Preview
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_\\__T_A_T_I_C___L_I_N_E_____________________________________ December, 2000
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\\//__ Monthly Scene E-Zine ________________________________ 187 Subscribers
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Table Of Contents
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Opening:
Message From the Editor
Letters From Our Readers
Features:
Conference 7007 Official Results
Dialogos 2000 Official Results
Columns:
Music:
In Tune -- Eterman's "A Comet's Path"
Retro Tunage -- "He said" by Setec
Demo:
Screen Lit Vertigo -- Demos by Incognita and Inquisition
Intro Watch -- Intros by Fresh! and Freestyle
General:
Editorial -- Timing
Scene Sense -- Chiptunes & You
Scene Dirt -- News & Rumors
Link List -- Get Somewhere in the Scene (updated)
Closing:
Credits
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Message From the Editor
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November is traditionally a busy time. Somehow, I managed to avoid
all the rushing around this year. We got a complete issue for you this
month. I'm back with In Tune (co-written this month by Eino Keskitalo).
PsiTron returns for another installment of Scene Sense. Don't worry,
he's nicer this month. =P Tryhuk is back, covering a favorite of mine
for Retro Tunage. Then, Seven and Gekko have given us a full selection
of demos and intros to check out.
We also got some party results for Conference 7007 and Dialogos 2000.
You'll definately want to check out the Dialogos results, as they have a
very oldskool feel (I did not alter them for the mag). Very cool! For
those of you with party reports, feel free to drop them to us. We're
interested in party reports and results from all around the world.
Well, I've been gearing up for my Best Songs of 2k report for
January. If you have anything from the year that you wish to point out
to me, please contact me. There's a lot out there, and I garuntee, I
havn't heard it all.
Until Next Month!
--Coplan
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Letters From Our Readers
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-=- Letter from Psychic Symphony -=-
Just mailing to say you are all doing a great job, Static Line is
getting better and better, a lot better articles recently. Someone
please tell Setec and Tryhuk they are working overtime and we are loving
every minute of it. keep on going!
--Psychic Symphony
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Conference 7007 Official Results
Prepared By: Gekko
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2000, Hungary
272 visitors (+girls)
demo compo:
1. high voltage / inquisition
2. konputer:54 / fresh!
3. firg 2000 / firg
4. 1989 / united force
64k intro compo:
1. accelerator / dilemma
2. sys64738 / digital dynamite
3. single / fresh!
truecolor compo:
1. hyperewil / ir^astral
2. astral hope / magicboy^astral
music compo:
1. dive / vincenzo^molecoola
2. way to eternity / kvazar^euthanasia
3. back to the town / magnetic^inquisition
mp3 compo:
1. god make the sunrise / vincenzo^molecoola
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Dialogos 2000 Official Results
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-=- Editor's Note -=-
I don't normally allow formatting outside of the 72 column system we
have as a standard for Static Line. However, this month I am making an
exception for this wonderful oldskool style result file. You will
agree, there is no way I can format this to fit the 72 column standard
and still maintain the classic appeal of ascii art. It is still within
80 columns, so most of you won't be affected anyhow.
Thanks to Gekko for bringing this to us.
--Coplan
-=-
. .. . . . .
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: :..
: _____ _____ _____ _____ :
_____\\ _/_ _ _ _\\_ \_ ___ _ __\\_ \_ ___ _ __\\_ \_ ___ :
\ _/ (_ _\\/_ / // /____ / // _//_____ / // //_____
\ \ / (_ _ // _// (_ / \_ / / \__ /
/______\ __\ /___\____\ \ /_______\ / /________\ / /
<-diP/dTR-_ ________\-----_ _____\_____\----_ ___________\-----_ ___________\-
. .
