/ t r a x w e e k l y .______/______ ____ .____ .______ ________________________| /. /___/ /_____________| /______| / \__ ____ \ _ \ | / : / ____/ ____/ ____/ |_ / / : / | | / / _| _\ / | /\ / ___/ ___/ / __/_ / ::| |::\ \_ \__ | _ \::| / | \ | \ \__ \_ _/::: : | \___ / | |___/ | |____\______/\_____/ |___/_____\ | . |___| \ /___|___| |___|asciidoneby:WW/RZM\___| |___| | | : | Issue Number: 39 | : the music scene newsletter. . : Release Date: 12/21/95 | . 1 9 9 5 | Subscribtion: 437 : . . HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! /-[Introduction]------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ _ _________________ /_\ \__ / ____ ______ \____ ____/____________ ______ _/ \ _/ \ \ww_/ \ _/ ________/_/ _ \ __/ \/ \ \/ \/ \ / | \__ ___ ___ _______ _/ \\ \ \\ \\ | \\/ | \_ ___ __ __ ____ /___________\__\_______\________\____|______\____________\ \__\ Greetings, one and all. Nearly everyone has taken off for this approaching holiday weekend, so I'd like to take the time to thank Atlantic and Maelcum for their article contributions this week. Another compo (?!?!) has surfaced in the music scene. It is called, "The Trackering" and is run by Axl. Competition information and the first winners are presented this week. I am quite blessed to be stricken with influenza this fine week. =) Thank goodness for Tylenol. Happy holidays to all of you, from TraxWeekly Publishing. Psibelius [TW] gwie@owl.csusm.edu /-[Contents]---------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ ________ _________________________________________________________________ / ____/_/ __/ \ __/ / _____/ \ __/ __/ ___/_ < \____\ \ \\ \ \\____ __/ __/_\ \ \\____ \_____ \__ \ \ \ \\ \ \ww\ \\ \\ \ \ \ \ \_ _\________\________\\___\____\ \_____\\_______\\___\____\ \_____\_______\ General Articles 1. New Music Reviews.................................Atlantic 2. Chord Theory?.....................................Maelcum 3. The Trackering....................................Axl Group Columns 1. Epinicion Productions 2. Explizit 3. pHluid Music Disk (ACiD) Closing Distribution Subscription/Contribution Information TraxWeekly Staff Sheet /-[General Articles]-------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[1. New Music Reviews]----------------------------------------[Atlantic]-- Allo. Here we are in week 4. I'm outta school! wo0wo0oo! =) A new format for this article will probably be starting next week. I intend to continue to give comments, but to also add a dimensional rating system. Ie, marks for originality, sound quality, talent, el33tn3ss, etc. Also, I will probably be joined in my reviewing by someone whose preferences lie more in the techno/dance genre. Stay tuned to find out who. Remember, if you know of a musician who deserves to be heard, pick a song by that musician. If they aren't into composing anymore that's alright, although I -strongly- prefer musicians who are active. Attach the song to me in email (as566@torfree.net) in MIME format (not UUencode: that stuff drives me wild), or send it to me on #trax where I can usually be found around 4-7 PM EST. It is important to include the following info: - Artist's Alias (Artist's Real Name, if known) - Date of Release (If not known, approximate) - Where it can be found (ftp site & directory) - Artist's E-mail Address (Very important!) Reviews for week of November 14 - December 21 ---------------------------------------------------------- Artist......... Darkwolf / s!p, Bass Productions, Epinicion, cia. Song Title..... "Without You" [without.s3m] DOR............ September 8th 1995 Email Addy.. Not Listed! Found: ftp.cdrom.com (/.21/demos/incoming/music/songs/s3m/without.zip) Comments: This tune by darkwolf is worth picking up if you havn't already. For a while now I've been considering his music for my list, yet only this week have decided to put him in. "Without You" is a mellow new-age kind of tune. It has a mood and feel to it, helped by an excellent choice of samples, although the sams are not his own. Loved the use of the "synth.101" sample - reminds me very much of something Arkenstone would put in there. The melody wasn't very memorable, and could've complimented the song more if it were more busy. The percussion was simple but quite appropriate. Artist.......... Scirocco Song Title...... "Persian Starfall" [starfall.xm] DOR............. April 21st 1995 Email Addy... scirocco@aol.com Found: ftp.cdrom.com (/.21/demos/music/songs/1995/xm/s/starfall.zip) Comments: An oldie but a goldie from Scirocco. Many of you have probably picked this one up in lieu of its massive rating in demonews, but I thought I'd re-spew the positive feedback on this one. One of the best tracked tunes I've heard in a while. The theme, sound, and style of song is unique. Scirocco manages to very subtly capture and blend in that persian/arabian feel. Most of this effort was achieved by the excellent choice of samples, which are assumedly original. Yeah it has a drum loop, but what can you do. =) Check it out. Artist......... Aahz the Demon / Carcass Song Title..... "The Glasswalker" [daydream.s3m] DOR............ December 17th 1995 Email Addy.. D.Fitches@Cimtegration.com Found: ftp.cdrom.com (/.21/demos/incoming/music/songs/s3m/ccs-glsw.zip) Comments: Ok, so I reviewed an Aahz song last week, and another in the week before that one. As I've said before, I will continue to recommend music by people, regardless of precedents. =) If you're going to get this tune, and I think you should, I hope you can get some amplitude out of your system, because you have to play it loud. When most people do rock tunes it sounds awful, mostly on account of the fact that the songs aren't done with a lot of theory in mind, but as Aahz knows his stuff, "The Glasswalker" is an exception. Loved the use of delays - they add a lot to its originality. Pay particular admiration to the lead at the end of the bridge part - very nice lead work there. - Atlantic / Aim Higher & Traxweekly (as566@torfree.net) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[2. Chord Theory]----------------------------------------------[Maelcum]-- This is in reference to comments by Atlantic in a review in issue #37. > A discussion on #trax this week pitted Aahz, Basehead and Necros against > a tracker who stated something like: "chord theory is not required to > write good music". The sensible side of the discussion apparently showed > this poor individual that his statement was silly, This is insulting and completely wrong. The sensible side of that discussion _was_ the "poor individual"! Anyone who believes that chord theory or for that matter ANY knowledge of the antique western musical system is required to write good music is smoking alot of crack. This is a naive and small-minded view of music. Chords are not the be-all end-all of music, nor are they even necessary to "good music". Chords are necessary to *certain types of music* - and those musical styles are NOT the only "good music" around (indeed most of them are saturated with songs and bands that can only be described as pure excrement). I am especially shocked that Basehead should subscribe to such BS when in fact some of his own music is proof against it, and in fact I think in retrospect he would agree that chord theory is in fact not required to write good music. Chords are a valid and valuable tool available to the composer, but anyone who thinks all good music has to have chords or that anyone who wants to compose good music has to know chord theory is certainly not worthy to be called a composer. I am also offended that while the author conveniently dropped two "respected names" (though how much respect is due people supporting such silly statements is dubious) in the tracking scene to support his own view he failed to name the person who rightfully disagreed. Talent is no excuse for lapses of stupidity. - Maelcum ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[3. The Trackering]------------------------------------------------[Axl]-- __ _____ | __ __| | __ __| | _) | | __ \ _ \ | __| _ | __| | / _ \ __| | __ \ _ | | | | | __/ | | ( | ( < __/ | | | | | ( | _| _| |_|\___| _|_| \__,_|\___|_|\_\___|_| _|_| |_|\__, | | [Music Compo #2] |___/ | |_______ __The New Wave ________| -----< Results >----------------------------------------------------------- This is the results for The Trackering #1 : 1. Marwin - mrw-tale. xm - 7.214 2. TheFear - tf_bz95 . xm - 6.643 3. Floss - bdp-koro.s3m - 6.571 4. Zalt - reine . xm - 6.286 5. Balrog - bal_cont. xm - 5.929 6. Lepra - trazom . xm - 5.714 7. Phoenix - sbomb .s3m - 5.357 8. Calvin - c-drugs . xm - 5.000 9. Luv Kohli - diffrncs.s3m - 4.929 10. Octoque - 2morrow .s3m - 4.857 11. Vector - vec_stpc.s3m - 4.786 12. Pfister - pretzels.s3m - 4.571 13. zsazS - orkin3 .s3m - 4.071 Voters : Axl, Balrog, zsazS, zalt, Vector, TheFear, Miss Saigon, Phoenix, octoque, Marwin, Luv Kohli, Lepra, Floss, calvin, pfister. * Charlatan and Cyberdmon were disqualified because they didn't judged the compo. * The rules have been changed a bit, please read them. -----< Info >-------------------------------------------------------------- The Trackering is divided into 2 weeks, here's the info : ---- Compo ---- Week : 1 The Trackering is held on channel #tt, every first and third Saturday of every month at 01.00AM CET / 07.00PM EST. After we gather, I'll declare contestants, and shortly after that you'll be DCC'd the Sample-Pack. The pack will be avaiable on DCC in 1 hour, so i'll declare contestant until 02.00AM CET. Right after you get the pack you can begin. I want all the tunes back before the following weekend, same time(1am cet/7pm est). I'll be on IRC as axl (of course) at that time so you can just dcc them to me, or mail it to 'axelsson@freenet.hut.fi' with either UUEncode or MIME. * Note : TT is on AnotherNet, so connect your irc-client to one of these AnotherNet servers: - neato.org - irc.netnation.com - serve.org ---- Voting ---- Week : 2 After the compo is over, a vote-pack will be available on IRC or some FTP. Everyone can judge the TT compo, but a contestant must judge it or he'll be disqualified. The voting system is a scale from 0-9. There will be a vote-form included in the vote-pack, which is almost self-explainatory :), If you need help on how to vote, then just mail me. The results will be out 1 week after the compo has ended, it'll be distributed to all who's on the Mailing List, and on IRC. -----< Rules >------------------------------------------------------------- Formats Allowed : XM, MOD, S3M, MTM Max Channels : 32 Channels. Module Max Size : 150k (153600 bytes) Tracking Time : 1 Week. (From Sun 01.00AM CET) External Samples : NONE! * You can do co-ops, but you have to tell me that when I declare contestants. * You have to judge the compo-tunes if you enter the compo. * You have to either DCC'd or mailed me your entry _before_ Sun 1AM CET the week after. * You may edit the samples in whatever way you want, including FT2 painting, but you may not copy the samples and re-edit it. * Written your handle in the sample-text. * If the competitor doesn't follow this rules, then his module has the right to be disqualified. * Please delete the samples you dont use from the sample-pack. Judging Rules : - You may _NEVER_ vote for yourself. - If a competitor doesn't vote, he may be disqualified. -----< Mailing List >------------------------------------------------------ If you want to subscribe to The Trackering Mailing List, which will bring you info and results of The Trackering, then just send an e-mail to axelsson@freenet.hut.fi, and write 'SUBSCRIBE' in the header. If you want to un-subscribe, then just write 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in the header. ----< Suggestions & Ideas >------------------------------------------------ I have plans of changing the voting system to a top6 list, with scores 12,8,6,4,2,1. If you think that's a good idea, please mail me and tell me that you like it at axelsson@freenet.hut.fi. If you have any other suggestions and ideas laying around in your head please mail