I was writing a paper on gameboy music history for school and interviewed Johan a while back.
Thought I'd share it:
What inspired you to make lsdj?
Lots of things! I was really into making music on Amiga, mostly using Musicline Editor. I also had a bunch of friends in the demo group Hack n' Trade, who shared my interest in C64, Amiga and 80's retro. Around 2000, Game Boy Color was a fairly new platform which seemed pretty cool. So, together we decided to get Game Boys, backup cartridges and programmers, and try to do something cool with it. For me, the obvious thing to do was a music program. I was curious to see if it could be any good with an interface like that (few buttons + small screen), and find out what the Game Boy sound chip could achieve when being pushed to its limits.
What are some features you'd like to improve on our add to lsdj that we can expect to get in the future?
Mostly increased stability. The C compiler I have been using all these years is incredibly buggy... so my feeling is that there are probably hard to find bugs lurking. Right now I am trying to upgrade the compiler to a newer version that might be better.
Who is your favorite musician to implement lsdj into there music?
I don't know if I have an absolute favorite, there are so many good ones and it's hard to compare totally different styles. But if I had to pick one, for old times sake it probably has to be Lo-Bat who is a very good musician and also was an incredible innovator back in the early days.
How many people total do you have using your software or are at least registered to use it?
Honestly I have no idea, but by now it must be thousands.
When you first released lsdj did you expect artists like beck to use it? Did you expect chipmusic as a whole to become what it is today?
Of course not. If even a hundred tried it out, I would have thought that was incredible.
Which system do you prefer the best: Origianl Gameboy, Pocket, Color Or Advance?
That must be the original. It's a shame that the screen is so poor.
How do you feel about the recent exposure of chipmusic to popular media. People are starting to see more and more "8bit" noises in tv, on radio and in commercials worldwide?
I am not sure what recent exposure you have where you live, but in Sweden it's pretty calm
The occasional chip-style sound in commercials and music, I like it when I hear it.How do you feel about nanoloops sequencer style interface as opposed to lsdj's tracker style interface? How do you feel about nanoloop 2.0 or above having FM synthesis implemented into the software? Will lsdj ever implement the same or similar synthesis qualities into its own software?
I tried out Nanoloop a little when it was new (before LSDj existed). I thought it was cool, but also got the impression that it was a beat making toy rather than something I would like to make full songs in.
I don't have much to say about FM. It's cool but also not very original.
What was the first video game you ever played?
Probably Pong, or Cup Final on Commodore 64.
What instruments do you play?
I don't really play any instruments, occasionally I toy around with what's in our home: A piano, some violins and a bunch of toy instruments (mostly useful to annoy the dog).
8bc.org or chipmusic.com? (sorry to bring you into that one if you don't want to answer it feel free not to comment)
I don't hang out much on forums. Occasionally (like, when I really have nothing to do) I go to 8bc.org to hunt LSDj bug reports.
15, 25, 50 or 75% Pulse Width?
Depends on the octave. For the base, I go for 15 or 25 first tick, then switch to 50.
Wave Or Pulse Bass?
I use pulse bass, but that's probably due to lack of skills more than anything else...
Sabrepulse Or Falco Lombardi?
I haven't listened to either of them. But I enjoyed the epic "Sabrepulse quits!" drama.
If you got stranded one an island with one person, one food item of your choice, one item of value and a celebrity what would your choices be?
My girlfriend, some durable bread, and a satellite phone. Celebrity, I don't know. Most of them do not seem like they would be very useful in a situation like that. Let's say President Obama? At least then, finding us and bringing us back home would be high priority.
And finally: If you had the ability to To implement any feature possible into lsdj what would it be and how would you do it?
I think I would rather like to improve the sound chip than the program. Increased dynamics would be very nice to have.
Cheers,
Johan
nitro2k01: Fixed the markup.
SCREAMKIDSARCADE EDIT: Added photo he sent me in the mail for my paper!
