14 DAY TRIAL // Robert Fripp (primary melody + Soundscape) from the 70's rock band King Crimson, Tucker Martine (rhythm) and Steve Ball (harmony and final orchestration) have labored 18 months to produce the Windows Vista Startup sound. 18 months for a 4 seconds long clip. But here are some additional details presented by Jim Allchin, Microsoft Co-President, Platforms & Services Division. The Vista Startup sound consists of 4 chords.
Allchin revealed that the 4 chords intentionally represent the colors in the Windows Flag. The Vista Startup sound ?is made of dual ascending 'glassy' melodies played on top of a gentle fading Fripp 'AERO' Soundscape has two parallel melodies played in an intentional "Win-dows Vis-ta" rhythm,? added Allchin.
Describing the 4 seconds long, end-to-end masterpiece, Microsoft WAVE Group Project Manager Steve Ball characterized it as clean, simple, but with long time legs. It was Ball's job to scrutinize the hours of sounds recorded by Fripp in order to discover Windows Vista's startup sound. It is not surprising that Ball has chosen Fripp for the task of creating Vista's startup sound since he used to be Fripp's student and business partner. Another collaborator of Fripp's, Brian Eno, was involved in recording sounds for Windows 95.