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.

,NN' `b. · i n t e r v i e w · ___________

______dP _____________ \ /

\ ,N'\____ _____________. _____ \ \_____. ____\ /

\___P___/ .\--\__ __/__ |--\____)---\ _____/__ |--\_ \ _/

| | | \ | | \__| | _ \ / | \__| | /\ |

| _| | | _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?

1983, I just had to have a computer. My first one was ol' good rubber
Spectrum 48k.

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

Apart from Spectrum, A500, A1200, ACDTV and lots of PCs. On Spectrum I was
coding stuff in Z80 assembly [I belive one music-compilation is available
from http://www.worldofspectrum.com]. On Amiga I was coding and making music
[still have almos 40 unifinished pieces.]. L8r I got into Linux on PC.

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

I always admired music on C64 -- that's the main reason I went for Amiga. On
Speccy I used modified WHAM routine to add rythm section to those emulated

2-channel muzaks. When I got Amiga I instantly was making music [and also

coding in MC680x0 assembly]. Also, my perception of music is beyond the
average person so it's no wonder I always were into this.

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

Starting with Karsten Obarski's original Soundtracker with the ST-01 and
ST-02 I always stayed with the pattern world of *tracker. M&K's Noisetracker
was nice, later I stayed with Protracker 2.3d with some patches for AGA &
stuff. No PT 3.x nor 8-channel programs [with one exception]. I did couple
of songs on Oktalyzer [but mainly 4 channel] and occasionally on Future
Composer [I loved synth tracks] only until I learned how to handle synth
sounds on PT with perfect timing & stuff [so one note 037 arpeggio would
produce 6 notes with exactly the same length].

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

mod.request is nice [and very short in memory usage and it was really a
request...]. I nearly lost all my modules along the years but I remember
some of them were very good [IMHO]. I did couple of remixes on MIDI but
never released them. And mod.headbang [headbanger] is nice althou it was
very low on ideas, it was made to imnpress people who like heavier side of
sound.

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

Early stuff [good thing the were never released]. Those ST-01 and ST-02
hihats were so disguisting you know...

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

Have you ever seen Matrix without the soundtrack? I did [some pirate copy 6
months before the movie was released on the big screen in my country]. You
don't want to expirence this. The sound changes moods and perception of
action on the screen. It's as essential as good taste in gfx.

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

Neither. We have only 24 hours a day and there's not much time left for
leisure for me anymore [even on weekends].

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

I enjoy the remixes of old C64 tunes very much on MP3s. Nowdays the composers
are not tied by the technical limitations we had with 4 channels and 8 bits
per sample. On one side it's great but on the other learning to handle things
the hard way makes you a better creator. We were able to squeeze 5 or 6 tracks
into 4 channels while today people have forgotten how it is to be limited by
technical reasons [not talking about money...]. Regarding MIDI, I personally
find the format untransferable between diffrent types of hardware [even GM
soundset differs in sould -- the author will never know how his work will
sound]. The MP3 is the best format for exchanging music [not talking 'bout
the CD rips]. [And kids, remember to use the proper plugin for Winamp when
listening to Amiga modules, the one that handles the quantisation noises --
without them the pieces sould weird.]

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

Almost anything by Martin Galway on C64. He is/was REALLY a god of synth
these days. I also appreciate Romeo Knight's work on Amiga -- he's the one
who showed me and my friends the A0F effect. And good guitar modules on
Amiga -- they were very hard to make.

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

Not really.

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

To tell you the truth I don't enjoy a single band/artist. It's the tune that
hits me -- whenever I think "wow, this tune is like I would have done it"
it's great. Like "Erase+Rewind" by Cardigans and "Stars" by Roxette and
recenlty Tityo's "Come Along". I also enjoy 70's disco music like "Yes
Sir I Can Boogie" and "Sugar Baby Love".

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

Great memories. Friends.

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

Nope.

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

It's nice somebody has time and will to preserve this niche in music
-- computer tunes. Maybe in a 100 years the music historians will write a
book about it... The computers gave the power of creating the music to the
people who do not know the musical notation yet they think sound and they
make great tunes. It should be remembered in some way.

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