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_\\__T_A_T_I_C___L_I_N_E_____________________________________ November, 2000
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\\//__ Monthly Scene E-Zine ________________________________ 175 Subscribers
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  Table Of Contents
----=--=------=--=------=--=--
     Opening:
           Message From the Editor
           Letters From Our Readers
     Features:
        Building a Digital Orchestra -- Introduction
        Subtractive Synthesis -- The Basics
        The Root -- Jason Chong (Jase)
     Columns:
        Music:
           The Listener -- Music from Various Artist
           Retro Tunage -- Subsonica by various
        Demo:
           Screen Lit Vertigo -- Persistent by Wipe & Ukonx (final version)
           Intro Watch -- Fuzzion
        General:
           Editorial -- Welcome the New Scene!
           Scene Dirt -- News & Rumors
           Link List -- Get Somewhere in the Scene
        Closing:
           Credits

--=--=--
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  Message From the Editor
----=--=------=--=------=--=--
     Wow, this is an exciting issue.  I'm sure you will agree.

     The Root is back with its next writer.  This month, Jase (Jason
  Chong) guest writes and tells us about his scene experience.  Dilvish
  is back with his next mini-series.  He will, over the next few months,
  fill us in on some details about making realistic orchestral music.
  Setec is also back with an article about Subtractive Synthesis, just
  for all of you who wish to develop their own samples.

     Some minor notes about regular columns.  As I have had problems with
  my keyboard this month, this whole issue was thrown together today.  I
  haven't had the time to do a song review this month.  Psitron was also
  unable to send in an article this month, but he will be back next time.
  Don't worry, the e-mail from Dilvish didn't scare him away.

     Until Next month.

                --Coplan


--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
  Letters From Our Readers
----=--=------=--=------=--=--

  -=- Letter from Eino Keskitalo -=-

     Shattered Skye had pretty much the something I look for in music;
  thanks for bringing it to my knowledge! And heaven thank Seven for ever
  getting better. <cough>

     Okay. See you,

                --Eino Keskitalo


  -=- Letter from Dilvish -=-

     I'd like to respond to PsiTron's first article.  It didn't bore me,
  and it got a response, so he must be doing something right.  I think his
  confusion is due only to his limited perspective, though.  I would
  officially like to offer myself up for public persecution by stating
  that I absolutely believe 100% in MP3 music in the demoscene.  I also
  believe at making money at it.  Here's why:

     I don't know about the rest of you, but I have always been a musician
  first.  Art always comes before technique.  Period.  Sometimes part of
  the art is to take on challenging mediums - such as the chiptune, that
  he loved to mention.  In those cases, that is great.  More power to you.
  I don't think there's a true scener alive that doesn't appreciate the
  power of a well tracked chip tune.  When I think, "oh my god, that's
  only 4 channels!" or "all those killer sounds are the same sample!?" I
  am very impressed.

     I think what he's failed to consider though, is that trackers are not
  all coders - and even those of us who do both are not primarily
  concerned with optimizing for sample size, or staying within strict
  channel limitations.  We are concerned primarily about making high
  quality music, and using whatever tools we have at our disposal to do
  it.  The tracker has been an old, and dear friend to me for about 11
  years now, but I must admit, my copy of Impulse Tracker is beginning to
  show it's age.  I can't apply a correct sounding reverb to anything, or
  EQ my channels, or apply DSP effects.  Instruments are great, and
  impulse tracker has many advanced sampler options available, but, no
  matter how hard I try, it will not load my gigabyte Yamaha C7 grand
  piano multi-sample for my classical solo, I can't modulate filter
  settings with an LFO, and I can't set different samples up to respond to
  different velocities.  Oh, and I can't record my live techno
  performances in impulse tracker, either.

     Should I be expelled from the scene, simply because my tracker has
  become "part" of my toolset, rather than the whole toolchest?  It
  startled me the other day to hear a total newbie spouting this
  holier-than-thou, "oldskool rulez" attitude.  I was tracking when he was
  5 years old, and he thinks he can tell me that I'm a traitor to "the
  scene", because yes, I track and release MP3's.  I like to mixdown my
  tracks on the 32 bit, 24 channel hardware mixer I spent my hard-earned
  money on, and get a truly professional sound for work that has to
  measure up to professional standards.  Should I be stomped on for making
  my living at what I have devoted my life to since I was very young?

     I sell my music, too, and make a profit.  I've even done commissioned
  work.  With all this bad publicity about traxinspace pulling in a little
  money for their hard work, I have to wonder - do you, the
  holier-than-thou kids who want to tell us how to release our music,
  whether or not we have a right to pay our rent with it, or anything else
  about how we should run our lives - do you want to grow up and shampoo
  carpets to pay your rent when you could be tracking instead?  When it
  comes time for you to make that choice - do what you love to survive, or
  merely survive - what choice will you make?  I don't regret mine for a
  moment.

     In short, if you have a problem with MP3's - don't release them.  If
  you don't think it's right to make money from art - keep it a hobby.
  Don't try to tell us we're doing something wrong if we don't agree.
  Chances are, you'll just get laughed at, cause these attitudes are
  cliche, passe, and altogether washed out - remember that when you're
  pushing that floor buffer.

                --Dilvish


  -=- Letter from Noise Music's George Marinov -=-

     We at noisemusic reduced our staff to 5 musicians - shawnm, androo
  (stote), t.wilton (astradyne), esem (stereoman) and mikael altemark. we
  are currently doing some group reorganisation too.

     In the meantime you might want to check the following urls

  www.mp3.com/newobjectives (our mp3.com mirror)
  www.mp3.com/future-eater   (unreleased cuts by stote)
  www.mp3.com/stereoman (rare & unreleased cuts by esem)

     Andreas saag and pinku vaaty have been signed and therefore their
  releases are taken out tobias wilton is soon to be signed to groovetech,
  esem is a forthcomming defocus artist and also will be releasing music
  for merck. while trying to keep up at our previous pace we experience
  server difficulties and other problems. we are still doing everything
  possible to bring you quality intelligent electronic music.

                --George Marinov (esem) of Noise Music


--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
  Building a Digital Orchestra
     Introduction
  By:  Dilvish
----=--=------=--=------=--=--

     About a year ago, the editor of Static Line mentioned to me that it
  would be nice to have a series of articles describing the process of
  simulating a real orchestra electronically.  Since then, I have been
  researching related topics off and on.  This series is the result.  I
  quickly found that I had been very naive on the subject.  It's aspects
  span the full breadth of music theory, orchestration, instrumentation,
  wave physics, and digital signal processing.  Much of the information
  contained here will be applicable to many other areas of music
  production, and perhaps even your fundamental view of the world around
  you.

     This series may include interviews on the subject with working
  composers, as well as a catalogue of technical subjects ranging from
  mathematics and tuning, to conducting and dynamics.

     At the outset of this work, I went around asking people if they thought
  it was possible to simulate the sound of a real orchestra using nothing
  but a computer, and a consumer level soundcard, such as the Sound
  Blaster Live.  Typical responses ranged from "Yeah, right," to "No.
  Performance is an art that can't be programmed."  Considering the
  development of technology in the last twenty years, though, I would have
  to disagree.

