which is best for music Atari or Amiga

[Iggy]

Amarok was composed on the Amiga!? Wow! That I didn't know, and basically nullifies any argument the ST guys can come up with.

Mr Moonlight will have post back here, his experiences with the platform when he has had a chance to play with it

Bloodline, you seem desperate to "nullify" a counter argument.
I think the point we have all reached makes perfect sense.
Its really a matter of the skill to use the tools available.
For God's sake, some of these guys are pointing to fairly interesting pieces produced by a Vic I chip.
So, I have no problem continuing to support the YM2149 and its descendants.

And if we are actually talking music production, Ral-clan summarized the advantage pretty clearly awhile ago, "one had a MIDI interface built in (Atari) and the other did not".

[nicholas]

90% of original SID tunes are crap. To make good use of it you had to be good coder and also understand limitations of the sound chip.

Like these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l21rSchAE0M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDrqBYkco-Y

[bloodline]

I think that was an Atari, because of the sw used, he mixed up the names - someone checked the facts in some forum.

Yeah, I thought that too, His mention of Notator is the giveaway, but the ST couldn't do sampling... So my guess is that it was an Amiga with something like SequencerOne, which was available for both platforms and worked much like Notator.

[mrmoonlight]

Amarok was composed on the Amiga!? Wow! That I didn't know, and basically nullifies any argument the ST guys can come up with.

Mr Moonlight will have post back here, his experiences with the platform when he has had a chance to play with it

Hi bloodline I will hold you to that because if I get a problem and this being a Amiga forum can I come back here if I need help with my Atari lol or is that taking it a bit far and expecting too much generosity from our wonderful Amiga community ,lol very best wishes and I have to say I have had a right chuckle reading all the comments Brian.

[Borut]

Like these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l21rSchAE0M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDrqBYkco-Y

THX 4 the Cubase64 link - I liked it much!

[Borut]

Yeah, I thought that too, His mention of Notator is the giveaway, but the ST couldn't do sampling... So my guess is that it was an Amiga with something like SequencerOne, which was available for both platforms and worked much like Notator.

If you read this article the Atari was mentioned... http://tubular.net/articles/1991_03

[gertsy]

Oldfield didn't actually compose Amarok on the Amiga. He used it to quickly lay down idea tracks early or before a session and then followed the storyboard in a conventional way. I think he once related to Amarok as a long series of Jam sessions.
So the Amiga was a handy tool for indirect composition. From memory he used to do the same task on paper. Collecting ideas for a multitrack storyboard and noting them down sequentially (left to right) on paper.

[bloodline]

If you read this article the Atari was mentioned... http://tubular.net/articles/1991_03

This article doesn't mention the method of composition using the "Amiga sketching" approach he mentions in the other interview. The Atari is simply listed as studio equipment, I would be more surprised if he didn't mention an Atari in a studio equipment list, the Atari MIDI sequencing software at the time was much more mature

[gertsy]

I know he did another album around the same time as Amarok called, Heaven's Open. Aside from the contractual shadow at the time, the last instrumental track on that album is heavily sequenced by Atari I think. Lots of samples as well.

[mrmoonlight]

Hi I still not sure what was used on Mike Oldfield albums
     
      Re: MIKE OLDFIELD USED AMIGA TO CREATE & PRODUCE HIS ALBUM AMAROK
Posted on 17-Aug-2013 9:55:13   [ #18 ]        Member
 Joined: 9-Sep-2003
Posts: 61
From: overthere...            @Trixie

I really think he used Creator on the Atari, because that's the precursor to Notator...

Mike Oldfield did use software from C-Lab: as told here

So no Amiga i'm afraid.

P.S. I used to play around a lot with Midi software on the Amiga in the late 80's. According to a well known TV presenter/Musician in Holland who did use Amiga's (Hi-Tec band) he was beta-testing Cubase for the Amiga, but apparently it never surfaced and I switched to Atari/Cubase for my Midi-needs (still used the Amiga for all other stuff

[bloodline]

I'm still not sold... If Mike Oldfield didn't use an Amiga, how would he know the name. I've never seen him confuse the names of hardware before, in fact he has always been very pedantic about the hardware he uses. I'm not saying he did use an Amiga, I just don't see enough evidence yet to show he didn't

[mrmoonlight]

I'm still not sold... If Mike Oldfield didn't use an Amiga, how would he know the name. I've never seen him confuse the names of hardware before, in fact he has always been very pedantic about the hardware he uses. I'm not saying he did use an Amiga, I just don't see enough evidence yet to show he didn't

 
 Hi and I too am not totally convinced  as Mike Oldfield surely knew what he had used ,I half hope he did use the Atari but as with  jare michael jare there's plenty to show he used the Atari ,no mistake ,I would love to know the real answer ,best wishes Brian.

