_//\\________________________________________________________________________ _\\__T_A_T_I_C___L_I_N_E_____________________________________ December, 2001 __\\_________________________________________________________________________ \\//__ Monthly Scene E-Zine ________________________________ 243 Subscribers _____________________________________________________________________________ --=--=-- --=--=------=--=------=--=---- Table Of Contents ----=--=------=--=------=--=-- Opening: Message From the Editor Letters From Our Readers Features: SceneSpot Update Coma 3 Party Report Law of Convolution -- Fundamentals of Synthesis Memory Madness Columns: Music: In Tune -- "dreamcoat" by mistrial The Listener -- Music from Aural Planet and funkymuskrat Demo: Screen Lit Vertigo -- "Gerbera", "Polyester Pimp Deluxe" and "Don Quijote V2.0" General: Editorial -- The Scene Rebirth Link List -- Get Somewhere in the Scene Closing: Credits --=--=-- --=--=------=--=------=--=---- Message From the Editor ----=--=------=--=------=--=-- well, as promised, we're back! Yes, it was another crazy few months, and I'm sorry we missed a month in there. But I assure you, it was well worth it. We have a lot to share with you this month, as you will see. We have some very special feature articles for you this month. First, we have a first-hand record of Coma 2 in a party report from the one and only Phoenix (aka: feen). Then, Seven offers his take on how the availability of cheap RAM might affect the demoscene in "Memory Madness". If you want to get caught up on what I've been doing with SceneSpot, you can learn about that this month too in my "SceneSpot Update". And finally, we have a very special article from Setec concerning some more basics on synthesis theory, the "Law of Convolution." Of course, all our regular columns are back as well, and plenty of reading to do there as well. As always, we're always looking for more articles, more columns and so on. The larger we can build our writing staff, the better this magazine will be. If you have any interest in writing, even if you don't know what you'd write about, e-mail me at coplan@scenespot.org. Well, that's all for now. I will let you read on through this issue of Static Line. Until next month, enjoy! --Coplan --=--=-- --=--=------=--=------=--=---- SceneSpot Update By: Coplan ----=--=------=--=------=--=-- I'd like to take this opportunity to get everyone up to date on the latest happenings for SceneSpot. For those of you yet unaware, SceneSpot is a Scene web resource project that is currently being undertaken in conjunction with Static Line. While SceneSpot hosts Static Line, and Static Line drives most of the site, there are still many features that SceneSpot has to offer the average user. Check out SceneSpot: http://www.scenespot.org It's been around for a while, but Tune Tracker keeps growing. Tune Tracker is basically a way for people to announce their song releases and keep track of other people's song releases. Many of our members currently use it often, but the user base is growing, which means more songs keep popping up. But now, Tune Tracker should be easier to navigate, as we have finally installed an index system to browse more than the latest tunes. And the search function now works for Tune Tracker as well. In the future, one can expect some more in-depth searching, and broader features of Tune Tracker as well. On a side note, you must be a SceneSpot member to submit songs to Tune Tracker, but you need not be a member to view the latest releases. The Links database is finally fully functional. Members and non-members alike can submit links to the database. If approved, these links get collected into the database for all to see. It's a good way to get your scene related sites noticed. Eventually, this database will replace the vast links list that appears at the end of every Static Line issue. For those of you who aren't aware, any member can submit news to the site. This can be party announcements, software releases, and other scene happenings. It's a good place to stick your news brief. There is much more to come in the next few months. A voting booth should be popping up soon, in which you will have a voice in what gets developed next. Tune Tracker will continue to grow with many new features planned, and the Group database will also continue to grow. Keep checking back for the latest news and resources on SceneSpot. And as always, if you think you have something you might be able to contribute, send an e-mail to coplan@scenespot.org and let us know what you can do. As always, thank you for your feedback and support as we strive to make SceneSpot the perfect site for you. --Coplan --=--=-- --=--=------=--=------=--=---- Coma 3 Party Report By: Phoenix ----=--=------=--=------=--=-- I haven't written one of these reports in years, so either I'm going to have to write nonstop without thinking or else it won't get done. So, let's begin. Friday, November 16, 2001: After buying some party food/drinks, and waiting far too long for an oil change, I'm on the road somewhere around 3pm. The trip goes well, though with no-one else to talk with for 6 hours, a bit dull. I had expected tighter security at customs. But even with a purchase of vodka at the duty free shop, I was pratically waved through into Canada once again. I couldn't find the right exit for the University of Montreal (well, I didn't know quite what to look for), but after a stop and map-check, I found my way back and reached the site shortly after 9pm, right when parking became free. Coma was held in the Polytechnic building of the university, on the top (6th) floor. A few signs directed me up an elevator. I saw some people on laptops down the hall, but they were just students! Who in their right mind does classwork on a Friday night? :) Further down was the room for Coma. I signed a sheet, filled out computer info for security purposes, and scoped it out. The room was rather small, but at least there were some people there. I found fellow DC5-mate TheFinn, who had flown all the way from Oregon! (no fear of terrorists here). We managed to get a cart and brought my stuff up. This was actually the first party I'd brought my computer to, and I had several boxes with CDs, ads and misc stuff. I was able to set up close to the entrance. I was told I would have my own projector to show demos with, but I found out that some other university group took it, oh well. I had to settle with my old 15" monitor. This year there was a network connection, and TheFinn was on #trax for a short while, but I didn't bother hooking up to it. More people started coming in, and it appeared that more people were around the first night than the first night of Coma2 in 2000. I met up once again with the Suboptical guys + Anterabae/Astrid, a couple guys from Maryland, DCB (including Snibble!), some ex-NAID organizers, and a few people I hadn't seen in years, including Depth/Excused and Mental Floss (former fellow Kosmic musician). After showing some demos on my machine, we headed to the first couple compos, wild and animation. Instead of a dinky screen, they were held in an auditorium, just across the hall! This was pretty cool, but the entries didn't quite live up to it :). The wild compo included mixed computer animation and film from Zelkor/Razor1911 and a silly short film made by some ex-NAID organizers, though it wasn't made for Coma. The best animation was a stereoscopic one, where you relax your focus to get a fake 3D effect. I couldn't do it but I saw many others holding fingers up to