A Review of 'Histoire de Cap'
(The FIRST Apple IIgs Music CD)

Dated: 10/22/97
By Charles T. 'Dr. Tom' Turley
Editor - A2-2000

The 'Historie de Cap' - (English: History Of Headland) CD arrangements,
interpretation, production and conception by Mathieu Chenard.
Graphics: Etienne Chenard, Iguane Design (Guy Bernier).

Price: $12.00
To Order by Email: mathieu@chenard.com
View CD; Front Cover - Back Cover - CD

I received the CD from Mathieu Chenard several weeks ago and I've listened to it
many times sense then. I wanted to relate my thoughts and impressions on the
music content and CD quailty in this review. I can't relate all of the exact
translations of the track titles and song lyrics - (printed inside of the CD
sleeve) of each into English - as they are all in French and I don't know French.
But, I have made an attempt to translate the French Track titles to English.

French Track titles follow;

I asked a friend to help me with the French to English translations of the track
titles. He gave it his best effort - adding...be warned, my French translation
skills are a little rough, so these translations my be not 100% accurate (but
probably close enough).

English Track titles follow;

On with the review of the music and sound quality for this CD. Most of the songs
have very fine vocals with the music both by Mathieu Chenard. The vocals are in
French. The sound and recording of the CD are of very fine quality, clean, crisp
and well recorded with no static or hiss of any sort. The quality of the sound is
as good as any commercial CD I have in my CD collections. The tracks are very
well mixed and smoothly go from one to the next with virtually no pause between
them.

The 1st track starts out with a clean ocean type wave sound effect mixed
with birds singing and then goes into a rather haunting echo sound. Vocals are
faded in with an overall tune that reminds me of the theme from Giligan's Island.
Track 1 is fairly short in length (time: 1.47). I liked it very much. It had a rather
happy expression related to it.

The 2nd track starts out with a rather unique French vocal sort of chant then
jumps into a very bouncy and rich vocal and soft vibrant piano song with a jazzy
but, smooth movement that gives the listener a nice tranquil feeling. (time: 2.32)

The 3rd track starts out with an haunting echo style muffled roar sounf effect
fading into a nice sothing folk style French vocal with a clear and crist acoustic guitar.
The vocals are very moving emotionally in their tone and texture of sound. Although
I can't understand French, ths song was one of the most impressive of them all.
(time:4.01)

The 4th track begins with a rather stern French vocal chant, then fades into a sort of
bouncy and folk style happy sounding song with French vocals, very soft acoustic
guitar and bass overtones in abundance with what sounds like a crystal cymble and drum
sound. (time:2.31)

I'm not going to go into any more detail on the other remaining 11 tracks but, refer the
reader of this review to check out Mathieu's own creative discriptions of them as outlined
and noted below.

At the very reasonable price of $12.00 ,I'd certainly endorse your purchasing this unique IIgs Music
CD from Mathieu Chenard.

After all, it's the very first such music CD ever made with a IIgs and is a must for any
IIgs owner and musical enthusist that wants a one-of-a-kind music CD to show all
there friends exactly what the full sound potentials are with an Apple IIgs from a very
talented music composer and producer.

Here's some GS information about songs from the CD...

1- the instrumental part of song 1 is a synthLAB sequence sent to a Kaway MS710
keyboard and put on DAT tape at home.

2- It's the same thing with song 2, except that it was not on my "home" DAT, but
recorded the last day in studio (I used the Newton MessagePad to send the
sequence to the MS710 to avoid bringing the IIgs in studio)

3- this song is only accoustic... sorry, no IIgs here!

4- it's a NoiseTracker 1.0 module (bass and drums) put on DAT by using
AEAudioAnimator.

5- another accoustic studio song...

6- another NoiseTracker module. Using the AudioAnimator, I place the instruments
in stereo space, ready for DAT and studio mix. I only add 2 eletric guitar tracks
in studio and 3 voice tracks.

7- made exclusively on the MS710.

8- no IIgs work around...

9- The bass sound melody is a synthLAB sequence going to the MS710. Harmonica,
guitar and electronic banjo were added in studio...

10- the last accoustic only using 3 guitar tracks

11- the third NoiseTracker module made in stereo as song 6...

12- another synthLAB sequence sent to the MS710

13- a synthLAB sequence, but using IIgs sound output through AudioAnimator...

I'm thinking more than ever about my next music project. I will try to get
something out before christmas 1998... maybe in the summer!

IIgs Music CD - Music, Computers and Me

Email: mathieu@chenard.com
 

I released a home-produced music compact disc in June. It's my first
disc and I wanted to do it myself... I'm a canadian (Rimouski, Quebec)
dental student graduating in some months, but I play the guitar,
harmonica, keyboard and some others instruments, including my voice! I
purchased my IIgs some years ago because I was impressed by his audio
features. I add a Sequential Systems 4 MB RAM GS board, an Apple SCSI card
rev C, some hard drives and a floptical drive in the last years.

