Preview
(These articles all appeared in TraxWeekly issue 6, April 20 1995 -
I edited the IOR interview a bit to make it more coherent. -Phoenix)
-[ x. The Demo-Party, NAID ]-----------------------------------------------
Writer: Populus
I thought about writing my first article actually. I never thought of
myself as someone that has anything to say (maybe true), but heck! I got
a newsletter! I went to NAID (North American International Demofest).
I went by my own means: I drove to Montreal. I invited my friend The
Specialist on the ride. I also brought Blue Angel Dream (hey the trunk
is pretty big!). After packing up we hit the road and drove off to NAID.
I finally arrived at the party place.
There, I wanted to meet most of the people who I knew were coming. I
recognized Mosaic (from his mugshot ;) and went to say hello. CCCatch was
there and he almost hugged me ;). I remember this cuz they were the first
people I met over there. I caught up with our ascii maker, White Wizard,
and met all the local guys. I met in general most of the people I wanted
to. Zapper, Snowman, Necros, Basehead, Mosaic, CCCatch, Maelcum, Diablo,
Mental Floss x 2, Dragunov, Laserlore and others. I must have forgotten
someone, but hey, I'm human. Then, after doing all the handshakes, I handed
my tune to the guy on the console. I know I did more than that, but I
really don't remember. The music compo started and I was really
dissapointed with the sound system. Every tune sounded simply bad. And it
was long, there were 72 tunes or so. I left after like 30 ;).
The Specialist heard the intro deadline was extended to midnight, so he
join with Razmaid (a local demo group) to complete a boschted up intro.
He worked with them for 3 hours, and they worked for 6 hours in all. They
finished 3rd place ;). Not bad at all.
Meanwhile, I watch Dragunov work with the TraxWeekly Web Home Page. It's
great BTW. I hatched up on #trax also to check out my friends who didn't
make it over there also to say hello.
After The Specialist finished his intensive work with the other coders,
we dragged Dragunov (funny expression) to the car and drove to Draggy's
appartement. I was funny how Drag had a way with piles. Everything was a
pile. He needs a metal detector to find his keys ;). Also, Drag's brother
broke his bed and was really mad ;). We went to a closet and got a
matrisse. We could deduct after removing the large mass that Drag's
collection of empty beer bottles was hidden ;). We installed it on the floor
and The Specialist immediatly reserve the thing (grrr). I won a night with
Drag's sofa! It was okay, but I forgot a my cervical column on it. But,
I don't blame Drag. He's in the army, and they are thought to sleep on
rocks ;). Fear Dragunov.
I got up (The next day!) and realized that we overslept and could be late
to see our sucky intro. So I woke up everybody and they rush to my car. I
did a bit of speeding, or some would say : a normal montrealer's driving.
We got there on time. We watched the intro and were ashamed (keep in mind
we didn't know our standing then).
I did stuff, but I really don't remember. But, I know I watched the demo
compo which was very impressive. I didn't know we could do demos on this
side of the ocean, I was wrong. Then after lot's of waiting, the final
ceremonies arrived.
The NAID people talked to everybody. I really respect them. This kind of
party is pretty hard to have. And it was probably hard to convince the
school it was a good idea. Then they introduced Snow (Christopher G Mann)
to all so he could do his speech. He talked about being proud of what
we accomplished in North America by competing here at NAID. He was right.
We are good enough to take on the world.
They began to tell the results. They told everybody that since there was
few people who listened to all the songs, they took away the public voting.
So they was a forth place who had a prize like the others. Mosaic of
Renaissance was called as forth place. He looks like a pretty mean guy. But,
I talked to him before and he's great. Then, Basehead was called up for 3rd
place. He looks kinda goofy and sleepy (maybe the ride to montreal), but
he's also a great dude. Second place was taken by Maelcum of Kosmic.
Everybody was surprised with this for the good reason of Maelcum's music is
destined to a minority. He doesn't do popular songs, and his song was 2nd.
I was very happy for Maelcum who never got real musical recognition. First
place was givin to Necros. Some were surprised, since his song sounded
really shitty on site. It seemed very ordinary and typical of him. I learned
that I was wrong by relistening it at home. To all I congradulate for their
extra effort which was rewarded.
