Static Line
Encyclopedia
Static Line was an email
-based ASCII Ezine that focused on the PC
demoscene
. It was a monthly publication with strong roots in the music
aspect of the demoscene. It ran for 52 issues starting in July 1998 and finishing in March 2004.
Static Line was created in an effort to fill the void left by the closing of the DemoNews E-Zine (closing February 1998) and the TraxWeekly
E-Zine (closing April 1996). In most regards it succeeded and followed a similar format: an ASCII
text-based magazine that was distributed via e-mail. While never reaching the large subscription rates that TraxWeekly boasted, it had a successful run and highlighted many aspects of the developing demoscene.
. After TraxWeekly stopped publication in 1996, Coplan wrote a few articles which were published under different magazines or individually over the course of the next two years. Having already earned a reputation as a music reviewer, many demosceners were submitting songs for review, even though the magazine had long since dried up.
In February 1998, DemoNews, another major demoscene e-mag, stopped publication. This left a major void in the demoscene, and it put a damper on Coplan's plans as he had planned to bring his column to the DemoNews publication. Having nowhere to publish his column, he began to draw up ideas to form a new e-mag to fill the void left by the defunct TraxWeekly and DemoNews.
Static Line came to fruition early in 1998. The invitation to join the mailing list was posted on the Hornet Archive in April 1998. The official first issue of the e-mag was sent out via an e-mail mailing list in July 1998. The first 24 issues of Static Line were released using a majordomo
mailing list through the Kosmic Free Music Foundation
server. Starting at issue 25 in September 2000, the e-mag had grown in popularity and it had developed its own website which would later become known as SceneSpot. Its distribution and online archives were now managed by this new server.
In mid-2003, Coplan offered up his editing position, for personal reasons, to anyone who was willing to carry out the management of the Static Line magazine. The position was taken by Ciaran Hamilton and Ben Collver. The first issue that was released under these new editors was issue #45 in June 2003. In November of the same year, Issue #50 was the last issue released with Collver as co-editor.
As the website model of demoscene news and articles grew more advanced, the ASCII e-zine format decreased in popularity amongst those involved in the demoscene. Newer contributors to the demoscene were not attracted to the format that Static Line was known for, and article contributions decreased in volume. As such, it was never able to maintain the monthly release rate that it had in previous years. The magazine continued for 2 more issues and then closed as Ciaran himself no longer had the time to maintain the magazine, and no person was willing to take over the editor's chair.
Issue #52, release March 2004, was the official last issue of Static Line.
was developed by Coplan and Ranger Rick (Benjamin Reed, USA). Originally, the intent of SceneSpot was to be a front-end for Static Line, with links to the archives and subscription pages. It grew into a news center and discussion forums for many who participated in the North American Demoscene. It was the discussion home for the Pilgrimage demo party
for its first years.
Unfortunately, SceneSpot never grew to the popularity that its magazine held. After difficulties getting the portal off the ground, SceneSpot closed its doors early in 2006.
Email
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
-based ASCII Ezine that focused on the PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
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...
. It was a monthly publication with strong roots in the music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
aspect of the demoscene. It ran for 52 issues starting in July 1998 and finishing in March 2004.
Static Line was created in an effort to fill the void left by the closing of the DemoNews E-Zine (closing February 1998) and the TraxWeekly
TraxWeekly
TraxWeekly was one of the two main PC demoscene E-Zines of the 1990s, the other being DemoNews.It focused purely on the music scene and was for a time the central source of news on the Tracker technique and major releases in the music scene. It ran for 119 issues from March 12, 1995 to February 16,...
E-Zine (closing April 1996). In most regards it succeeded and followed a similar format: an ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
text-based magazine that was distributed via e-mail. While never reaching the large subscription rates that TraxWeekly boasted, it had a successful run and highlighted many aspects of the developing demoscene.
History of Static Line
Prior to the existence of Static Line, its creator, D. Travis North (aka: Coplan), wrote a music review column for an e-mag known as TraxWeeklyTraxWeekly
TraxWeekly was one of the two main PC demoscene E-Zines of the 1990s, the other being DemoNews.It focused purely on the music scene and was for a time the central source of news on the Tracker technique and major releases in the music scene. It ran for 119 issues from March 12, 1995 to February 16,...
. After TraxWeekly stopped publication in 1996, Coplan wrote a few articles which were published under different magazines or individually over the course of the next two years. Having already earned a reputation as a music reviewer, many demosceners were submitting songs for review, even though the magazine had long since dried up.
In February 1998, DemoNews, another major demoscene e-mag, stopped publication. This left a major void in the demoscene, and it put a damper on Coplan's plans as he had planned to bring his column to the DemoNews publication. Having nowhere to publish his column, he began to draw up ideas to form a new e-mag to fill the void left by the defunct TraxWeekly and DemoNews.
Static Line came to fruition early in 1998. The invitation to join the mailing list was posted on the Hornet Archive in April 1998. The official first issue of the e-mag was sent out via an e-mail mailing list in July 1998. The first 24 issues of Static Line were released using a majordomo
Majordomo (software)
Majordomo is a mailing list manager developed by Brent Chapman of Great Circle Associates. It is written in Perl and works in conjunction with sendmail on UNIX and related operating systems...
mailing list through the Kosmic Free Music Foundation
Kosmic Free Music Foundation
The Kosmic Free Music Foundation was a worldwide group of computer musicians, 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...
server. Starting at issue 25 in September 2000, the e-mag had grown in popularity and it had developed its own website which would later become known as SceneSpot. Its distribution and online archives were now managed by this new server.
In mid-2003, Coplan offered up his editing position, for personal reasons, to anyone who was willing to carry out the management of the Static Line magazine. The position was taken by Ciaran Hamilton and Ben Collver. The first issue that was released under these new editors was issue #45 in June 2003. In November of the same year, Issue #50 was the last issue released with Collver as co-editor.
As the website model of demoscene news and articles grew more advanced, the ASCII e-zine format decreased in popularity amongst those involved in the demoscene. Newer contributors to the demoscene were not attracted to the format that Static Line was known for, and article contributions decreased in volume. As such, it was never able to maintain the monthly release rate that it had in previous years. The magazine continued for 2 more issues and then closed as Ciaran himself no longer had the time to maintain the magazine, and no person was willing to take over the editor's chair.
Issue #52, release March 2004, was the official last issue of Static Line.
SceneSpot
As Static Line grew in popularity, it grew apparent that it would not maintain its success if it were an email-only publication. Late in 1999, the concept model for a demoscene web portalWeb portal
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
was developed by Coplan and Ranger Rick (Benjamin Reed, USA). Originally, the intent of SceneSpot was to be a front-end for Static Line, with links to the archives and subscription pages. It grew into a news center and discussion forums for many who participated in the North American Demoscene. It was the discussion home for the Pilgrimage demo party
Pilgrimage (demo party)
Pilgrimage was a demoparty which took place annually in Salt Lake City, Utah each summer between 2003 and 2006. The event was founded by Rich "Legalize" Thompson of the demoscene group Polygony...
for its first years.
Unfortunately, SceneSpot never grew to the popularity that its magazine held. After difficulties getting the portal off the ground, SceneSpot closed its doors early in 2006.