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?

My intrest for computers came when I was 8 years old (that was 1982), when
we visited some aquaintants and their son just shuffed me behind a commodore
vic-20 to play some games, just for not making me getting bored.

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

My first computer was not a commodore, though I had a commy 64 on my whishlist
since my tenth birthday, I got some Sharp MZ-700 instead when I was 12... A
nice shiny box showing a big home-computer and an internal plotter and a
tapedeck. Well the ploteer turned out to be an optional device that did not
came with it in this box... At first I did do some programming in it's own
basic, later on I was playing with it's simple sound commands that could be
given in basic. The one-track sound-chip made me force using arpeggio tricks
to at least create the idea multiple tracks were used but after one year my
interest was gone. In 1987 I finally got a commy 64, well not new but it had
everything I needed. The games were also much cooler so I played mostly games
on it the first year, after that year I got hands on music routines like
soundmonitor, rockmonitor, future composer and music assembler. Songs I made
in Music assembler also meanted my entry into the C64 demo-scene. It took a
couple of years but in 1990 my desk got cleaned for an Amiga 500 and it served
me well until 1994 when I got my first 486 Clone that is, I collected several
parts on a computer sales market-event and builded it together using a
soundblaster clone that performed the same quality as creative's ten times more
expensive original. I survived with my 486 dx 25 clone up to 1998 and this is
only because in 1996 I decided to buy a Gravis UltraSound Max instead of
upgrading my computer. Today i'm geared with a PIII 866 clone and a high
performance video editing card for editing my regular holiday shots. (and my
private hours with my wife ofcourse ;[=], (nah...not really))

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

Well, it's not ending up, my musical background is an inheritance from my
family. Some of my genes developed a quite good sense of absolute hearing and
that's why I can can distinguish a lot of sounds within music. I listen to it
with a technical aspect. Though most of my skills I did had to further develop,
to become able having technology perform what I want to hear and this requires
some other skills, that I was not blessed with in the first place.

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

To end with the PC, I started with Screamtracker III (3.2 / 3.21 or something
in that direction). Screamtracker was the first kind of tracker on PC that
brought some serious sampling manipulation and tracking advances above what
Protracker 3 on the Amiga already offered. I found most DOS-based 4-channel
tracking routines on PC lame, they were buggy, did not properly supported my
soundcard (thanks to creative's commercial SDK policy). Near the end of 1994,
Fasttracker II came out. I knew it's predecessor and I also knew FT I was a load
of crap. The Gui was nice but that was about the only thing that was positive
about FT I so I was about to ignore FT II when someone noticed me about
Nibbles that was inside FT II. Well, I found it ultracool to download a tracker
just to play Nibbles in it.

But as soon as I got FT2 (and not far from that download I purchased my GUS)
my opinion twitched completely the other way round. This was it, it had
everything I minimal required to have the easy of Protracker and it offered
more tricks than Screamtracker ever could near. FT II was the first tracking
program that offered some professional tools to make your music with in the
DOS world. In 1996 Impulse Tracker came into the world... my first version I
got was V2.10 (i still have all releases since 2.10) Impulse tracker brought
in some features that also enabled creation of a professional aural environment
and that was the finishing touch I needed to give my music the look and feel
of how I wanted to express it. I registered 2.15 to get the wav-writer and
the mmx-filter envelope function. Ironicly: After registering IT, I made a
couple of more songs before I more or less quit composing :)

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

"Symphoni d'exentrique" was a song that sounded the way I had it exactly in my
head. The balance in audio environment, simulation factor for reality was my
absolute goal. The samples are a tradeoff in this aspect unfortunately but the
goal was to make a song sound as if it was not made with samples, but really
played by a band or orchestra. Eventually I rather hear a real orchestra play
my piece than that I hear my own version but I guess the last wish is a goal
too far for me.

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

This is actually a question I cannot answer.
I made many tunes in the past and each tune I made I found very great at the
time. A lot of them I would say "thanks but not anymore" but they were part
of my learning and developing skills. Each older song reveals which technique
i controlled and which I still had to learn. Every composer has the same trail
of development behind him so if you want to know what a composer's true skill
was, you have try to get his first composed song ever.

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

The value in a demo or a game is no more than the value of it in a movie, the
rest depends on wether and how much the song fits into the whole piece of art.