their eyes trying. Afterwards I put on a pair of headphones and entered the 10 minute tracking compo.. well, I felt I had to enter something! I dubbed my short tune "I am an old fart". The next morning (I didn't sleep, having had much (caffeinated) Mt. Dew & Absolut Citron) I went out to breakfast with Sylphin and Mr. Khan, where we discussed NAID, the naid.net site, and jobs, while bearing with some horrible fussy American lady next to us. Back at the party, I met up with Anonym/Padua, known well in the European C64 scene, and the "thematic" compo was announced. The theme was "cucumbers". I contemplated making a demo, but I didn't get around to it. The guys from Suboptical (Sylphin & Vastator, backed up by Kindred and Diver777) were still frantically working on their demo. I checked out a seminar for Game Boy Advance coding. Unfortunately I was getting tired by this point, and found myself almost falling asleep. It was put on by Gladius (or was it Phil Rate?) and RV. It was kind of neat to see all the technical capabilities of the system, but it kind of seemed like one big ad for their Paragon 5 music system. Following this was, huzzah, my one big ad for MindCandy, the DemoDVD project! But I tried to have fun. We made promotional Video CDs for Coma, which had 7 demos on them, but I only had time to make nine copies. So I played a "name that demo" game to give them away. Around 20-30 people showed up for the giveaway, which wasn't too bad since that was nearly half the people present at Coma at the time. After this came the gfx and music compos, which I must say left me disappointed. But it makes me want to get back into tracking, since maybe now I can win a compo :). Saturday night I went into Montreal with a bunch of guys looking for food. We found a Middle Eastern place called, get this, "Monssieur Falafel". Almost as amusing as PFK. :) It was a quite cold walk, but a lot of fun talking about the North American scene and ripping on the lamers within. I missed the 10 minute gfx compo, but life goes on. Finally came the demo competition. This year there were 13 entries, one more than last year. That wasn't too bad, considering the rather short notice and somber mood this year. But then, this was the only compo with serious prizes. Two-time Coma winner Creative Impact returned with Project Ayumi, trying 3d character animation this time. Unfortunately, it had an unfinished feel to it and seemed to bore the crowd enough into giving them a relatively shameful 7th place. Which is too bad, since they put a good amount of effort into it (and I liked the music too). Suboptical's demo looked and sounded nice on the big screen, which is typically what they aim for. It ended up 4th though; I imagine it confused the audience a little toward the end. MadBrain, a young multi-talented guy from the Quebec city area, made a demo with nothing but cubes. The crowd was entertained and gave it 3rd place. It included house scenes, a guy driving (wildly) with cube wheels, cube fire, and a cube fountain, among other things. 2nd place went to the recently reformed Razor 1911 demo group, this time based in France but with a French- canadian member as well. It was pleasing to the ears and eyes, nothing fancy, something which may not have done so well in Europe but just fine in Canada. And the winner? A trio of Montrealeans dubbing themselves "The Project" created a humor piece called "ABCDemo" which was one large laugh-out-loud demoscene satire. It features two faintly-familiar-looking cartoon characters, dubbed simply "Fido" and "Bobo", who show a five-step how-to-make-a-demo tape. The voice acting is great, the jabs are even better, but what they rip on is actually now considered old and outdated, at least by the Euros. Still, the crowd enjoyed it enough to vote it the winner. They got $500 (Canadian) or so, which is at least better than the single French-language games most everyone else won. After the awards were given out, I finally got some sleep. There was just one classroom for sleeping, but all the Montreal people went home so there was plenty of room and it was more than quiet enough. By the time I got up Sunday and found the shower (yes, there was just one, two floors down), most everyone had left. I said goodbye to the remaining few, handed out my two remaining VideoCDs, and headed for home, once again without trouble. So to sum up, here are some pros and cons of Coma3, compared to last year: Pros: - Better location. I didn't like the 6th floor bit, but it was cool to be back at a university. And the auditorium across the hall was great! Much better than a church basement. I wouldn't complain if Coma4 were held in the same place. And next time we should just take over the whole damned floor, who needs to study over the weekend anyway. :) - Better big screen, for sure! The audio was high quality, but IMO not loud enough :). - Friendly atmosphere. You can talk to about anyone there, though some people were a bit shy. - Nothing got stolen, of mine at least. My stuff was right out in the open, so maybe I was lucky. - The demos were a little bit more entertaining than last year. - The organizers did a pretty good job of moving things along and making sure people got where they needed to. Cons: - There just was not enough enthusiasm or interest. I hate having to blame the hard-working organizers, but I saw very little advertising for Coma3, and there just weren't enough activities. How about some outdoor compos? Live performances? Demo shows? (okay, I should've brought it upon myself to do more of the latter) There were around 100 people at the demo compo, but during the rest of the party it was hard to count more than 40 or so. The reason? The rest just didn't feel it was worth staying around the whole time. With more people helping out, that can be changed next time. One suggestion is for more sceners/ex-sceners with scene-related jobs (games, gfx, music) to have their companies sponsor the next Coma. More prize money always results in better compo entries. :) - There were 13 demos, true. But count the number of _American_ demos. None. ZERO. This felt like a nail-in-the-coffin for the American scene, even when the Canadians were still pushing on. I don't know if the current war and terror scare can be blamed for this, maybe. As a citizen of the U.S. of A., I feel this shrinking trend _can_ be reversed. Just look at all the sceners on ojuice.net with American flags next to their names. Where are they? We can't really call it a "North American" scene when just one country is productive. At least I had the DemoDVD excuse. :) - Some people complained about the public-only voting. It's true that people tend to vote for demos with weird/silly gimmicks in them, regardless of quality, but I'm not sure if having a jury would have changed the results much. Voting was done on a 1-to-10 scale per entry, which was good, but having a jury voting more on technicality couldn't hurt. - We still have a loooong way to go to get back up to a NAID-level party. There, I hope I didn't bore you to tears with my Coma3 report. I had a fun time, and I'm still hopeful for the Western hemisphere. See you at Coma4! --feen/dc5 aka Phoenix/Hornet --=--=-- --=--=------=--=------=--=---- Law of Convolution Fundamentals of Synthesis By: Jesper Pedersen (aka: Setec) ----=--=------=--=------=--=-- This article focuses on the fundamental law of sound synthesis: The law of convolution. It is a very short, simple law, but the implications of it are tremendous. And it is my experience that it is rarely understood properly