[Karlos]

For myself, the Amiga is as much an instrument as it is a machine for music production. I love the colour it adds to basic sounds. Non linear DAC, quantisation noise, aliasing they all add to Paula's charm.

I've never had any serious latency issues with midi. I expect having an accelerated machine helps. Although I believe the EClock timer should be more than accurate enough.

I've never tried it but I imagine ST emulation might be an option if you must use cubase or similar.

[mrmoonlight]

For myself, the Amiga is as much an instrument as it is a machine for music production. I love the colour it adds to basic sounds. Non linear DAC, quantisation noise, aliasing they all add to Paula's charm.

I've never had any serious latency issues with midi. I expect having an accelerated machine helps. Although I believe the EClock timer should be more than accurate enough.

I've never tried it but I imagine ST emulation might be an option if you must use cubase or similar.

 Hi Karlos  I have to agree the Amiga is a fine machine /instrument and I have been very impressed with the quality of the sound ,but after reading so much about the Atari and all the brilliant Artists that have used it ,the Atari must hold some thing very special for so many to have used it ,which is why I have just ordered but not yet received, this does not mean the end of my Amiga journey as the the Amiga are my pride and joy and will remain so .best wishes Brian

[bloodline]

Hi Karlos  I have to agree the Amiga is a fine machine /instrument and I have been very impressed with the quality of the sound ,but after reading so much about the Atari and all the brilliant Artists that have used it ,the Atari must hold some thing very special for so many to have used it ,which is why I have just ordered but not yet received, this does not mean the end of my Amiga journey as the the Amiga are my pride and joy and will remain so .best wishes Brian

What made the ST fantastic for music was the software, not the hardware. And, it is important to note that software still exists (on modern platforms). That said, I do have an ST here and I'm sure that you will get a lot out of it as a lover of vintage computer hardware

All true Amiga lovers should probably own an ST anyway

[smace]

Interesting and cool thread, and mrmoonlight you are my hero of the day! Loved that video haha!

On the subject I'd like to add: Never underestimate the obsolete!

Another perspective I tend to have in my head is that the Amiga is the "turntable of computers" - You don't have the in built sound source, you submit to intriguing limitations, and from there you can take anything and do everything.. be an inventive turntablist or producer =)

The most obscure professional music I've come across yet who made their mark using an Amiga is the Nasenbluten (nosebleed) group from New Zealand.. More 'mainstream' and familiar name for house/techno lovers might be Jori Hulkkonen from Finland.

What I do think helped the miggy a lot was its quick evolving 'breeding ground for the underground' - the demoscene, continuing from c64 amateurs keep hacking away, exploring, inventing, and cultivating each other so to speak. Karsten Obarski and the following tracker developers launched many a professional career in music (on many levels), for kids who got caught up in this popular activity of tracking their musical ideas or first experiments =)

The action and interesting stuff going on creatively in the amiga scene accellerated so fast in the early nineties.. as bloodline said so well, the creativity that comes with ignorance =D
For a kid it wasn't about being professional, but getting creative and becoming better at it.. so on a long term I'd say Amiga had much more impact than Atari, BUT in the end everything kinda comes together as you can say you were inspired by Mike Oldfield using an Atari but you were using an Amiga yourself for expressing it..

Anyways, personally I've come to the conclusion that I got one instrument I know well enough, and that's Protracker. Been doing a sort of a 'comeback' to digital music the recent couple of years, and checking out one of these obese DAWs - still there's no way I can write music the way ProTracker lets me express myself - so to speak. With its old look and feel and technique and trickery involved its like that one guitar you never really heard the likes of anytime since.. Some songs just couldn't have happened if they weren't done with that instrument, you know? =)

Well, that was just from my (scene)point of view. Have a good day!