Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Desktop Audio and Video => Topic started by: bazza1975 on July 08, 2008, 07:19:17 PM
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Hi Folks,
I want to get into making some tunes on my amiga1200. Is it as good as the 500 for this purpose? I seen a midi interface for sale, it was for the 500, would this work on the 1200? I also seen a techno sound sampler, and a sequencer one, would they work on it? Next step is to get a midi keyboard... right? Anybody have some ideas for me?
If the 500 would be beter for making music i still have a 500 kicking around, although its a UK model, would this work in Holland?
cheers Baz
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Hi Baz
MIDI interfaces for the 500 work on the 1200. Personally I wouldn't recommend a sampler for the Amiga as the results from recording your own samples in 8 bit (all an unexpanded Amiga is capable of) can be crunchy at best. Sequencer One is a good MIDI sequencer for a beginner but you would need a MIDI keyboard and sound source (not just a MIDI controller) to take advantage of it. If you want to mix Amiga samples and MIDI then OctaMED is the next logical step and is used and abused by many people on this forum. for purely MIDI stuff then the two most popular (with good reason) are Bars & Pipes and Music X. Bars & Pipes seems more popular mainly because it is still developed by Alfred Faust and you can get it for free - yes, for free - from his website.
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Your A1200 is fine for this.
You don't need a MIDI keyboard. You do need a sound source, though, which can either be a sound module connected via MIDI (meaning you'd need an interface) or you can use samples on the Amiga directly in a tracker like OctaMED.
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Where would i be without my A1200! :-D
I use it for sampling, minimalist electronica, sequencing my yamaha A3000 rack sampler .. EVERYTHING .. and i use OctaMED, its the best and dont let anyone tell you otherwise :lol:
The midi interface for a500 should work fine .. i think :roll:
btw hi golem! i like your display pic! It may interest you that i am developing a music tracker for the acorn BBC 32k .. :-)
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Thanks for the very useful replies...
So is OctaMED a music studio sort of program?
I watched some notator films on youtube, this was for the atari st. Is it similar stuff for the amiga?
Bars & Pipes easy to use?
Will any amiga midi interface work, and what kind of music formats will be recognised, for example .wav files?
Is it a much more difficult doing this instead of using a normal modern pc?
sorry if im asking to many questions
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OctaMED has a notation editor as well as a tracker but personally i dont use this function ..
I really think OctaMED sound studio is what you r looking for though! Its got brilliant sample editing features, you can import and export mod and midi files, you can import 16bit stereo .wav samples, record samples and like all octaMED versions it has a great midi configuration editor thingy ..:idea:
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You don't need a MIDI interface to use OctaMED on the Amiga. I think Sam is right and as a first step you should try this tracker.
http://www.medsoundstudio.com/ (http://www.medsoundstudio.com/)
There is no doubt that making music that sounds awesome is probably easier on a PC but then it wouldn't be so much fun which is why we do it I guess. :-)
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Ok some very useful info there thanks again!!!!!!
Is it easy to connect a cdrom player to a 1200?
How do i get samples/songs from the pc onto the amiga?
cheers Baz
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You can output .WAV files with OctaMED Soundstudio and use .WAV samples as instruments as well. The added processing power of the A1200 will help a lot as will any added memory you put into it.
Modern PC music usually uses VSTi instruments that are expensive on editors like Renoise. Sample-based music is cheaper and doesn't sound much worse. If you already have a PC, you can use MilkyTracker to get similar sample-based results for free without needing a MIDI synthesizer.
One thing that is better on the PC than on the A1200 is that sound cards typically produce 16-bit CD-quality sound. The most that an A1200 can play back without a sound card of some sort is 14-bits. (Although it can produce 16 bits in software as a .WAV so you can burn it to a CD for better playback in OctaMED Soundstudio 1.03c .)
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I can get my hands on octamed v1.1, will this be any good, seeing i heard people talk about v1.3 on here...?
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Hi,
That will be workable, 1.1 . But I'm not sure if 1.1 was able to load samples into fast ram?
But it did have basic MIDI capabilities I believe.
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If it cant load samples into the fast ram,, is that a problem?
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bazza1975 wrote:
If it cant load samples into the fast ram,, is that a problem?
No.
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bazza1975 wrote: If it cant load samples into the fast ram,, is that a problem? No.
It isnt a problem until you want to larger samples. If your writing chip tunes or something that uses small samples then you would be fine.
I think all version of Soundstudio could load samples into fastram anyway.
I think V6 was the last one that couldnt.