by people without any synthesis theory background, due to the fact that at first it is not entirely intuitive. Before rushing into the actual law, we need to establish a few basic concepts. Mainly the representation of sound in the time-domain and the frequency-domain. These are simply two different ways of visualizing sound, which are however vital to the understanding of the law of convolution. NOTE : All of this requires the fundamental understanding that a sound consists of multiple frequencies, determining the timbre of the sound. If these concepts are a bit hazy to you, I suggest you read a former article of mine, "See the Sines: Basics of Sound" published in Static Line issue #9: March, 1999. You might want to also check out another article, "Subtractive Synthesis: The Basics" published in Static Line issue #27: November, 2000. (Both articles are available at the SceneSpot/Static Line site: http://www.scenespot.org/staticline ). Time-Domain: One way to represent sound is to use a graph showing time along the x-axis and change in air pressure along the y-axis. This is the representation you usually see in a sample editor and in the sample windows of trackers. It is the most common way to visualize sound. So what can be visualized using this domain? Mainly, changes in amplitude over time, since the amount of change in air pressure is - in a simplified case - perceived as amplitude. This is very intuitive and all of you probably understand this. One thing, however, that the time-domain is not that good at visualizing is the harmonic contents of a sound. It might give you an idea as to how "bright" the sound is, but you won't be able to really visualize the complete harmonic contents. Which brings us to... Frequency-domain: In this domain, the x-axis represents frequency and the y-axis amplitude. So this directly gives you the harmonic contents of the sound, the amplitude of each frequency contained in the sound. So what are we lacking here? Well, exactly what the time-domain was so good at picturing; changes in amplitude. The 2-dimensional version of the frequency-domain gives you the harmonic contents AT A FIXED TIME. It does not contain any information about how the harmonics change over time, it gives you the contents at one instant in time. This is why sometimes, 3-dimensional graphs are used for frequency-domains, time being the third axis. Okay, so you should have a pretty clear idea of the different domains and their use. So here is what it is all about, the law of convolution: Convolution in the time-domain is equal to multiplication in the frequency-domain and vice versa. Now, the object of this article isn't to explain what convolution is. This is a topic that reaches far beyond the scope of this article, but something I might touch in later articles. However, the idea I want to get across here is that: Multiplication in the time-domain is equal to a CHANGE in the frequency-domain and vice versa. So without specifying excactly what is changed and how, the implications of this law are still surprising. If you are not yet impressed by any of this, stop to think for a moment about this last version of the law; whenever you multiply one waveform with another in the time-domain, the harmonic contents of the sound is changed. Still not surprised? This actually means that whenever you apply an amplitude envelope in your sampler or in a tracker or whatever editor you use, you are not only changing the time-domain of the sound, you are also altering the harmonic contents of the sound. Now if this seems to go against your everyday experience - and indeed intuition - then it is because the amplitude modulation you will usually apply via envelopes will consist of a waveform with a VERY low frequency. So although harmonics are added to the sound, they are two low-pitched for you to hear them. But as soon as the modulation waveform reaches an audible frequency, you will start hearing these changes. This fundamental law of synthesis reaches far beyond the concepts that I have described in this article. Reverberation is another area that uses this law with great results. Even filters can be simulated using so-called Impulse Responses and convolution in the time-domain. To understand the basic ideas of IRs and their use, it must be understood that a single horizontal line in the time-domain - an Impulse - contains ALL frequencies at equal levels, a vertical line in the frequency domain. Whereas a single horizontal line in the frequency-domain naturally corresponds to a sine wave, which is the only wave containing just a single frequency. So what are Impulse Responses? These are recordings of the response of something to an Impulse. This means that there is an IR for the room you are sitting in. Your room will bounce sound of walls, creating reflections of the sound, what is usually known as reverberation. These reflections will create a sound that contains several different versions of the intial Impulse, spread out in time and with varying amplitude. Now, convolution works by combining a source sound with an IR, so that at each and every time-domain component of the IR, the source sound is played back at an amplitude corresponding to the current IR component. See how this will work to create an effect to make it sound as if the source sound is played in the room where the IR was recorded? We are excactly duplicating the reflections of the room, their position in time as well as their amplitude. And from the law of convolution this means that we are changing the harmonic contents of the sound as well. This is why reverb doesn't simply add "room" to the sound, it also changes the timbre of the sound quite a lot. IRs can be recorded - or simulated more often - for filters as well. Or microphones, guitar amplifiers, etc. And so, all these components can be simulated through convolution. With - as always - a convolution in the time-domain creating changes in the frequency domain. Well, it seemed like I ended up describing - in simple terms - convolution as well. It is a very interesting topic and one that reaches into pretty much any area of synthesis. Now the way I described how convolution works is correct, but you can imagine that realizing it exactly how I described it - actually playing the source sample at each point of the IR - is a pretty demanding task. An IR lasting, say 5 seconds, will contain: 5s * 44100Hz = 220500 samples And according to how I described it, this is how many times the source sound would have to be played and mixed. Quite a lot, and pretty heavy on even the fastest processors. So rather than doing this, sound processors use advanced mathematical theories to reach the same goal. But the fundamental idea of how convolution works remains. And the law of convolution is always there. Ain't it clever? :) As usual, any comments, questions or corrections you might have, feel free to mail me about it. I am not a genious when it comes to sound synthesis, this is purely a study on a hobby level, so if I have any of these concepts mixed up or misunderstood, please correct me. --Jesper Pedersen Setec / pHluid jesper@befunk.com --=--=-- --=--=------=--=------=--=---- Memory Madness By: Seven ----=--=------=--=------=--=-- We all know computers and their components become faster, better and/or cheaper every year. It's a fact of life, a law of nature, and I've become so accustomed to it that I sometimes find myself wondering in a shop why the food or the clothes haven't dropped significantly in price the last six months. But even then I'm sometimes taken