WHO'S VROOMIN' WHO? by Peter M. Bracke

Rats In A Maze

I remember once when I was in the third grade, my science teacher gave a presentation to our science class on the workings of the human memory, and she brought out one of those "mouse in a maze" demonstrations. While most of the other kids laughed at it, or cheered on the poor little critter in his futile attempts to reach a piece of cheese he could never possibly retrieve, I felt nothing but pity for the poor mouse. As I peered down at those little beady eyes which looked back at me in helpless confusion and fear, I vowed never go back to Science class again. Even now, nearly twenty years later, sometimes at night I can still hear the screaming of the mice...

So perhaps it is some sort of fitting cosmic comeuppance that I thought of that mouse while attempting to make my way around the Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, in search of the my own piece of cheese. Never have I seen a structure so poorly designed and infinitely confusing. Perhaps that little mouse was reincarnated in the form of a mad architect, who delighted in design a hotel so convoluted and Escher-esque that it would be a form of literal revenge on the human patrons that got nausea attempting to navigate the tortured turns, ramps and arbitrary passageways. But luckily, after about 20 minutes of my wandering about, I escaped the wrath of that reincarnated mouse, as finally a kindly bag lady pointed me in the right direction of my destination, the Avalon Room. Here Rykodisc, in association with DTS, was debuting the pioneering new King Crimson DVD release Deja VROOM.

The Band

Thanks to the careful behavior of innovative guitarist/instigator Robert Fripp, King Crimson has always been a rather aloof entity. Formed in 1969 and heralding from the progressive rock era, Crimson endured several changes in personnel and musical direction before solidifying in 1974. That final lineup produced a trilogy of albums that escaped rock's boundaries with avant garde-like modes of free form styling and completely free improvisations

But the King Crimson name lay dormant until 1981, when Fripp and drummer Bill Bruford were joined by Adrian Belew and Tony Levin. Their discipline was built on precise guitar interplay and intricate polymeters. After three years of fusing world beats with highbrow rock aesthetics, Crimson disappeared yet again, only adding to their art-school mystique.

Until now. In 1996, the quartet of the '80s was joined by Stick-bassist Trey Gunn and drummer Pat Mastelotto. This unique double-trio rather quietly released the "VROOM" EP, an unusual document of their first few rehearsals together. The heavy arrangements and free-form improv seemed to indicate that judging by the sound, King Crimson was ready to hold court once again.

The smallish 5-foot screen was dwarfed by the thundering dynamics, and I actually preferred closing my eyes and just listening to the sound experience, which was preferable to the dwarfed visuals which were just distracting after a while.

Now, in keeping with their progressive spirit, King Crimson and Rykodisc are releasing the video companion of sorts to the "VROOM" EP, called appropriately enough, Deja VROOM. Featuring 19 live video tracks and extensive interactive materials, as well as both Dolby Digital and DTS sound tracks, the disc is being heralded as a breakthrough DVD music video release. So the band members themselves, Rykodisc and DTS proudly teamed up to host the World Premiere of the new disc, inviting members of the press and some lucky King Crimson fans to join on the event. (Editor's Note: Dolby Digital was not represented at the event.)

After an enjoyable buffet of sweets and good food, the band members arrived, providing a nice Q&A session with their fans, as well as spending an hour signing autographs. They were quite personable and occasionally laconic, but there fans seemed quite pleased (to be honest, I'm not that familiar with their work, so most of the in jokes went right over my head. Perhaps that mouse is up there somewhere laughing.) The event was set up in two separate rooms, so one could also wander over to the DTS demonstration room to hear select demonstrations of the Deja VROOM disc through the evening. The smallish 5-foot screen was dwarfed by the thundering dynamics, and I actually preferred closing my eyes and just listening to the sound experience, which was preferable to the dwarfed visuals which were just distracting after a while.

The presentation was set up in a roughly 50 foot by 50 foot room, with a 5 foot wide or so front projection screen up, flanked by the full 5.1 DTS sound setup around the perimeter of about 50 seats. Having never experienced DTS in anything but a sales showroom, I was intrigued to see what this Dolby Digital rival would really sound like on a DTS-approved setup. As the company was personally overseeing this presentation, I felt confident I would be able to make a real assessment of the sonic quality of DTS without worries that faulty setup or sub par equipment would ruin the experience.