     Nearly everyone is familiar with the sounds of General MIDI coming from
  their PC's multimedia speakers.  Most have heard MIDI renderings of
  classical music on them.  It is hard to find anybody though, who would
  say that the quality rivals that of a real orchestra.  For many, the
  "computer music" sound is quickly associated with cheap FM synth horns,
  or sampled crash cymbals that just fizzle.  This doesn't have to be the
  case.  Both technology and our understanding of electronic music have
  come a long way in two decades.

     It is now common to hear high quality electronic orchestra sounds in
  television and movie trailers.  Many movie scores also feature
  electronic orchestral sounds, in addition to real strings.  Several
  popular composers use them to "beef up" real orchestra sounds.  If a
  personal computer were capable of realizing the sound of a real
  orchestra, you could download a 120k notation file and hear the
  professional sound of a real orchestra in your computer room rather than
  endure yet another rendering on the same General MIDI soundset.  Amateur
  and professional composers alike would greatly appreciate having access
  to the sounds of a real orchestra at their fingertips, so that they
  would no longer have to imagine what their music will sound like if it
  were actually played.  Another advantage for a professional musician is
  that they could produce low budget movie and television scores for a
  fraction of the cost of hiring a full orchestra with a recording crew.

     Unfortunately, simulating a real orchestra is not as simple as it may,
  at first, sound.  Modern music synthesis technology takes advantage of a
  process called sampling.  The idea is that you record a single note from
  the real instrument, and then play it back at different pitches.
  Typically, there are only one or two samples to represent the entire
  range and scope of each instrument.  The problem here is that real
  instruments are capable of producing a huge range of sounds.  Louder
  sounds produce an entirely different set of formants than softer sounds
  (typically, the number and amplitude of formants are increased, thus
  changing the over-all timbre of the sound in dramatically noticeable
  ways).  Additionally, playing technique also affects timbre.  Thus, a
  single sample of any given instrument is not sufficient to represent its
  full capabilities.  We know this instinctively, so we perceive it as
  "fake" when we hear it, which is largely responsible for the
  recognizable "computer music" sound.

     The solution to that problem might seem easy enough: simply record a
  sufficient number of samples to represent the full scope of the
  instrument in question.  However, this is not yet a practical solution
  for every situation.  For several years now, professional sampler
  manufacturers have been endlessly expanding the storage capacity of the
  medium on which they store their samples.  Nearly every modern
  professional sampler supports multi-samples, and sound programmers have
  taken good advantage of it.  There now exists a single multi-sample set
  of a Yamaha C7 grand piano that is a full gigabyte in size (see note 1).

     In addition to the problems with sampling, there are many other
  considerations to be made when attempting to simulate a real orchestra.
  Special attention has to be paid to the techniques used for playing each
  particular instrument.  For instance, most of the instruments in an
  orchestra are purely monophonic, meaning that they are incapable of
  sounding more than one note at a time.  In addition, brass instruments
  move between notes with a perceptible portamento effect when notes are
  slurred.  A realistic playback engine must "know" about the parameters
  required to simulate each instrument being played.  In subsequent
  articles, I plan to go into extensive detail on the characteristics of
  each of the common orchestral instruments, including their playing
  techniques, and how they are used in orchestration.

     Another issue to consider is the room.  Any good professional musician
  can tell you that the room is actually part of the instrument that needs
  to be considered in producing a good tone.  A beautifully crafted violin
  can either bring tears of joy to the eyes when played in a great concert
  hall, or tears of agony when played in anechoic chambers.   Reverb is
  the term used to describe the effect of the many echoes that bounce off
  the walls around the room until it eventually fades out.   Bouncing wall
  reflections create a phenomenon known as standing waves.  What this
  means is that the echo waves color the source wave by amplifying it in
  places where the waves correspond, and attenuating it in places where
  the waves are at odds with each other.  This effect can be visualized by
  dropping something in a bathtub, and watching how the waves bounce off
  the sides and interact with each other.

     The room I am currently sitting in has a reverb time of about .6
  seconds, resonates strongly at D#4 (622 hertz) and creates a notable
  resonant peak at about A#4 (approximately 466 hertz).  I determined this
  by clapping my hands and listening. If I was at home with my FFT enabled
  dual channel Impulse Response (IR) analyzer, I could go into much
  greater detail about how this room would affect the sound of an
  instrument.  The main point is that the effect is not subtle.  We are
  simply very accustomed to hearing it every day, and our brain interprets
  it mainly as localization information.  This how you know where a sound
  is coming from when you hear it.

     A good orchestra simulation should paint a mental image of the room that
  the virtual orchestra is playing in.  The positions of each player
  relative to the position of the listener should be taken into account.
  It is possible to create such a simulation with existing signal
  processing technology.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen any reverb plugins
  yet that would allow you enough control to do so.

     As I have demonstrated, there are many parameters that must be
  considered to accurately reproduce the sound of a real orchestra.  The
  human body is a very complex machine, but it is still a system with
  parameters, which follows the same physical laws that a computer
  follows.  Today's computers are capable of analyzing and modeling very
  complex data quickly.  I believe that it is possible to nail down the
  parameters that make orchestral music what it is, and reproduce it
  electronically - but the task is not simple.  Many volumes can be
  written on the subject, whose aspects range from the elementary laws of
  wave physics, to state-of-the-art psychoacoustics, not to mention
  instrumentation and conducting technique, dynamics, and the little
  articulations and "mistakes" that put the feeling in music.  It's all
  just math in the end, and computers are very good at math.


  -=- Notes -=-

  1) When we speak of sample-based instruments, a gigabyte is very
  large.  My entire computer hard drive is capable of storing less than 20
  gigabytes, total.  And that is a lot.  That's about 20 times larger than
  the largest hard drives in 1990.  Typically, single sample sizes range
  from about 600 bytes up to about 5 megabytes.  A gigabyte is
  approximately 200 times larger than that.  Even today, most of the
  currently available hardware samplers are incapable of using a single
  multi-sample that large.  For more information about the GigaPiano and
  other gigabyte instruments, see http://www.nemesysmusic.com/.


  -=- Vocabulary -=-

  Anechoic Chamber
     A room designed to absorb all sound, and produce no reverb.  The
  effect is that if you are not in a direct line of sight with the sound
  source, you cannot hear it at all, since there are no sound reflections
  bouncing off the walls to reach you.  Such a room would add absolutely
  nothing to the sound of a musical instrument, and makes a good
  demonstration of how reverb colors the sounds we hear.

  Cent
     A division of note pitch.  There are 100 cents between each tone in
  the 12 tone equal tempered scale.

  Color
     Color is the over-all quality or timbre of a single wave.  Chords are
  actually transmitted in a single wave that contains the frequency data
  of all of the sound sources, and thus, when spoken about in most music
  theory courses, color is a combination of chord choice, movement, and
  the individual timbre of each sound source.

  Cycle
     A wave travels in a curved line that moves from its center upward to a
  peak, downward to a valley, and then returns to center.  The full path
  is called a cycle.  The speed or frequency of these cycles determines
  pitch.

  Formants
     Resonant frequencies that give a tone (or instrument) its color by
  amplifying specific partials.  Each instrument has its own particular
  set of formants that help define its unique sound.  For an in depth look
  at how formants apply to instrument use, see "Relating Tuning and
  Timbre": http://eceserv0.ece.wisc.edu/~sethares/consemi.htm

  Fundamental
     The lowest frequency of a sound.  It is also the frequency
  that we derive our perception of pitch from.

