zabutom - where do i start? (2004)

It’s widely accepted that noise and music are two different things.
But what actually is music? Is it just mere entertainment, the true origin of human language, or simply a function of evolution?
And what is noise? Is it pollution of our acoustic ecology, “unwanted” sounds, electrical hums, clicks and static, or just a random stream of numbers?
We seem to understand what both these words mean.
I believe that noise has it’s place in music, or at the very least as an element of electronic music production.
That’s why I loaded the Fast Tracker II executable file into itself as audio and experimented with it as a rhythmical element in “where do I start?” In 2004, and also included a part of "pure noise". During an experiment, the outcome is unknown. I think I got mixed reactions on the noise part.
Released in the musicdisk "iHyper" by Backtrack.
During a period where you could suddenly "access" any kinds of weird music on the internet, I discovered that "noise" was actually a musical genre and found it intriguing.
#chiptune #demoscene #8bit #idm #breakbeat #noise

[@MunkiZee]

Zabutom asking the real questions, and providing us with a great soundtrack to ponder the answers. Love to watch the instructions scroll on screen too, nothing beats that

[@SunflowerSeedYtpmv]

it feels very warm and human if that's the right word

[@DanIsNotHome]

Thank you algorithm for sending me your way, I love it

[@slebbish]

Brings back warm memories when this was released. Liked it so much that I burned the tune to a CD so I could blast it in my car when riding early in the morning to work. Sunrises through a crowded city. Tracker visualization is quite beautiful for the tune as well. Thank you Zabutom!

[@zabutom]

Wow that's great! I'm glad to hear that, thank you. Cool that you still remember such an obscure track by now!

[@zaxolotl]

I had never heard this song until you posted it here, and now it is quickly becoming one of my favorites its so glitchy and fun and catchy!!! and the percussion is just amazing it's giving me some aphex twin vibes i love it a lot

[@fahnkymuncke7439]

Oh, where do I even begin Lebron.

[@EWARS_2]

Boing ping boom tschak ping

[@zabutom]

Tschackk b-b-Boing b-boing!

[@szczawix876]

another amazing song from one of the most talented chiptune musicians. kinda reminds me of aphex twin tbh

[@neandrewthal]

Yes thank you Algorithm. I have been out of the scene ever since 8 bit collective went down but I still have some of your songs from back in the day and enjoy them when I hear them.

[@jennykarate]

this would be swagnasty for a caving game

[@sylvoen]

i've always been interested in the idea of using raw data from things like .exe files as audio samples in music but i've never heard it done before or gotten around to trying it myself so this is really nice to hear

[@metrolynn973]

inspirational...in love with this type of soft buzzy sound

[@zabutom]

Glad to hear that!

[@orjis]

Oh this is lovely! nice utilization of noise and a lovely melody aswell!

[@matthias_music]

that melody is a total earworm, i'll be hummin this all day.

[@whiteoutTM]

Very complex and interesting! This is one of those songs where you keep noticing new sounds every time you hear it. I wish it was on spotify with your other songs…

[@cybeasts]

this makes me want to actually commit to learning fasttracker 2

[@saltedmutton7269]

sounds nice dude! breakbeat chiptunes is something i didn't know i needed i like your description too about noise - using files as samples can have some cool results sometimes actually for a little loop i did a bit ago, i took a file and looped a little section of it - with some pitch bend it makes a suprisingly convincing guitar!

[@saxxonpike]

Been a fan of your tunes since meeting on IRC all those years ago. Thanks for the uploads and the nice messages during playback! :) Still use FT2 and Milky even today.

[@bughosbn]

such a fun listen. so many layers and rhythms going on all around 😵‍💫 genuinely so impressive

[@xykaeytpmv]

this is amazingly cool, always love me some experimental minimalist music

[@humanbeing_]

Incredible album. Cheers!

[@nutzeeer]

Tracker music is peak

[@kraktjoetv]

absolutely lovely

[@drumticks]

Absolutely addicting sound. Så galet snyggt gjort asså.

