604 Music Disk by Mistigris & The Immortal Syndicate
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[eto]
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1 Welcome from the six-oh-four; 2 We've sent you songs we all adore;
that far-off place you oft ignore. a monster task not done before.
We hope our disk you will adore: With luck you'll not our work abhor -
let us entertain you. our pained travails won't pain you.
But I digress... the purpose of this project is not to read bad
poetry, but to listen to bad music. (cowers beneath shower of rotten
fruit) In all honesty, however, we'd like to think that we're offering
you, our distinguished hosts at the North American Demoparty (and beyond)
the finest unreleased musical fare that our areacode has to profess. If
you will allow us some sentimentality, however, one may see that the true
worth of this disk is far beyond the mere quality of the music (as well as
the graphics, code, and stunningly professional documentation)...
... if one goes beyond the superficial, one may notice that this disk
presents art from many different artists, yea, many different groups even.
The invisible walls holding back brothers in musical creation have been
torn down, chains shattered and old rivalries abandonned in the spirit of the
collaboration of an entire community! The triumph of uniting all the
creative forces in the province to stand proud before the continent is a
feat of brotherhood as yet unmatched which may stand in the annals of the
demoscene for years to come. We are an inspiration to us all 8).
Yes, I am finished ranting.
Is there anything unique about this disk, though? It may be noted that
this disk marks the first release of a major project under Sonic Equinox's
new ZiS Sound System, or that it contains the last song ever tracked by
Admiral Skuttlebutt before he sold his computer and moved away. It may
even be stuck in an infofile somewhere that this disk contains the final
work done by the members of EuphoniX outside of the studio. However, if it
were to be mentionned in an infofile such as this, it would have to be
slipped in fare more deftly and carefully than that, and we all know that
Cthulu is too lazy for such written trickery.
If you will look at the filedates, you may note that this project has
been ongoing for quite a long time... the process of collecting music,
asking permission, seeking aid, gathering graphics and remaining
politically diplomatic has been going on for seventeen months, since
shortly after the release of the first (and, to date, only) Mistigris
music disk, the Bells of Yule. Believe it or not, but despite the
lengths involved in careful cultivation of this disk, the programming
and assembling aspects of it have been underway for only somewhat less
than a month and a half.
We may not be as comparable in competition to a group which has been
preparing for this party since last year's, but we never intended to
release this at NAiD until some short time about a month and a half ago 8).
It is with such that we fall upon the feet of the judges... we have not
broken any ground, nor have we shattered any traditions... we would only
like to think that we have accomplished what we set out to do, back in
February of 1995, and accomplished the task of presenting gracefully and
effectively the best music by the best artists from the best groups of the
best gosh darn area code in the world (sniff sniff) ... the good ole 604.
Of course, nothing's _wrong_ with the 514.
Yes, I am finished ranting again. (...yet again?)
In case my turbulent monologues are beginning to get on your nerves,
here're some down-to-earth from Eto, the chief coder of the project.
-Cthulu
...
Well. I am shocked. Cthulu refers to me as the 'chief' coder, but
when I look around, I see that I'm the only coder. Well, it has been fun
nonetheless coding this beast; practically the entire thing was made in
about 3-4 weeks, including the Gravis routines for the sound system. I
am not going to say that there won't be any bugs. Frankly, I know there
will be (there always are!) However, you may not run into these bugs, nor
even notice them as they occur. Anyway, now for the dirty stuff you need to
know if you are having problems with running the 604 disk :
System Requirements:
386sx (it'll be choppy, but it has been known to work)
VGA video card
SB or GUS Sound Card
(it'll run WITHOUT a sound card, but that would be pointless)
Recommended System:
486dx2/66 (this is what it was made on)
VESA 1.1 compatable SVGA card or VESA driver
GUS Sound Card
If you do not have enough memory on your system to run the disk,
it will give you an error, and return you to dos. Check your memory
that you have available with the list below, and adjust your configuration
to fit the requirements.
If the system keeps on giving you these messages, and you HAVE the
necessary requirements, check to make sure you have all of the files in
the right place, and that you have all the disks for this.
