acid jazz and other forms of dance music are very commonly expressed in MOD format. Ultimately, the way a MOD sounds is up to the composer, who has the choice of what samples or instruments to use and how to use them, as well as what notes to play. Typically the rigid timing format does limit the sort of feel you hear in MOD music, but there are some stunning examples out there of what can be done with some creativity. For example, "JIMI.MOD" contains samples of Jimi Hendrix's guitar in an amazing composition that has a fluid guitar part. The History of MODs - Mahoney & Kaktus Modules had their beginnings on the Commodore Amiga in the 1980s. This computer contained built in sound capability and a program called ProTracker popularized the format. ProTracker Modules defined the basic MOD file format of patterns, rows, 4 tracks, up to 31 8- bit samples, and the ProTracker program was the first tracker or MOD composition program. I talked with Mathias C. Hjelt, a Sound Blaster AWE32 and Amiga guru, about the beginnings of MODs. He explained, "Once upon a time there was a program called (The Ultimate) SoundTracker for the Amiga. When it was created, it was designed to suit the Amiga's audio hardware, rather than the general idea of what a music program should be like. "Back then, there were no MODs. The music was stored as Songs, which contained filenames (complete paths with disk names and all) for the samples that were to be used during playback. When the music was to be used in a program of some sort, it was the coder's job to make sure the sample data was available in RAM, and not only the Song data. "These early SoundTrackers were rather limited. The maximum number of instruments per song was 15, and there werenOt too many effect commands available. The source code of the SoundTracker was spread widely, and as a result, new versions with various modifications showed up all the time. (Some supported an early 15-instrument MOD format, others didn't.) Because Amiga users in general did not have Internet access or any other global means of communication, no one knew what anyone else was doing. "However, two guys called Mahoney & Kaktus managed to redefine the Tracker tradition. They made a new format that supported 31 instruments, and they released a few versions of a SoundTracker clone called NoiseTracker that made these cool 31-instrument MOD files that basically had the sample data attached to the end. "Another very popular clone was StarTrekker (yeah, it was spelled like that). It had lots of things that appealed to musicians, including a built-in sample editor, decent MIDI support, new editing modes, and so on. StarTrekker 1.3 also had an 8-channel mode, but this never became a hit. The sound quality was mediocre and coders didn't like it because it used too much CPU overhead. "Pro Tracker was another attempt at improving the SoundTracker series. New effect commands were added, but the same MOD format was still used. Pro Tracker became the absolute number-one choice for most MOD musicians on the Amiga, as the new versions brought along new features and new ideas. Still, everything was based on the same old 31- instrument MOD format. Incidentally, Mathias runs a wicked insider's Web page on the AWE32 W3 check it out at http://spider.compart.fi/~mhjelt/awe/. Where to Find MODs Finding MODs is easy if you have a modem. They are available on the Internet in large numbers, through music BBSes, and on all the major online services. You just have to hunt around a bit. See the sidebars "I want to hear some MODs!" and "Internet MOD Resources" for details. The best way to get a handle on the current scene is to peruse the alt.binaries.sounds.mods newsgroup for discussions about MODs and uuencoded MOD songs. This is a common place to release brand-new songs. I think the best way to explore a lot of MOD songs fast is to buy a CD-ROM full of them. You can get literally thousands of MODs on a CD, along with players, trackers, and utilities, for under $30. (I bought the PowerSource Massive MOD Collection for $10.) See the on CD-ROM sidebar on page XX for details. MOD vs. MIDI Sometimes there is confusion about what MIDI is, let alone what Modules are. Simply, a MIDI song file is a set of instructions specifying what notes are to be played and when. When those instructions are sent to a device such as a soundcard or external synthesizer, music is played. The actual instruments heard are dependent on the synth used. MIDI is very similar to a paper player-piano roll ¥ it contains instructions, not sounds. The sounds come from whatever piano the roll is played on. Modules, on the other hand, contain both the instructions to play the song and the sounds to play them