_________________________________________________________________
        ________________*________________ |     Screaming in Digital
                       ***                |  The Queensryche Net Digest
        __________*__*******__*__________ |  queensryche@pilot.njin.net
                 ******* *******          |      Volume 057: 09nov92
              *********   *********       | Edited by Dan "Shag" Birchall
        ____************_************____ |
          **** ******************* ****	  |       FTP Archive Site
         ***   ***  *********  ***   ***  |  glia.biostr.washington.edu
         **     *     *****     *     **  |      /pub/queensryche/*
        _*____________*****____________*_ | 
                    *********             | Shag's errors are his fault.
                   ***********            | Other things usually aren't.
                  **  *****  **           | Anything you say may be used.
                  *   *****   *	          | Poor grammar will be fixed.
        ______________*****______________ | 
                       ***                | Support Queensryche...
                       ***                | Join the Fan Club!
                       ***                | Send a return envelope to: 
                        *                 |   Queensryche
                        *                 |   Box 70503
        _SiD_1992_______*________________ |   Bellevue, WA 98007 USA
	_________________________________________________________________
        _Screaming in Digital______________________________Editor's Note_

		By now, you should be able to get "Building Empires" in
	any part of the USA.  Has anyone in Canada seen it?  All opinions
	sent to me will be sent out in the digest, of course.
		This issue contains: "Building Empires," technical stuff
	from the "Building Empires" tour, 'Silent Lucidity' time 
	signatures, and Doctor Blair.

        _Neue Regel___________________________________________What's New_

	edju@phakt.usc.edu (Eddie) writes,
		Last Saturday night there was a TV ad on MTV, I think it 
	was Camelot or MusicLand, one of those record chains, saying that 
	"Building Empires" was on sale already.  Could it be out before 
	Nov. 3 already?

	tina.briones@ebay.sun.com (Tina) writes,
		Called Tower Video Tuesday (our largest video retailer). 
	Talked with a very _rude_ person and they don't have the video in 
	yet and don't know when they'll receive it.  Have you heard of 
	any postponements?  Or do you have it?  With my luck it probably 
	won't come out in California.
			{The Tower closest to me got in 30 copies of it -
			10 times as many as a nearby "mall store."  But
			the Tower ordering person here is a rabid fan of
			Queensryche.  -sh}

	try@springs.cis.ufl.edu (Todd) writes,
		All I can say is _wow!_  The guy (whoever) that directed
	the live stuff did an incredible job.  The Mega Remix of 'Eyes of
	a Stranger' was fantastic and I'm really glad that I got to
	finally see the video for my favorite "Rage for Order" song, 
	'Gonna Get Close to You.'  Didn't much care for the unplugged 'I
	Will Remember,' though.

        _Speak____________________________________________Correspondence_

	darkangl@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Paul) writes,
		This may be old news here, but the mention of guitar 
	transcriptions for "Operation: Mindcrime" reminded me of this 
	discrepancy.  The "Empire" book has straight 4/4 time through the 
	intro of 'Silent Lucidity,' but an article in a guitar magazine
	(guitar world?) had the intro with several time changes that 
	included 15/16 time.  I don't play much myself, but my best 
	friend Drew does, and the 15/16 seems to sound more "right." Are 
	there similar simplifications through the book, or is this 
	isolated?
			{I remember seeing 13/8 time used in the "Empire"
			book so I don't think most of the songs would be
			simplified.  But why would they simplify 'Silent
			Lucidity,' a song that's already one of their
			easiest?  Perhaps it was _written_ in 4/4, but
			while performing it, Chris plays 15/16 to keep
			from getting bored?  -sh}

        _Roads to Madness__________________________________________Shows_

	larz@fantasy.gatech.edu (Dave) writes,
		As you know, there were a lot of special effects involved 
	with the show that Queensryche did for the Building Empires tour. 
	They had the projectors at the back of the stage.  They had an
	intense light show.  They had all the extra sound stuff, as in 
	'Suite Sister Mary.'  The following is a summary of how a lot of 
	that was done.
		A big part of the light show was done using a type of 
	light called a "Vari-light."  These lights are computer 
	controlled, and can switch colors, aiming points, even projection 
	patterns on their own.  You may remember seeing Try-ryches all 
	over the place during the show.  Those were projected from the 
	Vari-lights.  These lights can be best used live if they are 
	programmed ahead of time.  This incurs a problem, however.  How 
	does the band stay with the light show?  Well, you may notice on 
	your video of "Operation: LIVEcrime" that for most of the songs, 
	Scott Rockenfield has a headphone on.  That headphone has a click 
	track in it.  It's kind of like a metronome.  You'll notice that
	the tempos on those songs are almost exactly like the studio 
	version, but on 'The Needle Lies,' where they don't use use the 
	click track (and, if you pay close attention, they don't use the 
	Vari-lights or the screens either) the tempo is a lot faster than 
	the studio version.  So, we know how they get the band to follow 
	the lights through use of a click track. 
		Now, the question becomes, how do they do the screens? 
	That's pretty simple once you have the Vari-light setup.  They 
	simply have a device that syncs the projectors to the same time 
	source as the Vari-lights and, hence, the click track. Basically, 
	the projectors are told to start and stop, and then the 
	projection speed is controlled by the time code under a system 
	called SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Theatre Engineers, 
	I think).  Then, they added all the sound stuff (the choir on 
	'Suite Sister Mary,' the voices, etc) by using pre-recorded stuff 
	that is also SMPTE sync'ed. 
		So, if you started with the studio stuff, you could set 
	up the SMPTE stuff to be perfectly in time with the studio sound, 
	and you could even go so far as to automate some of the mix down 
	stuff (effects and the like) through a MIDI interface, although, 
	I don't think that they did this.
		As far as all the backing vocals and stuff go, Eddie, 
	Chris, and Michael were all singing, for real.  You can tell if 
	you really listen.
		Mind you, this is an extremely non-technical explanation 
	(well, maybe a little technical) and is over-simplified, but 
	this gives you an idea of what it takes to do something like 
	this whole show.  My hat goes off to Scott for being able to 
	play all that to a click!

	_The Killing Words_________________________Babble Interpretation_

	brianboy@microsoft.com (Brian) writes,
		To answer the question about the background voice paging 
	Dr. Blair, it's just a stock hospital background clip which can 
	be purchased.  Unfortunately, Queensryche didn't come up with it 
	first, they just got it from the same place that all the shows 
	mentioned did.
			{Whoever _did_ come up with it is rich.  -sh}

	_________________________________________________________________

		That's all for this one... see you again Thursday!

						'Ryche on,

							-Shag