: :
: diALOGOS 2ooo oFFiCiAL rESULT fiLE :
: :
: :
: :
: :
: :
: PC 4K Intro :
: :
: stoerfall ost - freestyle 868 :
: Judas! - PigPen / oCCult 574 :
: 4Ke - Ctulhu/HeadcrasH 176 :
: shit - HCR FAN CLUB 114 :
: I like my crow soft! - MadMan/real.fake 78 :
: Sexy Duck - mad/os^real.fake 30 :
: :
: :
: :
: PC 64K Intro :
: :
: fresnel - kolor 742 :
: lovemachine - bypass+unik 578 :
: Understate - delta9^TUM 538 :
: :
: :
: :
: PC Demo :
: :
: fr-06: black 2000 - fb ^ farbrausch 448 :
: frauen pausenlos 3 - fake of pmf 402 :
: Digital - Magic Dreams vs. Unik 212 :
: dumbnut - eichel 210 :
: Hochfrequenzkinematographie - skp 134 :
: ASC-TRIX - all^hicknhack 132 :
: Netherworld - StyX/HeadcrasH 128 :
: flashback - void main 122 :
: Spacken in Space - TnT & Skyrunner 96 :
: one minute - Xsolution 88 :
: :
: :
: :
: MP3 Music :
: :
: Statuesque - Velvet/Park 242 :
: Starship Sirius Alpha - Skyrunner 160 :
: Fernweh - jco^diewissenden 154 :
: I Dont Love You - nomix / void main 126 :
: DB-Hater - CJ Imperium 110 :
: Soul - Phantom^xsolution 102 :
: tripplebuffer (short version) - saundkaschber l88 :
: Prymer - tell them not me 76 :
: :
: :
: :
: Pixel Graphics :
: :
: colaris - peachy/haujobb 414 :
: intergrate - janne & visualice/haujobb 324 :
: wild beast - arancia/squirrelz 228 :
: autsch! - satchmo 166 :
: Talkshow - Saffron/TBL 136 :
: das könnt jetzt bischen piexeln - tomic/unik 122 :
: A308 - Diver / TUM 118 :
: Jennifer Lopez - Mucky Of Confine 110 :
: bLuE - B Chara aka Gabi / Kaki Arts Technologies 100 :
: Sollten sie dennoch mit diesem Produkt nicht... - Toaster of Seminar 98
: just a girl - RiVeD / TUM 96 :
: Blink - kp/farb-rausch 72 :
: unfinished - bombjack/freestyle 54 :
: fetz - velvet/park & manka/TPOLM 36 :
: Dunkelheit - Tomaes/Tap 36 :
: Kiss me where it smells funny - Jigga/oCCult 36 :
: linux rockz - biff/kaki arts 0 :
: :
: :
: :
: Wild :
: :
: RBP 2 - biff / Kaki Arts Tecnologies 408 :
: KickFlip - T.U.M 312 :
: Pixelica - Critikill, CP, Warder 312 :
: Down and Dirty - Jigga/oCCult 174 :
: the chair - chairkeepers 166 :
: :
: :
: Raytracing :
: :
: Oelmalerei - D.Fox / Digital Overflow 358 :
: Sentinel of heaven - nyce/strontium9o 296 :
: Freedom! - dEGRYSIN 292 :
: morgensbeimcdonalds - scientoz / eichel 290 :
: DarnID proudly presents: The Sword of Anno 819 - DarnID /CMOV 194 :
: SpaceheadLup - Grafix / void main 138 :
: robolution - da_duke1 26 :
: :
: :
: :
: Multichannel Music :
: :
: Daydreamer - Velvet/Park 166 :
: If I only could (Compo Edit) - Netpoet/Park & Bacter/Quasars 142 :
: Gitarrenfresser - Skyrunner 140 :
: Lecture Auditorium - pratwurst 130 :
: dekonstruct - deep trouble - geniuz / mo playaz 106 :
: Shock Hazard - jco^diewissenden 82 :
: Mighty Men & Magic Tales - PaP / Access Denied 82 :
: try to be - maxx of kolabore 62 :
: Florite - CJ Imperium 62 :
: Rock it now - Tomaes/Tap 20 :
: 666 - Thunder/MagicDreams 0 :
: :
: :
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: Four Channel Music :
: :
: Aeroplane - Velvet/Park & Manka/TPOLM 208 :
: Viva la senora - Skyrunner 194 :
: Sounds in one Box - Netpoet/Park 170 :
: The Specialist - Smash of J´ecoute 122 :
: dirty hieroglyphics - dhg/unik 98 :
: Nightmares On MOD - Dipswitch/DCS 98 :
: Supahstar - Looza 62 :
: quadrophone hack - maxx of kolabore 56 :
: Tribute to the forgotten age of chiptune - Tomaes/Tap 36 :
: Bullshit - CJ Imperium 0 :
: Anima - ThUmB 0 :
: :
: :
: Wild Grafix :
: :
: :
: falling down - chunnie & ace 158 :
: axe effect - nyce/strontium9o 156 :
: Der Traum eines Bodysprays... - DRAGooN of deranged 120 :
: ebola tut weh - tomic^unik 96 :
:Der heilige Schneemann und die Nazispinne - Der Grafiker of BooneCrew 94
: Deoschneeklappstuhltreppe - LupGrafix / void main 82 :
: crap-fast - demoteam23 72 :
: The Snowman Solution - Mucky / Confine 58 :
: Snowman - Ctulhu/HeadcrasH 52 :
:Schneemann mit Deo und Stuhl auf der Rolltreppe - MadMan/real.fake 52:
: Schnee(mann)-Beseitigung - Skyrunner 40 :
: Schlick - PaP / Access Denied 34 :
: Just meltin - subc^drg 32 :
: Schutzmarke - Jigga/oCCult 26 :
: lieber ein schnemann im ... - cy-man at real.fake 26 :
: :
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:.. ..:
. :..................................................................: .
logo & design by dipswitch/dcs^dtr
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In Tune
Eterman's "A Comet's Path"
By: Coplan
With: Eino Keskitalo
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-=- Introduction -=-
Many months ago, I invited readers to write reviews of any song they
wish to review. Eino, if you all remember, was the first to do any such
thing. This past month, he recommended a song to me and suggested that
we each do a review. I grabbed the song, "A Comet's Path" by Eterman,
and decided it was definately worth a review. So here we are this
month, each posing our own sides to the same song. Thanks to Eino for
bringing the song to us.