aback by the speed of progress. Last week I was reading The Register (www.theregister.co.uk) where they mentioned that the prices of RAM chips were at an all-time low. I checked the website of my local hardware shop, and behold: a 512 MB PC133 DIMM costs only 116 Euro! I jumped on my bike, raced to the shop and placed an order. To clue some of you youngsters in: the first time I bought extra memory, 5 or 6 years ago, I paid about the same for a 4 MB chip. Exactly one year ago, I paid 100 Euro for my extra 64MB! We're talking about a 7-fold increase in MB per Euro, in one single year! In fact, if I didn't have a crappy motherboard with only two (yes 2) memory slots, I would have gone for the 3 times 256 MB, which costs only 99 Euro. Three quarters of a gigabyte RAM, I've had a harddisk a fraction of that size! It's madness, I tell you! Of course the situation today is exceptional: there's a recession, the PC market is saturated, the events of 9-11 haven't helped consumer confidence in any way, but the memory manufacturers are still producing lots of chips. There's a gross overproduction, chips are sold at dumping prizes and the manufacturers are basically waiting to see who's gonna go bankrupt first, so that production will decrease and prizes will rise again (As a reference, a 128 MB SIMM EDO costs a whopping 483 Euro! That's 4 times *more* for 4 times *less* memory, of an outdated and slower type, simple because it isn't made anymore ). Maybe the launch of WinXP will result in people buying more memory or new computers, but if that will be enough to eliminate the big stockpiles? Who knows... Anyway, when my order arrives I'll have 128 + 512 = 640 MB RAM. As a wise man once said, "640 MB should be enough for everybody!" (or something like that :>) That obscene large amount of memory has got me thinking about a few things. For instance, we're quickly nearing the 4 Gigabyte limit that's imposed on all 32-bit CPUs. In fact it's worse, because many operating systems reserve a large hunk of the memory space for their own use (Win9x uses 2 GB and WinNT 1 GB, IIRC). And you don't want to upgrade from 2 to 3 or 4 Gig RAM if only the OS can profit from that extra headroom. I hope from the bottom of my heart that by that time we'll have all upgraded to 64-bit processors, instead of falling victim to, say, "MS XMS-32" or "EMM for WinXP", or similar hacks from the era of the 640KB DOS limit. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, praise yourself very lucky). But, to stop bragging and to go back on the topic of this fine mag: How will this influence the demoscene? Will it result in more and more sloppy coding? Will people use uncompressed BMPs or TIFFs for the images in the demos, because the're too lazy to use a decompression lib, "and hey, memory is cheap"? Will they keep all the MP3's of their super-duper multi-part demo in memory from the start, instead of deallocating one when it's been played, and loading another when showing a picture or using another thread? Will we see "This demo needs at least 2 GB RAM"-errormessages in future productions? The answer to the previous questions is definately "Yes!", simply because all of these things happen already (OK, except that last one). Adding memory is not going to improve the situation. But I certainly hope that there will be at least a few coders who actually make use of the extra capacity. For example, imagine this: some years ahead, you watch a normal 3D demo, but it's optimized for memory and CPU usage. While you're admiring some nifty effects that the 3D card is drawing with pixel shaders, the CPU is secretly doing software raytracing, rendering to the 2 Gig memory. At the end of the 5-minutes demo, a 30 second movie is shown, at the same quality of Shrek or Final Fantasy. That would be something impressive! (Technically, at least). In short, I hope that the coders, especially those with a job and a big fat PC, will not squander all that memory, but will either create never-seen-before effects, or remember the kids who had to use their dad's old PC with "only" 512 MB RAM, and the sceners in countries where new hardware is a luxury for the happy few, and thus optimize their demo so that it runs on a 2-year old PC. Yes I know it's unlikely, but I can hope... --Seven --=--=-- --=--=------=--=------=--=---- In Tune "dreamcoat" by mistrial By: Coplan ----=--=------=--=------=--=-- -=- Introduction -=- Here I am, ever wandering about the 'net, ever trying to find some good music to listen to. For me to like a tune, it only has to do one of to things: 1) relax me or 2) entertain me. There are very few tunes that I've listened to that do both. I don't mean to make it sound like I'm really that obtuse. In all honesty, entertainment and relaxation are two opposite emotions to me. But, on the rare occasion, I have a relaxing tune with so much dynamics in it that I am also entertained at some level. The song, "dreamcoat", by mistrial (of Hellven) just happens to be one of those songs. So, I'll share it with you today. -=- The Tune -=- Let me start by saying this is not your typical song. I actually am not quite sure how one would classify this one. I would say it's a blend between DnB, Ambient and Trance. But then again, I've never been good at classifying these borderline styles (and especially with the electronic styles, there are so many sub-styles as well). As I said in my introduction, this song is very relaxing. If you turn it down below that critical volume point, you can just sit and dream the day away. It's the type of song that you might be able to use in one of those old continuous, repeating demos. You could loop this song for hours, and not really notice that it ever ended. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against songs with no definate mood changes. This is why ambient music was created, isn't it? But the song has a very even, mellow tone throughout the song. Need I remind you, I did also say that the song was very entertaining as well. When I say "entertaining", I don't mean that the average mellow tune doesn't entertain me. I mean it has a very interesting and unique feel to it. It's one of those songs that has a feeling like no other. This song in particular has a very characteristic percussion. This is why I think one could easily classify the tune as a DNB song. While it is by no means the focus of the song, it definately adds a level to the song that is almost required in a tune like this. The percussion itself is always evolving throughout the song. It creates the mood of the song, for the most part, and it truly defines the song. There are a few parts in the song where there is no percussion, and it is at these points that you appreciate the amount of time that was dedicated to the development of such an interesting percussion line. It pulls you it, it gets you excited, and then it dissappears, making you want for more. There is a lot of perepheral things happening throughout the song as well. Those subtle little q-blips and that very low-volume, low frequency clean synth in the background add a very unique depth to the song. In a musical style that is not rock, these little things are essential, and quite often make the song -- sometimes even without being noticed. These are the things that made Jean M. Jarre the world famous composer that he is. These are the things that put Mike Oldfield on the map (as crazy as his music is). And these are the things that mistrial pinned down for this song. Brilliant work. Otherwise, the song might seem a bit repetative and simple to some. But