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?

We had BBC computers at my Junior school, with the robot and pen.
There was also some Vic20's, both of wrich instroduced me to the world
of computers.

I was given a 2nd hand Commodore 64 for Christmas, back in 1984. It
had a few games, notable Super Huey and Forbiddon Forest. The music to
both, I really liked. However, it wasn't until I heard my first Rob
Hubbard soundtrack, that I realised that I wanted to write VG music.
The game, was Commando.

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

The 64 was eventually sold so that I could buy and Amiga. About a year
after that, I also bought an Atari ST for MIDI.

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

I've always been musical. I started learning the violin at the age of
6, and both my Grandfather, and Mother played the violin. I remember
watching various TV shows because I liked the music. It's just always
been part of me.

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

On the Commodore 64, I used Electrosound64. The results were never
very good. Future Composer, and Ubik's Musik were always better, but I
could not get my head around them at the time. On the Amiga, I used
various versions of SoundTracker. The last one, was MelonTracker,
which was a modified Protracker. On the Atari, it was Cubase. And to
this day, I still use Cubase for creating MIDI music. I've had a look
at the various trackers on the PC, but non of them have the feel of
the original.

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

I don't think I ever did reach my goal. I wanted to become well known
for great full sized mods, but I don't think I really created than
many good ones. I did however find a bit of a niche in chip music.
I've always liked melody, and I guess this came out in my chip music.
There is a certain type of skill needed to write chip music, and from
what others tell me, I found it. Still wish I'd become a good full
size mod composer though....

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

I could just say "All the old ones" - but like everyone, I was
learning at the time, so that doesn't work. I guess there are perhaps
10 to 20 mods that I actually DO like, but I wouldn't place the rest
here. It's part of my history :) SOmetimes I wish I hadn't written the
Xmas Spirits and Rustic Theme mods. They were all piss takes, but some
people didn't realise it, and just thought I was crap.

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

For me, the value was everything, as it was the only thing I paid
attention to, hehe. But honestly, the demos that stood out for me, is
where the audio and visuals interacted with each other. This happened
quite rarely though.

In a game, music, or I should really say, audio, is everything. It
tells you what is happening, even if you can't see it.For an arcade
game, or a racing game, to a lesser extent, tyre screeches can tell
you you are losing control of a vehicle, and engine note can tell you
when to change gear, but in adventure and 1st person games, the audio
is a required "sense" not only for the player to play the game well,
but for the designer to incorporate events that are about to happen
(around the corner, as it were). This can be reflected in the music
too, and this interaction with music and sound effects, is where a
game can score highly on audio. Music can also be used to theme a
character, something that is used a lot in films. Who'se ever going to
forget Darth Vader's Imperial March?

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

Yes, professionally. I've been in the game industry for 11 years now.
The last sound track I wrote was in 1999, and that was Dungeon Keeper
2, but since then, I've been writing stuff for bands, and for a solo
album. Now, I'm freelance, and am pitching for video game work. Some
of which, will be composing.

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

I think there are some very talented xm and mp3 composers out there.
The thing is, I don't see that point of it anymore. With 4 channel
mods, there were huge restrictions, both with channels and memory. It
was an art, creating good music, within these boundarys. I think
that's what the "Scene" for music is about. That's all lost now, with
xm's, and mpeg. It's not "the demo scene" anymore, they're just
composers, like everyone with a bedroom studio.

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

Klisje Paa Klisje by Walkman... Did I spell it right? That's an
alltime favourite. I know, he wrote it tongue in cheeck, but it's
great.

More than Music by Moby, DNA Dream by 4-Mat, Lizardking's Theme by
Lizardking, Soothsayer by Fleshbrain, Bicycl0pedia and Cah Caqlach by
Heatbeat, Space Deliria by Dr Awesome.
Basically, just about anything from Rob Hubbard, 4-Mat, Fleshbrain,
Lizardking, Dr.Awesome, Moby, Heatbeat.

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

Not really. I did think about doing a CD of remixed chip tunes, which
would be quite interesting. In fact, I have completed a couple, but I
don't honestly think many people would be interested.

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

Well, my musica taste is very diverse. I haven't been listening to
many CD's atm, as I've just got broadband, so can stream Nectarive,
the Scene music radio :) I've been listening to a lot of Hans Zimmer
soundtracks as well.

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

Something to bunk off college for! I enjoyed writing the music, and
seeing it used in demos/intros. I guess I basically started to learn
to compose, so the experience was vital for what I do now. Obviously,
I liked, and still do, the fan based stuff. I made a few good friends
out of it, but also met a huge number of egotistical idiots too :)

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

No. I was planning a comeback, but since my job change, and other
stuff going on in my life, I've had to ditch that idea.

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

Well, there's the old Anthrox and Melon crews of course, and the above
mentioned composers, but mainly, I'd like to say hi to my Mum :)

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please note: this interview is ©opyrighted in 2003 by crown of cryptoburners
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