			     .
  founded march 12, 1995   _| :            _____  t r a x w e e k l y  # 8 8
	   ______________ |___|  _ _______/    /\___________________________
	 /  ____________/ /\__\ _ _______/____/_____________________________
	/  /  _________   \/__/    ______\    \_____________________________
       /  /  /          `_  .  .~         \____\/                 _  __ ___
      /  /  /     _____   . _ \                                __ ___ _/__/\
     /  /  /     /    /\ _        The Music Scene Newsletter     __  __\__\/
   _/__/  / ____/    /__\_________________________________  _____      ___ _
  /    /\/ /___     __________  _   ______   _     ___    \/    /\    /    /
 /____/  \ \  /    /\     /      __/\   /         /\  \    \   /  \  /____/
 /  / \  /  \/    /_ \___/___/     \ \_/___/     /  \_/       /   /  \ ___\
   /  /_/   /______/\/   \  /______/\/ \  /_____/   //   \    \  /    /  / \
  /  /      \      \ \    \_\      \ \  \_\     \  //____/\____\/    /  /  /
 /  /        \______\/       \______\/     \_____\/ \    \ \    \   /  /  /
   /                                                 \____\/\____\ /  /  /
  /  _____     _____     _____     _____     _____     _____      /  /  /
 /__/ w  /\___/    /\___/ e  /\___/    /\__ / l  /\___/    /\____/  /  /
 __/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/________/  /
 __\    \____\  e \____\    \____\  k \ ___\    \____\  y \__________/
    \____\/   \____\/   \____\/   \____\/   \____\/   \____\/WW

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  | TraxWeekly Issue #88 | Release date: 14 Feb 1997 | Subscribers: 997 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


/-[Introduction]------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------/

  Welcome to TraxWeekly #88.  We're almost at 1000 subscribers!

  Again, my apologies for the break in TraxWeekly releases.  I've been
 plagued with the usual midterms and heavy loads of work.  Thank goodness
 there's only a few more months of school left (here in the northern
 hemisphere anyway =).

  I am looking for an assistant editor for TraxWeekly.  Before anyone
 asks: this job is almost thankless, produces no income, and generally
 isn't a riot to have.  You get to write introductions, make decisions on
 what to print or what not to print, and get friendly emails from me all
 the time. =)  I'm really looking for someone in high school or out of
 school who has the time to compile the whole issue wednesday and thursday
 evenings...all I can offer is a hearty thanks and your name plastered all
 over every issue. =)  Email me below.

  And of course we aren't dead.  Check out some of the excellent music
 and tracking articles this issue, and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly
 surprised.  A few large (and very good articles) sent to me aren't printed
 this week because I haven't the time to format them (yet).  Bibby,
 Behemoth, and others: next week, I hope. =)

  Happy Valentines Day, to each and every one of you.  Somewhere, out there,
 someone is thinking of you.

  Until next week!

						    Gene Wie (Psibelius)
						    TraxWeekly Publishing
						    gwie@csusm.edu


/-[Contents]----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------/

 ________  _________________________________________________________________
 /  ____/_/       __/    \  __/         /  _____/    \  __/      __/   ___/_
<   \____\    \   \\      \ \\____   __/   __/_\      \ \\____   \_____  \__
 \        \    \   \\   \    \ww\     \\       \\   \    \  \     \       \_
 _\________\________\\___\____\  \_____\\_______\\___\____\  \_____\_______\

  Letters and Feedback

     1. Letter from Snowman

  General Articles

     2. Music Theory: A Modern Approach...............The Modsquad
     3. Tracker Boringness............................Der Walfisch
     4. Lameness?.....................................Ming
     5. Why Stop at Your Computer?....................Coplan

  Closing

     Distribution
     Subscription/Contribution Information
     TraxWeekly Staff Sheet


/-[Letters and Feedback]----------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------/


--[1. Letter from Snowman]--------------------------------------------------

 From r3cgm@cdrom.comThu Jan 30 21:10:27 1997
 Date: Fri, 31 Jan 97 07:06 SAT
 From: Christopher G Mann <r3cgm@cdrom.com>
 To: gwie@mailhost2.csusm.edu

 First let me congratulate you on an exceptional issue of TraxWeekly.  The
 Throbber mail, Shaithis's response, your editorial, all excellent.

