From: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org (alloy-digest) To: alloy-digest@smoe.org Subject: alloy-digest V2 #66 Reply-To: alloy@smoe.org Sender: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-alloy-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "alloy-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. alloy-digest Monday, April 21 1997 Volume 02 : Number 066 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Alloy: Cruel and Sarah MacLachlan [Monya De ] Alloy: Those creaking old bones... [cekemp@netcom.com (Charles E. Kemp)] Re: Alloy: Those creaking old bones... [Monya De Subject: Alloy: Cruel and Sarah MacLachlan Has anyone attempted to pick out chords or notes for the song Cruel--especially the female part??? If you have let me know (even a head start would be cool) . It would be really helpful. Also, a side note. I was just listening to Sarah Maclachlan (sp?)'s CD Fumbling Towards Ecstasy and noticed that the intro to #3 sounds like it jumped right off The Ascent of Man or something else on The Gate! If you have the CD, listen ... Monya ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 03:13:19 -0400 (EDT) From: BugRoom@aol.com Subject: Re: Alloy: Cruel and Sarah MacLachlan Hello all! Monya, and anyone else... I'd be happy to transcribe both the chords and melody lines to "Cruel". Just let me know at . I'll send you manuscript. Of course this could cross copyright lines. I dunno (never studied the law of fear of flying and gravity). Love, Johnny (bug) ps - If we could make this a big legal thing... I'd be happy to make manuscript books for every album... if that hasn't yet been done. With all parts transcribed... or a simplification thereof for 2 hands piano... and guitar changes like you always get with those books. I'd rather transcribe ALL parts so people can learn and start to write like this amazing brilliant man. Whatever. :) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 10:49:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Brian Clayton Subject: Alloy: Beatnik news A friend of mine forwarded this press release/news item/whatever to me. At the risk of bringing down the wrath of the copyright gods, I post it here for your reading pleasure. BC (PS: if I see *one more* play on the phrase "blinded by..." in a TD article, I'll...I'll...*sigh*...never mind.) - --- Wednesday April 9 1:16 PM PST Thomas Dolby blinded by computers, hooked on the Net By Sean Silverthorne At the dawn of the 1980s, Thomas Dolby reprogrammed a German-made disco lighting console. He used signals from the pulsing lights--on/off, just like the computer world's binary beat--to pioneer a kind of electronic music that culminated in his hit, "She Blinded Me With Science." Now he is on a new quest: to blind us with computer science. His mission is to bring rich stereo sound to the Internet, and he already has a hit. His Headspace Inc. one week ago announced it will license technology to Sun Microsystems Inc. to be the de facto sound engine in the Java programming language. That deal potentially could put Beatnik, the code name for the technology, into regular use by tens of millions of computer users starting in 1998. It's just like the old days, when Dolby was a chart topper and pioneering music video artist on the fledgling MTV network. "To be messing with software now gives one the old sense of excitement," said Dolby, who now goes by Thomas Dolby Robertson to avoid confusion with the other sound company. At the JavaOne developers conference last week, Robertson stood out like, well, a pop star at a programmers show. In a light tweed suit, black turtleneck and black beret topping a balding pate, Robertson bopped from booth to booth talking tech and passing out business cards. In fact, Robertson is only partly comfortable in this realm. "It's a bit of a stretch for me to do stuff that geeks like," he said. But he also seems a perfect ambassador between Hollywood creative types and Silicon Valley tech twiddlers. "I can talk art and talk technology just enough to be dangerous," he said. Robertson and partner Mary Coller first blipped on the computer industry's radar in 1993. Headspace, they announced, would create music and sound for CD-ROM titles. It seemed a perfect marriage of his talents. So when he appeared on a panel with Silicon Graphics Inc. and Netscape Communications Corp. founder Jim Clark, who was spouting off about something called Mosaic, Robertson paid Clark no mind. Not for long. Now the Web has become what many thought CD-ROMs would be: the next mass market vehicle for entertainment and information. So last year Headspace made its move on the Net by acquiring Igor's Software Laboratories, developers of much of what now is Beatnik. Beatnik, or The Headspace Audio Engine, is software that enables a computer and other digital devices equipped with a SoundBlaster 16 card to play high-quality sound effects, voices and music. More than that, it allows a composer to specify exactly how an