Watch Robert Fripp at work on sounds that have been integrated into the operating system

Mar 3, 2007 10:11 GMT  ·  By

An Apple Mac user created the Windows Vista melody for Microsoft. As part of the effort that went into designing the acoustic dimension of Windows Vista, Microsoft has invited 10 artists, designers and musicians to contribute to the creation of the Windows Vista melody.

Steve Ball, Windows Vista group program manager, has supervised the project. One of the core aspects of the Windows Vista melody is the start-up sound. "In the end, the Windows Vista startup sound is deceptively simple (four notes, actually eight if you count the fact that each of the four notes is actually two notes, in dual ascending melodies that map directly to the rhythm of "Win-dows Vis-ta") - that said, often the process to get to 'simple' involves incredible scaffolding, and deep planning and hundreds of iterations during the process," Ball explained.

The fact of the matter is that no less than 20 people worked over 18 months, and churned their way through 500 variations in order to select the start-up melody that Windows Vista will make ubiquitous.

One of the artists invited to work on the Windows Vista melody is Robert Fripp, a member of King Crimson, guitarist, record producer and a composer, but not only that. Robert Fripp is also a Mac user. Just watch the video embedded at the bottom and listen to what he has to say. However, I must note that while a Mac user, he declares himself impressed with Windows Vista.

Alternatively, there are two excellent videos over at Channel 9 in which you can actually see, but more importantly hear, Robert Fripp at work on sounds that have been integrated into Windows Vista. In fact, the video embedded at the bottom is a fragment taken out of one of the pieces from Channel 9. Robert Fripp visited the Redmond campus on two occasions, first in the fall of 2005 and the second time on May 4 2006.