that's the beauty of music. Simplicity can have as much affect on a person as a truly complex and dynamic tune. Just because it's simple, though, doesn't mean that it isn't going to be dynamic. This is a perfect example of how dynamic a simple tune can sound. But I will agree, the chord progression is very repetative. And considering it is carried out in the foreground of this song, it might drive some traditional thinkers nuts. But I find it very refreshing that it is used in such a way. There is still enough going on in the song to keep your interest throughout the entire score. -=- Conclusion -=- Well, "dreamcoat" might not be a download for everyone. If you're into DNB and/or ambient, you will definately want to grab it. The mixing quality of the song is very well done. The sample quality is also very impressive. As a whole, the song sounds like it was mixed very professionally. If you do grab the song, I have one warning. While I've been writing this review, and a little before perhaps, the song has been repeating on my stereo. It's been repeating for well over an hour now. I could stop it right now, and it would still repeat in my head for another few hours. Play it a couple of times, but stop it before it etches itself into your brain. --Coplan Song Information: Title: dreamcoat Author: mistrial of Hellven Release date: November 15, 2001 Length: 6.24 File Size: 5.85 MB Source: http://www.hellven.org "In Tune" is a regular column dedicated to the review of original and singular works by fellow trackers. It is to be used as a tool to expand your listening and writing horizons, but should not be used as a general rating system. Coplan's opinions are not the opinions of the Static Line Staff. If you have heard a song you would like to recommend (either your own, or another person's), We can be contacted through e-mail useing the addresses found in the closing notes. Please do not send files attached to e-mail without first contacting us. Thank you! --=--=-- --=--=------=--=------=--=---- The Listener Music from Aural Planet and funkymuskrat By: Tryhuk ----=--=------=--=------=--=-- It's been quite a long time since I wrote something for Static Line and paid a full attention to it. There were an unhealthy many reasons for this, and I won't torture you with them. The point reason I am mentioning this is that I want to cater (again) to young readers to support the magazine. Although any magazine needs its regular staff, it also needs articles from its readers, something that will spice up every issue. We all had to be readers first and if you want the Static Line to live, you have to help it. I felt quite funny when I started to write a first review for this issue. It really sucked compared to articles I've written for previous issues. Unfortunately for you, this doesn't stop me from mentioning a few interesting songs I heard during last few days. -=- "Stimulation 2" by Aural Planet -=- http://www.auralplanet.com/download/free/Aural%20Planet%20-%20stimulation2.mp3 I believe that everyone knows this great group. "Stimulation 2" is one of the free releases at the side of the commercial CDs: "Lightflow" and "Part Second". Its style nears most to dnb. A reason for this is that a lot of attention has been given to the beat (of course). Still, its drum line has elements of progressive styles like 2step, which tend to mix simple house beats with styles that have richer drum line. No matter what style this track is, it is an effective composition that pulsates with energy. I know this "review" doesn't help much, but a few days ago it really fit to my mood and made the workday less painful. -=- "...presenting Superbeat" by funkymuskrat -=- http://hellven.microspy.org/hv054_-_funkymuskrat_-_presenting_superbeat.mp3 As you would guess, I've always been a fan of Ari aka: Stalker, aka: funkymuskrat. The reason: His obvious talent for mixing experimental elements of his own with awesome leads which are simple, but work amazingly well. He also has a very good feeling for chord progressions, like Necros, and this all makes for his unique music. His latest release for Hellven is exactly one of his exceptional tunes that demonstrates his musical ability. Ari has also released a musicdisk made in cooperation with clover. It contains 5 tracks of "chill out" music. If you are into this style, you might as well give it a try. I have to mention it again: Ari belongs to people with style. Well, I feel this is enough for today. But as a bonus, I'll mention another tune: "Plateau" by Mosaik (aka: Radix). It is a pleasant ambient work. Nothing else to say. You can find it at: http://www.scene.org/~radix/mp3/mosaik-plateau.mp3 Then of course, there are releases by tdr which keeps high standards. But it is too difficult to pick one release. You'll have to choose for yourself what fits to your taste best. I wasn't disappointed, but I also wasn't excited that much by any of the tracks. See you next month. --Tryhuk --=--=-- --=--=------=--=------=--=---- Screen Lit Vertigo "Gerbera", "Polyester Pimp Deluxe" and "Don Quijote V2.0" By: Seven ----=--=------=--=------=--=-- -=- Gerbera by Moppi Productions -=- (final version) Found at moppi.inside.org 2nd place at the Assembly 2001 democompo. System requirements: 7.8 MB HD, +500Mhz CPU and "mucho RAM", windows, OpenGL compatible 3D card (Radeon cards crash according to the info file) Test Machine: PIII 900 192MB, SB1024, GeForce 2MX 32MB, Win98 The Credits: Code: memon 3D: memon, gstep Design: sumo, memon, gstep Music: sumo lounge, dj holik Guest Star: johnny park The Demo: Unless you've lived under a rock the past month, you already know that the first place at Assembly was taken by the Amiga demo Lapsuus/Mature Furk. Since I know zilch of coding on an Amiga, I'll skip it and review the second place, Gerbera by Moppi Productions. In case you don't remember, Moppi Productions are the folks that brought us the cute cartoon-rendered Kolme pienta pukkia (Three little goats) and Hannu & Kerttu 2000 (Hansel and Gretel 2000). Their latest production has cartoon-rendering too, but rather than using it all the way, Gerbera mixes it with flatshaded objects, photorealistic textures, video fragments and simple icons. This could easily result in a demo that hurts your eyes, but Moppi manages to keep everything in equilibrium, making the different styles complement each other. It starts with solid black ribbons surrounded by really fluffy clouds. Next we meet two friendly-looking robots, one DJ-ing and the other dancing. Although they are rendered cartoon-style (with black outlines), the interior of the polys is not flat-colored but has a metallic shading, giving them a very distinct look. The robots live in a hi-tech but rather desolate world, void of any non-mechanical life. There are giant floating objects (cities, or maybe factories) slowly hovering over the highways. On top of the 3D scenes, there are smaller effects like flocks of wireframe squares, morphing transparant curves and lines, and bars with horizontal blur. Short slogans are sprinkled through the demo, balancing between nonsense and thought-provoking. Some examples: "Dirt makes us honest. Honesty makes us devoted" or "Preset goals makes us blind for real ones. Trust us, you wouldn't like that". The music is DNB-ish, and very relaxed. There's a slow melodic background with short recurring melodic themes, with on top of that a flurry of beats, scratches and little robot sounds. This dual speed fits the demo very well, with the slowness of the scrolling backgrounds and the floating cities on