Making the Sounds of Vista

Bengt writes "The sounds of Vista took 18 months to get right for Microsoft. Artist Robert Fripp recorded hours of sound, and assisted Steven Ball in choosing between several different options. A clapping rhythm was rejected for 'sounding too human', and a techno beat was removed from considering because it was just the opposite." From the article: "If it seems like overkill to go to all that trouble for a few seconds of sound, consider this: Microsoft estimates that the clips such as the e-mail alert will be played trillions of times in years to come. That's a lot of opportunity to annoy, offend -- or, if the job is done right -- please or appease computer users the world over. One major concern was that the startup sound not grow grating after a time. You want a sound that people will love the first time they hear it, but it's a paradox to also say, 'Oh and by the way, we need people to love it the tenth, or the hundredth, or the thousandth time they hear it,' Ball said."

Comments

Yep, work on that startup sound

[toby]

The poor saps are gonna be hearing that a lot... shortly after The BSOD Sound and the We Think You're a Damned Pirate sound.

Re:Yep, work on that startup sound

[shmlco]

Actually, it's nice to know that MS is paying attention to the details.

Now, whether or not they've paid attention to the right details is another question entirely... and one which will be answered shortly.

Re:Yep, work on that startup sound

[Opportunist]

Actually, it's nice to know that MS is paying attention to the details.

That's a bit like a car manufacturer worrying about the color of the seats while the breaks are still leaking.

Re:Yep, work on that startup sound

[man_of_mr_e]

Yes, I'm sure the car manufacturer would put all their fabric designers on the brake problem. That's a good use of their time.

Let's Ask Clippy

[Nova Express]

I see you're trying to perform Frippitronics! Would you like to:

• Feed guitar notes into delay, reverb and replay tape-loop system?
• Hire Brian Eno to help you?
• Reform King Crimson yet again?
• Sell out to Microsoft?

Personally, I'm going to wait until the remixed, remasterd versions of the Vista sounds come out with additional material in a special boxed set available only from Discipline Global Mobile...

Can Frippertronics save Vista?

[fohat]

While I'm most likely never buying this OS, I've been a big fan of Robert "Bob" Fripp for quite some time. For those who don't know who he is, He founded one of the premier "intelligent rock" bands, "King Crimson." He also worked heavily with Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel in the 1970's, creating some of the more brilliant music of the time. His solo work (and duo) relies on something he and Eno invented called "Frippertronics" which later evolved into "Soundscapes" in the 90's. I really can't wait to hear what he's come up with on this project, creating very short sound pieces seems a bit harder than the much longer pieces he normally plays.

The title of this post is a bit of a Lark, of course it can.

My choice for the startup sound of course would be the opening section of the song "Discipline" from the "Three of a Perfect Pair" album. And perhaps a good error noise would be Belew singing, "I repeat myself when under stress I repeat myself when under stress I repeat!"

But enough of this banter.

Startup sounds I want

[Anonymous Coward]

(mainly for computers for which I'm not the only user)

- Earth-shattering kaboom
- Beethoven's 9th (yes, all of it)