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The White Duke 
Handle: The White Duke
Real Name: Alexander Hanzlik
Lived in: Austria
Ex.Handles: TWD, White Duke
Was a member of: Mygon, Quest, Subway

Modules: 15  online
Interview: Read!
Pictures: n/a

Interview


                           .                  
          `n.          .rP'
           `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.  
            ,NN'          `b.      · i  n  t  e  r  v  i  e  w  ·      ___________            
      ______dP                                _____________            \         /              
      \    ,N'\____   _____________.  _____   \            \_____.  ____\       /
       \___P___/  .\--\__    __/__ |--\____)---\        _____/__ |--\_   \    _/
        |     |   | \  |      | \__|   |  _     \      /    | \__|   |   /\   |
        |    _|   |    |     _l_       |  |      \    /    _l_       |     ___|
        l___/=l___|====l____/===\______|==l______|\  /l___/===\______l____/
                                                   \/


    Handle: White Duke

    Group: MyGon, Quest, Subway & Dream Team

    Date of birth: 1970-03-26


  • 1-How did your interest for computers start? Which year was that?

  • I got my first home computer, a Commodore 64, in 1984.


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

  • Commodore 64: learning BASIC, coding some administrative tools that
    some of my friends used till the early 90's :-)

    Amiga 2000: learning & excessive coding in Assembler, writing computer
    music with Soundtracker, some coding for the demo scene


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

  • I love music, and it was a good opportunity to contribute to the demo
    activities of my formations. I also coded some demos, but other people
    in the group were better coders. I am proud of some filled vector graphics
    experiments, in the late 1980's those things were rather hard to find ;-)


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

  • Soundtracker and nothing else :-)))


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

  • Well, I did not want to reach any goal, I simply loved doing computer
    music and each finished song was something special. However, I think
    "Visitors" (we did some adaptation from KOTO) was a very special song.
    It was the first one, and I think M.A.S.H. and me did a damn good job :-)


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

  • No. Some tunes were better than others, but overall it was a great
    experience to write computer music.


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

  • Very high value. Of course, it was more important those days to have
    a technically challenging coding part (thats what demos have been for),
    but a great music part is an essential element for the overall presentation,
    at least in my opinion ;-)


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

  • No, I simply don't have the time. Sometimes I sit at my 100 year old,
    beautiful old piano and play for leisure. Not always good, but with great
    enthusiasm :-)


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

  • I am a child of the 1980's, and my preferences are the music of the 80's.
    Although there are some interesting new songs, I prefer the classics.
    Besides, of course Mozart, Beethoven, Tschaikovsky, Dvorak, ... are always
    a pleasure to hear. However, I like the mpeg format. It makes things easier
    when you have parties - no more carrying heavy boxes with several hundreds of
    CDs :-)


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

  • Almost all of Queen (favorite: Brighton Rock)
    Phil Collins (favorite: Me and Sarah Jane)
    Elton John (favorite: I'm still standing)
    The Buggles (favorite: Video killed the radio star)

    However, this list can arbitrarily be extended, because there are many great
    artists that I like to hear, hard to list all of them :-)


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

  • Interesting idea. I think I have written about 30 good tunes, that should
    be enough for at least one CD (and you have something to show to your children).


  • 12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

  • Still being stuck in the 80's ;-)


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

  • Very much. I was 14 when I got my first C64, and I loved it from
    the start. This machine was the reason for me to become interested in
    computer science. To study computer science was some of the best
    decisions in my life. I really love what I am doing, both in my job
    and on the university (I received my PhD in 2004). So the main contribution
    of these increadible machines (C64, Amiga) was to deliver some base
    for a decision what to do with my life.

    The scene itself was a great opportunity to meet people all over the
    world (no internet those days, however a great time to remember).
    Not to mention the fun to get all out of this machines ...


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

  • No.


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

  • You are running a great project. It is a real good thing to preserve
    valuable things and memories, and simply looking at the old demos and
    listening to the music brings back beautiful memories. Thank you very
    much for doing such a great job.





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    please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2007 by crown of cryptoburners
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