Benga speaks on mental illness stigma, The Black Madonna writes about the plight of small labels, and is reel-to-reel tape the vinyl killer?
How Oldschool Sound and Music Worked. YouTubers The 8-Bit Guy and The Obsolete Geek explain how sounds and music were produced on the the first home computers and video game consoles, covering three different eras of computer music: the internal speaker, FM synthesis, and PCM samples. They isolate individual voices from early games, explaining how they were made, and examining how early game developers innovated within the technical limitations of their systems. Watch above.
Benga Speaks On Club Culture Mental Illness Stigma. “Nobody wants to come clean, let alone an artist.” Diagnosed with bi-polar disorder (“brought on by drug use”) and schizophrenia (“due to excessive touring”) last year, dubstep pioneer Benga has taken a break from his DJ career to focus on his family and, in a series of messages, has spoken out about the mental health issues of club culture – the Guardian tells the full story here.
Seth Troxler Helps Feed Homeless. “People shouldn’t be hungry.” Amsterdam Dance Event talks to Seth Troxler in Ibiza about food, volunteering and the power of unity in the dance community, before Seth joins forces with ADE and walk-in shelter De Regenboog Groep to feed the homeless people of Amsterdam an expensive three-course lunch on Wednesday October 14th. Read the interview here.
Buy Seth’s Dress. Fabric is auctioning a dress worn by DJ Seth Troxler at the club’s 14th birthday celebration two years ago, to raise funds for Seth’s chosen cause, housing and homeless charity Shelter. Following a warning from eBay, the dress has now been washed. Check out the auction and bid here.
The Black Madonna On Beatport. Chicago-based DJ, producer and ex-employee of Beatport, Marea Stamper, aka The Black Madonna, describes a change towards corporate ruthlessness in Beatport’s business practices, and the effects that this and large-scale investment in dance culture generally has on the viability of small labels as businesses. She goes on to hope for a renaissance as EDM’s reign comes to a end, in her article for Crack magazine, here.
Is Reel-to-reel Tape The Vinyl-Killer? They require hardly any signal processing in their creation, provide a greater dynamic range than vinyl, have an extraordinary sound at the frequency extremes, and reproduce sound with very little of the mechanical distortion that vinyl turntables tend to produce. The Verge guides retro audiophiles through the vinyl-killing reel-to-reel tape trend, here.
Mosca Apologises For Offensive Remix. “Wtf is this cack man. put some fecking effort in ffs.” Following criticism of a remix from SoundCloud user Kris Montgomery, London producer Mosca offers a very tongue-in-cheek apology: “I am ashamed to have hurt so many people: Kris Montgomery, my family, my country, my colleagues, my friends, the Global raving community and many others…” Read the full apology via Mosca’s Facebook post, here.