Amiga Music Preservation -

Interview

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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?

in 1984, I became a "beginning bit" in my elementary school's computer
classes when I learned how to run a program by myself on the Apple ][.

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

Our first computer at home was an Apple ][ C that my mom bought to do work
for her programming classes. Almost right away I wondered how I could
use the computer to make music. I didn't figure that out until I
"discovered" tracking in 1993. If only we'd had an Amiga instead of an
Apple. ;) I used the Apple for a few primitive attempts at music (by
entering speaker click frequencies and durations in BASIC code), BASIC
programming, LOGO, writing school reports, and of course, playing games.

Our next computer was a Macintosh SE (all my mom's classes were taught on
Apple computers, so we kept getting Apple computers at home). I tried to
make music on it again, this time using Hypercard. I also played with the
paint programs, wrote school reports in Word, and started my online career
with Prodigy, and then later AOL and BBSs.

Finally in 1993 we got a PC. By that time I already knew about tracking
and demos, so I added that to the list of fun things to do with a
computer. I still spent a lot of time calling BBSs and playing some
games, and I started using the Internet for e-mail and IRC.

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

I've always been interested in music, especially singing. I've never been
very good at playing any instruments, so the computer was the ideal
instrument for developing my musical ideas. I did (and still do) a little
coding, but I was never very good with graphics. As for making gfx, I
lack artistic talent, so the few attempts I've made at doing art have
been pretty pathetic.

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

From the very beginning I've used the FastTracker programs, first the
original FT1 and later FT2. Once my old p90's hard drive died, I had to
find something that would work on our newer Windows computer. I tried
MadTracker because it claimed to be like FT2, but I didn't like it all
that much. I'm still looking.

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

It's hard to say which one I like the best. I think that "Midnight Fires"
is probably my best new-age style tune, but for demotune style, it would
have to be either Shameful or Dyslexia.

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

I would kind of like to forget "Disco is NOT Dead". It's one of my first
tunes, uses really cheesy samples, and my friend talked me into doubling
each of the 4 channels for a "stereo" effect. It's just bad.

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

I'm a pretty strong believer in the concept of "design". I like to think
of demos like olympic figure skating: part of the score comes from the
technical merit of performing the compulsory moves (or effects) well, and
part of the score comes from the artistic expression. Music and gfx both
add to the overall artistic expression of a demo. In games, I think music
helps set the mood, or gives you something cool to listen to while you're
playing (an excellent example of this is necros's music from Xixit).

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

I still tinker around a little with music, but I haven't finished anything
in a long time. I've been focusing my musical energy mostly on singing -
I've been studying voice since 1992, and I sing opera.

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

I've been on the music jury at almost every Assembly since 1999 and I've
come to the conclusion that good musicians are good musicians regardless
of the format. I've heard some absolutely amazing 4-channel (that I would
never have guessed was 4-channel) tunes in the oldskool compos, and I've
heard lots of total crap in the mp3 compos. One advantage of the new
formats like mp3 though is that you can use the highest quality samples
and not have to worry too much about file size. It also allows for really
good tunes with vocals.

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

This could be a very long list, and I'm sure I'll forget lots of tunes.

I would have to say that some of my favorite trackers of all time are
Skaven, necros (now known as Alpha Conspiracy). Some of my favorite tunes
are "(Dreaming of) Foreign Skys" by Big Jim, "When Time Slips Away" by
Firestorm, "Ascent of the Cloud Eagle" by necros, Skaven's Second Reality
music and "War in the Middle Earth" (also by Skaven). I'm sure there are
many many more that I've forgotton.

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

I think that would be a waste of a CD. ;)

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Cibo Matto, Erasure, Jewel, Aimee Mann, Manu Chao,
Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Ultrabra, Rufus
Wainwright, and probably a lot of bands I don't know the name of from the
radio.

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

Unfortunately I never got involved in the amiga/c64 scene. Back when
Amiga was the hottest thing on the market, we had an Apple. :(

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

I still participate in Assembly as an organizer, but I'm not really active
in making demos or music any more.

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

Greetings to my husband Veli-Pekka (howler of Fobia Design), and our
soon-to-be-born daughter Magnolia (Magpie, no group yet). Also greets to
my old groupmates from Threesome: Kneebiter and Moby Disk.

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