The Iconic PS2 Startup Sound

The Sony PS2 is the best selling console of all time, with some legendary games (Gran Turismo 3, Gran Turismo Concept, Gran Turismo 4 etc) - down in part to the fact it could play DVDs when dedicated players were roughly the same price. If you owned one, or were around in that era, the startup sound will conjure up memories of wonder as a new generation of gaming commenced. Mixed Signals takes a look at it's production and sound design in the above video. 

You may recall Brian Eno created the Windows 95 startup sound... 
 

Eno explained how this particular job come about in an interview with SF Gate.

"The idea came up at the time when I was completely bereft of ideas. I'd been working on my own music for a while and was quite lost, actually. And I really appreciated someone coming along and saying, Here's a specific problem -- solve it.'

"The thing from the agency said, 'We want a piece of music that is inspiring, universal, blah-blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental, emotional,' this whole list of adjectives, and then at the bottom it said 'and it must be 3.25 seconds long.'

"I thought this was so funny and an amazing thought to actually try to make a little piece of music. It's like making a tiny little jewel."

Eno soon became obsessed by this task, creating 84 different pieces of music – the other 83 of which I'd love to see the light of day at some point.

More on that here: https://themusicnetwork.com/the-odd-story-of-how-brian-eno-composed-the-windows-95-startup-sound/

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