-=- Coplan -=-
The first thing I'm going to explore, as I usually do, is the
samples. If you look at the samples, it seems like a pretty typical
set of samples. But if you go into the instrument panel, you'll see
that Mr. Eterman is quite a skilled tracker. A typical instrument set,
in Eterman's song, is four or five variations of the same sample. To
some, it might seem redundant. But to any audiophile, this is the key
to exceptional quality. Each instrument in a set (take the three sets
of strings, for example) has slight variations between each. One has a
faster approach and fades almost as fast. Another fades in slow and
sustains for a (relatively) long time. The best sets in the list is the
Drum Kits. Having a drum kit, multiple samples mapped to the same
instrument, makes tracking with percussion a bit easier. Eterman used
different octaves to seperate the samples: I've never seen this before,
but it makes logical sense. Typically, because of the nature of
one-note percussion instruments, you can get away with seperating
samples by notes. So far, Eterman has a typical drum kit. But there
are two drum kits! Compare the two, and you will find that he has done
some volume and behavior changes with the second set. That will add an
extra dose of reality -- as even percussion instruments don't always
sound exactly the same. My recomendation to the reader is to study
these instruments. You'll definately want to grab the drum kits, the
cello and the attack synth. They are the best I've ever seen of each.
The tune is pretty atmospheric -- a cross between contemporary and
New Age. Eterman does a wonderful job of weaving a tapestry of images,
feelings and ambience throughout the song. There are parts where it
seems as though Eterman slips out of key. I'm not sure I like it, but
it is a stylistic method that is acceptible in modern music. If you
were to actually trace the song, you'll see he actually never slips out
of key. Instead, he changes his chord progression in a way that seems
like he does. Aesthetically (for me, anyhow), this does nothing to the
song as a casual listening peice.
There is a distinct reason I say this tune is atmospheric: The song
lacks a traditional structure. In my honest opinion, that makes the
song special. New Age, Ambient and many electronic share this common
trait -- a fluid transition between parts of a song, and no part is
climactically greater or lesser than any other. In order to make sense
of this, think of any popular orchestral peice. I'm going to think of
Tchaikovsky's "Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 1 in B flat major"
(Opus 23). (Side note: Weren't peice names from the Baroque era
annoying?). If you know who Tchaikovsky is, you know this song --
whether you know it or not. The beginning of the song starts with the
piano player hitting chords in a very regulated manner. This goes on
for a little bit -- very sharp, very crisp. Then, the peice turns into
a very solemn peice. Eventually, we hit a climax and the song gets very
sharp and crips (and almost violent) again. Eterman's song is the
complete oposite of this structure. If you were to weight one part to
the next, they all seem elementally similar and balanced. This makes
the song very relaxing and very tame. Mind you, it is relatively
difficult to do as well as Eterman has done. After all, it is very hard
to write a song like this and keep people interested long enough to
listen to the whole tune. Tchaikovsky had it easy. If people started
to loose interest and doze off -- he threw in some sort of climactic
orchestral hit, and change moods. Eterman doesn't have it so easy, but
he kept me interested (and i'm easily distracted).
The percussion in this tune is incredible. I already alluded to that
when I pointed out the unique way of setting up his drum kits. That
alone makes the percussion sound very realistic. But he carries through
with a complete package as he make sure every hit is unique. There is a
bit of repetition in the percussion, but there needs to be in every song
out there. General rule of thumb about music, percussion and base
instruments are the static elements of the song. It is against those
that every other instrument is compared, and the rest needs to be a
variation. This is why music exists -- a series of patterns and
non-patterns. Pattern and lack-there-of go hand in hand. Remember
that.
I have one major problem with this song. The ending to the song
distrubs me. The introduction was so well written, the song was so
tightly engineered. When it comes to the ending..."A Comet's Path" fell
off a cliff. No dramatic stop. No fade out. No unique finishing
riffs. The percussion carries on for a few beats, and then just stops.
Nothing signals the end, and nothing clarifies it as THE END. It sounds
like he was going to add another pattern...but never got to. It even
seems to build up for another transition. Then, silence. Lord knows,
however, that I am over-critical about intros and endings. Usually,
they are the first things I look at in a song. So, one must expect that
I'll be less than forgiving if someone isn't tight with their intros or
endings.
