Editorial: April 2003

Hi and wlcome to a much delayed March Editorial. Delayed why? Well for many reasons many of them personal, but quite a bit to do with a sluggish computer that doesn't seem to like Remix64's admin too much. I haven't fixed the problem, but i have improved performance somewhat. As you may of notice we have just implemented a JAVA chat client at remix64. This is very handy for those who either dislike or don't understand Mirc. Simply Click on the link and enter your name and your in, chat away and talk to many people who already enjoy this feature using mirc. We understand that JAVA isn't suited to everyone and some systems do not quite get along with JAVA. But it's does give more options which hopefully helps get the chatroom even more active than what it is already. For those who don't get along with either Mirc or JAVA then it's not a matter of put up or shut, but shortly we'll be introducing another option. Yes, a 3rd option. Coming within the next few days we'll also have available a 100% PERL client. So the only excuse for not joining in the fun will be you 😊 On a personal note: i'd like to extend my thanks to everyone who has supported remix64. Sometimes the odd passing word makes so much of a difference, it raises morale and gives at least me a reason for being here. For those who have gone one step further and who have actually contributed to remix64 in some way, be it in either text form/proving webspace/designing clients, whatever. Your support has been invaluable and i cannot put words to our gratitude. Thanks guys.
Neil Carr

THE PULL ME IN FACTOR

I was lying in my bed, trying to get some of that stuff called sleep, when the Markus Schneider Shadow Skimmer debate came flooding into my mind. Why it suddenly popped into my mind at this time is quite literally beyond me, but alas it did and it prevented me from dropping off into the land of nod for a wee bit. I thought to myself well why is this remix at what I thought at that time was far below what it should be. I mean technically its outstanding and it’s orchestrated superbly. The track is by far the best laid out orchestral remixes available at RKO.

Then I wondered why Glyn’s firelord battles for the number 1 slot, when it’s technically inferior. Then it occured to me. Of course it’s not just about how well you set the tune out, but sometimes a tune needs to go much further than just being Technically impressive. You need to feel it; you need to be part of it. You need to be there. Orchestral music sets out a grand picture, and if you can’t be involved in a piece of music from within then no matter how well it’s done if fails.

After listening to both Glyn’s Firelord and Marklus’s Shadow Skimmer I knew why these two remixes were as far apart in the charts as they are. It’s not because Firelord is more popular than Shadow Skimmer in its SID for as has been questioned before. It’s also not because if we reset the charts they would appear differently positional wise. So what exactly is it? Well this part is very hard to explain but I’ll give it ago…

The warmth radiated by Firelord and the overall feel of the tune pulls you in, it makes you feel part of the piece, it welcomes you with open arms and says play me! Does the same happen with Shadow Skimmer? Well a little, but certainly not anywhere near as much as Firelord, and that’s where the difference lies. Firelord isn’t battling at the top of the charts for technical reasons; it’s there quite simply because of that PULL ME IN FACTOR!

Musicians may tend to have a slightly biased view here, they listen for sound quality, and they listen for technical prowess and tend to forget about that, Pull me in factor! Non-musicians and general fans of music are generally not interested in how professional the sound is and maybe not even understand what even goes behind a piece of music technically just want to hear a great piece of music. They will see things very much differently than a musician. Of course it goes without saying that quality of sound is important, but maybe not always as important than the feel of the tune itself.

To sum up, the phrase, PULL ME IN FACTOR I think describes the difference perfectly.


Back In Time Live Germany – what’s going on?

BIT Live Germany - June 2003 Hamburg
Man, can’t believe it’s April already…time’s running really fast this days…

Well, the official BIT Live Germany URL www.backintimelive.de is online after all, this was a long and hard fight with my provider (I warn you, don’t try out HanseNet – or you’re lost…).

So what happened to the Theme-Compo? It seems that competitions are not very popular in the remix-community. Like in the former competitions we’ve only become a few titles, thanx a lot to the diligent competitors. The winner will be announced the next days, the tracks (except the winning title) will be made public within April. As far as I know there will be some more themes who didn’t make it to the deadline, these will become some special tracks for the event itself (cause I think a track by O2 will be worth it, don’t you agree?).

As you may remember, we’ll be playing world-exclusively tracks from the forthcoming album ‘remix64 vol.2 Emotions’ and producer Neil gave me the chance to take a listen to the already finished pieces…wow, I was blown away. These guys really know how to make fat tracks, be prepared for some brilliant masterpieces.

Right now I’m in negotiations with some arse-kicking people concerning the BIT Live event and the reporting but it’s too early to tell you more. Keep watching the forum, if this thing is going to be successful EVERYBODY will talk about c64 music, hehe…

There are quite a lot important features revealed during April, so watching the remix64 forum (which is now the official forum due to the closing of c64audio’s forum) will be more fun than ever.

Get detailed information and upcoming news on the official homepage
www.backintimelive.de and the official forum
www.remix64.com/board/viewforum.php?f=15

Have a noisy April…

Dr. Future