I was really tired after that. I was time to leave. I picked up Dragunov
and The Specialist to drive Drag to his appartement in Montreal. TS and me
drove back to NAID to pick up Blue Angel Dream, White Wizard and Kermit.
I stopped at Tim Horton's for WW who wanted to eat. He shared the donuts
with us, but kept one all the way back home to Quebec. The three new
passengers sat in the back of the car. It was wild, we were all tired as
hell, and kept doing bad jokes. I had fun, but Kermit and WW still owe me
gas money ;).
That's it, I guess. As you could see, I don't have a great ability for
remembering things. I got the essential, that's the important part.
- Populus
populus@llc.org
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-[ 2. Social Tendencies of PC Musicians ]----------------------------------
Written by: GraveDigger gd@ftp.cdrom.com
With help from: Phoenix vossa@rpi.edu
White Wizard wwizard@biko.llc.org
Being at NAID, the three of us observed several unique and characteristic
tendencies of those who compose music on a PC. We would like to share our
interpretation of these events with the TraxWeekly readers.
First, you could find just about everything you'd need to know about
composer's culture by hanging out in the Kosmic/Renaissance room for 10
minutes. You might witness people stumbling in the door, drunk out of their
mind, and passing out on the floor in front of you. You might see a well-known
composer sitting at Scream Tracker, loading "ST3.SET" into the instrument list.
You might see C.C.Catch arranging a row of desks and falling asleep on top of
them.
Ms. Saigon was the only one who had a cot in the room, and Basehead took
no fear to the pink sheets and pillowcase, and claimed the spot for a short
time until the bed's owner returned. Soon after, a pillow fight emerged,
involving Necros, Basehead, and Ms. Saigon. (Who won? They may all tell a
different side to that. =)
Then, you could stroll out into the hallway and go to the park-bench
setting. You will find a few people lying on the benches, getting some sleep
away from the noise of the late-night Kosmic folks who happen to be blasting
their music. Among these park-bench'ers you will find Daredevil, who is quite
upset at the fact that Kosmic people were up late playing music, preventing
him from getting any sleep.
Walking down the hall towards the main party room, you will walk past
various people; walking, running, or crawling in all directions. You will
pass the "high-tech" payphones that have a neat text scroller "en francais."
And there you are, at the main party spot.
You will see CPU's and keyboards on the tables in the side room, with
musicians storming around the keyboards to produce lovely sounds, or in some
cases, thunderous percussive rhythms. Musicians are seen tracking and editing
music, and playing it for others.
And all throughout the weekend, musicians are seen eating the food
provided (read: sold) by Subway, drinking high-caffeine beverages, and getting
a sugar fix to last them "just a little while longer."
The composers seemed to be a neat bunch, in living and in composing. Aside
from throwing away their garbage after eating, their carefully-placed notes
on multiple channels of an S3M or MTM show their strive for excellence. All
notes must be lined up, and fall at the correct place. And collectively, a
certain kind of magic tells these notes to express the emotions of its creator;
to re-live a moment in time that has since passed.
These are the people you see on IRC. In real life, most of them actually
seem quite normal. They dress normal, talk normal, and act normal. Really, you
ask? NO, NOT REALLY! :) Ok, enough of the Tostitos commercial. These people
are all pretty much down-to earth. And it's the actual event of meeting these
people that allows one to see what it means to be different but still normal.
Nobody there was on a high cloud, nobody seemed like a crazed maniac. Well,
ok, maybe Maelcum did seem to lose it at times. :)
The crowd was very mature yet very fun-loving. This should assure everyone
that it should be fairly easy to find a place to hold NAID 1996, assuming that
it does become a reality. There will be no memos sent out saying "Those demo
people were awful! Make sure they do not come back!"
Over fifty composers contributed music to the competition, and the
organizers decided that none would be left out. This meant six and a half hours
of music. Unfortunately, by the last song, the only people left were those at
the console and the judges. But, it's only fair to let people do as they
choose.
