Amiga Music Preservation -

Interview

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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..

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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?

My interest for computers kicked off in 86 when my brother (Hydra/Andromeda) bought a Commodore 128. Immediately,
I was fascinated by the possibilities the computer showed - How did they make computer games? However, it was not
until we bought an Amiga 500 that I was able to do something fruitful with computers.

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

We bought the Amiga 500 in 88, I think, and then some years later, after some internal debate in Andromeda, we
upgraded to the 1200. In the beginning we used the computer mainly for gaming, but during 89 I started to make graphics
with the good old Deluxe Paint and music with Sound tracker v 1.0. Our fascination for the scene was stirred by crack
intros and old demos. We decided to make a group, and soon after Dr. Jekyll, who already had been in the scene for some
time, teamed up. We decided to name ourselves TPS, or The Pneumatic Sentinels, a corny name perhaps; it nonetheless was
inspired by the legendary Unit A crack intro with the three translucent monks - a true classic btw!

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

In fact I started making music and gfx at the same time. When Mr. Hyde and Archmage joined forces, however, it felt right
to specialize as Archmage was - and is - a superior graphician compared to myself. As I'm a bit reckless person, the
tediousness of drawing pictures pixels by pixels, not to mention the time-consuming and disciplined work of programming,
it was an easy choice. My aptitudes, if any, were in composing and design, which of course also involves lots of tedious
work, but for me at least, a lot more fun. Equally fun was to design demos and intros. Since I was responsible for the
characteristic Andromeda design-concept from the very beginning and as the business of composing became more and more
integrated with our demo design, composing music and working on design became much more complex and, at the same time,
much more rewarding.

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

I started with Sound tracker, and then later I used Pro-tracker.

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

None.

Actually, most of my modules were either experiments into a particular genre or demo tunes. My experiments into particular
genres mostly failed in that respect - they always came out as something else. In retrospect, I like to think of my songs
as having a distinct sound, but this feature of my music I leave to others to decide upon. Personally, I think my strength
was in creating simple melodies that fitted the Andromeda design concept and vice versa. I still like some of the themes
I made for productions such as: Surrealism (intro), DOS, Mirror, Seven Seas, and Nexus 7. The demo tunes always had a lot
of restrictions, though, both in terms of size and synchronizing elements, which often was frustrating. In fact, I have
lots of unreleased modules on my 1200 that were made with no restrictions (!), both finished and unfinished ones, many of
which I like better than the ones released.

Back to your question: If I was forced to choose a module it would most likely be the Nexus 7 sound-track because of its
integration into the design framework of that demo. For me, demo music and demo design is One. The structure and design
of Nexus 7 were made simultaneously and in dialogue with the composition of the song. If you indulge me, I would like to
explain the concept behind this tune and the demo, especially because there have been some misunderstanding about it (Some
lamers even accused me of having ripped all the samples from a game, which of course is rubbish). The title of the demo
relates to a special feature of the film Bladerunner. This feature loosely can be described as "the toilet and the android"
-notion of history. As you know, Ridley Scott portrays a post apocalyptic world in which different human systems and
artifact from different historical epochs co-exist. In this respect Bladerunner is very different from, let's say, Star
Trek, where the toilets on Starship Enterprise (if they indeed have any at all!) is as technologically advanced as the
android Data, who is so near to perfection that even perfection itself must be embarrassed. All systems and artifacts
seem to be, more or less, from the same period. Conversely, in Bladerunner, high-tech. androids (Nexus 6s) co-exist with
run-down porcelain toilets in shabby hotels. Neither of them is perfect nor pure.

Before Nexus 7, the Andromeda design concept suffered under its purity - it was too clean (I think the pinnacle was reached
with the beautiful music disk Mirror, designed and coded by Mr. Hyde, which take this concept to its limits). With Nexus 7,
we wanted to evolve our design concept further by introducing shabby elements into the pure and more advanced ones, though
without destroying the aestethic qualities of the whole. The blue and red palette running through the demo was selected to
hyphenate the apocalyptic aspect of this tension, i.e. between the pure and the ragged. This is also the concept behind the
music, beginning with the purity of the church organs and the blue galaxy in the introduction, a pure white font, which
breaks into the raw beauty of the computerized landscape and the industrial beat. I tried to mix some really shabby and,
at the time, outdated samples (as the anvil, which - yes - is ripped) with industrial inspired percussion (inspired by
Jesper Kyd's Hardwire tune) with choir, futuristic synthetic sounds, church organs, and a classical, almost baroque, lead
synth (The instruments were sampled either by me, Mr. Man or Lizard the Pissard, though this is of minor importance). The
risk, when mixing such elements, whether it is only with respect to the design or the music, always is the creation of a
kitschy pastiche. I think we managed to avoid just that for the demo as a whole. I'm a bit undecided about the music-score,
however. Generally speaking, this uncertainty is not due to the fact that computer music often has some mimetic sounds
(fake pianos and drums, etc.) and hence has some form of kitsch attached to it, which, I think, partly can account for its
rather low status outside the Scene. My hesitation is attached to the lead melody because of its obvious reference to
classical music and the mix-up of genres. Today, I would name the genre cyber-baroque-industrial-electronica, that is, if
I were music critic. Well, I'm not. The question is really whether it works or not. Personally, I do think it works within
the design concept of the demo (see above); but does it work outside this concept? I'm not sure. I suppose others are far
better suited to judge this than me. Anyway, I really do not care much. It was made twelve years ago. It is old enough to
be on its own.

