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

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

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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?

I played with my big brother's VIC20 when I was 3 years old in 1982. I tried
to program with C64 but never managed to create anything complete. I got
interested in creating music when I had Amiga 500 and a basic MIDI system
set up.

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

I had a Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Amiga 500, Amiga 2000, Amiga 4000.
A4000 is currently out of order, but I have several C64s and C128s to create
some sounds with and a some PCs.

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

I've tried some drawing and programming too. I was more interested in
drawing when I was in school, but I've lost some of my talent. My
programming skills were never so brilliant that I could have made a fast
real time routine, so I gave up democoding. Nowadays I'm employed as a
part-time programmer, though.

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

On Amiga, I used Protracker, OctaMED Soundstudio, Samplitude and some small
shareware programs. On Windows, I use ACID, Reason, Reaktor, Buzz and Sound
Forge. I never found out how to use the c64 trackers so I tried to create
routines by my own, but they ate too much cpu when using two oscillators
with LFO.

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

My composings tend to sound somewhat boring when they get older, so I'm not
very satisfied with my modules anymore. Anyway, Crop Circles could be the
best of the modules I've created so far.

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

Plenty, and there will be more. Some just sound too stupid nowadays. Mostly
because my taste and style has varied. Some of those tunes I have even
forgotten.

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

Music plays quite a big role in a demo. I bet it's somewhere between 33% and
50%. As well as in movies, music creates a specific atmosphere and there are
some demos that people remember by their music.

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

I'm still composing, currently mostly for leisure purposes. I'm trying to
professionalize myself, and I have produced some music to specific events
like Saku 2001 (a Finnish Amiga user group meeting) and sold the cd there.
I'm sometimes performing live and I'm more into acoustic instruments now,
like didgeridoo, jaw harp and trombone.

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

There's no doubt that the module format set very difficult limits to tunes,
especially when creating large soundscapes. The tunes had to be small,
usually the channel count was limited, no living filters, etc. Some recent
demos have mp3 tracks as music, and I would feel great to participate some
of them. Unfortunately the groups I am in, are mostly dead.
I release my music in MPEG format on my web pages for free. Of course, if I
manage to get a record contract, there will be less free music by me in the
future. But I promise I will always publish some of my tracks for free.

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

My taste grows all the time, and I continuously find more music I can
understand. Therefore it's quite difficult to name my all time favourites,
because they vary by time and I don't fancy any specific tunes. But some
bands or artists that are in my top lists include Future Sound of London,
Orb / FFWD, Eat Static, Banco de Gaia, Portishead, Orbital and Nine Inch
Nails.

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

I have planned it, but some of my equipment has been broken. The most
important was Eko P15, an Italian analog synth from '83. Also, my Amiga is
out of order, and I have some material on the hard disk that I can't access.
Hopefully I can save it some day before it's too late. I'm still designing
my first album (I have made the Saku 2001 EP so far) and I don't want to
spoil it by finishing it with too much hurry.

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

Future Sound of London, Zen Cafe, Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein and Tricky.

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

It gave me a lot of experience, some support and influence in creating
music. Also, I'm freaked to some old electronics.

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

As much as I can. I had never managed to go abroad for parties, but I go to
Assembly and Alternative Party continually. I had made some design for a
demo, but unfortunately I didn't have an intact group anymore to create it
and I wasn't an experienced coder to create it. I've participated in mp3
compos, but my tracks didn't seem to be mainstream enough to get to the
finals.

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

Thanks to all people I've made some projects with. Greetings to Embassy &
Phase^D people if they are still reading. (:

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please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2002 by crown of cryptoburners
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