However, to be honest, I did face the problem of being largely unfamiliar with King Crimson's oeuvre, making it hard to really judge the sound quality against any prior experience. However, after DTS top dog David Del Grasso introduced the presentation and the house lights dimmed, the sound came roaring to life. Despite my unfamiliarity with the material, I immediately knew that without question, the multichannel spatiality and ambient sound field created would be quite impressive indeed.

The first musical segment was a brief voxless intro of ever-increasing intensity...think the opening chord of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (unfortunately, the names of each selection were not indicated by the Mr. Del Grasso or listed on any sort of press material). Again, as I'm not familiar with King Crimson's music, I was surprised that the sound was rather brittle and harsh, but as subsequent clips were shown, it became apparent that the band plays with atonality and discordant soundscapes, which may have lent to the hardness I was hearing. However, the aggressiveness of the surrounds and the discreet sound mix was wonderfully effective. Each instrument, however abrasive at times to my ears, was incredibly distinct and easily located in the sound mix. I could hear a cymbal plonk in the right speaker, for example, even while a loud guitar or deep bass sound occurred over at the far rear or up front.

Two more clips followed, each a bit more "musical" in the traditional pop sense than than largely tuneless intro. I could place a more discernible rhythm happening, though still I found the sound to be overall very "hard" and screeching. The sound feel and mix seemed to be all high treble or quick, metallic drum hits. There didn't seem to be very much "middle ground" in the frequency range, and even when Adrian Belew's vocal's kicked in, his voice sounded very high, thin and unpleasing. Again, it is hard to know if this is a result of the musical direction of King Crimson, or a fault of the DTS soundtrack in rendering the soundtrack. To be honest, I have to conclude it is the former. The amazingly lifelike individual instrument reproduction that the DTS soundtrack offered seemed to suggest that the sound format is capable of replicating an wonderfully lifelike presence. It is just that in the case of King Crimson, the lifelike presence is hard on the ears. However, without a doubt, I did feel that the bass and drums in general were drowned out frequently in the mix, almost as if the subwoofers were just not there. Again, as this was a DTS-certified presentation, I have to form the opinion that the overall bass was not as forcefully rendered as it could have.

There were two other interesting things I noticed while listening to the presentation. Though this admittedly may have to do with the size of the screen and the loudness level, it did seem that the soundtrack was so dynamic and directional, that it wiped out the visuals. It became clear to me instantly that the size of the screen needs to be directly proportional to the volume level. Of course, this demonstration was designed to showcase DTS, but a better visual presentation would have helped a bit. Second, I noticed that sitting off axis (i.e., not right in the center between all five speakers) would derail the ambient sound experience. The more I move to any one direction, the more I began to notice speaker placement. Although impressive, I have heard some better surround presentations, but the room size was a bit small and limiting, whereas in a larger theater-like atmosphere, there would be more room within the axis to "breathe."

In the final analysis, though, it is important to remember that the DTS home experience is intended for just that, consumers at home, so room dimension is a factor. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly as this was a DTS-sponsored press event, there was no demonstration of the Dolby Digital soundtracks on the disc, so no meaningful comparison of DTS vs. Dolby Digital could be made here.

The video element used for the DVD was shot on video, and looked rather dated in appearance. Colors were well saturated, but in all honesty, the look was one of a early-eighties music video clip. However, the rather poor projection setup did detract, and was generally overpowered by the thundering soundtrack. Later, after the short clips were displayed, some of the more interactive elements of the disc were shown off, including some genuinely inventive uses of the audio and video streaming capabilities of the DVD format. Aside from the increasingly common multiple angle feature (well, okay, not that common), there was a very exciting segment where you could not only isolate a certain performer, but also their instrument on the soundtrack. In essence, it is like getting your own mix of the show in isolated form, and was quite inventive. And true King Crimson fans will love this disc, as it contains some hidden Robert Fripp footage, interactive games and plenty of VROOMin' Crimson music. But, then, fans don't need me to tell them to go out and buy this disc.

The Silence Of The Mice

With the demonstration over, it was back out to the maze for me, though I managed to find my way out in only a fourth of a time. In all, it was quite gratifying to finally hear a DTS-sponsored demo, and I was quite impressed overall with the DTS capabilities, despite the above-mentioned reservations. And Rykodisc has unquestionably fashioned a terrific, extensive disc to keep fans and techies alike satisfied. Now if only I could find a piece of cheese...

(The author would thank the following individuals for their help with this article: Allan Golden at Rykodisc, David Del Grasso at DTS, Author Chris Mitchell and the members of King Crimson.)

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