TW #105 — Interview With A Couple Of Newbies (Behemoth)
Behemoth interviews two beginners — Exokai (Dan Aley, 13, San Diego, a month in the scene) and Sonalore (Kevin Malin, 15, Marietta GA, listening for a year and a half, tracking for a year without a release) — "to give you a glimpse of the scene through the eyes of a newbie".
Key claims#
- Trackers: Sonalore uses scream-tracker-3 ("started out with it and didn't feel like learning FT, and IT doesn't work on my system"); Exokai uses impulse-tracker for its fewer limitations on orders and channels — "even though I'll probably never break limitations of ST3, it gives me a feeling of power".
- Both were introduced to modules by friends ("mods are better" than MIDI); Exokai learned about demos on #trax. Both feel well treated on #trax, at worst ignored.
- What makes a good module: a catchy tune that stays in your head (Exokai); regular drum beats, a good sound with "not too many channels", music that lifts the spirit (Sonalore). Exokai hates hard one-sided panning, "especially drums … it hurts my ears".
- Drum loops: "bad" — tracked drums are more personal (Sonalore); fine "if the composer made the sample" (Exokai).
- How they track: random notes until an idea appears, percussion only when it is already in the head (Exokai); patterns from a sample set joined later, or a keyboard jam built into a song (Sonalore). Weak points: percussion (Exokai); chords and leads, and finishing a song (Sonalore).
- Heroes: Necros ("GOD status"), Basehead, Nemesis, Comet, Sandman; favourite modules Solace 2, Shadow Caster, Last Ballad, Rhythm Seclusion, My Place in Space. On the Purple Motion / Lizardking / Riku era: "potential has [improved], but mods have stayed about the same in quality".
- Windows 95 vs DOS trackers (1997): keep DOS, add Linux (Exokai); DOS for now, Windows "a necessary evil" (Sonalore).
- Advice: "Don't upload to hornet 'til you're experienced! I made the terrible, cocky mistake of uploading my first tune" (Exokai); "keep trying" (Sonalore).
Practical takeaways#
- Beginner pain points in 1997 — percussion, chords, leads, finishing — map onto rhythm-and-groove, diatonic-chords, melody-writing and tracking-workflow.
- Do not release your first song to the main archive.
Relevance#
The learner's-eye view that the tips articles address; evidence that ST3 was still the beginner's tracker in mid-1997 and that IT's limits (not its features) were its draw.
Pages touched#
tracking-workflow, scream-tracker-3, impulse-tracker, necros, basehead, hornet, stereo-panning.