with. The sounds are stored as digital samples inside the MOD file. So a MOD song, properly interpreted by a player, should sound the same on any computer (as long as the sound hardware is comparable), with any MOD player. Except for one exception: The Advanced Gravis UltraSound. Read on! Okay! I Want to Hear Some MODs! Now!!! I've put links to many of the resources mentioned in this article on the World Wide Web. Just point your browser to: http://www.howlingdog.com. You'll find Netscape-playable sound objects of some of the MOD songs covered in the article for immediate listening, so you can hear MOD samples without even downloading a player. You can also download sample MODs, tools, and access all kinds of MOD and Demo resources. By far the best source of in-depth information on MODs, how to get 'em, how to find out about 'em, tools, samples, players, etc. is the alt.binaries.sounds.mods FAQ, which is available on the Howling Dog Web site and also from Howling DogOs CompuServe forum (GO HOWLING) and Microsoft Network area (the Go word is HOWLING). Mac users on AOL should type keyword MMS, then descend into Software Libraries, Mac MOD Mania, MOD Software. For the rest of this article on MOD music, pick up the July/August issue of Music & Computers magazine, on sale July 2. To locate the vendor closest to you, please contact Single Copy Sales Manager Gregg Mason gmason@mfi.com. To subscribe, please contact Subscription Assistant Rosario Perez rperez@mfi.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Faces in the Crowd]------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ --[3. Interview with Ryan]---------------------------------------[Kleitus]-- This week in TraxWeekly, we bring you an interview with Ryan. Ryan brings a...ummm...different feeling to tw interviews, so read on and enjoy. And beware;> =========================================================================== - (Seth Katzman) Kleitus [Inferno/TW] = skatzman@global2000.net - (Ryan Sprott) Ryan [Grey] = vergazo@hilconet.com = ryan@hilconet.com =========================================================================== (note: the following interview has gone through a bit of editing for the sake of clarity, but it is still pretty much the original IRC capture, with no changes, except where necessary.) (2nd note: The following quasi-intro, interview, and quasi-conclusion were all edited by Ryan. Therefore, I proclaim that I am in no way responsible for the lameness that follows ;) -Kleitus) =========================================================================== [ FEAR... you are about to experience an uninterrupted, unedited (for the most part) journey into the mind of one of the most annoying people ever to enter the tracking scene... marvel as this irksome wonder explains the secret of the mysterious vergazo... exclaim in wonder as he rattles off the names of countless amiga trackers... gasp as he reveals his innuendo-laden nickname from his freshman year in high school... for he has tamed the mighty hose-beast, battled the hordes of lamers, and eaten countless bowls of tabasco popcorn the whole time... or something ] (((((( the ryan interview )))))) ready? boom-chih-boom-chih :) ready! hit me! dont worry about going nuts with spelling, ill edit everything... my spelling is perfect, thank you very much. :) btw jtown is the bully from karate kid;> i knew it!$@% :) he's beating me right now give him a vergazo will do... ok vergazo given? :) yes...but we'll go into that later:> hahahaha if i pause for a while, it's because i have a tech support caller these people are morons :P Ok, for all of our tw readers, what's your name, age, group, school, etc? social security number? credit card numbers? jt! argh... ;> ok, my real name is ryan sprott, and that should be evidence enough that i am NOT RYAN CRAMER!#$$@@$# :) i'm, um... immortal. :) i'm in grey, the kick-ass group i helped found (*hug* to all the grey members), and which i will hopefully talk about a lot during this interview :) i go to tivy high school in kerrville, texas (a mirror site of hell, or something. hehe), if that's important... :) jt says 'ryan lamer' ;> hahahahaha * ryan gives jtown a vergazo!