Amiga Music Preservation -

Interview

.

`n. .rP'

`qb ,dP'

TLb. ,dMP' all rite, now you get the chance to read

TML.dMMP some facts about some of the major amiga

,nmm`XXMPX musicians. read about their history in

,#MP'~~XNXYNXTb. the scene and their plans in future.yes,

,d~' dNNP `YNTb. that's meant to be read while listening to

,~ ,NN' `YNb their modules. read 'em over and over and over..

dNP `Yb.

,NN' `b. · i n t e r v i e w · ___________

______dP _____________ \ /

\ ,N'\____ _____________. _____ \ \_____. ____\ /

\___P___/ .\--\__ __/__ |--\____)---\ _____/__ |--\_ \ _/

| | | \ | | \__| | _ \ / | \__| | /\ |

| _| | | _l_ | | \ / _l_ | ___|

l___/=l___|====l____/===\______|==l______|\ /l___/===\______l____/

\/

•

Handle:

•

Group:

•

Date of birth:

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

I don't remember when I saw the first computer, but I was given a used
VIC-20 for christmas in 1985 (I was 8 years old). I immediately started
typing Basic games listed in magazines. Those were the days...

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

Chronological order:

VIC-20 (1985) - Game playing and Basic programming
C-64 (1988) - Machine code programming, painting, music composing
A600 (1992) - ProTracker music composing
A1200 (1994) - ProTracker music composing and little painting

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

coding?

When I was on the C-64 scene (as Shade/Flash Inc) I tried coding, painting
and music making. I soon discovered that music was the most fun to make.

When I got my A600 I found it too cumbersome to code and paint, so it had
to be music.

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

I've been using loads of composing programs, but mainly ProTracker on the
Amiga and DMC on the C-64.

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

Uh.. hard to say. I don't think I've ever reached my goal. I try to make
each module better than the ones I've made before, but that's not an easy
task.

Hence, my favourite modules are the newest ones.

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

Yes, infact there is. I made a module especially for my ex girl friend, but
she didn't exactly like it. I learned a lesson: don't make music as a
tribute to somebody if you're not 100% sure it will be appreciated.

Hehe. A bit on the negative side here.

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

If you mean value (ed.that is!), then I think it's high. A demo (or a game)
without music is boring and lacks multi-sense stimulation. A good piece of
music adds a lot, especially if it can induce the desired feeling for the
listener. Bad music does the opposite though. A good demo with crap music can
drive you mad.

In games, it's essential that the music induces the right mood in the right
places. Very difficult and time consuming for the composer!

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

I'm still composing, but I've more or less moved into the multi-channel
MIDI business. Tracking may be fun, but MIDI sequencing has several
advantages, especially when it comes to chords.

All music is currently for leisure purposes. I don't have the experience,
the equipment nor the contacts I would need to produce professional music.
But who knows, perhaps one day I'll get a record contract. I'll probably
have to add vocals to reach that goal though. It's hard to catch the
attention of the masses by making purely instrumental music (unless you're
a 100% acid/rave/trance dude which I'm not).

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

I have to use MPEG Layer 3 to compress my current music to reduce the size
for distribution. I must say that this compression standard is lovely.
Fairly good sound quality and marvellous packing ratios.

Standard MIDI music files (.SMF or .MID) following either the GM, XG or GS
standards are ok, but only if you have good enough equipment to play it
back. Such equipment tends to be very expensive, so I consider standard
MIDI files a good way to transfer notes between composers and programs, but
a bad way to release music.

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

That's not easy I'm afraid. Many of my favourite tunes are on the C-64, but
there are a good deal of yummy modules on the Amiga too.

I can give you the names on some of the musicians I respect though:

C-64: Jeroen Tel, Laxity, Link, A-man, Drax, Geir Tjelta
Amiga: Jogeir Liljedahl, Spaceman, Axel, Moby, Strobo, Deelite

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

Yes. I don't know if this will become reality, but there's a good chance.
Ofcourse it won't be a professional production, but simply a home-burnt cd.
I'll better go make some nice music with my KORG N364 synth first though.
Hehe.

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

Here are some of my favourites:

Skunk Anansie, Robert Miles, Jamiroquai, Björk, Enya, Prodigy and Antiloop.
Oh, and Celine Dion can do some wonderful singing.

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

The C-64 scene gave me lots of fun and music experience. I was fortunate
enough to be a member of a famous group, Flash Incorporated, and this made
it extremely easy to get in touch with other scene people.

The Amiga scene hasn't been much fun yet, except making music for demos and
magazines. I've been a member of Mystic for several years, but only in the
last year things have started to happen, like the dawn of a great demo
section.

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

I'm busy with all kinds of stuff and can therefore not consider myself a
very active scener. I doubt this will change, but I won't quit the scene
unless I have a very good reason. For now I don't have a single reason at
all, so I'm staying.

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

There's always time for a few greets:

Michael/Anathema, Pink/Abyss, Metal/Vibrants, whole Flash Incorporated
C-64, Germic, Mooze, Swedish and Finnish divisions of Mystic, especially
Kermit, Merko, Claw and Faust.

Look out for my music album (music disk if you like) to be produced in a
future not too far away. Under Mystic label ofcourse.

Thanks for interviewing me!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2001 by crown of cryptoburners
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quick Search

Random link

Database Stats

Interview