A great weekend has passed, and history has been made. Some great music
was written and released as a result of this event. At the end of it all, the
winners were announced and they were well received by the audience. And though
it might have seemed a bit predictible, you can talk to _all four_ of the
winners on IRC. :)
So dial up your Unix system, log on, check your mail, and hop on IRC.
And there is where you can witness the social tendencies of PC musicians for
the time being, for NAID 1996 is at least a year away.
--
(do not reply to this email address, reply to above-mentioned only.
thanks =)
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-[ 3. NAID: From a distance ]----------------------------------------------
Writer: GraveDigger
Well, here we all are, back home again. Sitting behind our computers.
Experiencing the aftershock of NAID. For those who went, it was a truly great
experience. For those who could not make it, they will soon see the NAID
report (or reports) which will hopefully capture a small piece of the event
which will let them see and feel what it was like. And they will download the
entries in the compos to see all of the fine talent that was present this
weekend in Montreal.
Hunderds, if not thousands of pictures were taken by various people and
several hours of video were shot. This also includes the TV coverage that
was present for most of the two-day event.
Several things were completed on-site as well; demos completed, songs
finished, intros fine-tuned, and graphics beautified. "Pisstro" started out as
just a routine of the man urinating, and was soon accompanied by music and
completed in time for the intro compo. Three musicians, two of who were Necros
and Basehead, wrote a tune in the back of the Kosmic room. The Surrounders
locked themselves in their room in order to complete their compo contributions.
People played their musical instruments. Floss had brought his bass
guitar, and there definately was not a shortage of synths. There was also live
music at various times during the weekend, including "Public Enema," a
funk/jazz band.
People slept in classrooms on hard floors, they ate Subway food, drank
high-caffeine beverages, consumed alcohol, took Advil to cure their hangovers,
and repeated the process the next day.
What an event! It was amazing. For me, meeting everyone that I have known
for however long I've known them was a rewarding experience. Matching faces
and personalities with names is a very significant and solidifying thing for
this scene. I do hope that this party has influenced others as it has me, to
further get involved with the scene, to stay in contact with everyone, and to
hopefully attend an equally enjoyable event next year.
I would like to also admit that I did not shower all weekend, and I really
hope I did not offend anyone as a result of this. :)
The North American demo scene has so much talent, as we were able to
all witness this past weekend, and I hope to see more and more fine productions
from the many participants in the compos.
I would like to also tell anyone who was in the Kosmic room this weekend
that I found a gold-plated phono plug adapter in the room on Monday morning.
If it is yours, please email me with your address and I will mail it to you.
.. GraveDigger .. Hornet .. gd@ftp.cdrom.com ..
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-[ The NAID Music Compo: Opinion Interviews ] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Here are a few opinions on the North American International Democompetiton's
Music Competition: Island of Reil, who attended, and Mosaic, who placed 4th
with his song 'Tears.'
Interviewer . Psibelius [TraxWeekly Columnist] . gwie@coyote.csusm.edu
Interviewee . Island of Reil [Epinicion] . jroth@coyote.csusm.edu
Interviewee . Mosaic [Renaissance] . cccatch@escape.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
<psibelius> Okay, please start by teling our studio audience your name, age,
groups, personal, info, naid status, etc...
<ior> Okay... I'm Jesse Rothenberg, AKA Island of Reil, or ior on IRC.
I'm 16 years young, I'm in Epinicion.
<psibelius> eeyore? That related to winnie the pooh in any way?
<ior> No... That's "eye-oh-are."
<psibelius> personal info, naid status?
<ior> Hmmm... I went to NAID... A lot of people saw me there....
It was fun, although I didn't go for the party.
<psibelius> Bet they noticed you needed a haircut eh? =)
<ior> ahahahaha... Well... Actually, most people didn't mind... It seemed to
me that nearly everyone there needed a haircut as much or more than I
did. :)
<psibelius> Okay, spew the info about naid will ya?
<ior> What exactly would you like to know about NAID? There is a lot to
tell... Organization, Compos, People there...