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Ok thanks, will buy it then :-)
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Hi folks,
Waiting for octamed to arrive.. i have purchased a pcmcia cf-card kit, the card is 1GB. The HD in my amiga is only 80mb, very small,, i take it i wont be able to install on the HD? Can i install it on the cd-card?? Or will i need to install a bigger HD....
cheers Baz
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Well that's plenty of space either way. You might just keep the HD if it is working well. Use the CF in your PCMCIA SLOT instead (a cheap adapter needed for that).
Amiga programs are typically pretty small compared to todays computing. Octamed comes on just 2 floppies , back in the day. That's less than 2MB if they were completely filled.
In fact bazza1975, If you are just getting into the Amiga hardware - I recommend stick with the HD.
Oh, and Octamed is completely hard drive installable, no problems.
But 'sounds' like you're on your way
:-D
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Hi,
My octamed arrived today, so i can finally get started BUT,, seeing i have no cdrom in the amiga i was going to use my pcmcia-cf card to transfer the data on the cd from the pc to the amiga.... but how do i transfer everything, all 650mb! seeing i can't copy and paste.. would have been too easy :roll:
Anybody an idea?
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Note that the last released version of Octamed is legally available on Aminet:
Octamed Soundstudio (http://aminet.net/package/mus/edit/OctamedSS1.03c)
Soundstudio is good for 8 bit tracking, on 16 bits it's trickier to use since its remixer has a limitation of 3-4 volume values, which can't even be easily determined. For 16 bits I'd recommend DigiboosterPro, which is commercial.
Varthall
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Hi,
I used to write music a lot with my A1200. I used it as a MIDI seqencer almost entirely, with very little sample playback. A lot of people who do tracker sequencing use mostly samples. You probably are very familiar with the Amiga sounds, so know what to expect from working with samples. It is a retro lo-fi kind of sound.
I used a program called Music-X 2.0. I liked the MIDI sequencing on this. It felt untuitive for me. I tried just about every sequencer that was ever released for Amiga. Unfortunately, Music-X was never released as a freeby, unlike BarsNPipes or Octamed. Music-X also does not provide easy access to multiple MIDI banks (basically, 16 MIDI channels, though it can do more with the right hardware/drivers). BarsNPipes has an open source 3 bank MIDI interface (3x16=48 channels).
I think it is worth trying a few different programs, before really focussing on just one, and investing a lot of effort into a particular way of working.
There are also some dedicated sound generators/software synths for Amiga. Some of these are pretty decent, and in my opinion, really take good advantage of what the Amiga can offer to contemporary music production. If you like gritty, retro, game like, or lo-fi. This kind of sound character is often used in music.
I also think it is worth understanding what you will not get from music production with an Amiga. Modern computer music production has a lot to offer in terms of usability, versatility, community support, commercial support, sound fidelity, attractive interface, cheap and reliable hardware, expandability etc. You can of course use an Amiga as part of a modern studio setup, along with other computer tools.
What exactly are you looking to do with your music? Is your focus on writing finished pieces of music, or are you mainly just wanting to play around with the Amiga?
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OctaMed Soundstudio 1.03c which is the latest version for the Amiag before they went peecee is available for free download once you register on the OctaMed forumns..cant remember the linky but just google it ;-)
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klx300r wrote:
OctaMed Soundstudio 1.03c which is the latest version for the Amiag before they went peecee is available for free download once you register on the OctaMed forumns..cant remember the linky but just google it ;-)
Answered before:
Varthall wrote:
Note that the last released version of Octamed is legally available on Aminet:
Octamed Soundstudio
Soundstudio is good for 8 bit tracking, on 16 bits it's trickier to use since its remixer has a limitation of 3-4 volume values, which can't even be easily determined. For 16 bits I'd recommend DigiboosterPro, which is commercial.
Varthall
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@ Oliver
I think the version on aminet is not the latest which is why I added my post :idea:
sometimes there are reasons for my insanity ;-)
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klx300r wrote:
@ Oliver
I think the version on aminet is not the latest which is why I added my post :idea:
sometimes there are reasons for my insanity ;-)
Oh, sorry mate; I thought you may have just missed that post.
The version on Aminet is 1.03c, the latest finished release, which has been termed 'freeware' by the copyright holders.
At their website (http://www.medsoundstudio.com/), there is the link to sign up for the mailing list and (officially) the right to download the freeware 1.03c version.
Anyway, if the OP would like to try this famous tracker, it is available at no cost.
Personally, I think it is a really good program, but it never suited my way of working. It has had quite a following though.
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@ Oliver 2008/8/5 4:21
I was hoping to make dance tunes on it, also some ambient stuff. I thought lots of all early dance stuff was madw with the help of amiga's... guess i was wrong :-(
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bazza1975 wrote:
@ Oliver 2008/8/5 4:21
I was hoping to make dance tunes on it, also some ambient stuff. I thought lots of all early dance stuff was madw with the help of amiga's... guess i was wrong :-(
Some was but I think you may be confusing Amiga with (whisper it) Atari?