one hand, and the speedier secondary effects on the other. Overall: Gerbera is a very original and well-balanced demo. It has excellent design, good-looking visuals and a great soundtrack, and manages to create a solid atmosphere. It requires quite some horsepower (those fuzzy clouds make the framerate drop noticably, even though my machine exceeds the requirements), so some people may not be able to enjoy Gerbera until their next upgrade. And one minor point that I've noticed in way too much demos: please please please, hide that ugly mouse pointer when you create your render window! -=- "Don Quijote V2.0" by Frogwise -=- (party-version) Found at www.scene.org 2nd place at the TRSAC PC democompo. System requirements: 7,7 MB HD, Windows, a Geforce 3D card with OpenGL. "Lots of RAM helps" Test Machine: PIII 900 192MB, SB1024, GeForce 2MX 32MB, Win98 The credits: Code: Phat cat 2D/3D: Skinny panda Music: Wentakura/Uprough The Demo: Don Quijote V2.0 is a 3D demo with a story, mixed with minimalistic design elements. Most of you probably know the tale of the crazy knight Don Quijote (or Don Quixote, Google returns 53800 vs 74000 matches) who fights windmills with his servant Sancho. In the demo, two planes named after the knight and his helper attack a facility that at first seems to be a nuclear factory for genetically modified crops, but later it transforms in something quite different. The story is nice, but develops too slowly, IMHO some of the first parts could have been cut or shortened. The landscapes and 3D objects look nice and finished, the artist hasn't used ultra-detailed textures everywhere but instead has resorted to simple gradients where applicable. It reminds me of Le Petit Prince, but without the cartoon rendering. Contrasting with the 3D eyecandy are the simple Danish design elements: the startup logo, the very minimalistic credits, the numbering of the parts in the upper left corner, the texts of the story in different fontsizes and directions,... The music starts slowly, almost ambient, but goes into a disco-ish beat with an occasional voice sample. It's weird, but then so is the demo. The volume changes a lot without reason, and the sound effects seem some seconds out of sync with the images. Besides, the planes sound more like tractors. Overall: Don Quijote V2.0 is a different kind of 3D demo, not quite like the usual camera flights. The models and the texts have a funny touch, and you can even perceive a nature-friendly morale if you watch it enough. If you're convinced 3D animations belong to the wild compos only, you can skip this one safely, but if you're still doubting a little, check it out. But remember to lower the resolution, a default of 1024x768 is a bit heavy unless you've a geforce 3. -=- "Polyester Pimp Deluxe" by The pimp brigade -=- (final version) Found at ftp.chscene.ch/parties/TRSAC/trsac01/PCDemo (latest version at http://www.demoscene.org/~pleksolar/TPB-01.zip) 1st place at the TRSAC'01 PC democompo. System Requirements: 7.3 MB HD, Windows, CPU > 350 Mhz, works on a TNT but a Gforce is preferred. Test Machine: PIII 900 192MB, SB1024, GeForce 2MX 32MB, Win98 The Credits: Code: Plek/Solar, Ile/Aardbei Graphics: Shifter/TKB Music: Okkie/Rbi The demo: As you can see from the credits, the Pimp Brigade consists of a bunch of Dutch sceners from various well-established groups. Usually the result of such a cooperation is a joke entry or a demo with an incoherent feeling, but Polyester Pimp Deluxe is actually a pretty good production. It's a effect-driven demo, no 3D environments or stories, but it follows a not-so-serious blaxploitation theme. Think of pictures of blacks with large hairdos, slogans like "Bitch" and "Superfly!", plus a very fitting funky soundtrack. They also follow a kind of theme in the effects: a main effect in the foreground, and a simple effect made with moving cubes in the background. The code isn't very original: metaballs, morphing blob, particle effect, twirling object-with-tubes-on and such, all of which we've seen hundreds times before. On the other hand, the 3D objects are a bit special, the color scheme is easier on the eyes that the famous dutch TBL-goa-colors, and the speed by which the effects change is right on: long enough to get an appreciation of what you see, but too short to become boring. And there are in fact two effects that I liked a lot: an explosion of cubes, probably inspired by the wild demo Red Dot/Oryx (2nd at Bizarre'99), and some weird-looking globes with flares at the end, when the music has already ended. Overall: Polyester Pimp Deluxe is a nice demo with good code, solid design and a pinch of humour. It's not the best demo you'll ever see, but it's certainly above the average. --Seven --=--=-- --=--=------=--=------=--=---- Editorial The Scene Rebirth By: Coplan ----=--=------=--=------=--=-- I had a bad day a few days ago, and I jumped back in #trax for the first time in weeks. Yes, I still frequent the channel enough to know what's going on in most fellow #traxer's lives. Mind you, for a while, that wasn't very many people. But I jumped in that fine day, and #trax was the busiest I've seen it since the mid to late '90s. What gives? Thinking it might have been a fluke, I've been visiting the channel every night when I get home from work (Work, you know, that thing that prevents me from getting this mag out on schedule?). Sure enough, the channel has been hopping. I'm idleing in there as I write this, and there are 36 people logged into the channel. If you use the old handy #trax-active-member-calculation formula, you will know that only 8 of us are really active. But we're all online, and we still chat about things that may or may not relate to the scene. Coma 3 was just held, and while it is still a very small party by most demo party standards, it still had a record showing. Part of this is obviously due to the fact that the organizers are starting to get the hang of running a party. Part of this has to do with the fact that return-party-goers bring their friends. Part has to do with the fact that it is the third party, and people expect all of the above. Well, regardless, a good portion of that has to do with a somewhat renewed activity in the scene. Is the Scene reviving itself? I have always argued that the scene was not so much dead as it was evolving. From day one, the scene has been growing in size, and changing in medium, technology and skill. Technology has become so advanced that the scene has almost become an eclectic art-form, to some. The scene is no longer at the cutting edge of technology as it once was. Hell, the scene isn't even ahead of the gaming industry anymore (yes, it used to be, then DOOM came out). The scene did change, and the scene did evolve. It's no longer about being the most innovative. It's now about being the most creative with the tools we have. It's no longer about doing things that no one else can. It's about putting some thought into our creations. The scene, in any aspect, has started to become a fine art, of sorts. It is practiced by few (well, a lot, but considering the number of people on the 'net). Even fewer participate regularly. But it's still here, and it's starting to catch interest again. But before we whip out the party hats, and start drinking to the re-awakening, realize that it hasn't completely happened yet. We can still miss the boat if we don't all act now. If you have anything you can contribute to the scene, don't hesitate. If you have any reason to go to a party, do it. If you have any reason to host a party, or a