Well, if you don't know what "The Scene" is, it is short for the PC Demo Scene. It's sort of a net culture that came into existence as a result of the Amiga MOD trackers and the PC Demo programmers. These "demos" are not the same as commercial demonstration games, but rather they were created by programmers that were challenged by the prospect of making a PC do what no one thought a PC could do. It mainly consists of graphical displays mixed with digitized, tracked music. Generally, many programming tricks were used to make very efficient code, primarily written in assembly.
The music (commonly called MODs) consisted of digitized sounds that are played back in a "tracked" sequence. The sequence specifies things like the sample's tone (the note) and various effects (vibrato, portamento, etc.). This method for musical playback was inherited mainly from the Amiga computers, which had a hardware chip that could do this. To "track" music in MOD format requires that the artist be as much of a programmer as a musician, which is why I appreciate it so much; many months of work go into a typical, high quality MOD. Of course, the "MOD" format has evolved far beyond what the original MOD format can provide. Most current MODs are actually in one of the more advanced formats, such as XM or IT. Even so, some of the best of the older MODs are in the old MOD or S3M format. The music style used in many of the demos were a game/demo-like slant on Techno/Dance music. This style has come to be known as "Demostyle", and is one of my favorites.
For a long
time, The Hornet Archive was the place
to get scene files. The maintainers of the site have decided to move on,
and so one of the important landmarks of the scene fades into history.
Read this final message from one of the maintainers
for some interesting tid-bits. For some nostalgic background about the
PC Demo Scene, take a look at a web site created by one of the original Hornet
maintainers: oldskool.org.
How can a scene page be complete without a list of scene files? Here are some of my personal favorites. I haven't been keeping up with the scene all that well, so these are mostly nostalgic, favorite MODs and Demos. There are current MODs that come and go from my playlist, but I can always come back to all of these.
Capitan - I have no info on this tracker, but he was on the scene in its infancy. Too bad he didn't put out more music. Be sure to turn on stereo mixing and/or surround when listening to old MODs.
Dj Joge - A Finnish tracker that typically does techno-dance style tunes. His ability to mix samples is quite amazing. His 4 channel MODs sound a LOT better than many of the XMs and ITs coming out these days.
Elwood - I got hooked on this guy's music pretty quick. Most of it is very happy-go-lucky demostyle. He put out a lot of MODs, most of which are quite good. When you look at his work in a tracker, it is obvious that he has an excellent understanding of music and tracking. He seems to make his key changes at just the right time and often switches his lead instruments around to keep things interesting. Almost all of his MODs also have a lead instrument playing a beat along with the percussion, which makes for a neat effect (though it is way too loud in a couple of his MODs). His MODs all seem to be in XM format and there is a LOT of stuff going on in there! These are always in my playlist:
Purple Motion of Future Crew - Another classic tracker that really helped launch the MOD scene. 'Nuff said.
www.scene.org - the recently created home for the PC Demo Scene
www.oldskool.org - the new home of PC Demo Scene nostalgia
PC Demos Explained - a little site (now part of oldskool) that lives up to its name very well...
The MOD Archive - exactly what is says...one huge archive.
Trax In Space - another archive that covers all free music formats, including MODs
Alpha64 - one of my favorite MOD archives. They have a nice collection of quality MODs if you are overwhelmed by sites such as Trax In Space or the MOD Archive.
MODPlug Central - previously Castle X, this site is the home of MOD Plug, a MOD plugin for your web browser. They also have a very good player and tracker.
The Hornet Archive - "a home for the PC demo scene from September 4th, 1992 until September 22nd, 1998."
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Updated on 10/06/1999
Copyright © 1996-2004 Russ W. Knize