[@PerplexPlays]

gem

[@MyNamesNotLars1]

What a great song! Feels totally fresh.

[@avantengarde]

gorgeous track !

[@erockbrox8484]

I'm trying to listen to this song, but there is all of this radio interference and noise. I will have to check the WiFi connection on my laptop then.

[@computerpastiche]

this is beautiful! really really good idm done on a tracker

[@pulmonary_yoghurt]

lovely

[@suzycc]

beautiful zabutom this made me cry!!

[@arthurcordeiro5285]

This is a brilliant showcase between an artistic process that is built upon a point of equilibrium between having thorough plan and surrendering to the freedom of exploration. In other words: a true banger!

[@rustnepoteter]

I genuinely have to say this is my favourite of all of your tracks, probably even one of my favourite songs of all time... it's just got a vibe

[@zabutom]

Glad to hear that :)

[@kezi_]

this is outstandingly good

[@e__egg]

i love your music. its so unique and i like that. you are my favorite artist. i am glad i found you.

[@ExOAte]

Wonderful as always

[@archive94]

Have to say, this is amazing. Found your stuff from the MIDI Module Fanatix, didn't know you were a prominent/talented demoscene producer! Small world. I've always loved experimental noise/breakbeat music, and have tried and failed horribly to make it each time, funnily enough. This song makes me think of those old 90s PC computer rooms.

[@ZeroTheorie]

This shit is HEAVENLY, yo

[@saice5503]

absolutely BANGER music you've got here

[@EddieSpaghetti69]

Good work. Music is art, and art really depends on the individual. I find that making "Noise" into songs is something wonderful; akin to someone using non-standard instruments to accomplish the role of something normally far more precision-oriented like makeshift drums or utilizing. Using the burst of noise to break up the halfway mark into the "Second Verse" works well, and ending with it again ties in the "Golden Rule of Music" nicely. Not bad. I wouldn't throw it on at a club or play it at bars, but it's very unique and different; and can get reactions out of people to help understand personalities much easier.

[@sub-zero-kitty]

r2r keygen music

[@werc85music]

FT2 ❤ Good old times 😍

[@ClarenceFM]

I think noise is music, because noise is a sound and if you organise that sound then it becomes music. W music btw

[@d4t4b4s3f4c3]

ft2 is why all music software since about 1998 has disappointed me. look how fast the oscilloscopes are

[@toushevtsurpe8568]

Thank you

[@Saint-Mitre]

1:09 i need that background pad, what a bliss

[@zabutom]

Feel free to "borrow" it from the XM m8 modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&query=153914

[@Saint-Mitre]

@@zabutom Bless you man, have a great day

[@iminonet]

is nice vro

[@ArcaneToaster]

ooooooh this is amazing

[@raysubject]

cool… huge nostalgia and memories, thanks :-) that was my third tracker back then … before that Scream Tracker and before that MODEdit (4 mono 8bit tracks !!)

[@zabutom]

Awesome, Scream Tracker III was my first! :) I remember it was super easy to rip samples with a hot key to the same directory, really handy.

[@erockbrox8484]

Great and cool song.

[@MoustiluigiRandom]

Folie.

[@d4t4b4s3f4c3]

thats a beaut by the way

[@-throat-]

notice me zab

[@YourSelft487]

In order to record the sample you put the exe file as raw data into some kind of audio recording and record the output, Am I right? Like putting cmd.exe as raw 16bit data in audacity? I've tried this a long time ago and posted some audio to KZbin on another account, great tunes and rhythm on some files.

[@zabutom]

You simply load the file as a sample, no need for recording :)

[@Journey_Awaits]

Did you rename exe as mp3

[@zabutom]

No, just loaded as exe directly. Fast Tracker 2 does not have support for mp3, my guess as it wasn’t popular yet and it would probably take too much cpu to deal with a compressed format :)

[@Zylenxx]

I guess time to whip out shell.dll, pinball.exe and solitaire.exe for some sound design