  Frequency
     The rate at which something occurs.  In music, frequency is measured
  in Beats Per Minute (BPM), cycles per second (hertz), and cents.

  General MIDI
     Roland established the GENERAL MIDI standard in 1992 with the
  introduction of the Roland Sound Canvas series.  The idea was to provide
  a standard set of 128 instrumental sounds from which to choose from.
  Previously, a part written for piano might have played back on a
  different computer with a bassoon sample.  The specification was written
  to ensure that the instrumentation would remain the way the composer
  intended it to sound, no matter what hardware or software the end user
  happened to possess.  General MIDI was adopted very quickly, and has
  revolutionized the way the public sees computer music.

  Golden Section
     A mathematical ratio (phi) represented by an irrational number
  (1.618033989...), found to be a repeating theme in nature, as in the
  formation of the solar system, the galaxies, the spiral shells of
  animals, and, of course, music (in the harmonic series, chord theory,
  structure, and rhythm).  A more detailed explanation can be found here:
  http://evolutionoftruth.com/goldensection/neophite.htm.

  Harmonic Series
     The natural order of partials.  The series may be determined by
  calculating for k=1 to infinity, 1/k.  Close analysis of the nature of
  this series will reveal many patterns that relate to the Golden Section.

  Hertz
     A measurement of the frequency of a wave in cycles per second.

  MIDI
     The Musical Instrument Data Interchange format.  MIDI is an open
  specification established by the music industry in the early 1980's to
  allow musical equipment from different manufacturers to communicate with
  each other.  Part of the MIDI specification includes a file format now
  generally referred to as MIDI files.

  Partials
     Frequencies that are added to the fundamental (perceived pitch) to
  produce color in a tone.  The content of partials for a single vibrating
  object is determined by the series of ratios: 1:1, 2:1, 3:2, 4:3, 5:4,
  and 5:3 respectively in a pattern known as the harmonic series.

  Portamento
     The effect of sliding between one note and the next.

  Sampler
     A musical device that uses and manipulates samples to produce music.

  Sampling
     The process of recording a single note from a real instrument, so
  that it can be played back at different pitches by music software to
  simulate the playing of the real instrument.

  Slurring
     Moving from one note to the next without a break between the notes.

  Timbre
     Tone quality.  Determined by the number and amplitude of the formants
  present.

  Tone
     A vibration perceived as sound, represented by a musical note.

  Wavetable
     A collection of stored samples in memory from which the playback
  engine gets its wave data.

  Wave
     A sound wave.  Sound travels through a medium (such as air) by
  vibrating tiny particles, causing a chain reaction that results in a
  wave.  The process well demonstrated by observing ripples in a pond.

                --Dilvish


--=--=--
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  Subtractive Synthesis
    The Basics
  By:  Setec
----=--=------=--=------=--=--

  -=- Introduction -=-
     Howdy. It has been ages since my last contribution to this great
  magazine. Unfortunately I have been so preoccupied lately that I really
  have not had the time to put something proper together. So what is this
  then?

     Well it is an introduction to the basics of one form of synthesis,
  properly the most well-known;  subtractive synthesis. This is the form
  of synthesis that makes up all those retro Roland synthesizers; the
  TB-303 being the most known example (but also counting the Junos,
  Jupiters, etc). It also couples with sampling in a lot of modern sound
  modules such as the brand new Roland XV models, the E-Mu Proteuss series
  and well, just about any other all-purpose sound module.

     So why would you wanna know how it works? And why is something like
  this interesting in a "tracker" world? Well the thing is, if you know
  this theory properly you will be able to create any kind of sound or
  instrument that you like - within the obvious boundaries of subtractive
  synthesis. You will no longer need to adapt your music to suit your
  samples. This process can be reversed so that you can mold your sounds
  to suit whatever mood you are trying to create via your music. And this
  is a tremendous inspiration.

     It is also my belief that more and more trackers are starting to buy
  "real" music gear, mainly synthesizers. And while you could just do as
  your average Bob and stick with the presets on the synth, this is just
  plain dumb. You are buying an extremely versatile instrument (hopefully)
  and if you are not taking advantage of this, you are wasting money.

     And besides, you look seriously cool when you tweak all those knobs!
  =)


  -=- Waveforms and formants -=-
     The building blocks of subtractive synthesis are - not taking in
  account the synthesizers that couple subtractive synthesis with sampling
  - basic, simple geometric waveforms. Waveforms are what you see when you
  load a sample in SoundForge, CoolEdit, FastTracker or whatever program
  you use to view and edit your samples. Usually with sampled sounds these
  are quite complex waves, with no obvious geometric shape. These
  "building blocks" of subtractive synthesis are different. The most
  commonly used shapes are the triangle, square and saw waveforms. My
  talent at ascii-drawing is non-existent so let us just agree that these
  waveforms look exactly as their name implies, the saw waveform gradually
  extending from -1 to 1 (on the y-axis of a waveform), then dropping
  instantly to -1 and rising again. Other common waveforms are sine, super
  saw (a lot of saw waveforms slightly detuned from each other) and noise.

     So. Having made your choice of a basic waveform the synthesizer is
  now able to continuously loop this waveform over and over. In other
  words, you have now successfully produced a truly annoying buzz! This is
  not exactly the most interesting sound in the world. Mostly because that
  the partial shape of such a sound is quite dull. Partials? Now what is
  that? I have actually spoken of this in a very old article I wrote for
  this very same magazine. But to recap ...

     Any sound - if it consists of a definable pitch (not noise) - is made
  up of a fundamental frequency and any number of partials. These partials
  are multiples of the fundamental frequency and can be either harmonic
  (integer multiples) or inharmonic. So contrary to the common belief (of
  some people, anyway) when you hear a certain note played on a keyboard
  you are not only hearing a single frequency, but rather an entire
  spectrum of frequencies. This is also sometimes called the "color" of
  the sound or the "brightness". If a sound contains lots of partials it
  will appear "bright" in sound. A bass is not a very bright instrument
  (usually) whereas brasses contain a lot of partials and hence appear
  "bright" to the human ear.

     Returning to our building blocks, each of these have distinct partial
  structures. Generally speaking, sharp corners create partials. So a sine
  wave consists ONLY of the fundamental frequency. No partials at all. The
  square wave is a little more interesting in that it contains every other
  harmonic partial of the fundamental at decreasing volume. Saw waveforms
  have especially rich partial structure and this probably explains why
  they are most commonly used.


  -=- Filters -=-
     Okay, so I managed to drift quite far into that. Drawing attention to
  our buzz-sound from before, how do we make it more interesting? How do
  we alter the partials/overtones of such a sound? Enter the wonders of
  filters...

     Filters basically do one thing - they take a sound and they remove
  certain partials. Filters are probably the most important part of sub-
  tractive synthesis. Without filters we are stuck with that dull annoying
  buzz. With them, however, we have a very strong way of molding our
  sounds.

     A standard synthesizer will most likely consist of a single filter
  with three different modes of operation; high pass, band pass and low
  pass. The theory behind how these filters work is too complex for this
  article, but understanding what they actually DO is easy. Quite simply a
  high pass filter allows only partials above a certain frequency(the
  cutoff frequency) to pass, a low pass filter does the exact opposite and
  a band pass filter allows only a certain band (duh!) of frequencies to
  pass. Not exactly hard to grasp, is it? So what this means is that we
  are able to take our buzz saw waveform and turn it into a bass, simply
  by applying a low pass filter with a cutoff frequency set low. And the
  same buzz can be turned into a moscitto-like sound using a high pass
  filter. All of this needs to be heard though, so grab your synth - if
  you are fortunate enough to own one - or load one of the many free
  software synthesizers out there and start playing with the cutoff knob
  and the filter types.

