Amiga Music Preservation -

Interview

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`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.

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Handle:

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Group:

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Date of birth:

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

Pfew, that would tricky to say, but my interrest really started when my brother
bought a C64. I'd say that would be somewhere in 1982 or 1983. After some time
collecting and playing games I became interested in the demo-scene. Thanx to
reading a lot, trying a lot, and debugging a lot I started some coding myself.
I created one 'mega-demo' with one of my own tunes and some of reused code for
navigating the colorbars. Nothing special though, this was the first and last
attempt.

Afer that I bought a C128D, and a few good years later the Amiga 500. Meanwhile
I started to study Technical Computerscience, which wrecked my personal
interest ;)

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

This would make an interesting list I guess, more because I can't throw history
away:

C128D - My first own bought machine, currently stacked at the attick. Missing
my x-hundred 5.25" floppies though, hopefully they still work ;(

Amiga 500 - My old time favourite, though also stacked at the attick. Did fire
it up some time ago: the beast is still alive :)

ZX Spectrum - This one did not make it after all, they did seem to be a bit
flaky. The remains are boxed somewhere with some other ZX bits
and pieces. Fun machine, some buddies and me demolished several
of them during hardware experiments!

ZX80 - My guess this one is somewhere near the ZX Spectrum. If you would have
real cold winter, get yourself this thing. It is hot stuff!

Mac Plus - Just another fun machine, still having it laying around.

Atari 600XL - Stacked away...

MSX-II - A give away, can't remember the make of it, I thought it is a Philips.
That one is also catching dust at my attick

And ofcourse next to my current P4 PC, some older stuff is scattering around.
Some old 286, 386, 486, P1 and AMD-P2 stuff can be found... Hopefully :)

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

John Miles has the answer: "MUsic was my first love, and it will be my last".
Just my interest in music, and the availability of tools (and lotsa time) to
make some. In the early C64 days I did also some coding and GFX, but not too
wild and exotic. In my amiga era I tried some GFX too, but this was more
copycatting other styles. Music was more fun to do! Although my mom and
neighbours would have thought GFX would be better for me.

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

The thing all started with Rock Monitor, I think RockMon-II. That way I learned
the tracking styled music programms. With some excerpts to SoundMonitor and
other tools (like composers for the Hubbard 'routine'), RockMon was favourite.
Meanwhile I did get my hands on a digitizer for the C64, but the resolution was
kind of crappy. Or the memory requirements too big :)

The sound was also boosted in the end, a simple filter, delay and spatial decoder
created a stereo type sound, even better to listen too.

After the move to the Amiga, I started to use the trackers available there. With
some hands on experience I ended up with Fast Tracker II, but I also tried Star
Tracker, Octalyzer, (Octa-)MED and some more tools. And I tried working with
Delta Music, that time I had some contact with Bent Nielssen who wrote the editor
and sound routines.

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

That is difficult to say. I know I still have some unfinished stuff laying
around which could definitly be top. Also some 'live' sessions were really
fun to do, just jamming with some guys, 'morphing' samples along the way.

I still have some good feelings by both D-Shake remixes ('YAAAAAAAAAAAH!' and
'My heart the beat') and the 'Humanoid' remix. Though this does not reflect
my own abilities to mingle notes. In that case I would vote for a song with
some voice samples from the movie 'MAX Headroom'. I can't remember the title....
Too way back!

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

Several... Can't remember the titles, but one was quite a messy piece included
in 'Manic Raves II'. If you would called it Hardcore it wasn't too bad?!

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

Music can really make or break the admosphere. Music together with good effects
are very valuable to succes. If the music also appeals to a wide audience
without being boxed into a genre, it will be more successful.
This goes also for a good demo. If the interaction between the visual and audio
is keeping you on the edge, the mission is successful.

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

Nah, the crappy tools which were introduced at the PC platform after I left the
amiga, and a lack of time did put a stop on it. I did not really follow the
music scene on the PC platform, so I am not fully aware on the stuff available
now. For leisure I did some stuff with some TB303 emulators (Another old love),
and some synth programms. Nothing structural though!

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

I think it is just the evolution of formats, tools and hardware. The first
SoundBlaster music was a real laugh, but now you can make them laugh at you
with 32+ polyphonic channels... MP3 is doing fine for me, but this will be
improved over time too! Just go with the current technologial flow.

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

Rob Hubbard has my all time favourites, the 'Knucklebuster' tune just outranks
'Lightforce'. I must say I was also really impressed with the early tunes made
by Dr. Awesome. Chris Huelsbeck also had some nice moves...

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

Nope... Although I will be thinking on just getting the original .MOD files
over to the PC. Maybe uploading them to nectarine if people are interested.
If I get my old C64 floppies back, this would make a fun exercise too: it has
been many years since I played some of the music made then... *sig*

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

Luckely I do listen do a wide range of music, new and old. Just in a glance:
Faithless, Fatboy Slim, Rammstein, Rainbow, Led Zepplin, AC/DC, JJ Jarre, [...]
I can think of some more, both won't bore you all with that.

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

Fame and fortune! Well, some fame though during Manic Raves I, and some good
critics on Tetris Pro (Which has some PC makeovers with the original music,
thank you!). Fortunes were spent on disks, hardware, CMOS and other stuff.
But most of all some good time!

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

Not for years, I just picked up on it after I tried to find some of my past on
the WEB. That's how I stumbled upon the current activities still going on, and
the amazing group of people still working/supporting/loving the old hardware
and stuff made on that! I was really stunned, even more when I found nectarine,
kohina and Slay radio.

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

Just to all the folks to keep the stuff going! Keep those old platforms alive,
preferably on the original hardware. (Thought the emulators are fun too :)
Also some thanks to the people I have worked with closely, especially 'Cash'
who did most of the work carrying my music. A big 'HI!' to Bent Nielssen,
and to all other who might allready be swapped out of my memory.

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please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2003 by crown of cryptoburners
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