Per Almered (Sweden)
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RockABIT: Why making music on Soundchips?
I've played the piano from age 4, but as early as age 8 or 9 I really wanted to be able to play more than my two hands could achieve, and computers turned out to be the way to do it. That's the short answer, really. But then at age 14 I heard Martin Galway's Injector (often referred to as "Ocean Loader") on a friend's C128, and I was absolutely, completely blown away by the complexity of arrangement and of course the amazing melodies Martin was able to squeeze out of three oscillators.
From then on, it was completely obvious that soundchips were "enough", they could stand on their own and be valid funnels for creating art... obviously 14-year old me could never have put that into words, but looking back at how I remember it and what it later did lead to, yeah, that's what happened. Of course, cost was a big part of it too, at age 14 the only music hardware I had besides my Spectravideo 328 computer was an acoustic piano and a small Casio keyboard. It would take until the Atari ST came into my life that I was able to make anything close to enjoyable music. 8-)
RockABIT: Describe your way of creating an YM2149 chiptune…
Most of the time, I have 50 Percent of it more or less complete in my head when I sit down with the Atari (in STeem these days). The rest sort of happens as I listen along. I'm pretty melody driven as a writer (during my years of writing full-time, it was all pop music), but I'm a sucker for playing different instruments and voicings against each other to create complex stuff, both rhythmically and melodically. That all sounds REALLY fancy, but a lot of amazing chip composers do it intuitively without thinking about it, or knowing the theory behind it.
RockABIT: Your greatest achievement in Sound programming on the ST?
The short answer is that I hope I still haven't made it. But that's not REALLY the question you're asking. 8-)
I think the best thing I've done on the STe is the music, jingles and sound effects for Obsession, but that's all .mod and samples, so not really chipmusic. From a technical standpoint, I think the best work so far is the XYM player I'm working on, it's the one used in my "The Chicken Song 4k" (http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=63778) demo. I hope to release it for use soon-ish, so hopefully before the end of 2016. Musically, and chippically... I can't really say. Probably some of the early 90's stuff I made using Megatizer. I was really mentally free at that time, and felt almost completely unrestrained by the YM chip, and I think it shows in those tunes.
RockABIT: Which chiptune (any system) is special for you and why?
Martin Galway's Injector (Ocean Loader) obviously, because it changed everything for me. Rob Hubbard's Delta in-game music is absolutely fantastic too, it really speaks to me. Atari-specific the tune Nils "505" Feske made for Pulse/Checkpoint, that song really blows me away. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it (http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=66192).
RockABIT: Where did your musical Influences came from?
I was fed The Beatles from an early age, and when ABBA arrived, that was really important too. Vince Clarke's early stuff was VERY important too, especially the two Yazoo albums ("Yaz" in the United States of etc etc), they are still interesting to listen to.
RockABIT: Life with 80s Homecomputer was…
Amazing. There were strict boundaries on what you could do, but then again, within that little box, it felt like you could do ANYTHING. And it felt (and still does) like people did and do. The demoscene let us know anything was possible, and that there was magic that could be harnessed. Incredibly empowering on many many levels.
RockABIT: Does your Demoscene experience have an effect on your Life today?
I'm still pretty active, since 2009 (today is september 2015) I have released 12... er... "things", some of which are full-blown demos, others are much less serious. Much of my work ethic I've learned from the demoscene, and I have close friends that I never would have met if it weren't for the demoscene. And via the demoscene I met my wife!
RockABIT: What do you think about the actual retro-phenomenon?
I can only speak for me personally. I'm collecting old machines in order to experience things I couldn't as a child; play games that my parents couldn't afford, watch demos on platforms that were out of reach, and most importantly, develop on and for hardware that was just a dream at the time!
RockABIT: When you listen to Chipmusic nowadays…
I very rarely listen to music at all, especially demoscene music. I really only enjoy demoscene music when heard in context; i e in the demo it was created for.
RockABIT: Are you still composing? Any plans?
I haven't really written much the past few years. I do some half-assed attempts at demoscene music for my own productions and sometimes others' too. I write background music for Woodworking For Mere Mortals (WWMM) (a youtube show about woodworking), and that's new and different (and thus fun), and some of that stuff has actually trickled back into demoscene releases; the music in DHS' Sea of Colour (http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=65921) is a remix of one of the background tracks for WWMM.
RockABIT: Speak a little bit about you: Age, habbits, Life, ... what you want.
Well, I'm currently (september 2015) in my mid-40s, I live in a tiny little village with my wife and two cats. We have four grown-up daughters, and I spend my time divided between being a dad, husband, demoscener, songwriter/producer, musician, woodworker and electronics engineering novice. More or less in that order.
