Music on me 1200

[Oliver]

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?

[Oliver]

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

[Oliver]

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, 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.

[Oliver]

@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.

[Oliver]

@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

[Oliver]

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.

[Oliver]

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?