Kosmic Free Music Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Kosmic Free Music Foundation (a.k.a. Kosmic, or KFMF) was a worldwide group of computer music
ians, artists, and coders focused on the PC
demoscene
. Most members were from the United States
, Canada
, and Australia
. They created music - mostly techno, trance
, and ambient
- on trackers. They also created some artwork and demos
. All their productions were free for download off BBSes
and the Internet. In the 1990s, they were known for having many of the tracking scene's top musicians as members. Their early presence on the Internet made them one of the first netlabel
s. The leader of Kosmic was Dan Nicholson, who went by the alias Maelcum.
Foundation (KLF, not affiliated with the British music group The KLF
). The original purpose of the group was to create BBS intros and ANSI art
.
In 1992, Maelcum began releasing MOD
music files under the group's name, and soon KLF became music oriented. Inspekdah Deck (then using the name Venom, not affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan member, Inspectah Deck) ran a BBS at his home in New Jersey
called Trancentral II which became the homebase for the group to communicate and release their music ("Trancentral" being the recording studio and "spiritual home" for The KLF).
In 1994, the group quickly embraced the Internet
, and created an FTP
site and web site. Having only a few active members, they quickly grew by recruiting new members through the IRC channel #trax. By this time, many musicians in KLF started using Renaissance's MultiTracker program to create MTM files instead of MODs.
In 1995, the group changed their name to Kosmic Free Music Foundation, to emphasize their focus on music rather than demos
or intros. However, after recruiting a coder named GooRoo, they presented their first full-length demo, "Flight", at the NAID
party in Quebec, and ranked third place in competition. Kosmic members Maelcum & IQ placed second in the music competition with "Hitchhiking Reticulan". It was later released on the FTZ CD "Nothing Is True", produced by Maelcum on his own label, Area 51 Records. More demos and musicdisks followed, although single music releases were still the mainstay.
In 1997, Kosmic released their first archive CD-ROM for sale, containing all their music releases through 1996 plus a few new audio tracks. Some members started releasing their music in the new MP3
format instead of tracker formats. Most members from the original #trax rush had since retired or left for independent projects. The group continued and released two more archive CD sets, but by early 2000 had faded into inactivity.
Computer music
Computer music is a term that was originally used within academia to describe a field of study relating to the applications of computing technology in music composition; particularly that stemming from the Western art music tradition...
ians, artists, and coders focused on the PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
demoscene
Demoscene
The demoscene is a computer art subculture that specializes in producing demos, which are non-interactive audio-visual presentations that run in real-time on a computer...
. Most members were from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. They created music - mostly techno, trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
, and ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
- on trackers. They also created some artwork and demos
Demo (computer programming)
A demo is a non-interactive multimedia presentation made within the computer subculture known as the demoscene. Demogroups create demos to demonstrate their abilities in programming, music, drawing, and 3D modeling...
. All their productions were free for download off BBSes
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
and the Internet. In the 1990s, they were known for having many of the tracking scene's top musicians as members. Their early presence on the Internet made them one of the first netlabel
Netlabel
A netlabel is a record label that distributes its music through digital audio formats over the Internet...
s. The leader of Kosmic was Dan Nicholson, who went by the alias Maelcum.
Group history
The group was founded in 1991, under the name Kosmic LoaderLoader (computing)
In computing, a loader is the part of an operating system that is responsible for loading programs. It is one of the essential stages in the process of starting a program, as it places programs into memory and prepares them for execution...
Foundation (KLF, not affiliated with the British music group The KLF
The KLF
The KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....
). The original purpose of the group was to create BBS intros and ANSI art
ANSI art
ANSI art is a computer art form that was widely used at one time on BBSes. It is similar to ASCII art, but constructed from a larger set of 256 letters, numbers, and symbols — all codes found in IBM code page 437, often referred to as extended ASCII and used in MS-DOS and Unix environments...
.
In 1992, Maelcum began releasing MOD
MOD (file format)
MOD is a computer file format used primarily to represent music, and was the first module file format. MOD files use the “.MOD” file extension, except on the Amiga where the original trackers instead use a “mod.” prefix scheme, e.g. “mod.echoing”...
music files under the group's name, and soon KLF became music oriented. Inspekdah Deck (then using the name Venom, not affiliated with the Wu-Tang Clan member, Inspectah Deck) ran a BBS at his home in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
called Trancentral II which became the homebase for the group to communicate and release their music ("Trancentral" being the recording studio and "spiritual home" for The KLF).
In 1994, the group quickly embraced the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, and created an FTP
File Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
site and web site. Having only a few active members, they quickly grew by recruiting new members through the IRC channel #trax. By this time, many musicians in KLF started using Renaissance's MultiTracker program to create MTM files instead of MODs.
In 1995, the group changed their name to Kosmic Free Music Foundation, to emphasize their focus on music rather than demos
Demo (computer programming)
A demo is a non-interactive multimedia presentation made within the computer subculture known as the demoscene. Demogroups create demos to demonstrate their abilities in programming, music, drawing, and 3D modeling...
or intros. However, after recruiting a coder named GooRoo, they presented their first full-length demo, "Flight", at the NAID
North American International Demoparty
The North American International Demoparty was a demo party held in the years 1995 and 1996, and the first demo party held in North America. Both years, the party was held at Collège Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil, Quebec, Canada, a suburb of Montreal....
party in Quebec, and ranked third place in competition. Kosmic members Maelcum & IQ placed second in the music competition with "Hitchhiking Reticulan". It was later released on the FTZ CD "Nothing Is True", produced by Maelcum on his own label, Area 51 Records. More demos and musicdisks followed, although single music releases were still the mainstay.
In 1997, Kosmic released their first archive CD-ROM for sale, containing all their music releases through 1996 plus a few new audio tracks. Some members started releasing their music in the new MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format instead of tracker formats. Most members from the original #trax rush had since retired or left for independent projects. The group continued and released two more archive CD sets, but by early 2000 had faded into inactivity.
Significant releases
- Exceedingly Great Grooves (EGG) - musicdisk (1994)
- Exceedingly Great Grooves 2 - musicdisk (1995)
- Exceedingly Great Grooves 3 - musicdisk (1995)
- Flight - demo (1995)
- Little Green Men - demo (1995)
- Dreams - demo (1997)
- Trip - demo (1998)
- KFMF Archives Volumes 1-3 (1997–1999) - data and audio CDs
External links
- Kosmic Free Music Foundation (KFMF) official website
- KFMF productions indexed on Pouet