 :
 :   Oh, major congrats to the DN reviewing staff.  For those of you who
 :  subscribe to DemoNews, more detailed comments are starting to appear
 :  with the standard "*" reviews, thanks to Phoenix.
 : 

 In the SDD data format we use on the Hornet Archive, there is a "description"
 field available for all files.  When the format was first created, this was
 to be used primarily for files in /code (where descriptions would prove
 invaluable... not that they wouldn't elsewhere, but it seemed particularly
 useful with /code).

 So Kneebiter goes and reviews a whole buch of /code, making excellent use of
 descriptions.  I sat down a week or two later with a directory full of music
 disks to review.  It was then that I realized it wasn't really that time
 consuming to jot down a few notes here and there for music.

 Now GD had written this nifty little proggy called SDD Edit a while back.
 It took the task of entering error-prone reviewer data and made data entry
 reliable and fun (as working with SDDs should be).  However, at the time GD
 wrote the program his knowledge of dynamic memory management was still a bit
 ripe and so reviewer-entered descriptions could only be 40 characters long.
 This wasn't a big deal since we were only using the descriptions for /code.
 Kneebiter can write flawless raw SDDs without the use of SDD Edit.

 People actually took notice and the response was good.  So we realized
 just how nifty descriptions could be and I asked GD for an SDD Edit rewrite.
 A rewrite that would eliminate the 40 character limitation.  He's doing this
 now.  Soon the power of SDD descriptions will be in the hands of music
 reviewers, where I am confident they will wield them with style and maturity.

 We are now going to be using descriptions more often on the Hornet Archive.

 Christopher G. Mann - r3cgm@hornet.org

  (ftp|www).cdrom.com - Webmaster & Technical Support, Walnut Creek CDROM
  (ftp|www).hornet.org/pub/demos - Hornet Archive Maintainer

----------------------------------------------------------------------------


/-[General Articles]--------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------/


--[2. Music Theory: A Modern Approach]----------------------[The ModSquad]--

                      Music Theory: A Modern Approach
                  To Perfecting An Old Art, and Learning
                How To Better Yourself, and What You Track.
                                   by
                    Finrez, Radio Shock, Neon Hunter

                           modsquad@juno.com

 This is the second article in our second theory series. We don't know how
 long series will be, but our quick outline of topics that need to be
 covered shows a length of perhaps 6 parts. This installment, we will
 cover Mexican 909 and Accordion, Musical Scales, Musical DNA, MIDI
 Interfaces, Juggling Raves, What makes Wave and Necros good, and Drums.

         vvv- groove                                v v vvv - more groove
        -=-=---=--=-=------[ MY ORTHODONTIST ]------=-=---=-------

  "Yeah, yeah, I'm licking your balls."
                          _CB4_
                      --Cell Block 4

        I realized, that since my orthodontists office is in
 mexico, he always plays mexican music.. actually, it is like mexican
 dance music.. I always notice the 9O9 drum beets playing in the
 backackbackground (groove). I can really hear those CCO CCO CCO
 hihat loops when hes using machinery and I can only hear trebbly sounds
 (you know, that famous techno hihat riff?).. but the FUNNY THING IS,
 when you're hearing some lady singing something like, "yo soy yodando
 por ti" or something, and then, it'll get maybe 40 bpm faster, and
 it'll turn bright.. but then it hits.
        an accordian solo. the accordian solo is playing, it actually
  sounds cool.. but the best thing is, the 9O9 beet starts playing
  along with it! now can you beleive this?.. they also do the same
  thing with those famous trumpet/tuba solos! you know, with all of that
  "gumbah" music or whatever its called, that those gangstahs always
  play? its just like that.. but its a techno version.
        next time you track a tune, think about this. think about songs
  like remixes of "children" by robert miles.. a piano/guitar riff with
  freakin breakbeat loops in it! this sounds rad! why should the mexicans
  do it? they do! it rocks! now next time you track somethign like this,
  do a cover of firestarter, except take the chords and the vocals..
  ("i'm a firestarter.. if you want fire, goto hell. theres plenty there.")
  and then add some kickass drumloops.. remember these steps when doing
  so:

                        1) try it.
                        2) apply it.
                        3) test it.
                        4) up it (cdrom.com)

 go ahead, make some 16 disk all-mixto (mixto being the mix of whatever
 with techno) music pack, and upload it to cdrom.com.. that'll give those
 damned hornet raters (i think the only one is jtown), something
 to groove to. write some groovy funk shit!! groove to shitty funk!