@ i haven't always lived in kerrville... or texas for that matter :) i was born in germany, and i lived all over europe until i was 8... i've spent 4 years in san antonio and 4 years in el paso (towns in texas, for the unenlightened :) since then... if any of this is important... :) muh popz was in the army Ok, can you tell us a little about your group, Grey? Members, projects? *** Mode change "+b grey!96@planetary.dimness" on channel #interv by ryan grey consists of me, hunz, gblues, luvk, skie, imager, cd, and qporcupine (member part) "member part" sounds kinda weird :) oh god...:) we're a music group, mostly, but since we have so many kick-ass coders and graphicians, we might do... something else :) in the future... you never know... i had toyed with the idea of starting a group for a long time, but one night i actually did it :) i invited a bunch of people to #group (we didn't have a name then, mind you) and just outlined the ideas... i was pretty unorganized about it, and i believe that grey wouldn't exist if it weren't for my wonderful friend skie (*hug*) cool, ok how exactly did you get into the music scene? i'm not done talking about grey, pendejo :) k... skie named the group, and with a few cries of "yay" grey was born... i wanted us to be distanced from all the other groups out there who were naming themselves "interplanetary collision" or something like that... :) as astrid (i think it was astrid... was it? anyway, it doesn't matter... :) once said, "one can only take so much outer-space innuendo," and i believe that's very very very true... or something... here i go rambling again :) ....:> naming the group "grey" makes us sound like the kind of people who wear berets and little round glasses and drink cappucino all day jtown says, "oh, my lord..." * ryan gives jtown vergazo after vergazo * ryan is really hyper for some reason wow, i just got an email with the subject line "a quickie" :) hohohoho hihihihihihihi next question! :) answer the question of how you got into the scene... oh, doh :) that's right well, i moved here (kerrville/hell) in july 1995, and i met this guy at the phone company who was a computer freak-dog like myself... we got to talking, and he introduced me to tracking... he's a REALLY good tracker, but he doesn't release anything... he doesn't have much time to track anymore, since he's married and works full time... btw, his handle is "wireman" about 90% of my samples come from him, hehe aha... the rest from basehead :) ok, which durp durp? ahEAHEAHEHAeHAEHa speaking of samples ( i have to ask it ), what's your opinion of sample ripping? i think sample ripping is fine... i myself don't own anything i can sample from, except a bunch of crappy old tapes, so what am i supposed to do? it seems silly that people would be against sample ripping, really... true... i mean, some of the old amiga elites ripped samples... heatbeat is a perfect example heatbeat ripped for awhile i think, then he got superarrogant about ripping... and look at people who wrote soundtracker mods... all they were doing was ripping, in essence... ripping from those wacky st disks :) ... 100% ripped samples, and they still manage to rock yeah, heatbeat is just a crack baby if you ever read his r.a.w. interview :) yes, i have:> for tw viewers, raw homepage (amiga diskmag) http://www.xs4all.nl/~blahh ^- kicks ass oh, before we go any further... yes? there's one particular guy who i'd like to give a remote vergazo to... i'm not going to mention his name, but he's the guy that said tw should not contain interviews with "non-elite" people... i don't think i need to explain why this is stupid as hell... mostly because i find myself strangely unable to get a good head of steam behind any of my tirades now that the spotlight is upon me... :) ok, onward. :) heh ok... who are some of your favorite composers? amiga/pc hmmm... amiga... right off the top of my head, i'd say dizzy, audiomonster, jester, bit, bit arts, chorus&sid, heatbeat, airon, sidewinder, moby, clawz, brainbug, vinnie, virgill, jogeir liljedahl, and many many many more... i've just exhausted my memory :) and on pc, i'd say i most respect basehead, mellow-d, zake, and of course wireman... MANY more, but i exhausted all my effort on that amiga-composer list, hehe :) basically anyone who has a dir on my hd... or whose tunes i don't delete after 1 listen :) special werd to basehead, gblues, and luvk (plus a few i forgot) because they're great trackers and (mostly) incredibly nice guys too :) *hug* everyone btw, anyone who hasn't raided aminet deserves a vergazo hehe i have to ask... ...the world must know oh god i hear it coming :) What is a vergazo? hahahahahaha!!! :) ok... this may be too much for you #trax kiddies, so shield your eyes! :) a vergazo is when you grab your tube steak and smack someone with it... it's a spanish vulgarity :) the root words are "verga," for the tube steak itself, and "-azo," a suffix denoting a blow with something... are you happy now? :) ummmmm hahahaha it's one of my manic eccentricities :) maybe i should have kept my mouth shut... c'est la vie... ehaheaheha well, "hi" to everyone who's been given a vergazo that didn't know what they were getting :) What are some of your favorite