All in all, I'm glad Eino pointed out the tune to me. I have
downloaded a few other Eterman tunes, and I would say they are well
worth it. So, grab this tune and a couple others. You'll enjoy it.
--Coplan
-=- Eino Keskitalo -=-
Let's start with the author's own impression of his song: "Some kind
of space fantasy/orchestral, but I can't say for sure." Well, there are
spacey strings to rich set of melodic instruments and a nice percussion
set keeping pretty much to the background, some giving off a measure of
celtic/mediveal feeling. Overall, however, A Comet's Path sounds quite
synthesized.
I personally think it fits perfectly, the instruments blended
together create a solid, defining atmosphere. Anyhow, this sort of
soundscape adds to the compactness of the overall feeling. There
shouldn't be a thing grabbing you from yer collar and forcefully pulling
you into the world showcase in this musical display. Nae, this one
somewhat stays on it's side of the screen. I found it quite compelling,
it suits perfectly and impresses the listener without drowning him/her
into noise. It is well balanced and disciplined. Holds together even
with the quite complex chord progressions, I'd guess the steady, simple
bassline works great here.
I really like the way the song builds up with very subtle movements.
The whole song progresses by simply progressing; parts flow from one to
another, adding and leaving stuff behind without forcing the listener to
notice, at least not on the first time around. This inevitably results
as a tune which unravels a bit every time you give it a listen. Tunes
length, impressive-to-some over seven minutes neither needs no auxilary
justification. It simply is that way, it does not feel like it was long,
a listen is not time wasted.
--Eino Keskitalo
eino.keskitalo@purkki.mbnet.fi
Song Information:
Title: A Comet's Path
Author: Eterman
Filename (zipped/unzipped): em_comet.zip / em_comet.it (IT 2.14)
File Size (zipped/unzipped): 765 kb / 851 kb
Source: http://www.traxinspace.com
Alternate:
ftp://ftp.scenespot.org/static_line/suppliment/em_comet.zip
"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!
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Retro Tunage
"He said" by Setec
By: Tryhuk
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As usually, I had a bit trouble choosing a song for a review, but then
I stepped into a directory with music of Setec and I decided immediately
for a track called "He said". After all, this magazine was staffed by
the "Immortal Coil" complex for too long.
Style of the track doesn't ride up out of Setec's usual style, but
that's exactly what I like - experimental structure that consist out of
dark sounding synthetic sounds in bass frequencies and only few
partials, and contrasting sharp leads with partials running across all
frequencies. The song is kept in one piece by bold and solid percussion
and bassline. And it is nice that Setec tried to make them sound at
least a bit different than the usual dnb (and other) stuff. Anyway, most
important is that the song holds melodical elements well combined with
vocals and you don't have to listen to some crazy cacophony. Setec's
music reminds me another musician that has this specific style of music:
Hunz.
If you have never heard a song by Setec, and if you are into
experimental music, this track is a good one to start with. And don't
get frustrated out of other his songs. Among many average tunes hide
some very good ones, and I think that this one belongs among them.
Song Information:
Title: He said
Author: Setec
Release date: may 1998
Length: 3m41s (3m37s trimmed)
Filename (zipped/unzipped): ic-hesd.zip / sc_hes8.xm
File Size (zipped/unzipped): 360kb / 1415kb
Source: http://www.ic.l7.net/musicold.html
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/music/songs/1998/i/ic-hesd.zip
Alternate:
ftp://ftp.scenespot.org/static_line/suppliment/ic-hesd.zip
--Tryhuk
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Screen Lit Vertigo
Demos by Incognita and Inquisition
By: Seven
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-=- 2nd Floor by Incognita (pre-final version) -=-
Found at www.scene.org
1st place at BcnParty
System requirements:
8 MB, Direct 3D "and a card with mucho ram"
Test Machine:
PII 350 128MB, SB16, TNT2 M64 32MB, Win98
The credits:
ent/incognita library & 3d code, synchro
trace/fuzzion 2d gfx, synchro
Reality3D/RGB animations
reboot/incognita max exporters, idea, scenes
dem/zoran music
The demo:
2nd Floor starts with 2 minutes of loading and decompressing. Some
warning icons are shown, and a bearably readable message "Warning. The
following program may actually provide some sort of content. Caution is
advised." When the progress bar has reached the end of the screen, black
flat lines are drawn on an invisible 3D surface, forming a logo. The
animation reminds me of the way logos of Movie or TV companies are
drawn. In the main part of the demo, we follow a strange human figure
through a real-world environment. The figure itself looks exactly like
the little men you see on icons for the men's toilets, or for "emergency
exit" signs: completely black, rounded arms and legs, a circle as head,
no details. Although it's a flat, paper-thin figure, it moves in 3D. The
environment is just the opposite: it looks very realistic, but it's only
made of photos. It's more than just a background, due to the way the 2D
figure walks around in it, and due the subtle blurring of edges of the
other photo-people with the real world.
