Amiga Music Software

[Toddney]

Hi,

Bit of a random request, but I'll give it a shot. What sort of music software is/was available for the Amiga? I have an A600 and an old 80s Yamaha M1 Korg, and so was wondering what my options are.

Can I connect the keyboard to the amiga via some sort of Midi port? What programs are out there?

TIA

[Buleste]

For free software try Aminet. Commercial software like Bars and Pipes is available in adf form from various sites like BTTR. As for pluging MIDI to Amiga you need a MIDI port which usually plug into the serial port. These can be found on ebay or Amibay.

[Harrison]

There are a few different commercial MIDI sequencers available for the Amiga. The 4 big commercial ones are:

• KCS Level II
• Music X and Notator-X
• Bars and Pipes Professional
• Sequencer One Plus

In addition the Amiga had its own music format known as modules or mod for short. These use a type of program called a tracker where composers use a collection of audio samples and sequence them into 4 music tracks (as supported by the Amiga's hardware).

One tracker application that may also interest you is called OctaMed Pro. This is now freeware, and although it is foremost a module based tracker, it also works with MIDI and supports 48 channels. This also interfaces with the commercial software Bars and Pipes Pro, which is now also freeware.

The official OctaMED site is http://www.medsoundstudio.com/

As for connecting MIDI, as Buleste already mentioned, you will need a MIDI interface to give you the MIDI ports on the Amiga. The most famous is called the Steinberg Amiga MIDI interface. If you can find one of those that is the best to get. Failing that, there were other makes of MIDI interface and it doesn't really matter which you get as they should all work. Most connect to the serial or parallel port.

I've actually got an Amiga MIDI interface that I don't use, so if you are interested PM me with an offer. It's unbranded so I don't know what make it is, but it worked when I tried it out a few years ago.

In regard to MIDI, Commodore didn't directly support the MIDI device protocol until Workbench 3.1, so for older versions of Workbench, as you are probably using on your A600, you might need to installed the Commodore Amiga MIDI Driver, known as CAMD).

Also have a look on the main classicamiga site as I've already added some Audio/music/MIDI applications to the new software database, and I will be adding many more when I get time.

[Toddney]

Thanks for the information. I may take you up on that offer for the midi port, but am not sure at the moment.

I have Sequencer One Plus, and also Bars & Pipes on diskette, but have never used them (my dad did). Do the tracker programs require a musical keyboard, or can you input the notes/pitch etc via the keyboard/mouse?

Would I gain anything over using the PC to compose? I am mainly after composing 80s game style music.

[Buleste]

You don't need a music keyboard for a tracking programme and playing around with it for a bit usually helps. If you're feeling really adventurous i've found this site with schematics and instructions for building your own MIDI Interface.

[Harrison]

All music for games on the Amiga were composed using trackers. You don't need a keyboard. You can just edit the music using the keyboard/mouse and any mod tracker you want to use.

One really good tracker you could take a look at is Protracker. It's what most used. And as already mentioned OctaMED is another really good one, and that has the added advantage that you can use keyboard and real music based notation if you wish.

[Buleste]

Another option is try blagging Zetr0 to see if he'll dig up the ProjectXG stuff he was going to build for someone on EAB. It'll cost money but you get a soundcard as well.

[Toddney]

Cool, will be trying these trackers out tonight

Btw I just found a DATIC Midi-Interface which seems to be for the Amiga. Anyone heard of this?

[Buleste]

Is this it?

[Toddney]

Yep that is exactly the same model. So I guess I can use that to connect my keyboard to the amiga.

I tried that Protracker (version 3.15) last night, and it sure is complicated! Does anyone have a beginners program they can recommend, or a manual for this? And also, which version should I use, considering I have Workbench 2.1 and Rom 2.05?