individual tracks of all time (by other composers)? hmm, lessee "urban culture bomb" by basehead "banana split" by dizzy "ba1" by bit arts (hi base :) well, hmm... let's just say for the sake of brevity... i'm going to switch background music to ba1 right now... haven't heard it in a long time... anything by any of the composers i mentioned in my "favorite trackers" list "ba1" kicks ass, really... at first i didn't like it, but base urged me to listen to it again and again, and what do you know... i got to love it :) Ok, who are some of the most overrated and underrated composers in the scene? overrated: necros (keep in mind that i have NOTHING against the guy, he's a really great composer and cool as hell... but he's not the god everyone says he is), elwood, skaven, pm, rage, captain... keep in mind that i like all these guys' music to some extent... but putting them on a pedestal is a bit much *** kleitus is now known as jtown uh-oh :) * jtown gives ryan a vergazo for elwood and rage and pm... *** jtown is now known as kleitus hehehaehaeha * ryan lol :> captain is decent... yeah, captain is decent elwood/rage/pm are all right, really... i'd say mediocre, but i'd get another vergazo :) his ancient stuff blowz.. sort of like romeo knight... oh!! speaking of romeo knight EVERYONE go get gblues' remix of "boesendorfer p.s.s.," it KICKS YOUR ASS boesendorfer p.s.s. is nice...i still love cosmic dog 2 though... heheh hehehehe gblues is the same dude who did the final fantasy mdisk, right? yeah he's in grey :) he rocks (*hug* gb) ok, now underrated composers? underrated... lots of amiga composers... b.i.t., bit arts, dean, heatbeat, jester, et cetera... wireman is underrated, but no one's ever heard anything by him :) and... it's true that's lots of amiga composers aren't known well on the PC scene... call me an ass-kisser, but mellow-d is VASTLY underrated... he's got to be one of the best trackers that ever lived... same with basehead... their music is just incredible i know people will think "what the hell; basehead and mellow-d are OVERRATED!" but that's just not the case... people *think* they're overrated, so they turn around and bash them because it's the thing to do... it seems like bashing basehead and mellow-d has become what bashing pm and skaven was... people are just jealous... i mean... why do you think these people are overrated at all, people? it's because they make great music that stands out from most of the mediocrity of the scene... i just can't praise 'em enough :) yeah, stuff... :) who else is underrated... everyone in grey :) and ded silence... he rocks (tho he's not in grey) dudes like heatbeat and jester are popular tho... yeah, somewhat i had some guy on #trax ask me what aminet was the other night :) (no names) hmmm ok... basehead is actually one of the more popular pc guys on the amiga scene..along with cccatch... yeah... i don't like cccatch that much, actually... he's really good, but his songs don't really click with me for some reason btw, i met lpegasus yesterday! is he still in kosmic? he's cool as hell :) (hi lpeg!) yeah, he's still in kosmic... he's on a 6-week road trip, so we might not see many zack tunes for a while... but never fear k... his keyboard is broken, too... so donate :) heh.. on to new stuff....... yay new stuff == good What style of music do you compose? i don't limit myself at all to one style... i listen to every kind of music you can imagine, both in the "real" world (hehe) and in the tracker's world... so i can say "hmm, i think i'll track a house tune" and do it... or "hmm, i think i'll track some funk" and do it... i don't say "oh, i only track THIS and THAT" (hi injekted, subhuman :) oh, i forgot underrated: injekted he rules my world i'm his tabasco-sucking texas hosebeast bizatch :) EHAEHaEHa ultrabeat dude...havent heard much by him... yeah, ultrabeat rewls you're injekted's bitch? ;> well, according to him. :) *i* wasn't informed. :) fair enough :) hehehehehe heheh werd, this song rules it's on the radio which tune? by annie lennox hmm, is it by annie lennox? i couldn't tell you:> it goes "because the world won't stop, and actions speak louder... listen to your heart, what your heart might say..." it's phat ok, back to the interview :) Which tune have you been most proud of that you've tracked? none, really. :) hehehe i haven't tracked for a LONG time but i feel a burst of creativity coming on heh, i havent tracked a complete tune....ever:> hang on, caller my first tune will hopefully be for MC4...i hope it places in the top half:> rookie obviously... ok, i'm back hehe, yeah, i'm entering mc4 too myself hopefully k... i'm doing a co-op w/ gblues it takes me while to track... i would have to