So I got on my IIgs some months ago to put down synth tracks of the
orchestration: drums, percussions, bass, strings, keyboards, flutes, etc.
I used mainly Olivier Goguel's NoiseTracker 1.0 with AE AudioAnimator for
playing sampled sounds plus stereo-ready accompaniement tracks and System
6's synthLab with Opcode Studio+2 MIDI interface for controlling my
entry-level Kaway MS710 keyboard-sound module (with the help of my Newton
MessagePad 2000 using MIDI-X for a track modified at last time.) These
stereo-ready tracks were then put on a digital audio tape.

I then add accoustic instruments (Citation accoustic guitar, Cort
Effector electric guitar with DOD FX53 effect pedal, Tower Harmonica,
Casio DG-10 digital guitar) and voice tracks (dubbed for chorus or using
Digitech Vocalist for harmony) within 3 evenings in a traditionnal
recording studio located in Universite Laval, Quebec, with the help of a
sound technician. We did the final mix on the third evening from the
8-tracks ADAT to the final master dat (according to notes taken on
MessagePad and then used to print the time log on paper for the press
plant.)

The lyrics were captured and formatted using the Newton MessagePad,
Teach, Hermes and AppleWorks GS, but the final full-color page layout was
made by my brother on a Mac Performa 5200 with ClarisWorks (the
photographs were scanned on a Mac 7200 and Agfa Arcus II flatbed scanner
using Photoshop, the only expensive products borrowed for this project!!!)

1000 discs were then pressed by Disque Americ with booklets printed
by Graphiscan Quebec.

This was really an exciting project for me and I found it so cool
that I'm planning another recording in the next months! It also the proof
that it's possible to do interesting things with Apple II and others Apple
products, and with a really small budget...

Here is a brief summary of my computers and music experience. If you have any
questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me at: schema@car.qc.ca

Mathieu Chenard
---------------

Born in 1975, I got on the computer wave in 1983 with the school's Commodore 64
and my family' TRS MC-1O: a-do-BASIC-or-die machine.

Then my father brought an Apple //c home just after christmas time of 1986 .
What a machine! My computer passion was launched, but my guitar formation was not
influenced. I received a small Casio SK-5 programmable music keyboard / "sampler"
as a gift some years after and play with music composition and orchestration in
my free time.

I began my sound experience on the llgs with Music Studio on my uncle's llgs. He
lent us this computer when our //c died... In the mean time, a Macintosh Plus
found a place in our home.

Soon after this I got my own llgs (my family and I now have the only 2 llgs used
in the east of Quebec!) A small Kawai MS 710 MIDI keyboard replaced my Casio.
Then came the GS System 6.0 and ROM - my upgrade to ROM 01 : my Music Studio 1.0
didn't work anymore and the synthLAB software that came with GS/OS 6.0 blew it
out. Someone gave me a copy 0f Music studio 2.0 sometime after, but it was too
late! I bought some basic Macintosh MIDI software as Passport Trax and the great
Dynaware Ballade. In the last years I added a RAM GS 4 MB board, an Opcode
Studio+2 MIDI interface, an Apple SCSI card rev. C, a PLI floptical drive, an
Applied Engineering Audio Animator, etc.

I don't have many music devices. Some guitars (Citation classical, Cort Effector
electric, Casio DG10 digital) and accoustic instruments (harmonica, flutes, etc.)
but not really high quality audio equipment. My small Radio Shack audio mixer is
mainly used in my rare live performances to send a mixed llgs/MIDI keyboard sound
signal. I'm planning to get a Macintosh with digital audio I/O so I can do all
studio work at home. I want to do it with less equipment as possible, as the ol'
bluesmen did it. I bought a used Macintosh Color Classic last week and I'm very
proud of it: he is really more powerful than the llgs, but don't ask him to do
stereo music as the llgs can do!
 

The disc used a mix of many softwares. Some songs accompaniements were done on
Noisetracker 1.0 using sampled sounds; others on synthLAB using software sounds
and/or MIDI keyboard sounds. The synthLAB tracks were designed by live MIDI
recording on keyboard or guitar (using my note by note Roland CP4O pitch to MIDI
converter) or by editing them on Macintosh MIDI softwares and transferring them
to synthLAB. The two llgs softwares were really useful by allowing me to mix
instruments in stereo before going to the studio. In the future I would like to
see a product that combines;

· the ease of use / fast delivery of the NoiseTracker 1.0 song editor, and maybe
like Music Studio so I would be able to avoid the Macintosh for sequencing

· the song file capabilities of NoiseTracker GS v2.0 - so I can use and export
to universal formats;

· the fast real-time MIDI response of synthLAB to let me still use the llgs as
sound module and sampler;

· and fine sound tuning of synthLAB to avoid adjusting the accoustic instruments
and vocals to the untuned synth sounds!

I'm planning some others discs in the future. I'm doing mainly rock music in
French, English and Abnaki. For now, I'm also working (when I can find free time
in my dental studies schedule) on an instrumental/new-age/symphonic disc
completely produced using llgs sounds!

Check for some advertising on comp.sys.apple2 in the coming months!!!

Apple II forever! kway!

/V|athieu

-- mathieu@chenard.com
---olalema! apple II infinitum!!!
----réalisé à l'aide d'un Newton MP2000