<psibelius> Well, why don't you tell us about the oh-so-popular scene
peoples. And what they really look like outside of IRC. =)
<ior> hahahaha... Okay. There were a lot of American scene people there,
which is the reason I went. Let's see: Necros, CCCatch, Mosaic,
Snowman, Basehead, Maelcum, DareDevil...BTW, that was in no particular
order. :)
<psibelius> Who made the biggest impression on you?
<ior> The biggest impression... Hmmm... That's a tough one. A lot of people
there completely amazed me, not at all like I expected, but then
again, a lot of people looked like I thought they would... But the
biggest impression came from someone that was different.
<psibelius> who?
<ior> I guess... I would have to say... Necros.
<psibelius> why?
<ior> When he was called for the first place music compo award... (oh... and
he didn't like his song too much) ... he accepted, it, and then gave a
little speech to the audience.
<psibelius> "little speech?"
<ior> Don't get me wrong... Not a speech like "Thank you so much, you like
me, you really like me!"... No... Nothing like that. It was actually
a very good thing to say, especially from someone who is as popular as
he is...
<psibelius> So what did he actually say?
<ior> It seemed heartfelt ... the basic idea that it carried was that he
respected all the people that competed, becuase they actually DID
compete. No matter if their song was good or bad, they went up there,
and had the guts to submit it, and then even have it listened to by
the entire audience! But I don't think anyone expected him to say
that... Which is why it made such an impression (and not just on me :)
<psibelius> okay, the usual stuff then. =) Did anything neat or unusual
happen you'd like to share with our studio audience? =)
<ior> Neat or unusual. Well... The entire party was a little unusual. There
were some strange things to pass the time away, like an "American
Gladiators contest.
<psibelius> AHAHAHAHAHA.
<ior> Needless to say, I didn't go. I don't go to a demoparty to go swimming.
<psibelius> Any computers get tossed into the olympic sized pool?
<ior> hahahaha... No... I don't think so... IT was a long walk from where the
computers were. :)
<ior> The entire music compo was a bit strange.
<psibelius> A bit long?
<ior> The fact that they actually played all 65 songs (or however many there
were) ... ugh...
<psibelius> Was it that bad? Did a lot of the entries suck or something?
<ior> Sitting there for 7 and a half hours listening to tracked music...
Can get a little ... uhhh ... repetitive. :) There were a lot of
Spartacus (Basehead) rips ... With the drum solo at the end ...
Except they were nowhere near as good as Spartacus. A lot of
attempted Purple Motion (still) ... and even more techno...
<psibelius> So basically, a lot of the competiton music was unoriginal?
<ior> Yes. I quote Mosaic (Renaissnace), who won 4th place in the music
compo: "I can't believe they squashed me between 2 techno toons!"
Mosaic's song was very good... And different. IT did stand out from
the lot.
<psibelius> Kind sucks eh? Mosaic's tune rocks...as I've heard. =)
<ior> Yeah... Another amazing thing was that CCCatch actually tracked a song
for the competition! The Sloth Tracker himself! (No offense, Ken! =)
<psibelius> "The Sloth Tracker." Is this Kenny's new nick or what? =)
<ior> hahaha... Well... Just a little something that seems appropriate. :)
But, then again, I think he tracks a little more than I do... soooooo
<psibelius> Yes, well, I understand tracking one song every six months is
kinda slow. =)
<ior> Bah. Go away. I track more than that. I did a whole 5 last year. :)
That brings me to another complaint. They actually announced who
tracked the song during the compo. Bad move.
<psibelius> So you think it came out to be a popularity contest?
<ior> Yes. It was a popularity contest. "And the next song is by Necros"
<Room erupts in cheering from the crowd> organizee organizers had
played each without announcing the composer's name?
<psibelius> Do you still think the top 4 would still be the top 4 if the
organizers had played each without announcing the composer's
name?
<ior> Yes. The actual placement didn't have to do with the votes by the
audience. But it was a mistake anyway. But the way they announced
CCCatch's song was funny. :)
"And the next song is Modern Society, by Kenny Choo (that's how they
pronounced it)" ... <Silence in room> <Hurried whispers between me,
Basehead, Mosaic, CCCatch, and Necros "That's Kenny CHOU!" Then
someone told the organizers..."Oh, wait! That's Modern Society by
C.C.Catch!!!!" <Audience cheers wildly again>. It was strange...