say i'm most proud of that tune :) cool... heh i don't have much time to track, since i work full-time, and when i'm not working i'm wasting time on irc i'm getting better, though. :) once into slackdome, one can never come back... haha, don't say that! :) yew scare me hohoho actually one of jtown's nicknames in school is 'slackmaster j' bahahahahahahahahahaha i'll never let him forget that :) my nickname my freshman year was "mr. winky" good:> i never do... a friend of mine named me after her boyfriend's penis... i have weird friends hahahahaha ryan: i'd ask...but i'm still scared from the vergazo answer..;> damn! too late... heheh * ryan lol you didn't have to ask! :) questions, questions :) i'm so impatient i need a vergazo or something speaking of MC4, what's your opinion on the player controversy? Do you feel it's fair that users of IT get an advantage since there's no standalone player for it? yeah, i mentioned this to gd the other night i said that they should just use the format's respective tracker... ft2 for .xm and .mod... st3 for .s3m... mmedit for .mtm... etc. yeah... it's sort of crappy... cubic player fuxors up most of my tunes, sadly :P so far my tune plays correct in cp, but i havent gotten far into it... oh, i hold the record for "most tunes rated *" in demonews for a single composer :) you seem proud:> haha, i'm not; i want them all deleted :) i don't even have 'em on my hd anymore one thing that kinda pisses me off, though... my tunes aren't that great, but they do NOT deserve *... i mean... look at "onion breath monster" by death :) that got *... it's not even comparable to my tunes... great title tho :) ok, anyway yeah... i notice when i begin to track, i hate my tunes the longer i get into them... yeah, i have a problem tracking... i have great ideas in my head, but i try to get them into the tracker and they go *thbpt* yeah, i'm trying something like that... (*thbpt* can be approximated by putting your tongue between your lips and blowing really hard) i'm slowly making a rap mod with full vocals:> hahahahaha :) heheh my friend will be doing vocals, i'll track it all out... i have lyrics written for a lot of my tunes the dude who's rapping dj's parties and does performances.... i don't put the lyrics in the tunes themselves, though :) one of my tunes goes "i'm bustin a NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT... in your EYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYES... HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY" jtown says, 'i zee de moon, between de stars...' bahahahaha hahha "young girl, get out of my mind... my love for you is way out of line"...fear paul anka jtown is nuts... yeah, after a lifetime of beating up ralph macchio, i would be too :D jtown == the bully from "the karate kid," for the readers who didn't know hmm, i'm starving and i don't have any cash maybe i'll go eat pretzels :) i'm broke too... that's why i'm leeching food at jt's:> aren't we all heheahehehaheahea it's pretty sad when i go to work and eat like a pig :) they ask me "don't your parents feed you at home?" and i tell them the truth "no" heh my boss bugged the phone here at work and i'm not supposed to be using irc but oh well :) well.. i sort of figured you dont get paid to chill on irc:> hehe :) what's your job? tech support for my isp... i also do other stuff (i.e., keep the whole thing from going under) i get the funniest calls aha....i'm starting my new job next week... people asking how they can use the internet to talk to their friends in albania or something "does your friend have a computer?" hehehe *dead silence* hahha "i don't underSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND" *in whiny, piercing voice* I'm becoming a fed, starting monday... a fed?? * ryan backs off federal agent... !!!!!! you're gonna be a jackbooted gestapo thug? :) (hi g. gordon liddy) I'm becoming a disgruntled US postal worker...:) werd the government scares me my dad worked for the army for like 25 years jt still has his job at the bar downtown as a bouncer.... hahahahahahahahaha he beats up small italian kids :) who learn karate from miyagi-san he beats up everyone... and come back to kick his ass always doing crane kicks and shit on me:> hahahahahaha HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-YA! "ninja vergazo!" *whap* that ought to be a move in "shinobi" :) heheh, shinobi is classic... yeah, it's my favorite ware :) EHAEHaHEAHEAHEHAeHEHaEHa (i didn't get it on anothernet) hehe i'm proud; i've never traded warez on anothernet nor I.. *** Signoff: ryan (Remote kill by Caliban (no warez)) hehe ok back to the questions... hahha :) mo' questions! ok deeper thought questions... yay :) WHat do you feel is