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The song called 'Soap", on This Page (http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=1479214993) was created entirely with Samples on OctaMED.
The one called 'Euphonia' initially was, then vocals and guitars were added, along with some Bassstation, which was controlled via OctaMED's MIDI.
Most of the rest started out as OctaMED songs too.
For the record, my A1200 with OctaMED SS 1.03c is (almost) integrated into my Logic/Mac set up.
Haven't explored that avenue properly yet, though.
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@bazza1975
I used to use my A1200 for writing dance and ambient tunes. I didn't use the Amiga audio much though.
At that time, the Amiga had comparatively very well featured, affordable, and user friendly sequencing software, which I used for programming my MIDI instruments.
I still find Music-X 2.0 to be have a very intuitive interface for the way I like to work. It's a personal preference though.
I used Amiga audio only to supplement my music, as I couldn't afford a sampler, and there were some soft synths which I really liked. I used TB-303 type sounds a fair bit, and there is a really gritty lo-fi 303 sound generator for Amiga which I liked. I believe it is freely available (probably on aminet).
There were a couple of guys in Perth who used entirely 8 bit Amiga samples for their music, which they played a fair bit at some underground raves (back when we had real raves). I think they managed to get some pretty decent results, though that was never really thing.
The reasons I stopped using Amiga for my music were:
-I couldn't use Amiga for my daily computing needs, and didn't want an extra machine on my desk
-The user interface for Music-X is ugly and lo res, and not upgradable for any price
-I found PC sequencing software which I like using
-PC has more versatile and affordable audio options
-Some modern MIDI equipment is not strictly satandards compliant, which causes compatibility problems with the Amiga platform (this can be corrected using MIDI data filters, but I would rather not have to)
-My old hardware was becomming a little unreliable, and Amiga gear is still rather expensive on the upkeep
I believe there are still some other forum members, who haven't yet commented in this thread, who use Amiga based sound generation, including quite a few programs I've never tried. I've heard some of their music, and was quite impressed. Sorry I can't remember any details right now, but if you search past threads for music related topics, you come up with some good pointers. I think there are still good applications for an Amiga in music, though it just doesn't suit me anymore.
Hope that helps, and sorry if I have discouraged you.
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Why oh why oh why would you want to?
it's 8bit. it sounds good for 8bit, but it's 8bit.
sure you can control some external gear but you still need to record it.
Your limited in RAM.
I started on pro-tracker YEARS ago. it was fun I learnt alot.I moved on.
The only serious app that showed any promise on the amiga was Camouflage. but that was never finished.
Do yourself a favour, ANY PC based sequencer software is better than the old amiga ones. Save yourself the headache.
you can pick up a legit version of Cubase LE for like $10!
:roll:
Dont want to start flame wars about amiga this or amiga that. The Amiga is still my all time favourite computer.
But im a professional musican and producer. There is no way I could do the things i do now on an amiga. NO WAY.
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@Oliver:
I bought a boxed copy of MusicX back in 1994(ish) - I still have it.
Unfortunately I never really got my head around it.
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@Wilse
I did the same thing at about the same time. Actually, I bought or tried demos of just about every Amiga sequencer I could find. Music-X just clicked for me, with very little effort. That's why I suggested trying a few different programs, and see what suits.
These days I mostly use Energy-XT. It has some problems, but it is affordable, and also suits the way I work.
I think there are so many available now, many with free or demo versions, it is really worth at least having a play with some Windows/Mac/Linux based environments.
@mikrucio
Do you think there is any room for old school Amiga sounds in contemporary music? I would never consider mastering on Amiga, but I think there could at least potentially be an application for use in sound generation.
The last time this kind of thread popped up here, one member mentioned a bunch of Amiga sound generators which had never heard of. I checked out some samples of his music and was quite impressed with the sound design, although the music was really a bit dark for my tastes. Of course I couldn't determine the origins of each sound, and I also can't remember his username.
These days I still use one old DOS based softsynth, AXS 2.03+, by Newstyle/Resolution Audio. I have it running on an old P2 (or 3?), using the SPDIF out of an AWE64 Gold, with the computer basically configured as a MIDI controlled sound module. I still find it useful, and all the software and hardware cost only a few dollars in total. Hmm, I still want to set up a C=64 MSSIAH system, but that's mainly just to feed my retro-lust.
By the way, what do you do with music professionally? Are you in the audio engineering side of things? I just love music as a hobby, but don't actually end up spending a lot of time playing/composing these days. I'm still trying to put together a budget (lots of DIY gear) home studio that I feel satisfied with working in.