me and tell me it. :) -----< Staff or Whom to blame >-------------------------------------------- Axl - Organizer - axelsson@freenet.hut.fi Assassin - Technical Advisor - dv@.cz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Group Columns]----------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ --[1. Epinicion Productions]------------------------------------------------ ___ _______ _____________ ______ ______ _______ ______ _______ ___________ | // \\ \\_____) \\_____) \\_____) \\ \\ | : / o \ o \ \ \ \ \ \ o \ \: // _____// / \ : / \ _____/ \ / : \. \\_______/ _//______\\_|__//______\\_____//______\\_____//____| /: : \\____\\ ______________________________ oT /___//| |________________________// e p i n i c i o n \\________________| -We feature five new songs from Ryan, Electric Head, and Axl this week. Please check out the FTP site! -XMAS'95!: Our second annual holiday musicdisk is only a few weeks away! We invite anyone, members and guests alike, to contribute your holiday tunes! The musicdisk will be released on December 24th, 1995. THE SONG DEADLINE IS DECEMBER 22nd, 1995, AT 6:00pm PACIFIC TIME!!!!!!!! -ALL of Epinicion's 1995 releases can be found through ftp at: kosmic.wit.com /kosmic/epinicion. -Epinicion's NEW webpage can be found at the following address: http://www.csusm.edu/public/guests/gwie/epi.html. The page now features links to the FTP site, along with email to every single member!* * Every single member since September 1995, that is. Updates for all new members will be completed soon. =) Psibelius (Gene Wie) Epinicion Founder gwie@owl.csusm.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[2. Explizit]------------------------------------------------------------- .____. .....______________.____________________________________________| |__... :::::\__ _____ | ______ \ \______) \_____)_ _____/::: :::::::/ __>/\/ . __/| __/ / /__ \_____ \ \| |:::::: ::::::/ | / \ : \| \_____/ / \ \_ _____/ \ |:::::: :::::/ \__| \_ :::\ / / / | \ / |:::::: :::::\__________/::|______/____|:::\_______/_____/________/_____/___::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::[sYNOPTiC]::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Explizit TraxWeekly column issue #2 - december 21, 1995 . . .' intro `. `...........' Hi there! Nothing much this week, Phonc(ie) is working on his big Cosmetic Defects MegaMix, which will feature all the great rave songs by Dionysus, Jay, and all the other CD members. Some dudes approached us, Loopido and Kgb, they wanted to be in, but unfortunately, we focus on techno music and not hardcore. Sorry guys. Loopido has now joined U.F.A. Good luck pal! . . .' membaz `. `...............' Ch:ilm staff outlandm@netland.nl Phonc(ie) music W.Langenhuizen@nl.cis.philips.com Batjo music tgcpaw@stud.tue.nl LightWing code pfrick@xmission.com If you make techno music and want to join a new and fresh group, send some of your work to me! I read every email i get and even if you're not in you receive a reply. We're not elite, we are really looking for more composers. So if you want to belong to a group (and a pretty cool one i think) be sure to let me know. . . .' news `. `..........' I've updated the web-page, it now holds all our releases and some easy-to-use forms to submit your comment or to apply for distro or member, just take a look at it, it's the best homepage i ever made, in fact, i'm actually proud of it! ;] You can download all our releases from there as well (in fact, you will simply download from uniserve, since i've just linked to our ftp site ... but who cares..