Test
Sent from the Jesus phone; behold the prophecy!
Test
Sent from the Jesus phone; behold the prophecy!
I’ve noticed the trees have started to turn golden, but there are some very special trees on my way to work that grab your full attention. This is one of the first to turn out of a row of about a dozen, must return with the DSLR one weekend to get some larger photos. Seasons are great!
A very kind person has supplied me with a corker, if I have enough bottles (I need roughly 6 bottles) I will bottle the elderflower champagne this week.
A Brief History of Mac System Sounds – Eep!
Stumbled across this site after fellow twitter mentioned he was taking part this weekend
http://www.mudrunner.co.uk/the-classic—17th-october-2010—event-details.html
A snippet of conversation in the office got me thinking about the chime you hear everytime you start up a mac, so much so I wanted to find out a bit more:
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9370716&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0
OMT in San Francisco #3: ‘Let it beep’ from One More Thing on Vimeo.
http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/tiny-music-makers-pt-4-mac-startup.html
The Mac startup sound wasn’t a $$$ marketing exercise. It was a hack that was quietly dropped into the machine by an engineer with a home studio…
This [mp3] famous Mac startup sound (still installed in every new Mac) was recorded Jim Reekes, and first used on the Quadra 700, which launched in 1991 costing $7,000.
Jim’s most famous pop-culture moment was the scene in Jurassic Park where the park’s computers are all rebooted with his sound. But it’s most awesome musical use is as the bassline in Transformer di Roboter’s ace cover of ‘Stranger in Moscow’ – here [mp3]
“The startup sound was done in my home studio on a Korg Wavestation. It’s a C Major chord, played with both hands stretched out as wide as possible (with 3rd at the top, if I recall). This just sounded right to me. I wanted something really fat, heavy bass, high notes, and a sharp attack. The chiffy sound was from pan pipes and something like a stick hit (I’m testing my memory here). I wanted lots of evolving timbres, stereo phasing, and reverb for further richness.”
“Mac people are very familiar with the sound, after restarting their machines too often. In fact, that was one of the issues I was conscious of when designing the sound. Turning the Mac on is one thing, but being forced to reboot from a crash is a totally different experience. I wanted to avoid a sound that would be associated with the crash. I wanted it to sound more like a “palette cleanser”.
“After I changed the startup sound (which required much persuasion and working around the system) the ROM engineers continued changing it with each new machine. Some of them were weak, such as the Stanley Jordon guitar strum used on the first PowerMacs. I objected to it, because that sound had no “power”. The engineer wasn’t a recording engineer, and not familiar enough with audio. The sound was hallow and without depth. When Steve Jobs returned in 1997, I heard he wanted only one sound for all Macs. He wanted the “good one” which was the one I created. At least that’s how I heard the story, and I was still working there at the time.”
If you’re concerned that you don’t know enough about vintage Mac Startup sounds, I can recommend Mactracker, which runs on Mac or PC.
Plan to take full advantage of the van next year with a summer biking trip to the alps, fed up with British weather, and views like this are just too tempting!
Not sure really where to go? The above shot is of Morzine, which seems a popular choice. Have quite a bit of research to do. Do we need a guide? Would prefer some following singletrack and not mad descents.