Aleksi Eeben (born July 2, 1976), born Antti Aleksi Mikkonen, is a Finnish composer,
sound designer
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
, musician and
programmer. He is best known for his musical contributions to the
demoscene
The demoscene is an international computer art subculture focused on producing demos: self-contained, sometimes extremely small, computer programs that produce audiovisual presentations. The purpose of a demo is to show off programming, visual ...
under the alias Heatbeat, where he has composed hundreds of
module
Module, modular and modularity may refer to the concept of modularity. They may also refer to:
Computing and engineering
* Modular design, the engineering discipline of designing complex devices using separately designed sub-components
* Mo ...
s using
music tracker
A music tracker (sometimes referred to as just tracker for short) is a type of music sequencer software for creating music. The music is represented as discrete musical notes positioned in several channels at discrete chronological positions on ...
software and developed his own tools. He has also composed for video games, and was employed as a sound designer at
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
(later
Microsoft Mobile
Microsoft Mobile was a subsidiary of Microsoft involved in the development and manufacturing of mobile phones. Based in Espoo, Finland, it was established in 2014 following the acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services division by Microsoft i ...
) between 2002 and 2015, creating many ringtones and sounds. His brother is Konsta Mikkonen, also a demoscene musician and dance producer known under the alias Muffler.
Biography
Early life
Eeben has been interested in music and computers since he was a child, where he played with bongos and sung, and took basic tutorials from magazines. This led to him programming in
BASIC on the
VIC-20
The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the ...
and
Commodore 64, as well as composing music.
Demoscene and games
Eeben joined the demoscene group Rebels in 1990, and later formed his own group Carillon, which merged with Cyberiad to form the group CNCD. He composed hundreds of tracks for demos and competitions, as well as the soundtrack for the
Amiga game ''
Elfmania
''Elfmania'' is a 2D fighting game developed by Terramarque and released by Renegade Software in 1994 for the Amiga.
Gameplay
The gameplay is a standard fighting game, but Elfmania does not have special moves triggered by various button combina ...
''. He later became inactive in the demoscene, although continued to compose music, while his younger brother continued being active composing music in the demoscene.
In 2001, he composed for the
Game Boy Color game ''
Project S-11
''Project S-11'' is a game developed by Paragon 5 and published by Sunsoft for the Game Boy Color. It was released in North America on January 3, 2001.
Gameplay
The game is played in a manner similar to a shoot 'em up arcade game. Players contro ...
'', with fellow demoscene musician
Jonne Valtonen
Jonne Valtonen is a Finnish composer, arranger and orchestrator. He is renowned for his contributions in the field of demoscene and tracker music, under the name Purple Motion, and with Future Crew.
Life and early career
Jonne Valtonen was b ...
.
Paul Bragiel
Paul Bragiel (born 15 September 1977 in Chicago, Illinois) is an internet entrepreneur and currently a managing partner of Bragiel Brothers.
Early life
Bragiel, the oldest child of Mary and Walter Bragiel, was raised in Mt. Prospect and South B ...
, the founder of Paragon 5 which developed this game, recruited both composers to write music using the company's own tracker, Game Boy Tracker. The music in this game has been considered by critics to be rather complex for the system. Additional titles he composed for include ''Tom and Jerry: Mouse Hunt'' and an unreleased game, as well as a track for the homebrew game ''Mean Mr. Mustard'' and the
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...
game ''Hardcore Pinball''. He also developed a music tracker for the Game Boy Color titled Carillon Editor, as well as demos for the system.
During this period, he returned to composing music for the Commodore 64 and developed tracker software for the computer named John Player, feeling that other music tools for the system were unintuitive. He also developed Polly Tracker in 2004, a 4 channel
MOD
Mod, MOD or mods may refer to:
Places
* Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band
* M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
tracker for the Commodore 64 and Sid Vicious in 2006, a software emulator of the Commodore 64's
SID chip for the VIC-20. He has also returned to developing
Game Boy
The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
software, including the monophonic synthesizer Carina in 2022; funding was supported by
Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
Nokia and Microsoft Mobile
Following his work as a freelance game composer, Eeben joined
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
as a principal sound designer in 2002, although continued to work on demoscene and chiptune-related projects in his own time. During his time at the company he composed ringtones, alerts and other sounds, as well as being responsible for creating
DLS sound banks for phones and managing projects. He later served as the creative director of ringtone sets on
Lumia models, which included a selection of ringtones performed by the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra and conducted by David Hernando Rico. The team collaborated with Asbjoern Andersen of the music company Epic Sound, who was another former demoscene musician. He also developed a
Windows Phone
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design l ...
app in 2014 named Nokia Tones, which includes 1000 Nokia ringtones. The team also worked with a jazz band to create ringtones.
Music projects
Eeben has also released a large number of solo albums and EPs, as well as participating in collaborative albums by CNCD. The first EP he released was ''Please Annihilate Oulu'' in 2000, through the net label Monotonik. The label later released ''Music Box'' and ''The White Box'' in 2002 and 2004 respectively, two collections of SID modules he composed.
He later released non-chiptune albums through the label, and has also released albums through the
Kahvi net label. His albums are currently self-published on his Bandcamp.
Works
Discography
Albums and EPs
* ''Please Annihilate Oulu'' (2000)
* ''Music Box'' (2002)
* ''The White Box'' (2004)
* ''Spaceman Far Away From Home'' (2006)
* ''Three Times The Music'' (2007)
* ''The Five Fish Fingers'' (2007)
* ''Perseverance'' (2008)
* ''Space Age Cherokee'' (2008)
* ''Little Man Entered A Big Village'' (2010)
* ''Various Secret Continents'' (2010)
* ''Fruits For Druids & Vines For Valkyries'' (2015)
* ''Dandelion'' (2021)
With CNCD
* ''CNCD'' (1995)
* ''Harmaa Vyöhyke'' (2000) – sounds; with Markku Saarinen
* ''Harmaa Vyöhyke MMXX'' (2020)
Singles
* "The Grand Rules" (2002)
* "Planet of Vines" (2014)
* "Even Cities of Gold" (2020)
* "Resolution" (2022)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eeben, Aleksi
1976 births
Living people
Demosceners
Finnish composers
Finnish techno musicians
Video game composers
Tracker musicians
Nokia people
Microsoft employees