We follow the figure when he gets up, takes a shower, and walks to
the railway station. The shower is also in icon-style, but unfortunately
all other objects are photo-based. The Message of the demo is brought
to you (not so subtly) by short slogans in a big, rather ugly black &
white font. I won't tell you the contents of the Message (hmm, as if *I*
would know it), but it's not exactly very optimistic. To give you an
idea: "Like kittens in a bag, waiting to be drown".
The music (an MP3) is of the electronic genre (not my favorite
style), very repetitive beeps and ploinks. Except for an increase of the
rhythm halfway through the demo, it doesn't change very much.
Overall:
A very fresh and original idea, the mix of realistic 2D and abstract
3D elements works perfectly. The only drawback is that the sharp,
realistic, high-res images take a long time to decompress, an eats up
masses of memory. I just bought 64MB extra ram this month and it isn't
enough already, because there are multi-second delays at the end of the
demos :( I hope the final version will be less resource-hungry, else
I'll regard it like The Non-Stop Ibiza Experience/Orange: something to
check again when I've a better PC.
-=- High Voltage Electric Experience by Inquisition (party-version) -=-
Found at www.scene.org
1st place at Conference 7007
System requirements:
20 MB HD, nothing mentioned about memory but I guess 32MB should be
enough. DOS with DPMI manager or Win9x, VESA supported but not
required.
Test Machine:
PII 350 128MB, SB16, TNT2 M64 32MB, Win98
The credits:
MRC: FX code, 3D engine, design
Zoom: Graphics, animations, modeling, design
Charlie: code, video & sound system
Magnetic: main music
Innocent: end music
The demo:
High Voltage is a good old DOS-demo, in a low-res hi-color mode.
Unfortunately, the soundsystem doesn't detect my soundcard, despite the
correctly set BLASTER environment string :( Since I didn't found a way
to circumvent the autodetection, I chose the low-level alternative: fire
up Winamp, and play the XMs in the background. It's not perfect, but
with careful timing it gives only half a second out-of-sync.
As you can guess from the title, the theme of the demo is
electricity, and Inquisition manages to follow it through the entire
demo: from the start, where a laser beam burns a lightning logo in a
rock, till the end in a (nuclear?) reactor. There are some upgrades of
popular effects, like the twisting voxel pillar, which radiates light
now, or the tunnel lit by a discoball, which now morphs between a square
and a circular tube. IMHO, that last effect would have looked much
better if you could also have seen the rays shining, but we can't have
it all :) There are some good transitions between effects, such as the
hexagons that (as in Zilog/Sunflower) cover the previous scene,
revealing a raytraced picture. Then, for a short time, a light shines
through the hexagon grid using radial blur. Nice idea.
Beside the raytraced picture of a robot in a laboratorium, there are
a lot of impressive logos and slogans, mostly in blurred or
light-emitting fonts. This style fits with the theme, and also minimizes
the aliasing effects of a 320*200 mode. A girl-type picture is presented
with the slogan: "electricity is sexy". The software 3D engine is not
very advanced, it doesn't seem to use mipmapping for example. The
greeting part suffer from this, I can hardly read certain groupnames.
The scenes are not very complex either, there's a hand with lasers at
the fingertips, a doom-style reactor, a bunch of flares flying through a
tunnel,...
The main tune is a typical funky demotune using drums and synths. It
contains also some soundeffects such as the laser beam, that help to set
the mood, and also to synchronize. The endtune is a simple melody with a
few synthesizer sounds, repetitive but very nice.
Overall:
The small txt file warns that this is a "VERY unfinished party
version", but I think it's quite good already: great design, nice music,
some original effects. Things that could be improved are the
autodetection of the soundsystem :), the timing of the last 3D sequence,
adding mipmapping. Also, using compressed images instead of raw rgb
dumps could easily halve the demos size.
--Seven
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Intro Watch
Intros by Fresh! and Freestyle
By: Gekko
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-=- Single by Fresh! -=-
3rd in the 64k intro compo at Conference 7007 (Hungary)
Requirements:
Windows, OpenGL, 3d card, sound card
Download:
ftp://thot.banki.hu/incoming/conference/64k/03/frs!sngl.zip
This is a recent Hungarian intro I love so much. This style is great.
But you have to be in the right mood to be able to enjoy it. I think
that this is why it did not won. The winner (Accelerator by Dilemma) is
also a very good intro, but that one is easier to digest...
A poem (Everything But The Girl song lyrics) is shown. It is about
the feelings after a broken-up relation. The music is a calm, gloomy IDM
tune by Just. The intro uses very few colors and all of them are
misty-cloudy. This reflects the mood of the poem just perfectly. Remage
made a lot of minimalist effects. All are flat shaded, they are in a
white fog. I try to list a few of them. There are planes and tunnels
made up of little six-sided objects. These are very very spectacular as
they get out of the fog. The most complex effect is a blob. It has two
surfaces; there are positive and negative blobs (spheres and a torus).
