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Thomas Dolby accepting lifetime achievement award


tfort

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At NAMM, Thomas Dolby accepted a lifetime achievement award and talked about his early relationship with Roland. He gives some background on "She Blinded Me With Science" (and updates the lyrics with Hillary, I believe):

 

 

Brought me back to high school.

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At NAMM, Thomas Dolby accepted a lifetime achievement award and talked about his early relationship with Roland. He gives some background on "She Blinded Me With Science" (and updates the lyrics with Hillary, I believe):

 

 

Brought me back to high school.

 

Thank you for the link! That was a breath of fresh air. Dolby is one of the artists whose work is not only great for its own sake, but also represents a meaningful music lesson if you listen around the edges. His style is subtle and classy when its not specifically danceable. "The Flat Earth" is almost an ambient background for enjoying a smart-drug cocktail. "Budapest By Blimp" is a strange little keeper. He's been a meaningful influence for me. :like:

 

 

"Well, the 60s were fun, but now I'm payin' for it."
        ~ Stan Lee, "Ant-Man and the Wasp"

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I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I recall hearing years ago that his software company was responsible for the tech that made cell phone ringtones possible. The fact that I don't wish him a slow and painful death despite this situation is a testament to how highly I regard him as a musician.
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I'm not sure how accurate this is, but I recall hearing years ago that his software company was responsible for the tech that made cell phone ringtones possible. The fact that I don't wish him a slow and painful death despite this situation is a testament to how highly I regard him as a musician.

 

Beatnik (his company) is mentioned very briefly in the opening of the vid.

 

As I understand it, Beatnik created the chip / tech that allowed MIDI to be used in phones. Hence, ringtones, music, etc. that was not sample based. At least that's my ignorant understanding of it.

..
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As I understand it, Beatnik created the chip / tech that allowed MIDI to be used in phones. Hence, ringtones, music, etc. that was not sample based. At least that's my ignorant understanding of it.

 

According to Dolby's book, Beatnik provided the software that Nokia used for ringtones.

 

Beatnik had developed their software earlier for web browsers on PCs, in the very early days of the World Wide Web, so you could put music on your website. They had lots of meetings with Netscape and others, but never quite landed a deal.

 

Then, Nokia got in touch when they wanted to add polyphonic / high quality ringtones (not sample based, that came later). Nokia wanted software they could run on their existing processor, instead of having to add another hardware chip for the ringtone (due to cost, and risk of sourcing another component), so they went with Beatnik in 1999. Nokia also met Roland and Yamaha before choosing Beatnik, so it could have been a very different outcome.

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As I recall, Dolby's company Beatnik also created the GM sound set used in those WebTV boxes that were briefly popular during the 90's. That tech may have been the precursor to the work they did for Nokia.

 

Dolby's 'Screen Kiss' is one of my favorite songs of all time.

 

[video:youtube]9wnDkxFYQoU

Michael

Montage 8, Logic Pro X, Omnisphere, Diva, Zebra 2, etc.

 

 

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Probably not of much interest to Keyboard players but Steve Vai got the Boss LAA.

 

This is the third year for this award. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter along with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were inducted first in 2016. Jean-Michael Jarre and Andy Summers followed in 2017.

 

Wonder who will get in next year? I nominate Howard Jones. His first piece of gear from the company that would become Roland was the Acetone (Bentley in the UK) Rhythm Ace. His first Keyboard was a Juno 6.

C3/122, M102A, Vox V301H, Farfisa Compact, Gibson G101, GEM P, RMI 300A, Piano Bass, Pianet , Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, Matrix 12, OB8, Korg MS20, Jupiter 6, Juno 60, PX-5S, Nord Stage 3 Compact
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Yeah, I know AT wasnt stock. I googled before asking and found several references to this aftermarket product:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and-electronic-music-production/862842-jupiter-8-modded-aftertouch-system.html

 

If not AT, I wonder how he does those bends.

 

Okay, help me out here... why do you seem to think that he doesn't simply have his left hand on the pitch bender? Honest question. :confused:

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No, youre right, Sven. I had it in my mind that he was playing two keyboards and bending at the same time. I watched it again and saw that he never plays two keyboards at the same time. False memory. Sorry about that.
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