=) The URL is http://www.netland.nl/~outlandm/explizit.html (Nice that you can name .html files in win95 and upload them to the server, and it actually works ... ;-) Now start up yar Netscape and help me reach 1000+ hits per day! ;-) A BIG!!! thanxx to synoptic^Blacktron (synoptik@iprolink.ch) for the VERY cool ascii work (see above!). Thanx a lot man! You can now subscribe to a MIME-mailinglist (duhh, it's just Eudora 1.52) where you can get all our releases first-hand. Send email to outlandm@netland.nl with subscribe or so in the title or the body, it's just me reading your message anyway :) NEW! A Brazil HQ: AltConn BBS +55-11-816-2031 One of the bigger boards in Brazil with Syzo *f0x ... . . .' releases `. `...............' Not from us this week, but if you're into our music see if you can find NB-HIGHR.ZIP somewhere. A damn fine rave track from our respected friend Beasty Bass [NaTuRe/\BeaT!] Loopido has released his first hardcore track for U.F.A UFA-LTNT.ZIP. He has also released a second one, a remake of Wonderful Days. Man this guy is really good! Leech some of his stuff if ya're into hardcore! . . .' end `. `...........' Thank you for reading, you can ftp all our releases from: ftp://ftp.uniserve.com/pub/gamesnet/EXPLiZiT/ For feedback, info and a wreal kewl homepage: http://www.netland.nl/~outlandm/explizit.html Ch:ilm/Explizit outlandm@netland.nl ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --[3. pHluid MusicDisk]----------------------------------------------------- - ACiD Productions Presents - The third pHluid music disk for December 1995 Featuring music by: -pinion -Darkwolf -protocol -Rimbo -Nova -Xenoc -ded silence Once again, there is no player included in this release but recommended players include ST3 v3.2, Cubic Player, and CapaMOD. All of which can be obtained at ftp.cdrom.com: demos/music/programs/players Songs for this disk include: "Traffic Lights" by Darkwolf "Hexacide" by ded silence "the why complex" by ded silence "No Sugar Added" by Nova "Veil of Night" by Nova "Beyond the Glass Sky" by pinion "This is Not a Chiptune!" by pinion "Opening Sequence" by pinion "Jazz Nightmare" by pinion/Jaimo Welch "Winter Walk" by protocol "Bells of Zhakanh" by Rimbo "Soulful Meditation" by Xenoc All songs in S3M format, accept for "Zhakanh" by Rimbo (XM) To contact pHluid email acid-music@acid.extern.ucsd.edu or pinion@acid.extern.ucsd.edua All songs copyright (c)acid productions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- /-[Closing]----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ TraxWeekly is available via ftp from ftp.cdrom.com /pub/demos/incoming/news (new issues) ftp.cdrom.com /pub/demos/info/traxw/ (back issues) TraxWeekly is also available via WWW from http://kosmic.wit.com/~kosmic/traxweek http://www.partek.fi/traxweek 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 must be readable and understandable. NO HIGH ASCII IS ALLOWED. Different country code pages cause major problems in international distribution, so we must stay with regular text. Contributions should be mailed as plain ascii text or filemailed (MIME/UUE only) to: gwie@owl.csusm.edu before 6:00pm EST (North America) every Wednesday. TraxWeekly does not discriminate based on age, gender, race, political preferences, religious preferences, or eliteness. For questions and comments, you can contact the TraxWeekly staff at: Editor: Psibelius (Gene Wie).................gwie@owl.csusm.edu Columnists: Atlantic (Barry Freeman).............as566@torfree.net DennisC (Dennis Courtney)............dennisc@community.net Island of Reil (Jesse Rothenberg)....jroth@owl.csusm.edu Master of Darkness (Todd Andlar).....maz@io.org Mhoram (John Niespodzianski).........niespodj@neonramp.com Trifixion (Tyler Vagle)..............trifix@northernnet.com Graphics: White Wizard (...)...................aac348@agora.ulaval.ca WWW Page: Dragunov (Nicholas St-Pierre)........dragunov@info.polymtl.ca TraxWeekly is a HORNET affiliation. Copyright (c)1995 TraxWeekly Publishing, All Rights Reserved. /-[END]--------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------/ . :: ::: : . ..... ..............................:::.................:.... ::: : :::: : .::::. .:::::.:::. ..:::: :::: : :: :: ::: .:: :: :: WW:::: : ::. :: ::: .:: :: .:: :::: : :::.::. ::: .:: .:: .:::::... :: :::.. ... ..: ... ..:::::::::::::::: .:: .::::::: :::::::: ::::::.. ::: ::: ::: : until next week! (= .. ... .. ....... ............... .................:..... .. . :