Oh and maybe it's not evident, this is not only complex but also looks
fine. There is a Fresh logo by Immortal Rat. It is only a simple square
with a pattern, but it looks fine and it fits in the intro well. In fact
it was made at the party place, because the intro was much less than
64k, and Remage could not fill the rest with anything else but graphics.
This intro reminds me to 96 by Damage (demo at Mekka 2000). That one
is also about love and sadness, and some effects are also similar.
Remage actually have not seen that demo before the party. Anyway, both
of them are great and this intro is not a rip-off at all. If you think
you like this gloomy/minimalist style, go download.
-=- Stoerfall Ost by Freestyle -=-
winner 4k intro at Dialogos 2000, Germany
Requirements:
Windows, OpenGL, 3d card, sound card
Download:
ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/parties/dialogos00/4k/
The credits:
muhmax - code
yamato - code
vudu - sound code
mindflower - music
Dialogos is a small party, but this year it brought a very good 4k:
Stoerfall. It was even called the best 4k intro ever at the Orange Juice
forum.
Stoerfall has music, this is in itself a big deal in 4k. It is a fine
little IDM tune. What we can see is a 3d flight in a small factory. It
shows a working machinery with an assembly line and moving robot arms.
The objects are flat-shaded with a good choice of colors.
Watching it again you'll notice that the whole intro is very simple.
What it has is music and one 3d scene (completely made up of cubes and
tubes). There are no textures, no graphics, not a single letter of text.
I think that it's okay; the guys wanted to squeeze as much as possible
into 4k, they had to make compromises. The result is quite impressive.
--Gekko
--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
Editorial
Timing
By: Coplan
----=--=------=--=------=--=--
Time, as we all know, is the greatest natural resource. I don't have
enough of it, nor does anyone else. To make matters worse, we have to
throw in such human requirements as Sleep. Don't get me wrong, I like
sleep. But I definately don't like being required to do it.
So what the hell am I talking about? What does time have to do with
the Computer Based Demoscene and Music Scene? This is where I shout
out loud: "WAKE UP!!!" When you're talking about a demo, timing is
everything. Things need to happen in a certain way, and at a certain
moment, in order to be aesthetically pleasing. The same holds true for
music. I'm going to focus on the music -- because if I start talking
about demos, people will laugh at me. I'm no expert about demos.
Music is all about time. Percussion? Timing. Bass Riffs? Timing
plus pitch (and some effects). Lead instruments? Yep! There too.
All musicians should know this, but there are a few out there that have
surprised me: There is an underlying force in music that dictates the
timing of every instrument in the song. This force is called Tempo
(again, sorry for those of you who know this already). If you don't
obey this force -- you're wasteing your time, as well as everyone
else's. There are people in the world who naturally don't understand
this concept, and it shows when they try to dance. Unfortunately, some
of these people actually try to write music as well. If you are one of
these unfortunates, perhaps the use of a metronome might help. But what
about with tracking? The use of a metronome in tracking is very
difficult to pull off. For one, you typically don't track on the fly
like one might play a piano. But, most trackers (Impulse Tracker, Fast
Tracker, ModPlug too) have a built in metronome. You'll notice that
every fourth, or every 6th line (it changes, or it can be changed) is
highlighted a different color. This is your metronome. The beauty of
this metronome is that it is accurate independant of the tempo, which
you set elsewhere. If the patterns scroll by faster...so do the
highlighted lines. When you've mastered the use of this (most likely,
you already have), then you can get funky and stray from this regimented
system.
I point this obvious detail out, this month, because I have
downloaded a few songs that don't follow the tempo. The bass drum is
the one instrument that everyone seems to get correct. But for some
people, it ends there. A few minor rules about tempo:
You CAN change tempo -- In a song, you can change the tempo. When
you do so, make sure you change at a down-beat. Typically, one
doesn't need to change the tempo of a song, but you can do it.
One or Two tempos -- When you write your song, if you change tempo
too often, the song will sound very choppy. Traditionally, artists
never changed Tempo. Even Mozart maintained a constant tempo as he
varied his movements. Just because the song appears slower, doesn't
mean the tempo has changed.
Tempo See, Tempo Do -- If you don't understand the concept of Tempo,
and you aren't working with it, I garuntee that your music will come
out like crap. This is the one rule of music that you can't break.
As I said earlier, Tempo is the underlying force to every song -- and
it will show through regardless of what you layer on top.
Some Down, Some Up -- General rule of thumb: What must go up, must
go down. This isn't just a rule of gravity anymore. If you have a
percussion instrument that likes to play on the up-beat, make sure it
also plays on the down beat, at least most of the time. This doesn't
necessarily apply to melodic instruments, as popular forms of music
(like Ska and Raege) are known for their instruments playing on the
up beat. But, what is up if nothing is down?