competition, or anything, do it. Frequent sites like SceneSpot (shameless plug) or Orange Juice. Post messages at naid.net (for you North American Demosceners). Do whatever it takes to become a part of the scene. It helps draw curiosity from others, and that's the pool we want to tap into. Outsiders support the scene as much as the insiders, never forget that. If what we're doing is cool, the insiders have something to show off. Then the insider want to be here. It's all circular, but effective. Push the scene, for what it's worth. It's worth a lot more than you think it is. It's a lot more alive than you believe it is. It's alive, it's well, it's growing...and it's very hungry for more. Feed it! --Coplan --=--=-- --=--=------=--=------=--=---- Link List ----=--=------=--=------=--=-- Portals: Orange Juice.............................http://www.ojuice.net Scene.org.................................http://www.scene.org SceneSpot.............................http://www.scenespot.org CFXweb.......................................http://cfxweb.net Pouet.net.................................http://www.pouet.net Demoscene.org.........................http://www.demoscene.org Scenet....................................http://www.scenet.de Demo.org...................................http://www.demo.org Czech Scene................................http://www.scene.cz Danish Scene..............................http://demo-scene.dk Hungarian Scene........................http://www.scene-hu.com Italian Scene...........................http://run.to/la_scena ModPlug Central Resources..........http://www.castlex.com/mods Norvegian Scene............http://www.neutralzone.org/scene.no Planet Zeus..........................http://www.planetzeus.net Polish Scene...........................http://www.demoscena.pl Russian Scene..........................http://www.demoscene.ru Spanish Scene............................http://www.escena.org Swiss Scene..............................http://www.chscene.ch Archives: Acid2.....................................ftp://acid2.stack.nl Amber.......................................ftp://amber.bti.pl Cyberbox.....................................ftp://cyberbox.de Hornet (1992-1996)........................ftp://ftp.hornet.org Scene.org..................................ftp://ftp.scene.org Scene.org Austra........................ftp://ftp.au.scene.org Scene.org Netherlands...................ftp://ftp.nl.scene.org Swiss Scene FTP...........................ftp://ftp.chscene.ch Demo Groups: 3g Design..............................http://3gdesign.cjb.net 3State...................................http://threestate.com 7 Gods.........................................http://7gods.sk Aardbei.....................................http://aardbei.com Acid Rain..............................http://surf.to/acidrain Addict..................................http://addict.scene.pl Agravedict........................http://www.agravedict.art.pl Alien Prophets...................http://alienprophets.ninja.dk Anakata..............................http://www.anakata.art.pl Astral..............................http://astral.scene-hu.com Astroidea........................http://astroidea.scene-hu.com BlaBla..............................http://blabla.planet-d.net Blasphemy..............................http://www.blasphemy.dk Bomb..................................http://bomb.planet-d.net Broncs..................................http://broncs.scene.cz Byterapers.....................http://www.byterapers.scene.org Bypass.................................http://bypass.scene.org Calodox.................................http://www.calodox.org Cocoon..............................http://cocoon.planet-d.net Confine.................................http://www.confine.org Damage...................................http://come.to/damage Delirium..............................http://delirium.scene.pl Eclipse............................http://www.eclipse-game.com Elitegroup..........................http://elitegroup.demo.org Exceed...........................http://www.inf.bme.hu/~exceed Fairlight.............................http://www.fairlight.com Fobia Design...........................http://www.fd.scene.org Freestyle............................http://www.freestylas.org Fresh! Mindworks...................http://kac.poliod.hu/~fresh Future Crew..........................http://www.futurecrew.org Fuzzion.................................http://www.fuzzion.org GODS...................................http://www.idf.net/gods Halcyon...........................http://www.halcyon.scene.org Haujobb..................................http://www.haujobb.de Hellcore............................http://www.hellcore.art.pl Infuse...................................http://www.infuse.org Kilobite...............................http://kilobite.cjb.net Kolor................................http://www.kaoz.org/kolor Komplex.................................http://www.komplex.org Kooma.....................................http://www.kooma.com Mandula.........................http://www.inf.bme.hu/~mandula Maturefurk...........................http://www.maturefurk.com Monar................ftp://amber.bti.pl/pub/scene/distro/monar MOVSD....................................http://movsd.scene.cz Nextempire...........................http://www.nextempire.com Noice.....................................http://www.noice.org Orange.................................http://orange.scene.org Orion................................http://orion.planet-d.net Outbreak................................http://www.outbreak.nu Popsy Team............................http://popsyteam.rtel.fr Prone................................http://www.prone.ninja.dk Purple....................................http://www.purple.dk Rage........................................http://www.rage.nu Replay.......................http://www.shine.scene.org/replay Retro A.C...........................http://www.retroac.cjb.net Sista Vip..........................http://www.sistavip.exit.de Skytech team............................http://www.skytech.org Spinning Kids......................http://www.spinningkids.org Sunflower.......................http://sunflower.opengl.org.pl Talent.............................http://talent.eurochart.org The Black Lotus.............................http://www.tbl.org The Digital Artists Wired Nation.http://digitalartists.cjb.net The Lost Souls...............................http://www.tls.no TPOLM.....................................http://www.tpolm.com Trauma.................................http://sauna.net/trauma T-Rex.....................................http://www.t-rex.org Unik........................................http://www.unik.de Universe..........................http://universe.planet-d.net Vantage..................................http://www.vantage.ch Wipe....................................http://www.wipe-fr.org Music Labels, Music Sites: Aisth.....................................http://www.aisth.com Aural Planet........................http://www.auralplanet.com Azure...................................http://azure-music.com Blacktron Music Production...........http://www.d-zign.com/bmp BrothomStates.............http://www.katastro.fi/brothomstates Chill..........................http://www.bentdesign.com/chill Chippendales......................http://www.sunpoint.net/~cnd Chiptune...............................http://www.chiptune.com Da Jormas................................http://www.jormas.com Fabtrax......http://www.cyberverse.com/~boris/fabtrax/home.htm Fairlight