RockABIT: Per, thank you very much for your time and good luck for your upcoming projects!
I've played the piano from age 4, but as early as age 8 or 9 I really wanted to be able to play more than my two hands could achieve, and computers turned out to be the way to do it. That's the short answer, really. But then at age 14 I heard Martin Galway's Injector (often referred to as "Ocean Loader") on a friend's C128, and I was absolutely, completely blown away by the complexity of arrangement and of course the amazing melodies Martin was able to squeeze out of three oscillators.
From then on, it was completely obvious that soundchips were "enough", they could stand on their own and be valid funnels for creating art... obviously 14-year old me could never have put that into words, but looking back at how I remember it and what it later did lead to, yeah, that's what happened. Of course, cost was a big part of it too, at age 14 the only music hardware I had besides my Spectravideo 328 computer was an acoustic piano and a small Casio keyboard. It would take until the Atari ST came into my life that I was able to make anything close to enjoyable music. 8-)
RockABIT: Describe your way of creating an YM2149 chiptune…
Most of the time, I have 50 Percent of it more or less complete in my head when I sit down with the Atari (in STeem these days). The rest sort of happens as I listen along. I'm pretty melody driven as a writer (during my years of writing full-time, it was all pop music), but I'm a sucker for playing different instruments and voicings against each other to create complex stuff, both rhythmically and melodically. That all sounds REALLY fancy, but a lot of amazing chip composers do it intuitively without thinking about it, or knowing the theory behind it.
RockABIT: Your greatest achievement in Sound programming on the ST?
The short answer is that I hope I still haven't made it. But that's not REALLY the question you're asking. 8-)
I think the best thing I've done on the STe is the music, jingles and sound effects for Obsession, but that's all .mod and samples, so not really chipmusic. From a technical standpoint, I think the best work so far is the XYM player I'm working on, it's the one used in my "The Chicken Song 4k" (http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=63778) demo. I hope to release it for use soon-ish, so hopefully before the end of 2016. Musically, and chippically... I can't really say. Probably some of the early 90's stuff I made using Megatizer. I was really mentally free at that time, and felt almost completely unrestrained by the YM chip, and I think it shows in those tunes.
RockABIT: Which chiptune (any system) is special for you and why?
Martin Galway's Injector (Ocean Loader) obviously, because it changed everything for me. Rob Hubbard's Delta in-game music is absolutely fantastic too, it really speaks to me. Atari-specific the tune Nils "505" Feske made for Pulse/Checkpoint, that song really blows me away. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it (http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=66192).
RockABIT: Where did your musical Influences came from?
I was fed The Beatles from an early age, and when ABBA arrived, that was really important too. Vince Clarke's early stuff was VERY important too, especially the two Yazoo albums ("Yaz" in the United States of etc etc), they are still interesting to listen to.
RockABIT: Life with 80s Homecomputer was…
Amazing. There were strict boundaries on what you could do, but then again, within that little box, it felt like you could do ANYTHING. And it felt (and still does) like people did and do. The demoscene let us know anything was possible, and that there was magic that could be harnessed. Incredibly empowering on many many levels.
RockABIT: Does your Demoscene experience have an effect on your Life today?
I'm still pretty active, since 2009 (today is september 2015) I have released 12... er... "things", some of which are full-blown demos, others are much less serious. Much of my work ethic I've learned from the demoscene, and I have close friends that I never would have met if it weren't for the demoscene. And via the demoscene I met my wife!
RockABIT: What do you think about the actual retro-phenomenon?
I can only speak for me personally. I'm collecting old machines in order to experience things I couldn't as a child; play games that my parents couldn't afford, watch demos on platforms that were out of reach, and most importantly, develop on and for hardware that was just a dream at the time!
RockABIT: When you listen to Chipmusic nowadays…
I very rarely listen to music at all, especially demoscene music. I really only enjoy demoscene music when heard in context; i e in the demo it was created for.
RockABIT: Are you still composing? Any plans?
I haven't really written much the past few years. I do some half-assed attempts at demoscene music for my own productions and sometimes others' too. I write background music for Woodworking For Mere Mortals (WWMM) (a youtube show about woodworking), and that's new and different (and thus fun), and some of that stuff has actually trickled back into demoscene releases; the music in DHS' Sea of Colour (http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=65921) is a remix of one of the background tracks for WWMM.
RockABIT: Speak a little bit about you: Age, habbits, Life, ... what you want.
Well, I'm currently (september 2015) in my mid-40s, I live in a tiny little village with my wife and two cats. We have four grown-up daughters, and I spend my time divided between being a dad, husband, demoscener, songwriter/producer, musician, woodworker and electronics engineering novice. More or less in that order.
RockABIT: Per, thank you very much for your time and good luck for your upcoming projects!