Beats Me -- Yes, this is redundant, but it is very important: If you
don't control yourself, Tempo will. If you work with it nicely, it
won't ruin your song.
I know this is a bit more instructional than my typical editorial.
But it is something that seriously bugs me. Many people write music
tempo-bound -- that is to say that didn't follow any guidelines when
working with their tempo. It is something that takes practice, if you
aren't a natural, and something that you need to always be conscious of.
Time is always of essance with music. Don't forget that.
--Coplan
--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
Scene Sense
Chiptunes & You
By: PsiTron
----=--=------=--=------=--=--
This month, I decided to do something a bit different. I already had
an article written to clarify my views of the scene, but thought that I
ought not beat the horse TO death, just maybe NEAR death. So, for
something a little different that many should have seen comming:
Chiptunes And You.
<Busts Out Mr. Narrator>
The chiptune, it seems, has often been overlooked or at least
ridiculed as being old and, well, gross in today's DemoScene. Especially
for some of the `newbies' who may be too young [in the scene] to realize
the history and magic behind chiptunes. But some still respect this
important characteristic of the DemoScene. After all, the only place
chiptunes can be found in the commercial world is the GameBoy. And alas,
the GameBoy's days are numbered. And so, it seems, are the chiptunes; at
least for the average Joe. But while mere game enthusiasts turn their
back on chiptunes, the DemoScene is ready for the soon to be orphaned
songs of generated waveform pleasure. Why, might an anti-chiptunist
inquire: "Do people still listen to this crap?" Well, my poor mislead
friend, for many reasons:
They are nostalgic - they bring back the days of vector gaming, the
TG16 (PsiTron's favorite console system - although the NES follows suit
to the definition of a chiptune to a much better degree); and let's not
forget the SID chip. Yes, the SID chip: A mysterious chip that seemed to
have come from <big echoing voice> OUTER SPACE! Complete with filtering,
the SID chip served many C64 users with a wopping 3 channels of
mathematically generated signals of pleasure, and 1 for samples. Of
course, at the time of the C64 there were few alternatives with
exception to what is now known as chiptunes. Nonetheless, many still
listen to the songs created for use with the SID (Sound Interface Device
for those that are unaware) because the damn thing was so advanced and
unique for it's time. The biggest reason may be that the developer (Bob
Yannes, who also was the co-founder of Ensoniq) was a musician himself.
Nonetheless, whether or not one likes the SID and chiptunes in general,
few can dispute that, for many, it brings back the old days of 8-bit
gaming.
Chiptunes also seem to have their own styles and genres. Many contain
some of the most complex and interesting leads on this side of Venus.
And yet others are mellow and almost ambient, a style associated with
the pure sine tune (commonly used in chip compos because they require
one to find new methods never before thought of - a good practice for
any musician).
Which lends light to the most important aspect of chiptunes: they are
challenging. Whether an avid chip-composer uses 2 or 32 channels of
music, they have to make everything fit together in a way that does not
explode the listener's cranium into many small projectiles. Not only
injuring the listener, but others around him. And yet while doing so
they must present some sort of sounds that create music, and not just
music, but good music.
Many make the absolute most of the tracker. Almost requiring at least
the use of volume slides, and usually vibrato. Chiptune composers, at
least ones actively practicing the art, are constantly in search of
better methods to make those simple generated waves that we know and
love sound better and better. And, thus, in doing so not only do those
who surf the sinewaves make better chiptunes, but they also have a
better understanding of how to use the tracker to it's highest
potential. I believe that this concept has evaded many composers, both
new and old. Whether you enjoy mp3's, Impulse Tracker, or even ModEdit
:), it is all about knowing the limits and knowing to break them, and
then (if you are a pure tracker), bask in your 1337ness :). After all,
in order for most any musician to become successful, chiptune lover or
not, finding new and different ways of doing things is the key.
Chiptunes seem to dramatize this idea. For, unlike a mod without effects
(which will simply sound flat and dull), chiptunes generally sound
rather nasty without some innovation thrown in. Back in the day when
waveform-generation was all one had, composers HAD to be innovative.
Otherwise the game or demo would be dull and boring to play.
If you do not believe me, simply go download chiptune from a
reputable artist (for links see the tail end of this article). Having
done so, open your favorite tracker and, after listening to the song,
run through the samples. Having done that, if you still have your
hearing (for pure chips can be interestingly irritating if played at
high enough octaves), visit a few patterns and see just what kind of
effects are being used; more importantly, how the artist uses them. You
should find that it is much more than just merely throwing a bunch of
hand drawn and generated samples into a tracker.
Of course, we mustn't forget the most 'sensual' meaning to a few
chiptunes. So, if you have a really nice sub-woofer, crank out a lovely
little sinewave, throw the woofer face up under the bed and enjoy!