Music.....................http://fairlight.scene.org Five Musicians.........................http://www.fm.scene.org Fusion Music Crew.................http://members.home.nl/cyrex Goodstuff..........................http://artloop.de/goodstuff Ignorance.............................http://www.ignorance.org Immortal Coil.............................http://www.ic.l7.net Intense...........................http://intense.ignorance.org Jecoute.................................http://jecoute.cjb.net Kosmic Free Music Foundation.............http://www.kosmic.org Lackluster.....................http://www.m3rck.net/lackluster Level-D.................................http://www.level-d.com Miasmah.............................http://www.miasmah.cjb.net Milk.......................................http://milk.sgic.fi Mah Music.............................http://come.to/mah.music Maniacs of noise...............http://home.worldonline.nl/~mon MAZ's sound homepage..................http://www.maz-sound.com Med.......................................http://www.med.fr.fm Mo'playaz..........................http://ssmedion.de/moplayaz Mono211.................................http://www.mono211.com Morbid Minds..............http://www.raveordie.com/morbidminds Noise................................http://www.noisemusic.org Noerror.......................http://www.error-404.com/noerror One Touch Records......................http://otr.planet-d.net Park..................................http://park.planet-d.net pHluid..................................http://phluid.acid.org Radical Rhythms.....http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/merrelli/rr RBi Music.............................http://www.rbi-music.com Ruff Engine................http://members.xoom.com/ruff_engine SHR8M......................................http://1st.to/shr8m Sound Devotion................http://sugarbomb.x2o.net/soundev Soundstate.........................http://listen.to/soundstate Sunlikamelo-D...........http://www.error-404.com/sunlikamelo-d Suspect Records........................http://www.tande.com/sr Tequila........................http://www.defacto2.net/tequila Tempo................................http://tempomusic.cjb.net Tetris....................................http://msg.sk/tetris Theralite...........................http://theralite.avalon.hr Tokyo Dawn Records........................http://tokyodawn.org Triad's C64 music archive.............http://www.triad.c64.org UltraBeat.........................http://www.innerverse.com/ub Vibrants................................http://www.vibrants.dk Wiremaniacs.........................http://www.wiremaniacs.com Zen of Tracking.........................http://surf.to/the-imm Programming: Programming portal......................http://www.gamedev.net Programming portal.....................http://www.flipcode.com Game programming portal...............http://www.gamasutra.com 3D programming portal.................http://www.3dgamedev.com Programming portal......................http://www.exaflop.org Programming portal............http://www.programmersheaven.com Programming portal.....................http://www.freecode.com NASM (free Assembly compiler)......http://www.cryogen.com/nasm LCC (free C compiler).........http://www.remcomp.com/lcc-win32 PTC video engine.........................http://www.gaffer.org 3D engines..........http://cg.cs.tu-berlin.de/~ki/engines.html Documents...............http://www.neutralzone.org/home/faqsys File format collection...................http://www.wotsit.org Magazines: Amber...............................http://amber.bti.pl/di_mag Amnesia...............http://amnesia-dist.future.easyspace.com Demojournal....................http://demojournal.planet-d.net Eurochart.............................http://www.eurochart.org Heroin...................................http://www.heroin.net Hugi........................................http://www.hugi.de Music Massage......................http://www.scene.cz/massage Pain..................................http://pain.planet-d.net Scenial...........................http://www.scenial.scene.org Shine...............................http://www.shine.scene.org Static Line................http://www.scenespot.org/staticline Sunray..............................http://sunray.planet-d.net TUHB.......................................http://www.tuhb.org WildMag..................................http://www.wildmag.de Parties: Assembly (Finland).....................http://www.assembly.org Ambience (The Netherlands)..............http://www.ambience.nl Dreamhack (Sweden)....................http://www.dreamhack.org Buenzli (Switzerland)......................http://www.buenz.li Gravity (Poland)............http://www.demoscena.cp.pl/gravity Mekka-Symposium (Germany)...................http://ms.demo.org Takeover (The Netherlands).............,http://www.takeover.nl The Party (Denmark).....................http://www.theparty.dk Others: Demo secret parts....http://www.inf.bme.hu/~mandula/secret.txt Textmode Demo Archive.................http://tmda.planet-d.net Arf!Studios..........................http://www.arfstudios.org #coders..................................http://coderz.cjb.net Demonews Express.........http://www.teeselink.demon.nl/express Demo fanclub........................http://jerware.org/fanclub Digital Undergrounds.....................http://dug.iscool.net Doose charts...............................http://www.doose.dk Freax................................http://freax.scene-hu.com GfxZone............................http://gfxzone.planet-d.net PC-demos explained.....http://www.oldskool.org/demos/explained Pixel...................................http://pixel.scene.org <*> #trax e-mail list............................................. .............http://www.scenespot.org/mailman/listinfo/trax Underground Mine.............http://www.spinningkids.org/umine IRC Channels: Scene.........................................ircnet #thescene Programming.....................................ircnet #coders Programming....................................efnet #flipcode Graphics.........................................ircnet #pixel Music.............................................ircnet #trax Scene (French)..................................ircnet #demofr Programming (French)............................ircnet #codefr Graphics (French)..............................ircnet #pixelfr Scene (Hungarian)............................ircnet #demoscene Programming (Hungarian)......................ircnet #coders.hu Programming (German)........................ircnet #coders.ger --=--=-- ----=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------ Editor: Coplan / D. Travis North / coplan@scenespot.org Writers: Coplan / D. Travis North / coplan@scenespot.org Dilvish / Eric Hamilton / dilvie@yahoo.com Psitron / Tim Soderstrom / tigerhawk@stic.net Setec / Jesper Pederson / jesped@post.tele.dk Seven / Stefaan VanNieuwenhuyze/ seven7@writeme.com Tryhuk / Tryhuk Vojtech / vojtech.tryhuk@worldonline.cz Technical Consult: Ranger Rick / Ben Reed / ranger@scenespot.org Static Line on the Web: http://www.scenespot.org/staticline Static Line Subscription Management: http://www.scenespot.org/mailman/listinfo/static_line If you would like to contribute an article to Static Line, be aware that we will format your article with two spaces at the beginning and one space at the end of each line. Please avoid foul language and high ascii characters. Contributions should be mailed to Coplan (coplan@scenespot.org). See you next month! -eof---=------=--=------=--=--