current direction of the scene? Trackerwise, and overall in the future... hmmm... well, i don't really know... i think we'll get a lot of newbies, though (just look at #trax now...). the scene will definitely grow, and i'm surprised it hasn't grown already... when i learned i could make music on my computer, i was hooked! :) fascinated... i've always lived for music, really... but i'm getting off the subject i eat, sleep, and breathe music... i always have we're going to get a big population boom ...continue... i was done :) we're just going to be inundated with trackers... unfortunately, i don't think many of them will be very good, or have the willpower to stay with it and become good so you feel that IT and FT2 will become the norm for awhile? yeah, i use ft2 myself, but i might use it occasionally... they're great programs... better than st3, and look how long st3 lasted :) altho i wish pulse would stop changing the damn tracker so much, and put in mouse/ems support :) well..atleast he's active in support.... caller Where can one get releases by you and your group, Grey? ftp.fm.org/pub/music/grey/ while it's still up... otherwise bug me and i'll send you some on irc... :) we might get one of our members (*cough* cd) to offer grey releases on dcc (actually, cd did that for a while, but not now since he's a lazy pendejo :) Ok, any greets? Last words? we're gonna get a web page, soon cool...Inferno Prods. will have a web page up fall '96.... werd hang on, annoying caller from hell hehe ok, back... last words, greets... hmm... :) lemme think jtown says, 'Ryan, goto naid '97 so I can show you my leet karate skilz... hehaehahehaehaeh i can only go to naid if they have it below the mason-dixon line :) damn you scene-dominating yankees support tex97! :) I think Phoenix might be trying to organize a winter party at RPI that's still too far north :) winter in new york?? i'd die! :) it's in yankee territory:>, but that's where I'll be going to school... organize your own party:> which scene members are closest to you? ok, greets... i'd like to greet all my friends; you know who you are... i'd greet everyone individually, but i honestly can't remember now that the spotlight's on me... :) special greets to everyone in grey, and to all my friends on #trax (am i repeating myself?) hmm, i'm in texas, so... :) godhead/sidewinder are pretty close to me k...What's your email address so people can contact you? there's hadji/boomer/malakai/pandorra/rimbo, too vergazo@hilconet.com, of course :) that might be down, so mail to ryan@hilconet.com if it doesn't go through of course:) hehe welp nooooooooooooo don't end :) ok oh, greets to lpegasus/basehead/ms saigon, too here we go... because i've talked to them on the phone or met them :) i dont have any more questions... so starting at 4:35 PM EST, you have exactly 5 minutes to rage while the irclog is going:> ok... :) note tw viewers: be afraid... i'd like to give a vergazo to all the elitist bastards in the scene... you know who you are! you make the scene hell for us... or something... hehe umm speechless? i'd like to give more vergazos to all the lamers who come into #trax and annoy us... :) no, i'll never be speechless ok if you were... it's just that i can't seem to find anything to rant about :) that would have been another #trax first... indeed i've been yapping on irc for nearly five nears now... damn wow it seems like a lot less time than that i didn't get into this scene until august 95, tho let's see, what else can i rant about i'd like to hug all the cuddlebearz on #trax... you know who you are, again :) 4 min and counting...;> i'd like to give a big woop! to lpegasus, who's currently on a 6-week road trip, riding on a bus and staying in remote motels with 40 beautiful girls who walk around in their underwear, seemingly without shame... lucky guy zack is :) it ruled meeting you, lpeg :) what else... *** kleitus is now known as jtown aiee :) wewp hey kleitus, get jt's nickserv password! :) he's seen it but probably forgot it i know his, tho ;> d0e hehaehaeha hmmm... want to say anything else or go back to #trax note to all: my password is not "vergazo," that'd be too obvious :) ? no, i want to keep this going forever!@!