     Okay. So altering the cutoff frequency of a set filter type is nice
  and all, but how do you make that wellknown squelchy bass-sound? Well,
  this is where the resonance setting comes into play. This is also a
  setting that will be adjustable on all synthesizers out there, and with
  good reason. What it does is that it creates a "peak" around the cutoff
  frequency, it amplifies the frequencies surrounding that point. It is
  not exactly easy to explain how this actual sounds (besides the obvious
  refference to a 303 bassline) so once again - go play! Most desent
  synthesizers will be able to set the resonnance high enough for the
  filter to go into self- oscillation. This occurs when the freqency at
  the cutoff point is amplified so much that it "takes over" as the
  fundamental frequency. If used properly (and subtlely!) this can be an
  interesting effect. Just do not overdo it, it really hurts the ears.

     If you have a fairly good synthesizer you will probably notice that
  it also has some sort of switch between -12dB/Oct and -24db/Oct (and
  possibly others) in the filter section. What this alters is the
  steepness of the filter. See, a filter cannot exactly "cut" frequencies
  above or below a certain threshold that exact. There will be some sort
  of slope extending beyond the cutoff frequency, where some of the
  frequencies can still be heard, although at lower amplitudes. The -12dB,
  -24dB switch determines the steepness of this slope. So at -12dB the
  frequencies above or below the cutoff point are attenuated by 12dB per
  octave.

     Once more, this setting has a musical value that is hard to describe.
  So try choosing a saw waveform, set the filter at low pass and choose a
  cutoff frequency that is somewhat average. You should be able to tell
  the difference between -12dB and -24dB per octave then.


  -=- Envelopes -=-
     This article is already much larger than I had anticipated. It seems
  I cannot help it. So I hope some of you are still with me, because this
  is where it really gets interesting.

     If we look at what we are able to create now, we have come quite far
  from where we started. But it is still only quite dull sounds that will
  evolve from a syntheziser consisting only of what I have described so
  far. One thing that we still have not touched is change over time.
  Change in partial structure, amplitude and pitch. One of the most
  important things that make us able to distinguish one instrument from
  the other is exactly that; change over time. This is where envelopes
  help.

    An envelope can be viewed as a waveform as well. Usually it is made up
  of four settings, Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release. The waveform that
  these make might look something like this:


                     / \
                   /  :  \
                 /    :    \             god, i suck at this.
               /      :      \
             /        :        \
           /          :          : - - - - - - - -  <--- Sustain level
         /            :          :                :\ _
       /              :          :                :    \ _
     /                :          :                :        \ _
    <-- attack time --><- decay ->- - - - - - - - <-release ->
                           time                       time

     I hope this diagram makes SOME sense.

     Okay, so now we have yet another shape. What is it good for? Well, if
  we apply values ranging from 0 to 1 on the y-axis on such a shape and
  then link it to the filter cutoff frequency ...voila! We now have a
  sound that changes its frequency content over time. Marvelous. The same
  obviously goes for linking an envelope to the amplitude (the most
  obvious choice) and the pitch.

     If all of these elements are combined we now have quite an interesting
  sound in our hands ...or at least we can have. With all of these tools
  you have a tremendous amount to say in how the instrument will sound.
  And this is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is not at all easy
  to begin with, learning what to alter to get a specific sound. It all
  comes with practise, but I hope that articles such as this one helps
  you. I know that it has helped me a lot to know such theory. And I
  really hope that this article has helped you as well. The thing is, I am
  not sure how "basic" I need to keep it. You may have found this article
  to be way to simple, or it may have all seemed difficult to grasp. I am
  very uncertain as to whether additional articles on the subject of
  synthesis should be simpler or if they should be more advanced. As of
  now I am thinking of making the next article a little more practical and
  less theoretical. So instead of just describing how subtractive
  synthesis works, I will try to show how to create different sounds with
  it. But this all depends on the feedback.

     So as always, you - the reader - eventually has the say in where
  these articles go. Let me know what you want to read about, what you
  would like to learn. It is not limited to being about subtractive
  synthesis only, I could cover FM synthesis and other forms of synthesis
  as well. I am not an allknowing oracle of synthesis theory but I do
  believe that I know my fair share of it.

     At least I know how to emulate a TB-303 ...;)


  -=- Notes -=-
     I am hoping to make this a series of articles that will appear from
  time to time with different subjects of synthesis theory. However, I
  want to know what YOU wanna read about. So mail me at
  jesped@post.tele.dk and let me know what the next article should cover.
  Also make it clear which level it should be in. Easier or more advanced
  than this one.

    By the way, I own a Roland JP-8080 synthesizer myself, a marvellous
  subtractive synthesis beast in the new breed of analogue wannabe synths.
  I also have the luxury of having a Roland JV-1080 and a Yamaha FS1R
  stacked on top of eachother, the former being a sound module (well, THE
  sound module I guess) that couples sampling with subtractive synthesis.
  The Yamaha FS1R is an entirely different story. It uses Frequency
  Modulation synthesis along with a new method called Formant Shaping. But
  I am gonna have to save those two for later articles ...:)

                --Setec


--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
  The Root
     How They Got Involved
  Sponsored By:  Tryhuk
  By: Jason Chong (Jase)
----=--=------=--=------=--=--

     I had always been and still am interested in making music on a
  computer. Ever since my first Apple 2 days, through the first
  SoundBlaster to now, I've always been looking for a way to express
  myself musically on a computer.  It all started with my classical
  background.  You may have read elsewhere I started violin when I was 7
  and piano later on and advanced quite far with it.  At the end of my
  high school years I bought an electric guitar and self taught myself (I
  just wanted to play all the Guns'n'Roses Appetite for Destruction
  stuff).   However I couldn't output stuff satisfactorily on a computer
  until I discovered MIDI and mods.

     It started when I went to university in '92 where I first discovered
  the internet.  This was kewl!!  Downloading from ftp and fsp sites (the
  web had not taken off at all back then). I learned first about MIDI and
  after persuading my dad to buy me a Turtle Beach Multisound, I released
  a few midi tunes to the internet.  I remember getting my first fan
  email, some guy who wrote orientalish MIDIs.  I was stoked - people were
  downloading and listening to my stuff!  However, I felt constrained by
  the limited number of sounds on MIDI.  Then one day I downloaded Panic
  by Future Crew and discovered the demo scene.

     From there I experimented with mods.  My overall output was not very
  much because I probably took too long to write each tune.  People have
  also commented that I composed in many various styles.  My musical
  tastes were so varied that I hadn't really finished exploring each style
  yet.  However with my classical background, I was most happy with my
  orchestral output.

     To tell you the truth, I would have loved to be part of one of the
  larger music groups like Kosmic or been invited to join FM.  But I
  didn't and I would partly blame my lack of output for this.  It took a
  while for me to write tunes - a lot of planning and "optimisation" took
  place for each one. Each week I downloaded many mods which were quickly
  put together and you can see it in the tracks - I'm not saying that
  these were bad or anything, but I guess I took a lot of pride in my work
  and wanted to make sure everything I did tried not to sound like it was
  done on a computer.  Of course my girlfriend  (now wife) at the time
  always thought that it still sounded computerised.

