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- ¼¼ ¼¼
- ¼¼ A short guide to the music and the "MEDPlayer" program. ¼¼
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-
- USING MED-PLAYER:
- ----------------
-
- - Double-click any of the song-icons to start both the song and the player
- (the player's icon has been deleted from the disk);
-
- - To change songs, just type the name of the new song you want to play in
- the "MEDPlayer" window (capitals aren't necessary), the press "return".
- The new song requires you to press the "Play" button on "MEDPlayer", in
- order for it to play;
-
- - "Play" plays a song from the beginning and "Stop" stops the song, while
- "Cont" continues the song from where it was stopped. Don't mess with the
- "MIDI" button, though, as it disrupts any song currently being played;
-
- - When you've finished playing the song/s you want to, close "MEDPlayer's"
- window, by clicking in its top left-hand corner;
-
- - If you wish to copy any of these songs onto another disk, you must also
- copy the "MEDPlayer" program as well. These songs are set-up to play only
- if "MEDPlayer" is in the same drawer - to change this arrangement, reset
- the songs' icon-defaults;
-
- - Songs can also be invoked from the CLI or within programs - refer to the
- songs' icon-defaults to pick-up a bit more about this; otherwise see the
- instructions in any copy of the "MED v.3.00" disk.
-
- THE SONGS:
- ---------
-
- I've selected five songs from each of my "MED-STARS" disks to present
- here: interested listeners can refer to these disks for full-descriptions
- of the songs, as well as the remaining 10 songs not featured here (I have
- yet to "clean-up" the "MED-STARS" versions of these songs, though).
-
- The songs were initially composed from late-February to late-April of
- 1991; various modifications have taken place since then.
-
- - "BALI" was inspired by a short stopover during my recent trip to Japan,
- bring back memories of my 1984 trip. It's an attempt to merge the "old"
- and "new" ways of life that are plainly visible there;
-
- - "PUNCH" is a hard-hitting funk-track with classical and rock overtones,
- the hard-funk aspect being influenced by the recent work of Miles Davis
- (who I enjoyed seeing playing live in 1988);
-
- - "REAL" makes the transition from sacred, through secular, to dance-floor
- before returning once more (though its "cycle" to the start is not quite
- a complete one);
-
- - "ACCENT" slowly evolves by a process of substituting the elements which
- make up its structure - a favourite composition-method of mine (and one
- that occasionally becomes necessary when using sequencers such as MED);
-
- - "JIMMY" is, as much for Page as (Jimi) Hendrix, a multi-tracked lament.
- I miss these "old-style" guitarists (as much as I used to emulate their
- respective styles with my own guitar-playing);
-
- - "SLAP" starts-out as a tight funk-track that gets progressively tighter,
- until something finally has to "give". This sets the mood for the series
- of variations which follow;
-
- - "POPPIES" is a medley of 1960's style "pop" songs, about falling in and
- out of love. In spite of the "coldness" of computer-music, I wanted to
- create an open, acoustic atmosphere here;
-
- - "HERE" is a progressive-rock song, based around the blues but taking it
- (or them) somewhere else entirely. This is one of my favourite tracks -
- due to its wide variety of moods and changes of pace;
-
- - "TIME" was written to while away the emptiness after a relationship went
- on the rocks. It paints a bleak picture, though harmonic and percussive
- inventions abound within its structure;
-
- - "SYNTH" is a vast, kaleidoscopic piece of dance-music - whose inception
- was preceded by a dream about "feelings of infiniteness". It provides a
- fitting close, therefore, to this huge collection of music.
-
- --------------------------
-
- These songs weren't composed to be anything special (other than a test
- of MED v.3.00) - yet they certainly turned-out that way; for, in spite of
- all the hype I've read about the various other "megademos" in the Public-
- Domain, nothing I've heard comes remotely comes close to doing what these
- tracks do.
-
- I've had some very positive feedback about these songs notwithstanding
- their unusual length and content - but I'd still like to hear from anyone
- with anything further to say about them, good or bad. It's only by getting
- such responses that I can continue to produce music of a level that is in
- accordance with critical standards.
-
- And, of course, don't forget to keep an eye - or ear - open for future
- music-releases in this range.
-