Typical memory requirements (approximate) :
Gravis Ultrasound :
- 550k (563000 bytes) of Conventional Memory
- 512k memory on-board the GUS
SB 16, (16 bit mixing, STEREO), 44khz :
- 580k (594000 bytes) of Conventional Memory
- 512k of Extended (XMS) memory
SB PRO (8 bit mixing, STEREO), 22khz :
- 570k (584000 bytes) of Conventional Memory
- 512k of Extended (XMS) memory
SB 1.0/1.5/2.0 (8 bit mixing, MONO), 22khz :
- 565k (578000 bytes) of Conventional Memory
- 512k of Extended (XMS) memory
NO SOUND :
- 545k (558080 bytes) of Conventional Memory
- 512k of Extended (XMS) memory
Fortunately, it will run with substancially less than the ammounts
specified. UNfortunately, not everything will work. If something seems
not to be right, then it would usually be the case of insufficient memory.
If you have problems doing stuff within the program, it means you are
lacking CONVENTIONAL memory. If you are not able to play certain songs,
you do not have enough Gravis or XMS memory, depending on your sound card.
If it doesn't detect your sound card properly, answer 'N' to the
"Use these settings?" question at startup, and you will be asked all of
the information on your card. If you have a Sound blaster, you will be
asked for the "Mixing Rate", which has a range from 5000 to 44100,
depending on your sound card. A higher rate means more slowdown, and more
memory requirements, and a lower rate is opposed to that. A Sound Blaster
also REQUIRES that you have your BLASTER environment set. To do this,
consult your manual.
The disk has been tested under Microsoft Windows 3.1, and
it seemed to run fine, but it is strongly recommended that you run
from DOS. Desqview, however, interferes with the VESA routines, and
will not work properly. Since I don't have Win 95 or OS/2, I couldn't
test with them, but I am sure it would work fine with the proper setup.
For help on Keyboard and Mouse functions, press F1 while in the
Hexagon Selection Screen, -OR- look at the file "604.HLP".
I hope this helps you out a bit when running the disk. We have
tried to make the program simple to operate, and we hope you find it
a bit more simple that it was to create.
-Eto
...
Of course, if we _really_ wanted to make it simple and effective to
operate, we'd have given you a copy of DMP and a batch file or two. But
we wanted packaging to show off the music... (or is the music designed to
exhibit the fine code? Aha... they both are in place merely to further
the viewership of this fine piece of documentation... must be the only
explanation.)
It is interesting to note the exact headings under which the songs by
particular artists have been included. It was difficult to know exactly
which song should go where when one considers that many artists are in
and have been in several of the participant groups... for instance, Zinc
is currently a member of Sonic Equinox, and it was during this period that
he wrote his most recent track (specifically for this disk)... yet it is
included under the Radiance section, as is his other track, which was
composed while he was in between groups.
Segregation of this manner, while not neccessarily chronological,
serves a further purpose in illustrating the diverse musical origins and
backgrounds of the various musicians. The entire presenting roster of
EuphoniX and Digitallusions, for instance, were members of Mistigris at
last sight, yet they all have their songs beneath the heading of their
original group. It is not entirely accurate, but such is the tedious
administration of a music disk. (And you thought it was easy...
I won't even go into the union agreements and the health plan...)
What was that about my ranting? Oh, yes... Now for a paraphrasal of
The Pope in regard to the technical process of song selection and
inclusion, for those of you who might be interested:
-Cthulu
...
All submissions were critically listened to, with the choice of
appropriate submissions for inclusion into the disk, keeping in mind that
the disk should:
a) reflect the 604 music scene and its constituent groups
b) showcase the best unreleased music we have to offer
c) contain many songs in a variety of musical styles
d) maintain a reasonable level of professionalism, while realisizing
that this is an amateur activity
e) be of a reasonable size to ensure its distribution and longevity
For the songs that have been chosen, where necessary, the following
have been effected upon them:
1. Unused channels deselected, removing initialization from them
2. Patterns and order list sorted, discarding those patterns left unused
3. Some non-percussion samples re-tuned
4. Bass drum, snare drum, and bass guitar center-panned
5. Minor sample subsitutions and volume changes performed
We have taken special care to ensure that the following has not happened:
x. altering of the fundamentals of the song: structure, melody, harmony,
etc.
x. altering of your embedded comments
...
