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?

Well, basically, it all started when my father borrowed an old Luxor
ABC-80 from his work and let me play with it... This was in -78, so I
mean, it was cool just to have a computer that was smaller than a room
and you could output structured text on... I also borrowed an Apple II,
which was a really cool one with games such as 'Castle Wolfenstein',
'Wavy Navy' and a couple of others...

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

My first own computer was a Sinclair ZX-80 to which I also bought the
cool memory-expansion to make it have as much as 8kb... ;) After that,
I've also owned a Sinclair Spectrum 48k, a VIC20, a Commodore PET (which
I truly regret that I sold), a couple of C64's, a C128, numerous A500's,
an A500+, a couple of A600's, 2 A1200's, an A1000 (which I also regret
selling... ..badly!), 2 A2000's, 2 A3000's, a bunch of PC's, but no Mac
(although I've got on at home). Almost all of the computers are gone
now, but I've still got 2 PC's, 3 A500's, 2 C64's and my thrusty
A3000T... ...not to count in the numerous pda's I've got, that is... :)

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

Well, basically, I didn't have to learn how to make music, apart from
learning the specific programs, since I've always been into music of all
forms... Never been a very talented graphician of any kind, so I knew
that it just wasn't my game and today I think I can count myself as more
of a programmer than anything else, but that's about to change... ;)

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

*hmmm* I've used a lot of them... On the C64 there was a lot of Future
Composing, as well as using editors from Soedesoft and such...
Sound/Rock-monitor was also quite often used... On the Amiga, there were
a LOT of different programs, but of course I've used all kinds of
trackers... Both Sound/Noise/Pro/andwhaterever-trackers, but also a lot
of custom ones like our own Musicline Editor (Yeah!) and FredEd and a
lot of others. For game-music purposes, I've mostly used proprietary
soundroutines created by our own programmers. For instance, for the game
'Combat Cars' on the Sega Megadrive/Genesis, I actually created the
music in Microsoft Works, typing in a lot of dc.b's... :)
Nowadays, I'm using a lot of the standard stuff like Cubase, Logic and a
couple of others, although I really don't like it to a 100%, since I
feel that you don't have complete control of everything you do...

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

Tough one... Actually, I don't think none of my tunes has taken me as
far as the goal, although I must say that I'm quite pleased with some of
them, for instance a couple of tunes created in Musicline Editor as well
as the title track to the game 'Fuzzball' which is a FredEd-tune. I've
also created a couple of other (in my opinion) quite cool songs in
FredEd which I'm quite pleased with, but I'm not that sure that too many
of them actually has hit the streets... :) I also must say that my first
'released' tune (MegaMix 88 from Razor 1911's 'Amuzing IV') took my ego
a couple of floors higher after seeing/hearing it in about 40 different
intros/demos after we released it... :)

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

Neh, none in particular, since I've forgotten all about them... *s*

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

I think it makes hell of a difference to the whole feeling of the game
if it's very good music in it, and for demos, I actually must say the
same... Too bad that there is too little spirit put into making good
music and promoting it in products today... I mean, it's quite easy to
buy in some songs from Chemical Brothers and so on, and don't really
have to think about if it fits perfectly or not (not that I say that the
music to WipeOut is bad and doesn't fit in, but I hope you get the
picture)...

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

Well, at the moment, my composing has been put on hold for the last
three years, but I'm about to pick it up again, for starters as a
leisure thing, but later on for professional use...

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

I think it's quite cool that the devices has been so powerful that you
can have 'real' music on them, although it takes a lot more processing
power to create good internal music, but the problem with 'pre-rendered'
music is that it's very unflexible and makes it a bit hard to fit in
fully into a storyline, like in a movie. I mean, in a movie it's a bit
'simpler', since you got an exact schedule to follow and a very linear
flow of everything, but in a game, you've got to take a lot of things in
consideration. I really like the way LucasArts makes use of their
programming skills with their excellent iMuse^Ù-system used in for
instance 'The Secret Of Monkey Island' to make the music change as the
game goes on...

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

Ow, there are a lot of them as well... I like almost everything the
great Martin Galway (I kneel to thee!!) has done, especially stuff like
Rambo, Ocean loaders, Wizball amongst others, and the other big one Robb
Hubbards many interesting sounds and stuff has really get me going a lot
of times... Other than that, I've always loved tunes with a lot of
harmonies and melodies, like a lot of Titan/Uncle Tom's tunes and a lot
of other stuff...

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

Nah, not really, since I really don't feel that the stuff I've made
previously will do good in a big production, although some of my
Musicline tunes could be cool to try to remaster...

12-What bands are you currently listenning to?

*hmmm* Most dance/techno stuff of today, as long as it has a groovy beat
and some nice melodis, like Scooter and such... :) I'm into all kind of
music, except jazz, though...

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

A lot! I mean, I wasn't very publically active on either the C64 or the
Amiga, although I got to know a lot of cool dudes which has given me
great pleasure during the years... Too bad I can't keep in contact with
them all today, but if there are any old sceners that recognize me,
don't hesitate to contact me! :)

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

Nope, haven't been in quite a while, although I still keep in touch with
some guys that are... I really think the 'scene' has been to
money-oriented with major game-sales and stuff, and I really don't like
that kinda business, especially since I'm in the game-developing
business myself...

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

Well, no one in particular since I don't wanna miss anyone, but I'd like
to say hi to all the great guys (and girls, btw) I've gotten to know
during all these years in the scene... Hopefully, some of you out there
perhaps have heard some of my tunes and perhaps even liked it... ...if
so, I'm glad... :)

Don't hesitate to contact me for anything... :)

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