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?

Probably the result of the Atari VCS when I was about 11. Didn't get my first
computer until 1986 which was a Canon MSX. Got an Atari 520ST/FM in 1988 and
my Amiga A500 in January 1990. Went to A1200 in 1994, then bought a PC in 1996,
stripped it, rebuilt it, and have built many machines both for myself and
others since. Have machines left in England, but built a cheapo out here to
tide me over until I get all my kit shipped from England.

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

MSX, Atari ST. Coding with the MSX, making basic games with basic,
same with Atari ST, though it ended up getting used more for games

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

That's the Amiga's fault. Have always been a musician (various wind instruments
and keyboards, a little drums). The Amiga was the first computer I had that had
a good sound chip, as opposed to I think the Yamaha YM2149 (in both the MSX and
Atari ST). I'd seen Shadow of The Beast in 1989 on my best friend's Amiga, and
it impressed me both graphically and sonically. When I got my Amiga, we got
lots of PD software and demo's, but once I had a copy of the original
NoiseTracker, I took samples from PD and other tunes to start making music. I
sampled some sounds of my Yamaha MC600 Organ, but went crazy with making
original sounds with my first synth, an M1 which I purchased in May 1990.
With deluxe paint, started making some graphics for a game project we started,
but coding went out the window, because Qyv (I think that was his handle) had
that covered, so I concentrated on the music and graphics. Somewhat better
at music than graphics though.

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

I used a very early version of MED originally, but once Noisetracker appeared,
I didn't change to anything else until probably OctaMed in '94 on my A1200.

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

None in particular.I was pretty much minding my own business, knocking out
tunes for my own pleasure, and a few for Damaj Inc., the group I started with
Qyv. I wasn't trying to reach any lofty pinnacle, just making the most out of
the four sound channels and memory constraints.

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

There are many. I have many more unfinished tunes than finished ones. This is
true of modules and music I created in my home studio which I built up between
1990 and 1996. Some I would like not to remember, because they WERE attempts
at something to be better than anything that had come before them, and were
ultimately awful, others, because the mod players in the demos they were put
into, didn't handle certain music controls correctly (one in particular for
Wizzcat, I can't remember the mod name as I don't have access to my mods over
here, but the vibrato was WAY out of whack, and made the tune laughable in my
opinion)

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

Demo wise, I think it's vital. I don't think I would have enjoyed demos HALF
as much if it wasn't for the music. In fact, I probably wouldn't have bothered
with them at all if it wasn't for the music. I can't imagine sitting there
just watching the GFX, as many demos were not spectacular at all to look at,
but still had awesome soundtracks. With games, it depends on the game.
Adventure games wouldn't be the same without a stirring soundtrack. Shoot 'em
Ups can be so much better when they have a cracking piece of music thumping
along with you (Turrican and Apidya on the Amiga spring to mind) or if it's an
FPS on the PC, Medal of Honour or Call of Duty are enhanced by the orchestral
soundtracks too. Driving games, especially modern ones, don't really need them.
In fact on Gran Turismo 3, it's fine on the intro, but I have all in game and
menu music off. Especially in game, it annoys me, although Burnout 2 had a few
good tracks worthing leaving in game music on for. I guess it depends on what
music is matched to the game. Crap music or wrong music for the game type
makes it useless. However, excellent music, even in an unspectacular game can
make it more playable, if nothing else just to hear each level's music. But
maybe as a musician, I'm biased on that view

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

Right now, not really. I've moved to the USA, and undergoing the immigration
procedure, I'm not shipping my home studio out until everything here is sorted.
Soon as I have a keyboard or two, yes, I'll be composing. I always have and
always will. I'd love for it to be for professional purposes one day, but I'm
a realist, and suspect it'll always be for the pleasure of myself and my
friends.

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

Midi music is fairly worthless in my opinion. I've yet to hear one good tune
using a basic GM setup. I think it's the fault of the standard instrumentation,
just leading to no inspiration. Mpeg and wave of course, is just a way of
storing a piece of already made music. So it really depends on what piece of
music someone has recorded. I like the mpeg format. I can record tunes down
from my digital hard drive recorder via the mixer and outboard gear into a
wave file (which can be over 100Mb), then convert it to an MP3 and have it
take a 10th of the wave's space. Unless your listening to the tune on
particularly good monitors and have the volume cranked up, the difference
is virtually imperceivable.

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

I like music from all genres. A good piece of music is a good piece of music.
I used to be REALLY into Heavy Metal though, and just about any tune off of the
Blue Murder CD (1989) I could listen to and never get bored of it.
I'm racking my brain here, there's so many I like I can't think of any one
particular tune that stands out from any other genre (I really take little
notice of lyrics in music, and therefore song titles elude me). I really liked
No Doubt's Hella Good. GrooveJet was cool also as was Do Your Thing by
Basement Jaxx. As for Amiga mods, there were loads I loved, and if I had
access to my Amiga back in England I could probably name a few (my CD's too
are all back in England. Perhaps I need to update this part of the interview
at a later time). I could listen to my own music over and over also (is this
not why we do it at the end of the day?) and my Dark Angels Clan Theme Tune,
and Faces probably are at the top of my most listened to list.

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

Yeah, I think I would. There were a variety of Mods I would have liked to
heard with more channels and better sound quality and sounds.

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

Almost none. I don't listen to a huge amount of commercial music, it all
sounds the same to me. Plus, over here, my stepdaughter blasts country music
out all the time, and I HATE country music. When I do occasionally hear
something I like, it's usually Linkin Park or something with a bit of grit.
I liked Maroon 5's This Love too. I'll listen to anything, from Vivaldi to
even dare I say it Kylie (although with her, I find it's like an Amiga Demo.
Whereas an Amiga Demo is better with good music, a Kylie tune is better with
a good video :P )

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

The Amiga Scene gave me something to do of an evening when the weather wasn't
good, and meant that after getting heavily drunk on a Friday night, would
stay up until 5am making music. Perhaps this is why so many mods went
unfinished. Listening to them on Sunday when you're sober, somehow the tune
didn't sound quite as good as it did at 4am Saturday Morning.

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

No. I only found your website, because I started tinkering with WinUAE to
bring back a few memories of days gone by, and make an RTG Amiga that makes
my old miggie look retarded.

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

Yeah. Who the hell were Atomic Soft? Apparently I did a module for them?
I wanna hear which one. I couldn't find it on your site. As for greets, I
doubt anyone remembers me, as I can barely remember any of the people I did
anything for/with all them years ago either. I haven't done an Amiga mod in
over 10 years. Except obviously you guys, it was strange to see my name on
your site, I was unaware that my music travelled anywhere.

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please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2005 by crown of cryptoburners
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