before the internet, there was the BBS scene. it is more or less unknown by now; what was it? basically, you had a modem, not a modern cable modem but one that could only send a few kilobytes per second. and with that you could connect to a BBS with other users; think of it as a webpage that had blocky 4
color graphics and chat, downloads, forums and other things, but you could only use one at a time and a download could take 1 hour in which you can not
use the computer. this was where the .mod scene strived. mods were and are tracks, songs, made by a tracker; they had two parts, the samples and the
sequences of the songs. which means that everyone could remix a mod he downloaded with direct access to all the samples and melodies, and this was encouraged. the BBS scene was huge; a large city could have literally hundreds of BBSes, and the .mod scene was huge too, and is still largely ignored, or just not known, by now. it was composed of enthusiasts from all walks of life who made music on their tracker programs and shared it for free. mods were uploaded as single files, as releases such as compilations, or used in so called "demos" (visual and auditive programs that showed the possibilites of computer graphics or told a story), and other things. they were also used in computergames and the largest part of, for example, amiga computergame tunes in that era were based on mod music. .mods came in all styles; techno, electro, jungle, industrial, dark ambient, "rock", hiphop - you name it. and they had many genres that only existed in the mod world, including the typical mod sound.
and amongst this is some of the most exciting, brilliant, creative, genius and genuine music i ever heard; i was disappointed with most "known" musical genres a few years ago, and when i rediscovered computer mods, it felt so fresh, so exciting, so new.
they have qualites that i found nowhere, or rather, seldomly in any other music.
what is so exciting about mods is hard to tell; check them out for yourself; it would be something to explore. i think it is largely because it is some of the most abstract music ever made. to me, it is more abstract than most experimental electronics i know. it is purely logical, technological, digital computer music made by pure nerds. this might not sound exciting, but trust me, it is.
one problem with the current lack of recognition of mod music is well, that they are enticingly cheesy often. there are very dark and sombre mod tunes; in fact there are mods i consider some of the darkest music i know. yet, let's face it, most are more a happy trip. the constant major chords and pitched up vocal sounds. yet, lately, people have started to look through the cheesiness of pop music and came to appreciate it; couldn't the same be done with mods? the seemingly happy sound doesn't feel out of place; it too feels synthetic and abstract.
so, yes, as i said, what stunned me was the amount of creativity and energy that was put into these tunes. there are harmonic strcuctures, rhythm structures, i rarely seen elsewhere. it is one of most creative examples of the use of sample based music.
just like videogame music has seen a surge of interest and serious appreciation in the last years, i think in the next years, or decade, the popularity for mod music might rise significantly too. be sure to check it out; there is so much wonderful music to be found.
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