     I did get invited to join Oxygen, a demo group based in my city
  (Perth, Australia). However, not much happened from that.  Looking back
  I think that it doesn't really matter - I mean, the quality of your
  composing output doesn't really depend on whether you're part of some
  group or not (although they can encourage you, etc), it's what you can
  do yourself.

     So why did I stop tracking?  One reason is that one day my sample
  collection, which I had taken tons of hours to compile from various
  sources and sorted into my own categories, got blown away in '96 with a
  hard drive crash.   Without a sample collection, without a decent
  synthesizer, I knew it would be ages to rebuild a similar sort of
  collection and that was really offputting.  Also, the amount of free
  time to spend composing was gone.  '96 was my last year at uni with an
  honours paper to write.  That meant the end of mucking about.  I started
  full time work at a large international engineering company the
  following year ('97) and work life is very different!!  My whole day got
  turned around - basically starting and ending 4 hours earlier (7am -
  11pm instead of 11am - 3am).  The year after that ('98) I got married
  and that ended even more late night netting.

     Nowadays, once in a while, I check to see what's happening in the
  scene.  I sometimes keep in touch with some previous trackers.  I know
  quite a few other trackers that were active in my days have pursued
  professional music careers in mixing, game/movie music composing, etc.
  I really admire them for that because I would love to have done that.
  However, I already chose engineering over professional
  violinist/musician as my career (for the more stable and possibly larger
  salary) and I would definitely have to study/work elsewhere (Sydney but
  probably overseas) to get enough demand or that sort of market.  Maybe
  in my mid life crisis I might experiment :)

     So many things have changed - attitudes towards tracking, the number
  of composers, mod related web sites, hornet, windows demos, trackers and
  players, signal to noise ratio :).  By attitudes, I've noticed that the
  old days of trying to make the mod as small as possible in file size are
  gone. Also, the emphasis on sound/sample quality is much more but the
  filesize restrictions helps a lot.   Similarly, the old days of
  "optimisation" so that you would use as little channels as possible
  seems to have gone.   I remember when people first started to be
  interested in mp3s and some people in the scene (and I was one of them)
  just didn't want to know about it - releasing music in an mp3 form would
  mean that people can't see the effort and technique you put into the mod
  - it was not elite :).  They were also too big in filesize (back then!).
  However, mp3s have taken off so much now that you'd get many more people
  listening to your stuff if it's an mp3.

     And that is what I found most rewarding, knowing that thousands of
  people have listened to my music and enjoyed it.  The positive feedback
  I got through email, although was a good ego booster, spurred me on to
  write more.. and I still get the occassional one now (after they've
  searched around for my new address) and this brings a smile to my face.

     So what's been happening since then?  I got married to Su-Lyn (vocals
  on Call Me an Angel), I have a 17 month old daughter (Tallulah) and my
  wife is expecting a second baby in early Feb next year.   I've also
  stopped using my PC except really for budgeting and netting.  Ever since
  Su bought me a Playstation last Christmas, I've been hooked (especially
  Tony Hawk 1 and 2!!).  Also I've redirected all my spare money into home
  theatre and DVDs. I'm still a software engineer at the same engineering
  firm since I graduated but the work environment there is really good.
  Coming home to my daughter smiling and wanting to play with me is better
  than receiving a whole ton of fan email :)

     Lately I was asked if I wanted to contribute to the Merregnon
  project.  I couldn't refuse - especially since it was going to be
  orchestral based and the other big names involved in the project.  I
  knew I hadn't tracked seriously for nearly 5 years - there were new
  trackers available, even on windows.  I didn't have any samples, I still
  had my old Yamaha synth and my old Awe 32.  I was out of it.  But with
  some perseverance in MIDI, help from Fabian and some encouragement from
  my wife, I managed to do two orchestral tunes.  Who knows, if it gets a
  good response I might start composing again!!

                --Jason Chong
                  jchong@iinet.net.au
                  http://www.iinet.net.au/~jchong/


--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
  The Listener
     Music from Various Artist
  By:  Tryhuk
----=--=------=--=------=--=--

  -=- Lifetime                 -=-
  -=-     -- El mobo & plug-in -=-

     This fine track won mp3 compo at this year's LTP.  Because I think
  that previous LTPs had the best music releases out of all parties, I was
  really hot on this track. As you would expect, it is a guitar track. To
  be more exact, it's a track with electric guitars, bass guitars and some
  percussion. I heard some of his tracks that are available on his web
  site (www.elmobo.com), but I like this one best. It left me with an
  impression of a life jammed track, a track that doesn't sound too
  calculated and sounds good thanks to talented of musicians. It one
  moment it reminded me even on Pink Floyd.

  Song Information:
    Title:  Lifetime
    Author:  El mobo & plug-in
    Release date:  aug. 2000
    Length:  5m20s
    Filename:  moby-lifetime.zip
    File Size:  6.09MB
    Source:  ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/parties/2000/ltp4/mp3/moby-lifetime.zip



  -=- High                     -=-
  -=-            -- Astropolis -=-

     It is a winning song of asm00 mp3 compo, so I was curious how good
  it will be after the experience out of the previous ('99) multichannel
  compo. Although it is a pop song and builds on certified procedures, I
  wasn't disappointed. One has to admit that it is well done, with nice
  details. The author of the song didn't slip down to heavy powerful
  sound in the guitar parts, he rather let them play at a decent volume in
  the background, and this way he let the lead be heard with very good
  vocals. Other positive thing is that you can hear it many times and
  don't get completely bored.

     I also heard top ten multichannel entries and there was no entry that
  would I completely dislike, so try them also.


  Song Information:
    Title:  High
    Author:  Astropolis
    Release date: aug 2000
    Length:  3m57s
    Filename:  high_up_.zip
    File Size:  5.39MB
    Source: ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/parties/2000/assembly00/mp3/high_up_.zip


  -=- Diskothequa luv          -=-
  -=-                  -- krii -=-

     Nice comments from users voting on tokyo2051.org resulted in my
  download of this song. For those who don't know, you can now vote on the
  tokyo website for your favorite song and this way help to others to get
  the best releases.

     Style of the song is house, but it's rather that light style that vic
  does, not that heavy repetitive beat that you usually hear. Even
  being a house track, its drumline isn't simple at all, it is very
  evolved and particular sounds overlap well with other instruments
  (bassline, chords, leads) and form a very solid track. One might call
  it an energic summer disco song with no really special or significant
  moments, it rather builds an atmosphere, makes minor changes on it, like
  a wind on a calm water surface. But that doesn't mean that the song is
  boring, it's full of small details that keep the song living.

  Song Information:
    Title:  Diskothequa luv
    Author:  krii
    Release date: oct 2000
    Length:  6m50s
    Filename:  tokyo2051-krii-diskothequa_luv.mp3
    File Size:  6.5MB
    Source:  http://www.tokyo2051.org


  -=- One turn 5 remix         -=-
  -=-           -- Vic & Xhale -=-

     This song stole my heart immediately. It is a remix of an older
  miasmah release, which was originaly a minimalistic trip hop song. Vic
  woke it with a completely new technique with really great vocals and a
  bunch of instruments with interesting chord progression and well made
  tempo changes which give to the song a good swing. If you like vocal
  tunes it's must have, because I haven't heard vocals that good in a
  scene song for quite a long time.