              --------------[ MUSICAL DNA ]----------------

     "Would you like to study Philosophy?"
                        _SAD_BUT_NEW_
                        --The Orb

 One day a few years ago in a biology class I saw a tv show where there was
 a band that played notes signifying a strand of DNA. There was a piano,
 with four notes, one for Acetate, one for Guatelamaline, one for Caline,
 and one for Theremine. Or whatever the four molecules were. Anyways,
 the piano would play four notes, then the strings would play a chord
 that was told by the different notes.

 Who could've imagined it?

 Well, I know I can tell now! But you could even come up with your own
 techniques, just like these people did.

 Heres what I would do though:

 Get a sample of your own DNA and take it to a lab. When they give you
 back your trillions of DNA strands in ACGT strings, you will have enough
 material to make an original song every time! And it will be completely
 unique! Only you have your DNA!

 So take A make it A, C make it C, and G make it G, and T maybe D# or
 something. Then once you've made four notes, put them all together and
 make a chord. Once you've played four chords, put all THOSE together.

 Heres an example:

 DNA STRAND: ACGTGATCGATGTGCTGATGTTCGCTCGTAGTCCGTAGCTCGTAGCTG

 Notes:
 Piano ACGT GATC GATG TGCT GATG TTCG CTCG TAGT CCGT AGCT CGTA GCTG
           A    G    G    T    G    T    C    T    C    A    C    G
 String    C    A    A    G    A    T    T    A    C    G    G    C
  notes    G    T    T    C    T    C    C    G    G    C    T    T
           T    C    G    T    G    G    G    T    T    T    A    G
                           AG                  GG                  CC
  Brass                    CA                  AT                  CT
   chords                  GT                  TC                  GA
                           TC                  GG                  TG
                           GT                  TA                  AC
                           AG                  TG                  GT

 that's actually a clip from my DNA and a tune I tracked based on it. I
 know it doesn't seem to follow the style of lead progressions, but take
 a closer look:
 
         ACGTGATCGATGTGCTGATGTTCGCTCGTAGTCCGTAGCTCGTAGCTG
        A*    *   *       *           *      *      *
 piano  C *     *      *       * * *     **    * *    *
        G  * *   *  * *  *  *   *   *  *   *  *   *  *  *
        T   *  *   * *  *  * **   *  *  *   *   *  *   * 

 string A    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
        C    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
        G    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
        T    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

 The pattern of asterisks is obvious. For every one of the below ones there
 is at least one in the previous four in the top chart.

 So you can get music from your genes. Who knew?

              -------------[ MIDI INTERFACES ]--------------

     "Would you like to study Technology?"
                        _SAD_BUT_NEW_
                        --William Orbit

 Everyone knows that you can compose any sort of music in a tracker, but
 don't you think that if you could plug your keyboard into a tracker it
 would be easy to make masterpieces, especially if you could play the
 piano. Of course, to play the piano takes years of practice. And then
 you can track so much better!

 To make the connection between your midi keyboard and tracker program
 takes massive skillz, so its best left to a guru. If you have a guru
 nearby, got to him. Otherwise, I am working on a patch to where I can
 patch your midi cable directly into the soundcard and it works with
 Modedit.

 Its something like this:
 1. Get the midi port
 2. Read from the midi port
 3. Translate the number you get into a note
 4. Put that note in the keyboard buffer as if you typed it.
 5. Repeat step 2

 Then the tracker will think you typed the note when you really played it.

 Anyways, once you have it in, try the following:

 Press the "tracking" key on your tracker and set up a bunch of blank
 orders. Now press the "record" button and play the keyboard. Guess what:
 the notes show up in the tracker! Isn't that the coolest thing you ever
 saw? I know it has revolutionized my tracking style. It can do the same
 for you.