instrument will sound, what instruments will be used and how they will be mixed. The music sounds consistently as intended on any platform. Advertisers are warming to the possibilities, too. Seven Up's Web site, now under redesign for debut April 16, will use Beatnik to play the familiar "It's An Up Thing" jingle in a memorable way. As you roll your mouse over a map of the United States, the song changes. In Miami, it features a saucy Latin mix; in Chicago, a blues beat; and in Seattle, a grunge version takes over. "This is a breakthrough method of playing music on the Internet," said Holly Mensch, senior brand manager for Seven Up. By enabling more music-driven features, Beatnik will help the company better connect with its target audience of 18- to 24-year-olds, she said. That enthusiasm was hard won, however. As he started to shop Beatnik around digital town, Robertson's celebrity opened doors in the computer industry--but not wallets. "Most of these companies would say, 'Do I have 2 hours to hear what Thomas Dolby has to say about sound on the Internet? Why not?'" said Robertson. But interest didn't translate into deals. Then he got smart. Instead of pitching the technical merits of Beatnik, Robertson positioned the technology as a money-saving strategy for makers of margin-starved thin client devices, such as Web TV boxes. When sound was first used in movies, Robertson said, Harry Warner sweetened theater owners on the new technology by explaining that movies with sound tracks would save them the $200 a night spent hiring an orchestra. WebTV Networks Inc. was Headspace's first customer, followed by Be Inc. Sun's endorsement on April 2, he said, is "massive--it's the key to the city." He won't reveal licensing terms, or whether the deal will make Headspace profitable. For many companies, he said, URL stands for ubiquity now, revenues later. Now Robertson wants to dream up new applications for the technology. He plans to license some of the technological framework associated with Beatnik to programmers and musicians. And he would like to see his technology, combined with the inexpensive distribution mechanism of the Internet, free musicians from the power exerted by the music studios. "I'm very interested in providing an alternative distribution for musicians. Maybe 1 percent of musicians now have an audience," he said. For now, Robertson has put his own music on the shelf to concentrate on business. He moved his wife and children from Los Angeles to a more family-friendly house by the Pacific Ocean in the San Francisco Bay Area. An avid wind surfer, Robertson has placed Headspace's offices in San Mateo, Calif., just 10 minutes from prime wind surfing territory in the San Francisco Bay. Robertson and friends monitor wind conditions via the Internet, then jump out for some sailing when the wind blows and time allows. In time, he'll get back to music. The role of CEO is not one he relishes. Playing in a small club "would be like an aspirin after all the headaches of a start-up," he said. - --- Brian Clayton "Mystery Science Theater 3000 is brought to you stemish@kumr.lns.com by Pepto Bismol." -- Sci-Fi Channel ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 21:36:07 -0700 (PDT) From: cekemp@netcom.com (Charles E. Kemp) Subject: Alloy: Those creaking old bones... I recently had the displeasure of going back to my university for a visit, only to find that all my old hangouts were either closed or taken over by new ownership. I felt old. REAL old. Then it happened. Something that turned my whole world inside out. What, you ask can take a heart that's already been ripped apart by the ravages of time and make it even worse? I heard "I Scare Myself" on the Muzak at my part time job. A few years ago, I remember hearing an old Clapton tune over the same sound system and thinking "HA! Bet the Boomers are going nuts over that!". There are few things in this world that I enjoy more than seeing the "Don't trust anyone over 30" set get reminded that they are now all well past 30. I didn't think it wouldn't ever happen to me. I expected it. I even sort of looked forward to it. But now that it has happened, it saddens me, mostly because I've not quite yet reached my 27th birthday. PLEASE put an end to this if you can, TMDR. Don't let your fans get old before their time. And thanks for listening to me vent, Alloy-ites. :) ****** Charles E. Kemp ****** cekemp@netcom.com ****** (812) 597-5950 ****** Just for the sake of it make sure you're always frowning, it shows the world that you've got substance and depth. - Neil Tennant ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 20 Apr 1997 21:41:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Monya De Subject: Re: Alloy: Those creaking old bones... > > I heard "I Scare Myself" on the Muzak at my part time job. > > The exact same thing happened to me one summer, and heck, I'm not even 20. Monya ------------------------------ End of alloy-digest V2 #66 **************************