Any suggestions about a Music Composer for a8

Marius · March 12, 2022

Hi All,

Not long ago on of my Dutch Atari friends asked me whether I was willing to compose a new song for the atari 8bit. I love that. I have been not so active with composing for atari 8bit lately. I want to gain new interest in this part of the hobby.

Now my question is this: for me is composing on the atari an important part of the joy. That means that RMT is not what I am going to use. I want to write, edit and play the music on real Atari 8bit hardware. For me that is part of the fun.

I know there are quite some composers. I only have experience with Chaos Music Composer. I know, when you master this program, you can create very nice and decent sounding songs. There is way much more possible than the most CMC-songs. But still... I am wondering: are Theta composer or Music Pro Tracker really better?

And do the player-routines of Theta and MPT consume lots of CPU resources? I know CMC is pretty easy on the Atari when it comes to resources. It plays in a single VBI.

What I am looking for is a program that makes it easy to write music. Perhaps I stay with CMC, but something inside me tells me that I should try another composer. I have asked this before. But I am now also seeking people who can me help with this.

The music itself is not my problem. I graduated from the Conservatory of Rotterdam (Codarts) and I am a professional musician, arranger, teacher and composer. So I only need to learn how the atari part works.

Thanks

Marius

+Stephen · March 12, 2022

Sorry, I can't answer this, but I look forward in seeing what you come up with.

Marius · March 12, 2022

4 minutes ago, Stephen said:

Sorry, I can't answer this, but I look forward in seeing what you come up with.

What me surprises the most is that I found some CMC tunes I created 15-20 years ago. They sound really awesome to be honest. So first I should try to get to that level again.

_The Doctor__ · February 14, 2023

Are these Chaos tunes already floating around for the community to enjoy? I'd think if you found them, they were buried treasure and might enjoy the sunlight.

Marius · February 14, 2023

1 hour ago, _The Doctor__ said:

Are these Chaos tunes already floating around for the community to enjoy? I'd think if you found them, they were buried treasure and might enjoy the sunlight.

Haha actually I am still enthusiastic about them, and most of them were already floating around somewhere.

On the other side, as soon as I sit behind the atari, I want to do other things than moving CMC files from my harddisk to the Mac and post them online.

I will try to find some time.

(By the way, I love seeing this old thread again, but is there a reason why you are bumping so much old threads? It's not a problem, but I was curious... you seem to bump a lot lately).

_The Doctor__ · February 14, 2023

I wasn't around for a while and am catching up, if it's interesting I might ask a question or wish to see something. It's less than a year old, so it's new to me. I always liked the Chaos Music Composer and haven't seen a great many people actually use it. Now it might be folks did use it more than thought but were weary of showing what they did. Considering what others did with AMS/AMP etc. they need not worry.

Edited February 14, 2023 by _The Doctor__

flashjazzcat · February 14, 2023

27 minutes ago, Marius said:

is there a reason why you are bumping so much old threads?

Rationale offered here:

https://forums.atariage.com/topic/333428-800xlf-s-video-c54-removal-alternative-to-eliminate-jailbarsetc-on-lcd-screens/?do=findComment&comment=5207057

Presented without comment.

j1mp4ck · February 15, 2023

hi Mario, certainly that of composing on real hardware is an important detail, a hallmark. If you allow me, I want to share my experience, I am not a professional programmer or a musician, more than an amateur, even away from everything due to the responsibilities of life, but with 8 bits beating at all times. For me, the important thing is to know the characteristics of the instrument (pokey), to have the time and inspiration (includes motivation, space and tranquility). if you use RMT you are not cheating or impure, just an interesting tool that allows ideas to flow better, saving time, ...it's like using an electric or manual screwdriver, finally the objective is to place a screw. Vinscool made a very powerful improvement to the RMT that a composer can appreciate and take advantage of, create interesting instruments and apply them in your arrangements. ....well, if You really want use a real A8, there is a very interesting tracker called NEOTRACKER, you can even incorporate your samples digitalized.

miker · February 15, 2023

On 2/14/2023 at 5:41 PM, Marius said:

is there a reason why you are bumping so much old threads?

I bet he competes for a...

Brak dostępnego opisu zdjęcia.

_The Doctor__ · February 15, 2023

Yes less than a year is so old. I think the golden shovel is best reserved for the folks responding to 14 or more year old threads by the dozen though.

+CharlieChaplin · February 15, 2023

I am not a composer on the A8, but by listening to various A8 trackers and their sounds, I prefer the sounds done with a) polish Multi Protracker (with and without samples), b) german Sound Mon Prof. by T.Karwoth (afaik, no samples) and c) german Black Magic Composer (with and without samples).

While there are various players (playback programs) for MPT, you do not find any for BMC and Sound Mon. Prof. it seems. So you either have to listen to some (german) demos or playback the sounds with these german sound editors.

Sound Mon Prof. Demos:

https://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=1125

https://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=863

https://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=3574

http://ftp.pigwa.net/stuff/collections/holmes cd/Holmes 1/ATR Programs/Applications A-Z/Sound Monitor Professional 1.2 (soundtracker).atr

Black Magic Composer Demos:

http://www.atarionline.pl/demoscena/A/ABBUC Magazine 20 Intro.xex

https://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=3570

http://www.atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?ct=utils&sub=3. Muzyka&tg=Black Magic Composer#Black Magic Composer

MPT Demos:

https://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=538

https://a8.fandal.cz/detail.php?files_id=1020