              ----[ SCALES, BUT WHERE'S THE DRAGON? ]------

     "WELL!?? YOU BASTERD TELL ME OR I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"
                        _SAD_BUT_NEW_
                           --Orbit

 c5-f5-g#5-a#5-c6-f6-g#6-a#6 - C Fucked Minor Scale (not majorly fucked)
 d5-e5-f#5-g#5-c6-a6-f#6-g#6 - C Fucked Major Scale (damn this is fucked)
 c5-f5-g#5-c#5-f6-g6-c#7-f#7 - D Grace Major Scale
 c5-d5-e5-g5-g#5-f#6-c#7-e#7 - E Blues scale

    -------[ WAVE AND NECROS.. WAT MAKES THEM GOOD? ]---------

     "Technology or Philosophy?!? Pick one, God Damn you!"
                        _SAD_BUT_NEW_
                        --Roy Orbison


        first off, I'll have you know that I dont expect my views to
 match those of everyone else out there, so, dont mail us with flames
 :).. I think that necros and wave are both kickass musicwriters,
 and I doubt my opinions will ever change :)

        I'm sure all, if not, many of you have wondered about wave,
 and necros. what differenciates the two? why are they sooo good?..
 i'd have to say.. groove, and emotion.

        if you ever listen to a wave tune, you wanna jump up and down
 and dance and shout and whistle, hollar, groove, and run, and skip
 and wank, err.. well.. you get the point. he writes damn groovy tunes!

        then again, you listen to a necros tune,and you remember shit
 like when you were 5, swining on the schools swingset, and riding
 a carosel at some rip-off, socialist driven, commy-pig run park, but
 that doesnt matter. its emotional shit (most of the time).. so,
 how can you do it?.. you probably cant, so dont try.

        anyways, I personally dont think that the two are better than
 each other, but, they're just on the opposite sides of the spectrum,
 wave isnt cheeze, its just so good you wish you could call your music
 "wave cheeze", but, you cant, and necros isnt experimental bullshit,
 its good stuff.

             -------------[ JUGGLING RAVES ]-----------------

 "Oh I like to juggle juggle juggle juggle I like to juggle all day."
                   _HIGHER_STATE_OF_UNCONCIOUSNESS_
                                     --Josh Wank  

 Its the newest rage in the techno seen.

 Juggling raves.

 The years go by and new forms come and go, but it looks like this one is
 staying. Ever go to a rave and see people juggling oranges instead of
 dancing?

 Thats the new thing. People like to juggle to techno.

 Its easy to learn; a hell of a lot easier than dancing. Just take some
 fruit out of your drawer. Don't trust yourself to be able to juggle
 knives or glass balls right from the start.

 Now throw them all up in the air. Let them drop to the ground. This is so
 you can learn to deal with failure. Try it again and again. Resist the
 temptation to grab them. This is to build self control.

 Now throw them all up in the air and catch them! Got it! Cool! If not,
 you've got a lot of work ahead of you.

 Ok, try throwing one.

 Now two.

 Now three. Can you catch three?

 Cool, now you can go on to knives! Try it out!

 And go to all the juggling raves you can find!

              ---------------[ DRUMS ]-------------------

 "Bing bang boom bosh te tshhhh."
                     _Second_Best_Drum_Loop_
                      --Neon Hunter

 I was thinking about the groove interactivity chapter and now I realize
 that it needs more. Like more about drums. Heres how you can do cool
 drums:

 First lets look at the three classic drumbeats:

 1. BHHHSHHHBHHHSHHSBHHHSHBHHHBHSHHSBHHHSHHHBHHHSHHSBHHHSHBHHHBHSSSS

 2. BHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRHBHRH

 3. BHHHSHBSBSBHSHSSBHHHSHBSBSBHSHHHBHHHSHBSBSBHSHSSBHHHSHBSBSBHSHSS

 With the Bs being bassdrums, S being snaredrums, the H being hihats,
 R being ridecymbals

 Of course, it sounds stupid all in one channel, so lets spread them out:

 1. B       B       B     B   B     B       B       B     B   B     
     HHH HHH HHH HH  HHH H HHH H HH  HHH HHH HHH HH  HHH H HHH H
        S       S  S    S       S  S    S       S  S    S       SSSS 

 2. B   B   B   B   B   B   B   B   B   B   B   B   B   B   B   B   
     H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H
      R   R   R   R   R   R   R   R   R   R   R   R   R   R   R   R

 3. B     B B B     B     B B B     B     B B B     B     B B B     
     HHH H     H H   HHH H     H HHH HHH H     H H   HHH H     H H
        S  S S  S SS    S  S S  S       S  S S  S SS    S  S S  S SS

 Now knowing the scene these days, they'll never let you get away with
 these beats, so you have to change them around in sneaky ways to use them
 but they are still some of the best beats around.