At least that's what I told the musicians... - The Pope
...
It may be pointed out that a few artists with work present in this
disk, notably the music of Fritz and the high-resolution artwork of
Thanatos, do not in actuality inhabit the area code of 604 but rather that
of the 502 - Kentucky. However, they are members of Mistigris, a group which
was begun - and remains most puissant to this day - in the 604 area code.
(Just so all you little lawyers-in-training can put down your book of
loopholes and go back to sleep.)
Hm? This is called a music disk, not a 4-disk presentation of
Cthulu's deranged and [erverse rants? Oh, all right... I'll go...
Just one last morality quip before I do, though - next time you
listen to a song, view an ANSI picture or whatever your cyber-fetish may
be, appreciate the works of the individual artist, regardless of whatever
affiliation may be tagged upon the end of their handle. Art can only be
truely understood through the unbiased mind.
- Cthulu - 1996
...
DID YOU ENJOY THIS MUSIC DISK?
Did you feel that the songs of any one group grossly outweighed the
puny endeavors of all of the others, qualitatively as well as
quantitatively? Feel like alternately congratulating them, condemning
them, or merely learning more about them and their past works, in a
gathering of illicit knowledge to aid you someday in the far future when
you know that you and they must come at odds?
Well, here are the boards where members of the various groups can be
reached. And remember - if you don't know the area code, you haven't been
paying attention.
Digitronic - Total Eclipse ][ - 451-0524 -
the Immortal Syndicate - The Pelvis of Elvis - 324-8763 -
Mistigris - The Screaming Tomato - 430-8806 -
Sonic Equinox - Entrance to Obscurity - 525-2767 -
And in case you don't want to demean yourself by calling actual,
petty, grubby, human-operated bulletin board systems, here are their WWW
pages:
Digitronic - http://www.wimsey.com/~johng/digitronic.html
the Immortal Syndicate - http://www.mortimer.com/users/pcme/iS.htm
Mistigris - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/1758/mist.html
Sonic Equinox - http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/3383
...
HOLD ON JUST A MOMENT, what about those other 604 groups?
Information on all participating groups can be found in acompanying
.NFO files located in the group sub-directories, but a small elaboration
is in order on the other music-producing groups of the 604 which, through
failure of communication, lack of desire, software incompatibilities or
time constraints were inable to contribute to the epic piece of multimedia
presented here. Maybe next year, guys...?
Dream Factory
This group, founded by Silent Knight to create computer-published
comic books, has managed nevertheless to attract a few loyal members
caught up in the experimentation of those discovering all the aspects of
computer art. Keep learning, guys. Fresh blood is good stuff, as
Radiance proved.
Happy Fetus Records
Perhaps the oldest established music group remaining active in the
604, this group of close hacker friends prides itself on the closeness of
its members and their irreverance to scene politics... as such, it was
difficult to impress upon the majority of its members the desire to
participate in a task such as this one. The most well-known former member
of Happy Fetus Records is Onyx of Sonic Equinox, who was just as prolific
back then too 8).
Spice
This was proposed as a releasing alternative to certain members of
HFR who were interested in working with less experienced and foreign
trackers through the use of the Internet.
Synthesizers
Headed by former Mistigris member Professor Pukoid, this group
concentrates on conversions of saccharine pop tunes to sappy modules.
They try to stay away from politics in general as well, so this project
hardly appealed to them.
Independants
There have always been a few who have been proud enough to resist
the temptation to join an established group and cunning enough to resist
the divine attraction of the creation of a group, and it looked for a
while like we might have featured some songs by independant artists...
then they (Zinc) had to burst our bubble and join Sonic Equinox.
(Actually, it wouldn't have made that much of a difference, as we were
releasing his songs under the classification of Radiance anyway.)
That's about it for last minute stuff.
[fin]
[ back to the prod ]