  Song Information:
    Title:  one turn 5 remix
    Author:  Vic (original by xhale)
    Release date:  aug. 2000
    Length:  3m41s
    Filename:  mia11_vic_oneturn5_remix.mp3
    File Size:  3.56MB
    Source:  http://www.miasmah.com
     ftp://scene.org/pub/music/groups/miasmah/mia11_vic_oneturn5_remix.mp3


                --Tryhuk


--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
  Retro Tunage
     Subsonica by various
  By:  Tryhuk
----=--=------=--=------=--=--

     Music disk "Subsonica" belongs among my favorites. It consists of 7
  electronic tracks, but thanks to skills of all musicians, every track is
  original and recognizable. I think that just dropping the names here
  says a lot: Mellow-D, Skie, Hunz, gd, Stinger, Darkwolf, kxmode. As you
  see it's an elite company. I'll try to describe individual tracks (in no
  order):

     Geek - very "blur" track. It opens with mechanical sounds with strong
  echoes to evoke a feeling of empty space and into this a thin voice
  calls "mami". Songs starts to gather rhythmical elements and samples
  typical for experimental "blur" series. It fits very good with other
  tracks that MD made at the time and thanks to his "mami" it is a very
  recognizable and memorable song and one of my favorites here.

     Beyond ]|[ sigma - I have heard only a few tracks by skie, but this
  one is, IMHO, her best. Again, it is a distinct track, with melody made
  on non-melodic samples, excessive use of bass drum which can create a
  very good effect when you know how to use it (see lush by orbital), but
  it can also completely destroy the song. This fulfills the first case,
  IMHO. As a complete thing, it is rather an ambient song with some good
  points, but there's nothing you could really remember - a part of lead
  or chord  transition.

     Surface Tension - In some points similar to songs of skie and
  stalker, but compared to "beyond ]|[ sigma" it is more lighter and
  melodic. It also has something from the music of 80ties, especially
  Jarre. Not  everyone will like it, but I think that it is Darkwolf's
  best song (out of the stuff I heard of course) and it's worth checking.

     Sages - Most of Stinger's releases belong to house or ambient music,
  often mixing both genres in a new form. Similar way of crossing genres
  can be found also in music of stereoman and basehead, but all three
  produce very different result. Song "Sages" is specific by a repetitive
  bass line that plays on the place of bass drum and because rest of the
  percussion are brighter instruments, whole track sounds very light.
  Background sounds are in a style of dune (you can also find stinger's
  ambient releases under nick kaamos/soma) and piano works here on the
  place of lead.

     s.n.i.f.f. - This song brought me to music of gd and although I like
  also other his tracks, this one is still my favorite. It is again an
  electronic ambient experiment with melodic elements, light  percussion
  and important bass line, similar to previous songs, but with its own
  sound, maybe more happy and playful.

     The Temple Gates - as you would expect in a case of song by Hunz, it
  is  my favorite out of this musicdisk, though it's not his best. Whole
  song  builds on an ethnical sound, which is evoked by a fast played
  guitar with bold cuts. Together with hunz's style of leads it makes an
  interesting creation. Simple, but works.

     The Syndicate - by kxmode isn't exception and its rough description
  would be same as in the case of previous tracks and so I won't try to
  produce here another crappy text and I leave your opinion on you. Just
  listen.

     As you see, whole disk contains tunes, that are worth downloading and
  thanks to a wide variety of good artists, I believe that you find here
  songs that you will also like. I like "Geek" by mellow-d the best.


  Song Information:
    Title: subsonica
    Author:  various
    Release date:  09 dec 1996
    Length: over 35 minutes
    Filename (zipped/unzipped):  sub01.zip | many
    File Size (zipped/unzipped):  2MB | 4MB
    Source:  ftp://us.hornet.org/pub/demos/music/disks/1996/sub01.zip

                --Tryhuk


--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
  Screen Lit Vertigo
     Persistent by Wipe & Ukonx (final version)
  By:  Seven
----=--=------=--=------=--=--
  Found at www.scene.org
  1st place at aRTS2K

  System requirements: 350 MHz, 64MB RAM, DirectX, 3.5 MB HD, Win9x
     (May have problems with NT).

  Test Machine: PII 350 64MB, SB16, TNT2 M64 32MB, Win98

  The credits:
     Code: Belette, Dax, Deemphasis, Kor, Tsr
     Graphics: Dax, Gol, Unison, Kisscool
     Music: Dax, Unison

  The demo:

     As was stated in the info-file, I had to change the "512" to "640" in
  the overground.ini file before the demo would run. I was a bit
  disappointed at first, because the demo started rather boring: a
  transparent green ball rotates with a distorted perspective and flashes
  from time to time. Philosophical text fragments and sentences are
  shown stategically on top of this, in a white font and different letter
  sizes. How original (yawn).

  Luckily, more interesting effects are added on top of this in the next
  parts: weird tunnel variants, radial blur, horizontal shivering screens,
  waving water etc. These are most of the time combined with various
  semi-transparent pictures, of a Japanese girl with a dragon tattoo, gray
  design objects, a grinning graffiti-style face with a cigarette with
  fire effect. Also the texts have more varied subjects: slogans like
  "WIPE: enough said, let the coding begin" or "Destiny is not a matter of
  chance but a matter of choice", and a part of a food receipt is shown in
  the background :) The greets are in pure danish design, but otherwise
  it's hard to link the demo with a specific style The music is in mo3
  format, which is a mod whose samples are MP3-compressed. It starts very
  ambient, with slow, echoing bells and ploinks, but adds more and more
  emphasis to the rhythm section. The echoing lead disappears in the
  second half of the tune, leaving just the percussion, but it still
  sounds quite relaxed. The info file explains (in French only) that all
  the samples are recorded at home. Respect for that, and also for the
  good synchronizing with the effects.


  Overall:
     The info file also mentions that this demo was made in only two weeks,
  and it was designed at the partyplace. The resulting style has a certain
  charm, but some people will dislike it. Personally I think the beginning
  could have been stronger, while other effects are too hard to notice. It
  took me some time before I saw the burning of the cigarette, or the
  rotating star-thing behind the Persistence logo. But the duration of the
  effects is short enough, the overall feeling is OK and the music ties
  everything together well. Worth checking out.

                --Seven


--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
  Intro Watch
     Fuzzion
  By:  Gekko
----=--=------=--=------=--=--
     The intro corner is a bit special this month. The topic is not an
  intro but a group which has created a lot of intros lately.

     Our subject is Fuzzion. This group is from Spain; it is a merge of
  several smaller local groups (Savage, DSK, MCD). Besides making intros
  they have other releases, too, of course, and they are the organizers of
  the BCN party. Maybe nowadays they are the only Spanish demo group which
  is known abroad.

     There are a lot of members - 20 or so - so I won't list them all. The
  most active ones appear to be SML (music), BP (code), Ufix (code), Trace
  (gfx). Their homepage is www.fuzzion.org, all their releases can be
  downloaded from there. There is a group info-file attached to the
  releases, you can find all the little details there.