 Try different things. Experiment. Reverse them, change the hihat to
 a crash cymbal or something. Swap the bass and snare. Mix in bits
 of other beats to add spice. Your song will thank you for it.

                       ------------------------------

 That was the second installment of our second music theory series of
 articles. If you want to contact us, our email address is at the top
 and bottom of the file.

       Love,
           Finrez,
           Radio Shock,
           and Neon Hunter
          modsquad@juno.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------


--[3. Trackers Boringness or DO NOT COPY !!]----------------[Der Walfisch]--
 
 Hi, I'm a tuner about 4 years and I read traxweekly as I get it.
 One interesting point on the whole tracking world to me is the so-called
 "lack of professionality" by the tracks or the tuners, maybe of the
 compositioning, maybe of the hardware they're using, maybe of the samples,
 whether ripped or not, maybe of the style they're playing....seems like
 there is always a reason why tracking is not professional. I think the 
 main reason for this is the lack of reasons for using tracked music.
 The very best tracked music in my ears is just demo music, because it
 was made for filling a function : make a demo sound. Mostly the demos are
 as good as their soundtrack. If the demo is weird, the sound is weird too.
 And not to compare with anything out of the demo world. If the sound is 
 better than the demo - just sounding like direct cd output - it becomes
 suspicious. Every good jazz band becomes boring if they're trying to play
 techno. Every rapping MC which is too near at the original is boring too.
 Listen to Warren G's "Regulator" - thats boring! Listen to Ice Cube's
 "When will they shoot?" - thats c00L !! Ice Cube is a creator, and every
 tracker may better realize himself as a creator too. Quality will come
 over time. Here's my opinion on
 
 -what a tracker is:
 
 What can you do if you can't play any instrument and think you will never
 learn one? Because you're finger-lame or the only instrument you could 
 play is the one you DONT WANT to play ? This is the main reason why I'm
 a tracker, because I always wanted to play ANY instrument, I always wanted 
 to compose or maybe to sing, but playing is a very physical thing, and I 
 never got much luck in learning such things. I've heard a lot of music, 
 and I always did imagine if I could play ANY instrument, what would I do?
 That was what I did when I first got my fingers on a tracker. Once after
 making my very first tunes, I felt big respect to any musician existing, 
 because I saw the work behind and now I also could think their way .
 On my opinion, a tracker is something additional to musicians and DJ's.
 He's both but nothing of both. Like a good DJ catches sounds and mix it to
 something own special, a tracker catches samples and does something 
 totally new.
 If he wants to! Unfortunately some tuners specializes theirselves in doing
 
 -"realistic" tunes
 
 which I found mostly BORING! I may except f.e.Necros, because he's not only
 a good musician but also a good composer - which is NOT the same. Tracked
 music is always a little bit more weak than the original. Making realistic 
 tunes is like german rap music - mostly it sucks! German rappers may have
 their fans, maybe they're not that much bad, but they're nothing compared
 to any bad westcoast rapper ! On the other side, no black rapper can  
 look that c00L that Kraftwerk looks like ! Kraftwerk did what the most
 german musicians did not - making their own music which is best on them !
 Have you ever heard german swing?? If not, then you're a very lucky 
 guy indeed!! Every "realistic" tune is a little bit like german swing,
 every jazz-tune is off course not "tracked jazz" but tracked pseudo-jazz. 
 I gonna have respect to the work of those tuners, but they may ask 
 theirselves if this is worth it! Plagiatism is not very c00L....
 By the way, talking about plagiatism: Self-plagiatism is what I mostly
 need to critizise on
 
 - music discs
 
 but I still may except Necros. His "Progression" music disc was not only
 perfect sound, also every tune got a different sound! Mostly music discs
 features collected modules of the composer, who mostly got his "style",
 which means mostly the same samples or the same song principe or the
 same song theme in every tune is used. These trackers may be damn c00L,
 but only on one tune, which concept will be repeated ten times. Maybe
 I'm the only one who think this is boring, dontcare how good the tracker
 is. But if you're unable to do a fast, a slow, an intensive and a loose
 tune on one music disc, you're unable to do a music disc anyway. Big
 Respects to everyone who did a music disc that way (I haven't heard that 
 much good music discs yet...)
  