#$%@# the never-ending interview ah, ok we'll yak till the cows come home will this be in tomorrow's tw? :) you have 2 minutes left hehe all right minutes left, even unlikely. ;> things don't get done that fast. at least not when i do them ;> i'd like to wonder if elwood knows what kind of furor he stirred up in the music scene :) heheahehaeha i also wonder if elwood's anything like the guy in that old movie "the blues brothers," 'cuz if he is, then he's cool :) eeeheh that's 'cuz you're lazy! :) if *i* were in tw, things would be different *** jtown is now known as SlackMaster_J i would crack the whip over y'all *** SlackMaster_J is now known as jtown hahahahahaha *** ryan is now known as MisterWinky awright *** MisterWinky is now known as ryan time's up nooo! that wasn't two minutes hmmm well then you're just trying to silence me:) * ryan gives jtown a vergazo! let's play word association. ;> yez! i love word association :) vergazo jtown bill clinton chelsea basehead woop! God <- eeeheheh trax train baygle cheeze elwood boom-tss :) heAHEAHEHAEHAehAHEAheAHEa shutup. ;> pig shit traxweekly :) that's enough.;> hahaha it's like being at the shrink again thank you for having this interview. ;> only he would ask me weird-questions eeeeeeeehehheh hahaha * jtown does crane kicks all over the channel thank you for interviewing me :) hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii - yaaaaaaa! haha yer welcome * ryan passes out vergazos wow, this is one long log ok, back to trax now. ;> hahhaha [ and so it ends... and you find yourself marveling at your own ignorance of just what that vergazo thing was... and reaching for the aspirin after the howler monkey-like "eeeeeeeeeeeeehehehehehe" of jtown... and fearing the almighty "BUMP-TISS" of elwood percussion... and understanding that ryan doesn't use a handle because after all these years, all his inspiration for weird-sounding nicknames is gone... and if he tried, he'd come up with something dorky like "kal zakath," so why bother. ] ryan's postscript: i lost my job about 2 days after this interview... coin- cidence? nah. :) =========================================================================== Well, that wraps up our interview for this week. I hope this interview brings some new thoughts to our readers. Many musicians take the scene way too competitively and seriously. Ryan is a reminder that sceners should simply lighten up a bit. Later... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Advertisement]----------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ --[4. Music Trackers International]----------------------------------------- MTi Information Document Facts and Queries File NB: The WWW home page and FTP site are not as yet operational. -Saurax Index 1. What is MTi? 2. Can you publicize my tracked music? 3. How do I go about requesting to be a member of MTi? 4. What are the terms involved in being a member? 5. How do I contact MTi? 6. When is everything going to become a reality already?! 7. Is there something I can do to help? 8. Will there be a text version of the MTi web site available? 9. Ignorant people skip to this question. 10. With MTi do I have to track a certain number of songs per month? 11. What's in it for Saurax? 12. What's in it for Daedalus? 13. The MTi email talk list 14. Who are the members of MTi so far? 1. What is MTi? (Music Trackers International) MTi is a non-profit organization with one aim in mind: to publicize digitally tracked music far and wide, our primary means being the Internet services - that is, World Wide Web and FTP. You or your music group can have FTP space and WWW space for your music! MTi is NOT a group. It is simply a service for the tracking community" of the scene. 2. Can you publicize my tracked music? Yes! Our FTP and Web sites offer music, which is divided into two sections: country and composer. MTi wants to distribute *your* music, under specific conditions of cause. There is no "catch", only the fact that your attitude is positive towards what you do as a musician. Obscenities will not be in your favour. It is recommended that you possess an Internet E-mail address (or access to one). 3. How do I go about requesting to be a member of MTi? Firstly, it does not matter if you are part of a group; MTi still wants to publicize your music. In fact, MTi supports groups too! There are certain terms that must be followed and disobeying these terms will, indeed, not be in your favour. See Section 4. 4. What are these terms? Here they are: (1) MTi only supports the following module formats: ù MOD/NST/WOW Standard 4/8/16/etc modules formats ù FastTracker XM ù ScreamTracker III S3M ù Impulse Tracker IT ù MultiTracker MTM Other formats (ie. 669, AMS, DSM, DMF, OKT, ULT, STM, PSM, PTM, etc.) are accepted occasionally, but certainly NOT on a regular basis! (2) All music styles are accepted. (eg. Techno, Rock, Trance, Classic, OPERA!) (3) Modules may not exceed 2 megabytes (not strict term, exceptions are made). (4) Present a Professional Attitude in regards to your music, and others. (5) It doesn't concern us if you are a member of a "demo" etc group: you may still publicize your modules here. Kosmic/NOISE members allowed too! :) (6) Upon