<psibelius> So you think some of the unknown people that wrote good songs may
have been discouraged?
<ior> Yes. Definitely. People did cheer for the good songs when they were
over... But considering that some songs were cheered for before they
even started...
<psibelius> Last question: Do you think the organization at NAID was better
than that at assembly'94?
<ior> No. Far from it. The people at Assembly '94 knew what they were
doing. They had experience. In a way, you can't blame the organizers
of NAID, becuase it IS their first time...But there were a lot of
people there that had experince they could have asked. There were
about 3 or 4 people that had gone to Assembly '94 (me being one of
them) that they could have asked... And there were even people that
had been STAFF at Asm '94...There were also 1 or 2 people that had
gone to The Party 4. And one of the people that went to TP4, and one
of the people that went to Asm '94 were supposed to be NAID staff...
But weren't. :-/
<psibelius> Well, thanks for your time....do you have any greets or anything
you'd like to say? Like hi to your mom, your cat, or
someone/something?
<ior> Final Comment: More is more. Less is less. More is better. Twice as
much is good too. Too much is not enough, unless it's just right.
<psibelius> that's it?
<ior> And for greets? Hmmm... I don't really want to greet anyone, becuase
then I'll leave people out... But I just want to thank Epeius for
letting me stay at his place before NAID, and all the people that have
given me the chance to show that just because you start small, doesn't
mean that you aren't good at something or another. And that's about it. :)
<psibelius> ohh, epinicion philosophy here. =)
<ior> ahahaha.. you noticed. :) <Shameless plug> :)
<psibelius> okay, well, thanks for the interview...now pHEAR mE and get outta
here. =)
<ior> hahaha... Nah. You're the one to be doing the phearing around here. :)
And thank YOU for the interview. :)
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And now, we skip to a brief chat with Mosaic of Renaissance.
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<Psibelius> What is your opinion of the music compo?
<Mosaic> Hmmmmmmm. I felt the compo was cool, except that i don't think the
names of the authors should be released. A tune should be judged
on the technical (effort it takes to make it) and how it sounds to
the public...its hard enough to compete against the best, without
being stereotyped before even starting.
<Psibelius> Like people cheering before the songs even started?
<Mosaic> Yeah.. like a standing ovation before the song even started. =)
That does not RULE. =) I did however like the judges and the way
they handled things, and not falling into that category of general
demo music, but also choosing originality.
<Psibelius> Did you enjoy the music compo?
<Mosaic> Yes, the music compo was cool, except that I had like a hangover
from the day before, when me and Necros went out drinking, had like
11 shots and 5-7 pitchers of 32 ounce beer. =) I was actually just
hoping to hear CC's tune, since he was the only one left after a
while, cuz my head was pounding so bad...
<Psibelius> So I heard. =) Did ior come with you guys? And you guys didn't
let a 16 year old kid get blasted did you? =)
<Mosaic> ahaha nope...just me and necros. =) And this guy ALEX actually,
but he didn't drink much. =) NAID was so tiring...and I had to
sleep on the ground...and CC slept on 3 desks put together. =)
Imagine his back now. =)
<Psibelius> You guys didn't bring sleeping bags or anything?
- [We are briefly interrupted]- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
<rcramer> No Amtracker, No Mosaic song, No Maelcum song, No Kenny Song.
Man, F--- DAT! I"M OUTTA HERE!
-Ryan Cramer [Renaissance]
- [We resume] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
<Mosaic> But the damn canadian hotels...sh--...$75 for holiday inn and you
have to check out by 12:00p.m. no matter what time you checked in.
That blows my NAIDS.
<Psibelius> Can I quote you on that? =)
<Mosaic> sure. =) "THAT BLOWS MY NAIDS."
<Psibelius> Aahhaah...
<Mosaic> NAID RULES. EXCEPT, I WISH THE CHECK WAS ACTUALLY $100 IN THE U.S.
=)