 Maybe the most specialized "realistic" veteran tuners may not agree with
 me and will continue doing their stuff, which is ok. Maybe these c00L
 stylish tuners may never try to leave their style - what for?? But every
 beginning tuner may think about that ! Every song becomes boring with
 the time ! All 3 points have one message: DONT TRY TO COPY !!
 
 Every agrees and disagrees please send to me...
 
 Der Walfisch / E.S.C. (Der_Walfisch@outside.in-berlin.de)
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


--[4. Why Stop At Your Computer?]---------------------------------[Coplan]--

 	If you are any bit like myself, and many other participants in the
 demoscene, you are addicted to tracked music.  In fact, as I write this 
 article, I have "Dirt" by Khyron playing in the background.  Whenever I
 have a chance, I like to listen to as much tracked music as I can.  Don't
 get me wrong, I still listen to my favorite Tori Amos and Edwin Collins
 albums.  But I often find myself sitting at my computer staring deep into
 the pattern data scrolling across my screen.  Unfortunately, my computer
 is a desktop model, and I can't take it with me everywhere I go.  Besides,
 I would imagine it would be rude if I were to pull out my laptop and start
 playing "Dust to Dust" (Leviathan) during a lecture.  So what do I do?  I
 record them. 
 	If you are thinking right now "what good will a WAV file do if you 
 still don't have your computer with you," then you are too deeply involved 
 in the computer age.  I mean record the songs onto a simple audio cassette, 
 a matter of a few bucks in price.  For some people, recording your songs 
 may be more difficult than for others.  I personally have my computer 
 hooked directly into my stereo system.  So recording my tracked music
 collection onto audio cassettes wasn't a difficult task.  However, many
 people don't have this type of setup.  I would be willing to bet that more
 people don't have their computer hooked into their stereo system.  But
 don't give up!  You are a bright person (you learned tracking didn't
 you?).  I am sure you can figure out an easy way to connect your soundcard
 to your stereo system.  Even if you connect it to a box radio with tape
 deck.  I personally used a head-phone extension cord* and a Y-cable
 (splitter cable) with RCA input plugs.  I plugged the RCA input into my
 TV/VCR** input on my stereo.  Guess what?  That's it.  Nothing fancy, and
 it only cost me a total of $12.00 (US).
	Now that you have your soundcard hooked up to your stereo, start 
 recording.  It's really as simple as pressing the record button on your 
 stereo (with a fresh blank tape of course), and playing a song.  Each 
 stereo system is different, but most often, you will have to switch to
 the option you plugged your computer into to record from it (this should
 be obvious to most people).  Before you go off and start recording, I have
 one recommendation.  Try to use the tracking program that the song was
 tracked in whenever possible.  This will assure you that you are recording
 the song in the quality that the tracker intended. 
	So, now you have your audio tapes of your collection, or at least 
 your favorite songs.  What do you do with the tapes?  If you haven't 
 thought of a million uses yet, I can give you a few ideas.  Listen to
 them in the car on your way to work or school.  Take a walk-man with you
 and listen to it as you do your routine, whatever it may be.  I personally
 like to study to it when I am at school.  One benefit of tracked music
 that I have found is that it typically does not have lyrics.  So, there's
 nothing to sing along to, and in turn, nothing to distract me from my
 studying.  I have even gotten a few people interested in tracking by
 playing my tapes for them.  One friend of mine wrote several songs for his
 girlfriend and recorded them onto audio cassettes because she doesn't have
 a computer (unfortunately, people like that do still exist!!!).  There are
 probably zillions more uses that I haven't come across yet.
	At first, I wasn't going to write this article.  I thought that 
 everyone did this, or at least something similar.  But upon talking to some 
 fellow tracking friends of mine, I discovered that they hadn't even thought 
 of this.  So, I figured that there must be a handful of people out there 
 that also haven't thought of this.  It's a great art form, don't let it
 sit on your computer.  Take it with you. 

 TIPS (as starred appropriately above):
 *   - If you want stereo sound on your audio cassette, make sure you have a 
     stereo cable.  The easiest way to check this is to look at the 
     jack.  If it has one rubber band around it, it's a mono cable.  If 
     it has two, that's a stereo cable.
 ** - Some stereo systems have two sets of inputs.  If you have one marked 
     PHONO or PHONOGRAPH, avoid it if at all possible.  It is set up for a 
     record player.  Often that set of inputs doesn't have as high a quality 
     of sound as something like the TV/VCR inputs.