Having said this, I encourage each and every one to listen to
chiptunes Listen to them loud, listen to them proud. But remember, save
your ears, and your mind, and make sure you practice safe chiptune
listening. Always screen your chiptunes first, making sure there is not
a cruel composer who wishes to plan a sine at B-9 :) Doing so will not
only make you happy, but will make your neighbors and friends happy
too!
And maybe someday even you can start making your own chiptunes, and
with practice maybe make chiptunes that are as good as some of the
chiptunes by: Radix, Beek, Skaven, Wave, Martin Galway and many others.
And if you would like to hear some chiptunes of your own, why not make a
stop by http://www.hornet.org. Or for some sites purely related to
chiptunes: http://www.chiptune.com http://www.chiptunes.org, and
http://www.chiptune.de. And there are a multitude of other sites, from
SID to IT (and there are even a few MP3s floating around - imagine!). Of
course, if you enjoyed the sounds of the Commodore 64, why not check out
http://stud4.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426444/ - a site which provides a good
amount of links to SID music databases and new hardware alternatives for
the SID chip (such as Hard-SID and SidStation). They also have links to
SID emulators if you are as broke as I am :)
Yes, chiptunes and you, with the massive power of today's computers,
such as the Athlon, what the hell else would you do? I mean, damn,
what's the point of having a super-fast computer if it can't waste it on
4 channel chips!
<Puts Narrator back in his little box>
So there you have it - for those of you who do not like chiptunes,
well, you probably still do not like them. But perhaps a few of you now
know where to find a style that is as close to the DemoScene as one can
get. Or you have a better understand of why effects are important in
tracked music. Or maybe not, but oh well, it was fun to write, and I
hope it was as equally fun to read.
--PsiTron
(Feel free to flame, I am interested in feedback)
--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
Scene Dirt
News & Rumors
By: Coplan
----=--=------=--=------=--=--
-=- Orange Juice's New Look -=-
If you havn't been to Orange Juice since they unveiled their new
look, you might want to check them out. The interface changed
severely, but it's still the same old information center.
http://www.ojuice.org
-=- 3D Contest for 3D Prophet II -=-
Bjorn's 3D World, Hercules and NVIDIA are sponsering a demo
competition of sorts to show off their GeForce chip. The contest has
started, but it doesn't end until January 19, 2001. Visit the page for
more info.
http://www.bjorn3d.com
-=- New Synthesis Party Web Site -=-
The official Synthesis Party has moved to their new web site. A new
design, and more information available.
http://www.synthesis-party.net
--Coplan
Scene Dirt is a semi-regular column offering the latest tidbits of
information to its readers. If you have any bits of information that
you think should be here, contact coplan (coplan.ic@rcn.com) and offer
as much information as possible.
--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
Link List
----=--=------=--=------=--=--
Many thanks to Gekko for updating our link list. It was a much task,
and I'm glad that he was able to take the time to do this for us. In
the future, we might not include the links in our magazine. We'll
probably have them avaiable from our SceneSpot web site. But, for now,
they will remain.
And now, for the new link list...
--Coplan
Portals:
Orange Juice.............................http://www.ojuice.net
Scene.org.................................http://www.scene.org
SceneSpot.............................http://www.scenespot.org
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
Hungarian Scene........................http://www.scene-hu.com
Italian Scene...........................http://run.to/la_scena
Norvegian Scene............http://www.neutralzone.org/scene.no
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.nl.scene.org
Scene.org Netherlands...................ftp://ftp.au.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
Calodox.................................http://www.calodox.org
Cocoon..............................http://cocoon.planet-d.net
Confine.................................http://www.confine.org
Damage...................................http://come.to/damage
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
Freestylers..........................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://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
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
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.ca.tc
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
Five Musicians.........................http://www.fm.scene.org
Fridge...........................http://www.ssmedion.de/fridge
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
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://tdr.scene.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
Planet Chartmag............http://www.agravedict.art.pl/planet
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
Total Disaster...................http://www.totaldisaster.w.pl
TUHB.......................................http://www.tuhb.org
WildMag...........................http://www.wildmag.notrix.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
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
Columnists: Coplan / D. Travis North / coplan@scenespot.org
Dilvish / Eric Hamilton / dilvie@yahoo.com
Gekko / Gergely Kutenich / mont@tar.hu
Louis Gorenfeld / gorenfeld@vrone.net
Psitron / Tim Soderstrom / TigerHawk@stic.net
Setec / Jesper Pederson / jesped@post.tele.dk
Seven / Stefaan / Stefaan.VanNieuwenhuyze@rug.ac.be
SiN / Ian Haskin / sin@netcom.ca
Subliminal / Matt Friedly / sub@plazma.net
Tryhuk / Tryhuk Vojtech / xtryhu00@stud.fee.vutbr.cz
Virt / virt@bellsouth.net
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---=------=--=------=--=--