Cheers,
Oli
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Pity, i thought the good old amiga was the way to go to make early dance stuff sort of like PSB type music
There was me boasting about the potential it had.. So iwould be much beter using my laptop then.. :-(
Anyone had some experience with fl studio?
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Well I guess it could be, right? Not really into that kind of music. But to the question is SS any good for it composing features and the Paula sound, I say yes.
@Cubase LE - This is precisly why I still like Amiga & SS. That stuff is crap. Skips. Crashes. Complex. Maybe when the 8 core super pooper with a terabyte of memory comes out a winblows machine will work with music.
Outside of that rant, I just like the simplicity and directness of tracker composition. A wall of buttons does not make me feel 'creative'. And there's a challenge in making something cool with limited resources and fidelity.
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bazza1975 wrote:
Pity, i thought the good old amiga was the way to go to make early dance stuff sort of like PSB type music
There was me boasting about the potential it had.. So iwould be much beter using my laptop then.. :-(
Anyone had some experience with fl studio?
I think you will find that the sounds of most early dance music came from instruments, rather than computers. Amigas have been used quite a bit for sequencing those instruments, as have Ataris (Atari had a built in MIDI port, with good timing), Macs, and Windows machines.
These days, if you want to do music primarily using a computer, a modern machine has a lot more to offer than the old hardware. A lot of dance musicians these days are using mainly a computer, plus one control keyboard. The control keyboard will often be MIDI based, but sometimes just with a proprietary USB interface and driver. There are so many well featured audio software tools/instruments, that many people do not want to touch hardware synths at all. I still love my hardware synths though, and real analogue synthesis still has a place for me.
I have used FL Studio, and liked it. I found it quite easy to get started with. The full package comes with a very handy sample library as well. The current versions are pretty much a fully featured composition suite, unlike the early versions of FruityLoops. Some people claim that the mastering does not sound as good as Logic or Cubase. I'm not sure how that would be, as FL uses a lot of the same plug ins. It also seems that Logic and ProTools have a bit better reputation amongst audio professionals than FL. Personally, I think FL is fine, and also offers decent value for money. The forum community also seems pretty good, and active.
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I still use Octamed SS for all my sequencing, much to the confusion of all my friends who make music, controlling various samplers and synths and I love it.
To check out what I do go to www.myspace.com/4teenth (http://www.myspace.com/4teenth)
and have a listen...
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detz wrote:
I still use Octamed SS for all my sequencing, much to the confusion of all my friends who make music, controlling various samplers and synths and I love it.
To check out what I do go to www.myspace.com/4teenth (http://www.myspace.com/4teenth)
and have a listen...
dude you got some wicked stuff there :-D
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klx300r wrote:
dude you got some wicked stuff there :-D
Ditto. Me likes it.
Is your jaz stuff coming from your band members playing instruments, or is it sample/synth based? I guess it has been re-worked in your SS sequencing anyway.
So, is SS just an easy way for you to work? Are you using PC SS or miggy?
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All the tracks up there are pretty much sample based, stuff from records found in charity shops, recorded into an Akai S5000, chopped up as I need. That said I do have a track on the CD that has my friend JB playing cello. Alongside that I also have various synths and outboard gear.
I use the amiga version of OctamedSS, by via UAE on a PC. As to the reasons why, I dunno, I guess it's what I'm used to, and yeah I do find it a very quick way to put together what I do. It is very complex initially, and you have to really *want* to do various things as opposed to the ease on newer programs where you can click a button to get some effect, but once I've got a block with all the ideas in, all the parts running together, I find it's quite quick from there on in to play around muting the tracks, to get an idea of an arrangement, and then make all the blocks and sequence them together.
I love my hardware and I'm not about to give that up to start using softsynths, plus believe it or not I can chop a sample up on the Akai quicker than I can in Soundforge (But recycle can come in handy, mind you...)
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Very nice tunes :-)
What does the SS stand for in the octamed?
You run it through a pc emulator, UAE???
Whats an Akai S5000 exactly??
cheers Baz
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bazza1975 wrote:
Very nice tunes :-)
What does the SS stand for in the octamed?
Sound Studio
You run it through a pc emulator, UAE???
I certainly do...
Whats an Akai S5000 exactly??
An old Hardware Sampler. GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND! :roll:
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detz wrote:
I still use Octamed SS for all my sequencing, much to the confusion of all my friends who make music, controlling various samplers and synths and I love it.
To check out what I do go to www.myspace.com/4teenth (http://www.myspace.com/4teenth)
and have a listen...
Some really nice music there, squire.
I've sent you a 'friend' request.