 Comments, ideas...e-mail me.

 Coplan
 coplan@thunder.ocis.temple.edu

----------------------------------------------------------------------------


--[5. "Whaddaya mean Lame? Noone is lame?"]-------------------------[Ming]--
 
 by MING / DiSC, Scrape, WMR

 Email: mattias.inghe@mailbox.swipnet.se

 --Reply to Era4s "An Outsider's Outlook Into The Demoscene" in TW#86-- 

  As the outsider to The Scene I until recently (about a year ago) was, I
 have to protest against the narrownindness reflected in the article. What
 is described is not the scene I have come to know and love, this wonderful
 meltingpot of styles, ideas and influences. Instead, someone says "This is
 how it should or not should sound. Those styles thou should not work with,
 only because what you make is tracked modules, and not commercial."

  It4s like saying to a dude with a pen: "Thou MUST write poems, thou SHALL
 NOT write anything else." Pretty naive, eh?

 >        It's when you try to compose something original and it winds up
 >sounding like the usual commercial breakbeat (and worse still, everyone
 >you play it for notices), that massive rejection from real-worlders comes
 >into play (unless you acknowledge it to be a cover track).

  Funny, the only rejection from the so called real-life listeners I4ve
 recieved so far have been reactions to songs that have been simply bad,
 period. Regardless of style, commercial or underground (Ooh, I hate to
 cathegorize this way, music is music, and nothing else.) good, enjoyable
 songs are equally appretiated.

 >Now, when a
 >musician simply emulates the style of another tracker, then that clearly
 >demostrates a lack of originality and creativity on their part. Lame! :-/

  If a composer wants to do music in a certain style, is he really worth
 the title Lamer just because he don4t invent his own genre or style?
 Composing is as all other cultural activities a creative artform, and noone
 can direct another artists influences or style. If a song is made in a
 style resembling another composer I frankly don4t give a damn. I listen to
 the musical qualities, and not to the coolness factor.

 >The whole point to listening to tracked music (in my opinion)
 >is mainly to get away from the crap we hear on the radio, in concerts, and
 >on tapes/CDs. If one truly wanted to hear commercial, mainstream,
 >real-world music, wouldn't they just stick to the traditional medium of
 >radio/TV or tapes/CDs?

  The one thing that fascinated me most with the scene was the attitude that
 nothing was wrong, everything was accepted. FM-rock, hilbillie-country or
 underground, as long as you4re openmided and not commited to elitism. Why
 would mainstream music not fit in the scene4s structure? As I said, what-
 ever label you put on the music you hear, it is still music. The tracking
 scene of today is a great marketplace(?) where all kinds of music can be
 released, discussed and listened to without prejudice.  

 >Composing is a process and sampling is part of that process.

  Correction: Composing and Sampling are both parts of the process called
 Tracking. Composing CAN be done with a pen and a notesheet too, you know.

 >The idea I am conveying here is REALISM. With
 >16-bit sample capabilities of IT and FT2 and the CD-Audio ripping utils
 >out there, maybe trackers can achieve greater realism in their music and
 >we can hear cover songs that sound less artificial, less synthesized in
 >the future.
 
  Amen. The quality of a tracked tune (if conducted with skill) could
 nowadays be fully compareable with any syntesized music on disc. Let4s
 just hope that pepole understands that they posess powerful (and cheep :)
 tools for making professional music, and not just something to make bleepy
 demo tunes with. (Nothing wrong with that tough. It4s still music. :D)

 >        It's things like seeing repetitive music (STOP REUSING THE EXACT
 >SAME PATTERN 4 OR MORE TIMES!!! ARGH!!!) that define my pet peeve...
 >please don't drag out a song any longer than it needs to be. The length of
 >a demo, pic, or song is simply measured by the imagination of its creator.