each submission of your module to us, please include a completed module description file (MDZ format | email me for more info). ** This is no longer required, but preferred :). (7) Samples may be ripped. It does not concern us. (8) Pattern content of other composers' modules are allowed in your modules required that you have acquired permission from the original composer to do so. (9) If you are a member of MTi you may use our name - but only when the situation is linked to tracking/modules. (ie. as one of your references.) (10)We will not hold ourselves responsible for any criminal act on your part. This includes, but is not limited to, copyright violations. (11)Keep MTi updated on where to contact you. ie. inform us of email address changes. (12)While MTi will offer FTP and WWW access for your work, everyone will have access to your material. MTi, and the members of its staff cannot accept responsibility for any unauthorized commercial use of your work. (13)MTi reserves the right to remove you from our database due to disobedience of these terms or unforeseen circumstances. 5. How do I contact MTi? You can only contact MTi via Internet E-mail at this time. To submit queries and suggestions, please send E-mail to: Saurax : saurax@netafrica.com Daedalus: bennetts@netvoyage.net Or you can usually find either one of us on IRC.. AnotherNet Servers: neato.org, irc.phonet.com Channel: #trax 6. When is everything going to become a reality already?! In the very near future, just hang in there :) ... my ISP says that the leased line should be installed here by the end of June, so MTi, at latest, should be around by the end of July 96. 7. Is there something I can do to help speed up the arrival of MTi? Well, that depends :). A lot of time, effort and finance is going into the MTi project. Donations of any type will be welcomed and will definitely go to a good cause. 8. Will there be a text version of the MTi web site for my browser? Yes! Even in the construction stages of the web there is a text version available. 9. What is MTi? Go to Query Number 1. 10. With MTi do I have to track a certain number of songs per month? No. 11. So, Saurax, what's in it for you? My intention is not for personal gain, but gain for MTi as a whole. Trackers need support and hopefully MTi can give them that support. 12. So what's in it for Daedalus then? A chance to try and help the scene move into the future... and to ensure that it's a household topic around the world... =) 13. The MTi Email Talk List Feel free to join the MTi talk list, where members and supporters of MTi share their views of MTi, tracking and the scene in general! Simply email majordomo@www.netafrica with no subject (ie. leave the subject field blank) and in the body of the message just type subscribe mti and you'll be able to post and receive mail in the talk list. 14. Who are the members of MTi so far? The member list is constantly increasing so it would be painful to continuously update this text file with a member list. If you are seriously interested in knowing who the members of MTi are, email me at saurax@netafrica.com and I shall send you the latest available member list, or ask me on IRC and I shall send it to you via DCC. Regards Saurax - President | MTi : saurax@netafrica.com Daedalus - VP | MTi : bennetts@netvoyage.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Closing]----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ TraxWeekly is available via FTP from: ftp.cdrom.com /demos/incoming/news (new issues) ftp.cdrom.com /demos/info/traxw/ (back issues) 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. Different country code pages cause major problems in international distribution, so we must stay with regular text. 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Please contact the TraxWeekly staff at the following addresses: Editor: Psibelius (Gene Wie)................gwie@owl.csusm.edu Staff: Atlantic (Barry Freeman)............as566@torfree.net DennisC (Dennis Courtney)...........dennisc@community.net Fred (Fred Fredricks)...............fred@paracom.com Kal Zakath (John Townsend)..........jtownsen@sescva.esc.edu Kleitus (Seth Katzman)..............skatzman@global2000.net Master of Darkness (Todd Andlar)....as566@torfree.net Mhoram (John Niespodzianski)........niespodj@neonramp.com Mick Rippon.........................rip@hunterlink.net.au Populus (Nicolas Roberge)...........nr@qbc.clic.net Trifixion (Tyler Vagle).............trifix@orion.polaristel.net Zinc (Justin Ray)...................rays@direct.ca Reporter: Island of Reil (Jesse Rothenberg)...jroth@owl.csusm.edu Graphics: Stezotehic (...)....................(...) 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