  First of all, what to download? My choice:

  DaCube 2 - 64k, Arroutada 7, 1999
     http://fuzzion.planet-d.net/prods/svg_dcb2.zip
  DaCube 1.5 - 64k, Fallas 2000
     ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/parties/2000/fparty00/in64/dcb15.zip
  Style - 4k, Mekka 2000
     ftp://ftp.scene.org/pub/parties/2000/mekkasymposium00/in4k/style.zip
  Primperan - 64k, Xuntas 2000
     http://fuzzion.planet-d.net/prods/primp_pv.zip
  Once Again - demo (128k), Xuntas 2000
     http://fuzzion.planet-d.net/prods/fzn_oa.zip
  BCN 2000 invitation - 64k, LTP4, 2000
     http://fuzzion.planet-d.net/prods/bcn00invf.zip

     These are intros, so the downloads will only take a few seconds.
  They are for DOS, with the exception of BCN 2000 invitation (Windows).

     Fuzzion made four 4k intros so far. The first two are Pukamuka (what
  a name:) at Satellite 1999) and Style (Mekka 2000). Both are simple
  intros with raycasting and a little music. I like the latter because
  (you guessed it:) it has style. It is a flight in simple 3d scenes with
  fake-bugs (the screen and the music gets noisy). The other two are
  Despeich and Xperience (both were released at Euskal 8, 2000). These are
  not good, they resemble 1996 intros with their plasma effects and ugly
  computer generated palettes. The latter is a bit better because it has
  music and some design. There was one more 4k by them, Fuzzby. In fact it
  is a diskmag and it is a joke on Wilby (the 4k diskmag). From their 4k-s
  I would only recommend Style to be downloaded.

     The bigger intros are much better. In these they have the space to
  show their art. They have a special minimalist style which I like a lot.

     One kind of their intros are the wilder ones. I would put DaCube2,
  DaCube1.5 (64k-s) and the Style (4k) into this cathegory. In these there
  is a small story or poem and good minimalist effects. The music is
  usually a fast, loud and raging house music.

     The rest of their intros are different. They have a calm abstract
  mood. The music is usually an ambient tune.

     Primperan (64k, Xuntas 2000) is a very good intro. Its theme is
  medicine. Don't expect a story though and a lot of texts are in Spanish.
  The effects are so fine - little pills falling in a box, DNS, particles,
  and so on. This intro could have been a winner at a bigger demo party,
  too!

     Once Again (Xuntas 2000) was entered in the demo compo, but it is
  only 128 kilobytes. It is a gloomy little green dentro. It is playing
  with simple squares, pentagons, etc and a lot of good effects are made
  up of these.

     The BCN 2000 party invitation (LTP4) has reddish colors and a few
  transparent triangle effects. It's short and plain but it looks fine. By
  the way, the final version has a secret part, too. Just look into the
  EXE with Notepad to find out how to get it...

     These were the works of Fuzzion. These guys have style and original
  ideas, they are doing a good job.

                --Gekko


--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
  Editorial
    Welcome the New Scene! and
  By: Coplan
----=--=------=--=------=--=--

     A lot of people are probably going to dislike my views in this
  article. Please try not to be so critical of what I say.  What I speak
  of is how I truly see the scene in the next few years.  With every
  society (and the demoscene can be considered one), traditions change.
  I'm not suggesting that the methods of the demoscene need to change.
  Rather, I am suggesting that it might not be worth fighting the change.

     In the future of the scene, I see artists not only working with the
  traditional sample packs.  I have seen a lot of percussion samples, and
  string samples that have been around forever.  Today I saw a new song
  out that included a timpany sample that I swear is the one from "2nd
  Reality", and even then, I thought I heard that sample around somewhere.
  These old samples are starting to become a bit out-dated, and people are
  starting to realize this.  People are taking quality much more to heart
  anymore.  8-bit samples don't seem to cut it anymore.  With higher
  bandwidth and the ability to tranfer larger files, people are useing 16
  bit samples at the highest resolution they can handle.  I have friends
  in the scene that have been experimenting with  alternative sources for
  samples.  Rack mount midi-synth devices, piano-like keyboards with built
  in synthesizers, and the ability to download kurzweil samples for your
  own use are all indicitive of where the samples are heading.  Some have
  sampled from these devices, and turned them into great mods.  Other have
  composed in MIDI and released their MP3s.  The point is that sound is
  much more important than method anymore.

     I have seen computer setups with what  I like to call a "wall of
  computer and audio electronics".  People are  no longer useing cheap
  two-way pc speakers that plug into the back of  your sound card.  Some
  people, like myself, have hooked up their  computers into external
  amplifiers which were meant for high quality  home audio.  It makes a
  huge difference with what you hear -- and in  turn, what you write.
  Before I got a good stereo system hooked up to my  computer, I
  personally used too much base.  Base is good, but not if you  can't hear
  the lead.  Well, my music has evolved with this new audio  spectrum, and
  I write much more balanced music.  But the same is true for sample
  quality as well.  People are able to pay much more attention to what
  comes out of their speakers.  That timpany may have sounded good on your
  old two-way speakers, but it sounds crappy through amplified 3-way
  speakers and a powered subwoofer.

     Impulse Tracker was, and still is, a great tracking program.  But it
  is  very soon reaching it's peak.  DOS is something that is starting to
  fade  into the depths of MS-OS Hell.  Windows ME still has a DOS Prompt,
  but  the Windows Whistler (due out sometime late next year) doesn't look
  like  it will support it.  Whistler will be based on an NT kernel, and
  if  anyone has tried to install IT on an NT machine, you know what i'm
  talking about.  But the scene isn't about IT as a program anymore, just
  the format.  There are plenty of windows based trackers out there:
  ModPlug Tracker, Buzz, and so on.  Maybe one day, IT 3 might actually
  exist.  Maybe some of these trackers will start to support higher end
  audio features, like 128-bit sampling, or MIDI input, or Dolby Digital
  Surround Sound.

     Is the scene going to go commercial?  I don't think so.  One of the
  things that keeps the scene alive is the fact that people can write
  their music without buying new programs all the time.  Yes, trackers may
  start writing their music to be released on commercial CDs.  Let's just
  hope that they will remember who helped them, and they might donate some
  of their profits to the writers of the freeware programs that they used.
  Perhaps these software writers should write a clause:  If you sell any
  of your music generated useing this software, you must register and buy
  this software.  I have seen some soft-synths that request that you send
  them a copy of your music or even a CD if you use their program to
  generate your samples.  To me, this is logical.  To the artist, this
  should seem just as logical.  In basic economic theory, the coder might
  have every right in the world to charge you for his program if you
  release a commercial version of your song -- one that was generated
  useing his program.  If all he asks for is a copy of your song, that
  doesn't set you back much, it's worth it.  And any artist in this
  situation should recognize this, and make every effort to keep the
  software writers happy.

     Everyone in the scene has their own website it seems.  I don't see
  that  the concept of the music/demo group is dead.  It just isn't nearly
  as  tight as it used to be.  After all, those who release their music
  through TiS, United Trackers or (soon enough) SceneSpot, they belong to
  a larger group.  Sure, the group isn't about them, but the concept of a
  group in the first place was to get individule recognition.  The reason
  that model worked was because people based their downloads on the
  group's reputation.  One might say that TiS, UT or SS might prevent
  this, but it doesn't.  If there is an internal rating system, one might
  find a reviewer that they like...and only download songs that the
  reviewer likes.  The sites might even start to regulate the music that
  gets posted, requiring a given quality level.  Then, we're right back to
  the group concept at a macro level.  It could happen.