  Again, that is what is called artistic freedom. If the effect the creator
 of a tune wishes to achieve is repetition, I4d say he is free to reuse as
 many pattern he want. But then maybe noone likes the tune, but that4s
 another story. Then we4re into success and popularity , an often tedious
 subject, which could end up with the statement that Mainsteam Is Better,
 Because It4s More Popular. And who agrees with that? At least not I. :)

  And what is the lenght of a pic? ;) 

 >The Hornet Team, despite
 >criticism for its lack of objectivity in ratings (hey, they're only
 >human!) are doing the demoscene a great service but I feel that they could
 >improve their objectivity if their ratings were more detailed.
 
  Or if they skipped the ratings. I have heard glorious * songs and totally
 crap rated up to ****. But this have geen debated back and forth so much
 that I guess there is nothing more to say. So I won4t.

  Anyway, I4ve said what I wanted to say here, that this stupid labeling
 into Mainstream and Underground, this talk about the lameness of copying
 styles and lameness or nonlameness of certain composing methods is just
 plain bullshit. Noone is lame, except those who claims that other are.
 (Did that line make ME lame then? :D) Keep doing whatever music you want
 to and don4t let the norm police catch you.
 
  Unfortunately, the scene have somewhat turned rigid lately because of
 exactly this. Some pepole, quite a few, with great influence over the lot
 have become so obsessed with this Underground thing that the movement have
 been suffering. Less openminded pepole, growing elitism and a general fear
 of being uncool is IMO the biggest threat of this thing we call the Scene.

  Anyway, I4m not gonna hang out any names here, but if what I just said
 pisses you off, you4re probably one of them. ]>8*D=

  Now I4m done yodeling. :) I4d appretiate feedback and continued public
 debate on this, since I really think it4s important.

 hugz
   MING

----------------------------------------------------------------------------


/-[Closing]-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------/

 TraxWeekly is available via FTP from:
 ftp.cdrom.com /demos/incoming/info (new issues)
 ftp.cdrom.com /demos/info/traxweek/1995/ (back issues)
               /demos/info/traxweek/1996/ (back issues)
               /demos/info/traxweek/1997/ (back issues)

 TraxWeekly W3 is under development by Pinion (pinion@netcom.com)

 To subscribe, send mail to:      listserver@unseen.aztec.co.za
 and put in the message body:     subscribe trax-weekly [name] (NOT address)
 To unsubscribe, mail same and:   unsubscribe trax-weekly (in message body)

 Contributions for TraxWeekly must be formatted for *76* columns,
 must have a space preceding each line, and have some measure of
 journalistic value.  Please try to avoid the use of high ascii
 characters, profanity, and above all: use your common sense.

 Contributions should be mailed as plain ascii text or filemailed
 to: gwie@csusm.edu before 11:00pm PST (North America) every Wednesday.

 TraxWeekly is usually released over the listserver and ftp.cdrom.com
 every Thursday or Friday at 10:00am PST (North America).

 TraxWeekly does not discriminate based on age, gender, race, political
 or religious statures and standpoints.

 The staff can be reached at the following:

 Editor:   Psibelius (Gene Wie)..............gwie@csusm.edu
 Staff:    Atlantic (Barry Freeman)..........atlantic@arcos.org
           Benjamin Krause...................orogork@cs.tu-berlin.de
           Fred (Fred Fredricks).............fred@paracom.com
           Kal Zakath (John Townsend)........jtownsen@sescva.esc.edu
           Kleitus (Seth Katzman)............katzms@rpi.edu
           Mage (Glen Dwayne Warner).........gdwarner@vinson.navy.mil
                                             gdwarner@ricochet.net

 Graphic Contributors:
           Cruel Creator . Stezotehic . Squidgalator2 . White Wizard

 TraxWeekly is a HORNET affiliation.
 Copyright (c)1995,1996,1997 - TraxWeekly Publishing, All Rights Reserved.


/-[END]---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------/
                                         ::
                                          :::                  :
     . ..... ..............................:::.................:....
                                            :::                :
                                            ::::               :
        .::::.      .:::::.:::.     ..::::  ::::               :
       ::    ::    :::  .::  ::    ::     WW::::               :
       ::.   ::   :::  .::  ::   .::        ::::               :
        :::.::.  :::  .:: .::  .:::::...   :: :::..      ... ..: ...
 ..::::::::::::::::  .:: .:::::::   ::::::::    ::::::.. ::: ::: :::
                                                               :
                                              until next week! =)
           ..  ... .. ....... ............... .................:..... .. .
                                                               :

