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QSound Labs
QSound Labs is an audio technology company based in Calgary, Canada. It is primarily a developer and provider of audio enhancement technologies for entertainment and communications devices and software. The company is best known as a pioneer of 3D audio effects, beginning with speaker-targeted positional 3D technology applied to arcade video games and professional music and film soundtrack production. QSound was founded by Larry Ryckman (CEO), Danny Lowe, and John Lees. Jimmy Iovine served as SVP of Music and Shelly Yakus as VP of Audio Engineering in its formative years. History The flagship technology first known simply as "QSound" saw its initial commercial application in the early 1990s, notably in Capcom arcade games and on many music releases by prominent artists. The first two QSound album titles were Sting (musician), Sting's ''The Soul Cages'' and Madonna (entertainer), Madonna's ''The Immaculate Collection''. From the original speaker-targeted QSound 3D process used in p ...
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Larry Ryckman
Lawrence G. Ryckman (born August 28, 1959) is a Canadian music industry executive known for his knowledge of Sound recording and reproduction, audio production and Audio mastering, mastering and the development of patented audio and video technologies used in the music and entertainment industries. He is president and CEO of AfterMaster Audio Labs and Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, part of Scottsdale, Arizona-based Aftermaster, Inc. In November 2014, recording artist Justin Timberlake joined Ryckman as a co-owner of AfterMaster. Early life and education Career American Artists In 1982, Ryckman served as vice president, development, of the film and TV production company American Artists, Inc. He became president and CEO in 1984 and produced several feature films including ''The Virgin Queen of St. Francis High'', At about this time Ryckman produced, hosted and narrated a one-hour documentary, ''The Aryan Nation'', an exposé of the Aryan Nations and the growing Ne ...
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The Soul Cages
''The Soul Cages'' is the third full-length studio album by English musician Sting. Released on 21 January 1991, it became Sting's second No. 1 album in the United Kingdom. It spawned four singles: " All This Time", " Mad About You", "The Soul Cages", and "Why Should I Cry for You?". Both "All This Time" and "Why Should I Cry for You?" were included on Sting's 1994 compilation album '' Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984–1994''; "Mad About You" was also included on the international version of the compilation. The title track won the first Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1992. On 15 January 2021, an expanded version of ''The Soul Cages'' was released to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Along with the original nine tracks, this new edition includes 13 bonus tracks that consist of remixes, extended mixes, and a pair of songs sung in Spanish and Italian incarnations. Concept ''The Soul Cages'' is a concept album focused on the death of Sting's father. Sting had develope ...
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Creative Technology
Creative Technology Ltd., or Creative Labs Pte Ltd., is a Singaporean multinational electronics company mainly dealing with Audio equipment, audio technologies and products such as speakers, headphones, sound cards and other digital media. Founded by Sim Wong Hoo, Creative was highly influential in the advancement of IBM PC–compatible, PC audio in the 1990s following the introduction of its Sound Blaster card and technologies; the company continues to develop Sound Blaster products including embedding them within partnered mainboard manufacturers and laptops. The company also has overseas offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, Dublin and the Silicon Valley. Creative Technology has been listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) since 1994. History 1981–1996 Creative Technology was founded in 1981 by childhood friends and Ngee Ann Polytechnic schoolmates Sim Wong Hoo and Ng Kai Wa. Originally a computer repair shop in Pearl's Centre in Chinatown, Singapore, Chinatown, the company event ...
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Aureal Semiconductor
Aureal Semiconductor Inc. was an American electronics manufacturer, best known throughout the mid-late 1990s for their PC sound card technologies including A3D and the Vortex (a line of audio ASICs.) The company was the reincarnation of the, at the time, bankrupt Media Vision Technology, who developed and manufactured multimedia peripherals such as the Pro Audio Spectrum 16. History In May 1996, Aureal Semiconductor was founded from what previously was Media Vision Technologies Inc. after being involved in a financial scandal that led to then-CEO Paul Jain stepping down. Media Vision incurred approximately $104 million of aggregate losses in 1995 before the company was renamed. Aureal sustained further losses of $17 million in 1996 and $18 million in 1997. After having acquired Crystal River Engineering in May 1996, Aureal worked with them to develop and market the A3D audio technology. The technology was incorporated into video games, surround sound systems and sound c ...
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Polyphonic Ringtone
A ringtone is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming telephone call. Originally referring to the sound of electromechanical striking of bells or gongs, the term refers to any sound by any device alerting of an incoming call. On plain old telephone services (POTS), starting in the late 19th century, the signal is created by superimposing ringing voltage on the direct current line voltage. Electronic telephones could produce a warbling, chirping, or other sounds. Variations of the cadence or tone of the ring signal, called ''distinctive ringing'', can be used to indicate characteristics of incoming calls. Modern telephones, especially smartphones, are manufactured with a preloaded selection of ringtones. Customers can buy or generate custom ringtones for installation on the device as a default ringtone or a distinctive ringtone used to indicate characteristics of incoming calls. Digital ringtones were a large market in the 2000s, at its peak generating up to $4 bill ...
