Making Windows Vista Sing: Robert Fripp and the Vista Melody

Before the session, Steve Ball, Jenny Lam, and Jim Allchin gave Fripp a demo of the most recent Windows Vista builds and reviewed the goals for the product and the sound.  The purpose of this session was to search for textures, melodies, and orchestrations for a sound that could

   a) brand Windows in a timeless way 
   b) ‘work’ with the Pearl Animation
   c) be gentle, positive, uplifting, translucent
   d) embody the AERO design principles

This 63 minute Vista Week video begins mid-stream with some extremely rare footage of Fripp Soundscapes being created in real time.  This is followed by Q&A from the Windows product team members in the Soundscapes audience, an overview of Fripp’s gear, and some details about the recording equipment used at Microsoft Studios.  This is then followed with another rare and intimate interview with Fripp and members of the core team working on Windows Vista UX.
  

This single session resulted in over six hours of multi-channel raw tracks including hundreds of melodies, textures, soundscapes, and orchestrations.  After this session, it took another three months of orchestration, iteration, remixing and refinement to select the final four seconds that became the final Windows Vista startup sound:  a “glassy” Fripp melody, a harmony by Steve Ball, and a “Win-dows Vis-ta” rhythm contributed by composer, Tucker Martine.  This all on top of a brief Fripp Soundscape that fades out as the user lands on the Windows Vista log-on screen.   The flowing Soundscape ‘textures’ from the session also inspired the sonic  palette that was used for the default Windows Vista sound scheme.
      
Like the previous Fripp video, this is a very different kind of Channel 9 video.  Fripp talks candidly with us about music, his approach to creativity, making music for Windows Vista, shares his thoughts on Vista, and much more.  

About Robert Fripp: for close to forty years, Robert Fripp has been a world-renowned pioneer driving innovation in both music and technology.   For more details about his history and recent work, check out Fripp's web site!