The modules found in the folder titled "Ben" are in memory of
Ben Thomas who was tragically killed in a car accident and
this is my personal tribute to a really nice young man who
lived life to the full.
You can read more on this sad occurrence in the second part of the
following text.
The first part of this text, ( Part one ), is from Ben's own MUG-Presents
disk which featured nine of his best modules and was written by Ben himself.
Ray RBF Software
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Part one:
Ben Thomas on Ben Thomas.
Hello there. Sharp-minded MEDlers may remember a Ben Thomas from the
classic kids program, PlaySchool (those were the days!), but sadly I
am not that man.
Whilst being paid to talk to fluffy toys and look through `Round'
windows has an undeniable appeal, I must confess, the reality is that
I do no such thing.
I have been writing MED music for eons now, and perhaps the best way
for you to find out about me is if I give you a little history lesson.
One christmas, after I had been a particularly good boy,
(except for the painting-the-black-cats-legs-red incident), I received
a spanking new Yamaha Portatone keyboard.
Being a classically trained pianist, my dad was obviously hoping for
me to follow in his footsteps.
As any Portatone expert will tell you, the joy of the instrument is
the lovely array of `Realistic' accompaniments.
For many hours I rejoiced in being able to play my favourite songs.
Look Mum, one handed! After a while though, I found that you could
have more fun actually trying to play all those keys.
Several months passed, and I gradually moved from the one-finger
stage to the one-finger and one-note melody stage.
Suitably impressed with my efforts (somehow no one else was),
I saw the opportunity to continue my musical career by taking music
as a GCSE.
While I hated the notation side, (and still do), I enjoyed the
challenge of writing my own compositions.
Later that year, my dad informed the family that he had been given
a substantial bonus from work.
After much deliberation, he decided that we would get a really
nice electric piano to replace the upright in the dining room.
I had a vested interest in all things musical, so along I went to
the local music shop.
After buying the electric piano, I managed to persuade my father,
with the help of the eager-looking salesman, to purchase
a
sound module, called the Yamaha TG55, this beast really helped to
expand my musical horizons.
Well, it allowed me to use this really cool "Neoww" sound on my
compositions anyway.
As the GCSE results came ever closer, I waited in anticipation
of what the adjudicators would think of my synth/space/pop/atmospheric/
kitchen/sink-style compositions.
The moment arrived, and to my amazement, I had managed to get
an A grade, with 140/140 for compositions!
From this statement, you can make one of two assumptions:-
1. Ben Thomas is a genius and his sole purpose on this planet
is to amaze us with his musical creations.
2. Music GCSE is a remarkably simple course which any Tom,
Dick or Harry could excel in, let alone pass.
Those of you who believe number one can send their donations
to the Ben-Thomas-Musical-Appreciation-Society.
If you, in your sanity, chose the second, you will have found
a relatively accurate reflection of how difficult this course was.
Several months later, I was at a friend’s house, and we were playing
games on his Amiga.
After I had been trounced at Kick Off, he put a disk called something
strange like "Red-Sector-MegaDemo" in the drive. Wow!
I was immediately impressed with the graphics, but most of all the
music and after this breathtaking exhibition, he slipped another disk
into the drive, called "MED".
Some sort of relaxation tool I thought.
Soon a screen full of vertically-aligned numbers popped up,
and I was totally confused.
"Have a listen to this, I knocked it up before lunch today"
said my friend as the disk made a grinding noise.
My mate was a top bloke, but I suddenly looked upon him as a genius
as wonderful music pumped from the speakers.
If you listened to this piece today, I can probably guarantee that
you will cringe, but back then it was enough for me to start nagging
my parents to give me an Amiga.
Pushing the `Educational' side as strongly as I could, as all kids do,
I waited for christmas morning to arrive.
Rejoice! There was an Amiga on the living room carpet!
After a day or so of playing the free games, including the
wonderfully playable "Captain Planet", I perused a copy of the "MED"
thing from my friend.
As we all know, those first days and weeks with MED are a joy.
The music that was created at this stage often has a few rough edges,
but to us it was heaven.
As the years passed, I graduated from MED, through OctaMED 3, to
Version 4 which I use today.
Then, about 18 months ago, I saw an advert in Amiga Format from
Seasoft which said "TI Issue 6. The disk magazine of the Official
MED Users Group". I was suitably enticed, and my three pounds was
subsequently despatched.
When it arrived I was immediately impressed, most of all by the
ModSpot section.
I saw the opportunity to get involved, so I sent off a couple of
disks worth of modules.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Ben Thomas.
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Part Two:
In memory
On
tragically killed in a car accident.
Ben graduated from University, (obtaining a first), and was hard at
work producing a compact disc of music for release sometime in 1997/8.
People who new Ben were all eagerly waiting for news of this project.
It is such a tragic shame that it will never see the light of day.
Ben first contacted me back in late 1993 and joined the Med User Group
in 1994, he soon became a well known musicians using the Amiga version
of MED/OctaMED amongst the worldwide circle of users of my program.
Richard, the boss of the Med User Group says that he can't think
of anyone who has used four tracks, ( yes, MED was a 4 tracker ),
more skilfully and he always rated Bens MUG-Presents disk as the
best disk of modules the group has ever helped to construct.
Keep in mind that unlike today’s MED versions, Ben only
had the use of *4* tracks and used only Mono 8bit samples,
so listen and then you will realise the thought and work
he put into his compositions.
His experiments with the vocal recordings under the banner
of "ABC-Vocals" were also made using just four meagre channels
and whilst you personally may not enjoy the vocals themselves,
it shows the talent this young man had and how much not just
the MED world has lost, but the music world in general.
I am more than happy to dedicate the Windows release
of Bens favourite Amiga music utility to his memory.
God Bless you Ben, may you Rest in Peace.
Ray
RBF Software
& Richard
Med Users Group