1) PERSONAL ------------ Chris Wright. aka THE RAVEN A little about me..........(it`s my bloody work, why shouldn`t I indulge?) I am 27 years old and have been writing songs for some 10 years now. I play drums, bass, keyboards and a little guitar and have gigged all around the U.K. and Sweden with minor successes here and there, in- cluding supporting the Billy Idol fronted punk band `Generation X` on their 1981 U.K. tour - brilliant days! Since then I`ve had various bands, duos, cabaret outfits etc., and have written loads of relatively unheard material, apart from the odd track on punk compilation L.P.`s in the early 80`s and more recently the odd song on some Scandinavian m-o-r album! `Songs` is the keyword here I feel, you`ll probably note that most of my mods are structured as actual `songs` - e.g. verse, chorus, middle 8 etc. This is because I always have definite lyrical ideas for the mods. Indeed, a lot of them are dumped onto my portastudio and have vocals added in order to, shall I say, `complete the process`. You`ll note that I always substitute my vocal line with a lead in- strument. Sometimes this is hard, as I only ever use 4 tracks of Octamed. Frankly, 8 tracks sounds crap! Even if I could afford a faster processor, doubtless you lot couldn`t!!! I`m still striving to find the right partner to compliment my stuff - preferably a good vacalist/guitar player who is willing to try all types of music but basically wants to earn some dosh! Hey, I`ve still got time - I`m not bald yet you know! So, if any of you fancy a go (seriously) drop me a cassette or mod or something, O.K? Here`s the criteria:- GIRLS - must look like Stephanie Beacham, Shelley Long, Catherine Zeta Jones or Denise from Coronation Street and if possible have the voluptuous contours of Lindi St Clair! (the leather is optional). BOYS - must sing like Scott Walker, Marc Almond, Colin Vearncombe (Black) or Julian Cope (alias `God`). Mick Hucknall soundalikes (or lookalikes - aargh!) need not apply! Anyway, back to my profile........ I gave up music completely a couple of years ago when the baliff had a `co-incidence` with all my gear. Basically, I`d lost all interest in music until I got my Amiga and a copy of MED. I started writing with it almost immediately, graduating to Octamed, and I`d now never use anything else. I like to think my modules are unique - simply because they are full `songs`. To me, `Rave` music is mindless thrash, much like a punk for the 90`s. I`ve had my go at punk and now I like to try and write nice melodies - after all, who can get the old `shivers up the spine` feeling from some Belgian knuckle head singing through a brass funnell about `pumping up the technological break box`? Anyway, folks, hope you enjoy this disk, number 2 of our compilations. Number 1 and all future releases are available from th info addresses. One final thing:- I chose the name `The Raven` simply because it is the title of my favourite album by my favourite band - The Stranglers! Bye for now RAVEN - Jan. 1993 ---------------------------------------------------------- 2) GIZZA JOB ------------- At the moment I am employed on a piss poor wage as a storeman at IBM in Manchester. Basically, I`m desperate to get into computer music commercially - I could, and would, write music all night long if I was paid for it! Although most of my mods are songs, I can also write `mood` music and `instrumentals` if need be. I believe that as the music business and the computer songs business are on a collision course, then my personal style - `songs` rather than library music - is perfectly suited. I am prepared to work in-house or at home, and if need be, work for minimalis- tic wages until I establish myself. Although i`m mainly interested in `commercial` software outfits, I am prepared to listen to offers of work from any good pd/demo groups. I`m also available for reviewing music software in magazines, and will even turn my hand to `production` duties for young bands etc. (YES, I- do know my way around a mixing desk!) So, if anyone can drag me away from my life of no-cash and eternal - -dullness, please contact me at the address in the `information` file. RAVEN - JAN `93. ------------------------------------------------- 3) THE MODS ------------ `MOSCOW`. This started with the intro piano sound. it`s a simple descending chord sequence - Am - G - F - Esus4 - E. I thought it gave a rather `cold` yet `strong` feel, hence the title. certainly one of my personal favourites this. `IT COULD BE HEAVEN`. Yes, as the long title suggests, this was written as a song, .. the intro synth riff suggested the title .."it.. could .. be.. heaven".. etc etc. the hook on this I feel, lies in the key changing chorus, throwing in the odd key change always gives a song an uplift, young songwriters - - take note! `LIFE`. Again, a song. This started out with the chorus riff- a nice chord sequence - Em7 - Bm7 - Cmaj7 - Bm. (note that the actual `chord` samples are simple minors/majors - more about this later - but they are made into sevenths etc through the note being played by the bass or other counter melodic instrument. `LEGEND`. This is, I feel, a lovely and evocatve piece of music. Sometimes i dither about which instrument should carry the melody, on this mod, I tried everything,finally settling for the accoustic guitar which does the job perfectly. No I aint gonna give you the chord sequence for this tune, but its simple enough to suss out.! ==================================== FOOTNOTE. ALTHOUGH I DO NOT HAVE AN OFFICIAL PUBLISHING DEAL , I DO HAVE A CLOSE FRIEND IN THE BUSINESS WHO, SHALL WE SAY, "TAKES CARE" OF MY COPYWRITES. I SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON MY COMPOSITIONS AND I DON`T TAKE KINDLY TO TUNE THIEVES IF ANYONE WANTS TO USE A TUNE IN A PROG ETC, THEN PLEASE CONTACT ME FIRST. RAVEN - JAN`93. ======================================= 4) ODDMENTS ----------- As stated, these mods were all created on OCTAMED V 4.01. In order to view the notations/messages etc, you must load them through Octamed 3 or 4, DECRUNCHING them first if you only have 1 meg! If you are playing these mods (or ANY mods for that matter) through moveable speakers, try and bring them together,or, if you have the option, switch to MONO mode,and alter frequencies accordingly. I always feel that the whole rythm track coming out one side, with the whole melody track coming from the other, sounds.. well.. CRAP really! Regarding `chord` samples. As I only ever use our friend PAULA - (the internal sound chip) to make music, I would very much appreciate some new chord samples. Not the usual major/minor stuff though, how about some maj7ths or sus4s for a change? even the odd diminished chord would be welcome,and would open a lot of new doors for us dedicated composers! I gurantee that any `contributers` will get credits in future FOP releases! I have tried using a (admittidly cheap) sampler myself,but my samples are always so memory hungry!!! why? A very important note for pd houses and end users alike... PLEASE KEEP THIS DISK INTACT. The reason for this is thus... OCTAMEDPLAYER is a very clever modplayer which,obviously, caters for all the comlexities of the Octamed program. As these modules were composed on Octamed,then they can only be played back to full effect THROUGH their OWN player. If anyone should play these modules through an `alien` player then there is a chance that the tuning of the samples,and also the individual volume settings, portmento etc will be LOST. This will make my hours of careful composition sound like a load of amatuer rubbish. therefore, please take heed... KEEP DISK INTACT. thank you. RAVEN - JAN `93. ------------------------------- 5) TEIJO KINNUNEN ----------------- Hello Teijo, thank you so much for your kind comments and words of encouragement regarding FOP 1. We hope you enjoy this compo just as much. As you are always looking for ideas to expand Octamed, how about this.. What I feel is needed on Octamed is a simple to use effects panel, consisting of echo, flange, reverb, chorus,and most importantly - REVERB. An addition like this will put Octamed right up with the high priced music software. Maybe, if it`s not possible to write into the program, you could write it as an Octamed FX extras disk? What do you think? ----------------------------------------------- - 6) GREETS --------- HELLO`S TO.. PHANTOM...JFX (HEY MAN GET SOME MELODY!!).. CHRIS K... LINDI... VLADIMIR KARAMASKI (WRITE TO ME SOON).. MOLLY JO .. KNUCK... KEITH AT KEW || ... BLADE .. TANIA .... AND ALL GOOD AMIGA COMPOSERS EVERYWHERE. FOP are looking for another musician so send disks to me (RAVEN). Over and out. F ================ O =================== P