Amiga Music Preservation -

Interview

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1-How did your interest for computers start? Which year was that?

I started programming in 1978, at the age of three. (My code wasn't very good then, though. :) I started computer music at the age of five on a TRS-80 CoCo. I have been active in the computer industry as a developer and software architect for several years, and retired from the computer industry last year, to return to university to complete my Ph.D in philosophy.

2-What machines did you previously have? What did you do with them?

My first machine was a TRS-80 CoCo, then an IBM XT, then a Commodore 64, and then, I discovered the Amiga in 1987. First I used an Amiga 500, then a 2000, then later a 1200. In 1995, with much sadness, I gave away my Amiga and bought a PC. Today, I do all my work, including my music work, from a Dell XPS laptop.

All three of my Amigas and my Commodore 64 were given to friends to use. My TRS-80 was sold at a yard sale when I was ten.

3-For what specific reason did you end up making music rather than gfx, coding?

Oh, I did graphics and coded, too, but I wasn't very good at it! *laugh* I think my music was the only thing good enough to show to others.

4-Which composing programs have you been using? Which one in particular?

On the Amiga, at first I used Deluxe Music Construction Set, then quickly changed over to Sonix. I still have some of my Sonix tunes today, in fact. From there, I discovered Soundtracker 2.3, then Noisetracker 1.2, then Noisetracker 2.0, then various versions of Protracker, then MED. Most of my MOD composing was done on MED 3.23, Octamed 1.12, or Octamed 2.0. At the end, I picked up a copy of Octamed 5, and a few MOD's were made with that.

Octamed 2.0 was my favorite. I spent the most time using it, and really liked it.

Today, I do most of my music work with Sonar, though I recently wrote a GoatTracker song for old time's sake.

5-With which module did you feel you had reached your goal?

My cover of Big In Japan. I listened to it with the crew of Electric Dreams, and the smiles on their faces told me that they were proud to know a musician.

6-Is there a tune you would like not to remember? For what reason?

My solo version of Floodworks. I had a very different idea for the song that Reverb's version, and released my own version...and it was extremely weak, and messy, and too many bends! I hated it so much that I deleted most copies...and now, I don't have a copy anymore.

In fact, I hated it so much that I carried that song with me over the years, and recorded a few new versions of it, to apologize to Reverb for the atrocity that was "my version" of the MOD!

7-In your opinion, what's the value of a music in a demo, game?

Many a disappointing game has been purchased because the soundtrack was excellent. Indeed, many bad games are loved partly because of their soundtrack, and many good games were made even better by their soundtrack. Music is very, very important. I would even say that good music makes up for bad graphics, or not-so-good gameplay.

8-At present, are you still composing? For professional or leisure purposes?

I am still composing, and recording. Mostly for leisure.

9-What do you think of today's pieces of music such as mpeg,wave,midi,etc...?

I think technology has come a long way, and made some incredible things possible -- but that it's not really so different after all. I compose with Sonar, using software synthesizers and samplers -- huge banks of hundreds of instruments, much like my old sample disks for Soundtracker. I write my music in the event list -- rather like a tracker -- and I save my sequences to disk. I record some of my own samples, and share them with my friends. It's really not so different, when you think about it, is it?

I think MIDI sequencing is underrated. Most people I know think of MIDI sequences as poorly-written karaoke music, and when I tell them that the sequences I write are MIDI sequences, they're very surprised.

I will always really respect MOD's, though. They're incredible, and very well planned. :)

10-Could you tell us some of your all times favourite tunes?

Floodworks, particularly Reverb's take on the song. Jogeir Liljedahl's outstanding Guitar Slinger. Klisje Pa Klisje (I'm doing a cover of it now). Cortouchka. Leave The Brain. Gods. Rainy Night. And Bust It, which was fun.

11-Are you planning to make an audio cd with some of your music remastered?

I don't have most of my old MOD's anymore, but I have recorded new versions of some of the songs. I have a new version of Floodworks I just finished that's really quite good, I think.

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

Mike Oldfield, Alan Parsons, Vangelis, Ivan (formerly of Men Without Hats), Donovan, Jimi Hendrix, and Arcadia, to name a few. I'm also quite into Mozart L'Egyptien, Natascha Atlas, Angelique Kidjo, KT Tunstall, and Rachid Taha.

13-What does/did the amiga/c64 scene give you?

It took a young man with dreams of music and let me make sounds I could never have made without the Amiga. It turned a young piano player into a composer. If not for the MOD scene, I wouldn't still be making music today.

14-Are you still active in the scene these days?

No, though I remember it fondly. I'm not as talented as many of the better musicians out there; I'll clap and cheer for them. But maybe someday, you'll see another Dusty MOD. It could happen. :)

15-Anyone to greet? Anything left to say? Feel free...

Thank you all. I am deeply honored to have been a small part of this scene. Thank you all for the wonderful music. You changed my life. Someday, I will tell my grandkids that when I was young, I spent my nights making four-channel sampled music and watching weird animations with squirrels, and they'll think I'm crazy when I tell them that 1Mb RAM and an 855K floppy disk were plenty for us then.

Thank you. I stand here in the company of giants, and I am deeply grateful.

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please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2006 by crown of cryptoburners
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