jefftheworld wrote:The Amiga is amazing and I can't fault it in any way, the software is readily available and easy to learn and the system is mega powerful. I'm not sure why more people don't use it, maybe the hardware is less readily available or more expensive in certain places?
Amiga's tradition was carried on by PC tracker music which directly descends from Amiga trackers.
Now, because Amiga's music is usually sample based (no matter how simple these "samples" may be), most of tracker composers probably feel that there is no point returning to Amiga, since PC trackers can play Amiga MODs and do just the similar thing - only difference being that some hardware limitations (4-channels, 22khz frequency) are lost and new effects & features are included (interestingly, many PC trackers can also impose "Amiga limits" if composer wishes so).
Amiga's sound technology was clearly ahead of its time in 1985 (SNES in 1989 being next major machine to offer music based on digital samples) but due to the use of samples Amiga's paula chip didn't offer any distinctive sound in a way like C64, NES etc did. (though Amiga music may still be often easy to recognize due to similarities in style and chosen instruments)
Of course there are also those people who want to make Amiga compatible music and use either PC or genuine Amiga hardware for this. But as I said, difference between Amiga compatible tracker music and PC tracker music may feel irrelevant for many.
On the other hand, Amiga chipmusic does not need to be sample based. There are for example trackers like AHX which create C64-like sounds instead of using samples (note: AHX requires Amiga 1200 or better). OctaMED is another quite well-known Amiga tracker which supports "synth sounds" (in contrast to samples). There are some people who feel that Amiga's AHX format offers a kind of distinctive platform. It sounds quite much like C64 (SID) but is not the similar (generally speaking, the sound is brighter).
In case somebody got interested in AHX format, here's two tunes by Gjeir Tjelta
Blue Mazda http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lXb8tVy2OA
A New Beginning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRzGlO3vx7o
Last edited by franz_koopa (Feb 6, 2013 4:52 pm)