In Sum: The design effort in Andromeda was always one of cooperation and critique, often extremely harsh and without
compromise. Everything, included the music, was open for adjustments or complete removal. As such, many effects, pictures
and themes never were included in the final result. In the end, almost everyone had put his stamp, in some way or another,
on almost every element of the production as a whole.

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

The rhumba-theme that my brother used in a small and kitschy intro was awful, but I have no intent of forgetting it. It
was an experiment into a genre that went too well I'm afraid There are also some unfinished tunes that have been released
under my handle by some lame ex-members of Andromeda who we dismissed from our crew: The tunes I refer to are: Espharionana
and The Ancient Orient. They are some very old experiments of mine and were never meant to be released.

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

It contributes both to its atmosphere, which of course is paramount, its rhythm and the force of its expression.

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

I try to compose a little, but since I'm doing a Ph.D. I do not have much time for music, or anything else for that matter...
(which, of course, is not completely true!)

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

Even though I'm not sure if I understand your question (as neither mpeg, wave nor midi are pieces of music, strictly
speaking) For all that it matters I do not have any particular opinion on this subject matter (I do not care what formats,
programs or techniques people use when making music, as long as the music is interesting and good.)

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

There were so many, and I've forgotten most of the names

Rob Hubbard's Astaroth theme.
Codex' "Underwater" (I think that was the title - it participated in The Party I music compo - it's a true classic)

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

Nope.

The charm of computer music is that it sounds like it's made on a computer, which for me, make up for the things I both
hate and love about its sound-texture: its static and compact qualities can really drive you mad when composing for hours
on the same pattern. My opinion on these matters is much the same as my opinions on bigheaded Opera singers making opera
versions of classic pop tunes. It is always an embarrassment. However, though there might be exceptions to the former
(i.e. remastering amiga music), I fear I've never heard exceptions to the latter.

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

Depeche Mode, Goldfrapp, Ladytron, The The, New Order, Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails

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

For fear of being a bit bigheaded myself: It gave me the opportunity to create pieces of demo art in cooperation with
friends and develop my skills with some of the most talented people the Scene has ever seen.

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

Yes, but what I'm up to is still a secret.

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

Greetings is passé, fuckings is passé, so are the old Andromeda lamers Mr. Hyde, Hydra, Archmage, Dr. Jekyll, Wood,
Blazer, and many, many more Will there be a Second Coming? Turning and turning in the widening gyre

And of course a big thanks to Crown/Cryptoburners for his patience with me and all the delays I've made him endure so that
he finally could have my answers, though not my unreleased modules.

Ok, a final word of uncensored historical wisdom to all you creative demo-makers out there (and to show that also I am
passé): When we made Nexus 7, we included a small part where we synchronize the music with the following words: "Use your
perception to penetrate the void of your mind". If I regret anything of the things we wrote in Nexus 7, this is the one.
It's pompous, kitschy and New Age-like. It means nothing, but tries to sound good. Such empty lingo adds nothing but
presumptuousness. To say it bluntly: New Age demos stink! That this phenomenon almost is extinct today is a blessing
indeed, let us hope it will remain so. The essence of demo-making is making impossible effects, with only possible means
available. To this end, everything else must be subordinated, even design. This does not, however, legitimate bad or ugly
design, as often was the case in Chaos of Sanity's demos, when he rightfully attempted at making such effects. It is this
norm, so crucial to demo-making, that eventually made Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde superior demo coders, I think. The most
difficult part of making an outstanding demo is to be able to include the impossible effects within a design concept that
functions both for that particular part and within the demo as a whole. It is no trivial matter.

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