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

At this moment i'm not composing anymore. I haven't lost the skills but I have
lost the time for it. I do more things I like and programming is one of them.
It is not my best skill so don't expect 3d-games or demo's from me but the
nearest to music-related I get involving programming is creating a SID-related
database manager (Maybe i'll extend my database application also to support
modules one day) and in the background a Win32 based C64 sid tracker using
a routine made by a not well know programmer in the C64 world but as far as
his knowledge about programming for the MOS 6581 I would call him the guru.

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

There is much around, it is more that I can listen to. Funny but todays
computers can process IT and FTII modules much better than pc's did three
years ago. And yet today most composers are pouring their mod-output into
wav / mp3 to offer on mp3.com For demo's I think it's cool enough to pour
high resource eating tracks into mp3, it's not important if a demo can run
playing an original 64 tracked IT song with 192 NNA channels toasting a PIV
CPU. There will also not be a wide audience having killer pc's who would
download such kind of material.

Midi is a far distance technique for me. This has got to do with the amount
of limitations midi offered against sample-processing in the past. Today this
is different but my head is no longer in exploration mode to seek what is out
there today. I noticed that the newer tracking styles having set foot on
earth like Jeskola's Buzz and Native Instruments's Reaktor. There is even a
complete Buzz scene (with parties) nowadays.

I may be doing something in that direction in the future if I get some of my
spare time back.

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

Well I can mention you my favorite all-times composer which happens to have
made all my favorite tunes:

Juha Kajanpaa (AKA Dizzy) The tunes that definately go first are "Just 4 the
blues" and "Alternative Samba" His 4-channel mods still outtrack most
high-tech IT / FT2 mods released today.

If you want to have a list of personal tunes I made myself I will list you
those that I listened to a lot and keep listening to(random order!):

The Project
Global Conquest II
Symphoni d'exentrique
The Snarfs
Elemental side of me
Tulpjes in de Lente

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

I have not really plans to do something like that simply because I don't have
an audience for it. I do feel I would like to create some audio-cd with some
new songs and using fresh high quality samples for a personal basis but I
would probably release the bunch as mp3 anyway and that is:if I get the time.
But I would not see myself commercially selling audio-cd's since I know it would
become a flop. If someone would see enough in my skills to be happy to invest
in further progress, i'm open to any opportunities but i'm not dying to get a
record contract or similar.

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

I'm a Jazz'n'soul man and I like artist who bring exceptional sounds.
Some artists from who I like their music:

George Michael
Sade
Sting (and / or The Police)
Radiohead
Pink Floyd
Bjork
Everything but the Girl
Alan Parsons Project
Supertramp
10CC
Billy Joel
David Bowie
Live
Portishead
Duran Duran
Jamiroquai
Genesis
Phil Collins
Garbage

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

Input and inspiration. I did not really had fame in the scene but I had
fortune that my music and techniques were criticized properly to where it
came down to and this helped me a lot in growing and becomming better. Also
listening to other artists work was important to me. Not really the tricks
they used but the music they made. The scene is good for self development, by
bringing your work in the scene you learn about what's good and what's bad
about your work but also what difference your work makes and what inspiration
it can serve to others. One thing I like about the scene is that nothing is
about money and everything is about art and that is what makes the scene
worthwhile. Though I did not attended parties since 1998 so I do not know
how commercialized things became since then. Still parties remain the best
place to meet interesting people and exchanging work.

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

I'm the passive person in the crowd watching unnoticed to what is happening. The
lack of intrest around me took care that motivation shifted towards other points
of interest. I put most energy now in my work which is totally different from
what I do in my spare time. I do download some demo's now and then but I really
feel like becoming a stranger to the scene. I merely was a ghost in the scene
back then (meaning: no active releases of my music in demos or games) in spite
that I was active in demogroups, the music I created was technically not
usable in demo's due to it's outrages system-resource requirements the tracks
demanded.

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

Greets and best wishes to the following friends and good critics in random
order:

Marco (TDJ / Focus)
Niels (CBA / TRC)
Norbert (Burglar / TRC)
Rene (Heathcliff / Focus)
Pim (Greenhouse / lotsa groups)
Jeroen (JT / Maniacs of Noise)
All of Acme from the old batch (Aap, Vic, Simm, Lone Ranger)
All the fans around for motivating me when it was necessary (yes I do have some)
All musicians that wanted to discuss mine and their music
All programmers who had the time to create the free tools to serve the scene,
without you, artists would not be easily able to create their art.

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please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2001 by crown of cryptoburners
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