     What is in the future of the scene?  One shouldn't worry so much.
  The  world has a way of working things out and keeping enough people
  happy.   The scene isn't a dictatorship, you can do what you wish while
  you're  here.  But the scene will evolve depending on what the majority
  of the  people want to do.  Maybe if you participate, you might find you
  don't  dislike it nearly as much as you thought.

                    --Coplan


--=--=--
--=--=------=--=------=--=----
  Scene Dirt
    News & Rumors
  By:  Coplan
----=--=------=--=------=--=--
  -=- Crytek Studios Looking for Programmers -=-
     Crytek has been putting up news all over the place that they are
  looking for programmers.  They do a lot of work with commercial games,
  and it might be up your alley.

     http://www.ojuice.net/view_article.asp?id=1569
     http://www.crytek.de/hp/jobs.htm


  -=- Imphobia Domain Questions -=-
     Some scene hater apparently registered the imphobia.com domain.
  Unfortunately for us, the imphobia.com domain is used to promote a porn
  site.  THIS IS NOT DARKNESS' SITE.  The website totes a few anti-scene
  prhases and such.  Read the Orange Juice article for more information:

     http://www.ojuice.net/view_article.asp?id=1570


  -=- Extended Mind Logo Competition -=-
     Starting today and ending November 20th, Extended Mind is having a
  logo competition.  Maximum size is 640x480, 32bit color.  Pictures
  should be sent to stonda85@hotmail.com.  No prizes have been announced.

                --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
----=--=------=--=------=--=--

  Demo Groups:

      3g Design..............................http://3gdesign.cjb.net
      Aardbei.....................................http://aardbei.com
      Acid Rain..............................http://surf.to/acidrain
      Agravedict........................http://www.agravedict.art.pl
      Anakata..............................http://www.anakata.art.pl
      ANDESA Soft International..................http://andesa.da.ru
      Astral..............................http://astral.scene-hu.com
      Astroidea........................http://astroidea.scene-hu.com
      AtomiK....................................http://atomik.ini.hu
      Bomb..................................http://bomb.planet-d.net
      BlaBla..............................http://blabla.planet-d.net
      Blasphemy..............................http://www.blasphemy.dk
      Byterapers.....................http://www.byterapers.scene.org
      Calodox.................................http://www.calodox.org
      Chrome..............................http://chrome.scene-hu.com
      CoPro.....................................http://www.copro.org
      Damage...................................http://come.to/damage
      Dance...................................http://dance.flipp.net
      Defacto 2..............................http://www.defacto2.net
      Dolops......................... ........http://dolOps.scene.hu
      Exceed...........................http://www.inf.bme.hu/~exceed
      Fobia Design...........................http://www.fd.scene.org
  <*> Fuzzion.................................http://www.fuzzion.org
      GODS...................................http://www.idf.net/gods
      Green.....................................http://green.dyns.cx
      Grif........................http://arrabonet.gyor.hu/~rattgrif
      Haujobb......................................http://haujobb.de
      Hellcore............................http://www.hellcore.art.pl
      IJSKAST.............................http://www.ijskast.cjb.net
      Immortals..............................http://imrt.home.ml.org
      Infuse...................................http://www.infuse.org
      Just For Fun...........................http://jff.planet-d.net
      Kilobite...............................http://kilobite.cjb.net
      Kolor................................http://www.kaoz.org/kolor
      Kooma.....................................http://www.kooma.com
      Label zero.........................http://labelzero.pganet.com
      Mandula.........................http://www.inf.bme.hu/~mandula
      Monar................ftp://amber.bti.pl/pub/scene/distro/monar
      Nextempire..................http://members.xoom.com/NEXTEMPIRE
      Ninja Gefilus.........http://www.angelfire.com/or/ninjagefilus
      Noice.....................................http://www.noice.org
      Orion..............................http://orion.arfstudios.org
      Popsy Team............................http://popsyteam.rtel.fr
      Quad........................................http://www.quad.nl
      Rage........................................http://www.rage.nu
      Replay.......................http://www.shine.scene.org/replay
      Retro A.C...........................http://www.retroac.cjb.net
      Rhyme................................http://rhyme.scene-hu.com
      Sista Vip..........................http://www.sistavip.exit.de
      Skytech team............................http://www.skytech.org
      Sunflower.......................http://sunflower.opengl.org.pl
      Suspend......................http://www.optimus.wroc.pl/rappid
      Tehdas...................................http://come.to/tehdas
      Tesko..........................http://www.scentral.demon.co.uk
      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

  Music Groups:

      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.th-zwickau.de/~maz
      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.............................htpp://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
      UltraBeat.........................http://www.innerverse.com/ub
      Vibrants................................http://www.vibrants.dk
      Wiremaniacs.........................http://www.wiremaniacs.com

  Others:

      Arf!Studios..........................http://www.arfstudios.org
      Calodox demolinks exchange.....http://calodox.planet-d.net/cde
      #coders..................................http://coderz.cjb.net
      Comic Pirates.........................http://scene-central.com
      Demonews Express.........http://www.teeselink.demon.nl/express
      Demo fanclub........................http://jerware.org/fanclub
      Demoscene.org news forum..............http://www.demoscene.org
      Digital Undergrounds.....................http://dug.iscool.net
      Doose charts...............................http://www.doose.dk
      Dreams2 CD.........................http://nl.scene.org/dreams2
      Freax...................http://freax.scene-hu.com/mainmenu.htm
      GfxZone............................http://gfxzone.planet-d.net
      Hugi size-compo...............http://home.pages.de/~hugi-compo
      Orange Juice.........................http://ojuice.citeweb.net
      PC-demos explained.....http://www.oldskool.org/demos/explained
      Pixel...................................http://pixel.scene.org
      Scenet....................................http://www.scenet.de
      Sunray..............................http://sunray.planet-d.net
      Swiss List.................http://www.profzone.ch/vantage/list
      Swiss Scene Server.......................http://www.chscene.ch
      TakeOver................................http://www.takeover.nl
      Textmode Demo Archive.................http://tmda.planet-d.net
      Hungarian scene page...................http://www.scene-hu.com
      Trebel...................................http://www.trebel.org
      Zen of Tracking.........................http://surf.to/the-imm

  DiskMags / SceneMags:

      Amber...............................http://amber.bti.pl/di_mag
      Amnesia...............http://amnesia-dist.future.easyspace.com
      Demojournal....................http://demojournal.planet-d.net
      Dragon......................http://www.wasp.w3.pl/pages/dragon
      Fleur................................http://fleur.scene-hu.com
      Heroin...................................http://www.heroin.net
      Hugi........................http://home.pages.de/~hugidownload
      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
      Static Line......................http://www.ic.l7.net/statline
                                 http://www.scenespot.org/staticline
      Total Disaster...................http://www.totaldisaster.w.pl
      TUHB.......................................http://www.tuhb.org
      WildMag...........................http://www.wildmag.notrix.de

  FTPs:

      Amber.......................................ftp://amber.bti.pl
      Cyberbox.....................................ftp://cyberbox.de
      Flerp.....................................ftp://flerp.scene.hu
      Scene.org..................................ftp://ftp.scene.org
      Skynet archive.................ftp://acid2.stack.nl/pub/skynet
      ACiD2 Archive.............................ftp://acid2.stack.nl

--=--=--
----=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------=--=------
  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---=------=--=------=--=--