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MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and related audio devices for playing, editing, and recording music. A single MIDI cable can carry up to sixteen channels of MIDI data, each of which can be routed to a separate device. Each interaction with a key, button, knob or slider is converted into a MIDI event, which specifies musical instructions, such as a note's pitch, timing and velocity. One common MIDI application is to play a MIDI keyboard or other controller and use it to trigger a digital sound module (which contains synthesized musical sounds) to generate sounds, which the audience hears produced by a keyboard amplifier. MIDI data can be transferred via MIDI or USB cable, or recorded to a sequencer or digital audio workstation to be edited or played back. ...
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RealPlayer
RealPlayer, formerly RealAudio Player, RealOne Player and RealPlayer G2, is a cross-platform media player (software), media player app, developed by RealNetworks. The media player is compatible with numerous container file formats of the multimedia realm, including MP3, MP4, QuickTime File Format, Advanced Systems Format, Windows Media format, and the Proprietary format, proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats. RealPlayer is also available for other operating systems; Linux, Unix, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian versions have been released. The program is powered by an underlying open-source software, open-source media engine called Helix (multimedia project), Helix. History The first version of RealPlayer was introduced on April 3, 1995 as "RealAudio Player" and was one of the first media players capable of streaming media over the Internet. Then, version 4.01 of RealPlayer was included as a selectable Internet tool in Windows 98's installation package. Subsequent ver ...
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The Immaculate Collection
''The Immaculate Collection'' is the first greatest hits album by American singer Madonna, released on November 13, 1990, by Sire Records. It contains fifteen of her hit singles recorded throughout the 1980s, as well as two brand new tracks, " Justify My Love" and " Rescue Me". All the previously released material were reworked through the QSound audio technology, becoming the first ever album to use it. Meanwhile, the new material saw Madonna working with Lenny Kravitz and Shep Pettibone. The album's title is a pun on the Immaculate Conception, a Marian dogma of the Catholic Church. The release of the album was accompanied by a same-titled home video release, an EP titled ''The Holiday Collection'', and a box set titled ''The Royal Box''. "Justify My Love" was released as the lead single from the album, with a controversial music video featuring overtly sexual imagery. After being banned by MTV, the video was released on VHS and became the best-selling video single ...
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Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting and visual presentation. Madonna's works, which incorporate social, political, sexual, and religious themes, have generated both controversy and critical acclaim. A cultural icon spanning both the 20th and 21st centuries, Madonna has become the subject of various scholarly, literary and artistic works, as well as a mini academic sub-discipline called Madonna studies. Madonna moved to New York City in 1978 to pursue a career in dance. After performing as a drummer, guitarist, and vocalist in the rock bands Breakfast Club and Emmy & the Emmys, she rose to solo stardom with her 1983 eponymous debut album. Madonna has earned a total of 18 multi-platinum albums, including '' Like a Virgin'' (1984), '' True Blue'' (1986), ...
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Sting (musician)
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (born 2 October 1951), known as Sting, is an English musician, activist, and actor. He was the frontman, principal songwriter and bassist for New wave music, new wave band the Police from 1977 until their breakup in 1986. He launched a solo career in 1985 and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, New-age music, new-age, and worldbeat in his music. Sting has sold a combined total of more than 100 million records as a solo artist and as a member of the Police. He has received three Brit Awards, including Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist, Best British Male Artist in 1994 and Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2002; a Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe; an Emmy Award, Emmy; and four Academy Awards, Academy Award nominations. As a solo musician and as a member of the Police, Sting has received 17 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the ...
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Calgary, Canada
Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, third-largest city and List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada, fifth-largest metropolitan area in Canada. Calgary is at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the southwest of the province, in the transitional area between the Rocky Mountain Foothills and the Canadian Prairies, about east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies, roughly south of the provincial capital of Edmonton and approximately north of the Canada–United States border. The city anchors the south end of the Statistics Canada-defined urban area, the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. Calgary's economy includes activity in many sectors: energy; financial services; film and tele ...
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Capcom
is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster Hunter'', ''Street Fighter'', ''Mega Man'', ''Devil May Cry'', ''Onimusha'', ''Dead Rising'', ''Dragon's Dogma'', ''Ace Attorney'', and ''Marvel vs. Capcom''. Established in 1979, it has become an international enterprise with subsidiaries in East Asia (Hong Kong), Europe (London, England), and North America (San Francisco, California). History Founding and arcade games (1979-1984) Capcom's predecessor, I.R.M. Corporation, was founded on May 30, 1979 by Kenzo Tsujimoto, who was still president of Irem, Irem Corporation when he founded I.R.M. He worked at both companies at the same time until leaving Irem in 1983. The original companies that spawned Capcom's Japan branch were I.R.M. and its subsidiary Japan Capsule Computers Co., Ltd., bo ...
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