Saga Musix' demoscene blog.
In this "blog", I want to collect music, demos and other stuff I come across and want to share with others.
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Mod Library revisited September 15th, 2012
Some of you might be using my program 
Mod Library for performing searches on their module collection. It works great for finding sample texts and similar things. However, what do you do if you don't want to know which module contains a certain sample text, but rather which module contains a certain melody? I often have melodies playing in my head, most of the time I even know that they are from a module, and typically I even know the module format and the rough time frame in which it was written (most often this would be an XM module written around 1997, but that's a different story 
).
Wouldn't it be cool to have a program which would let you search for exactly this kind of stuff? It certainly would. And would it actually be doable? Yes, it would! And who would do it? Well, maybe I would! I am currently thinking about completely rewriting Mod Library. The new version might replace the BASS library (which is great for what Mod Library currently can do, but sadly not for what the new version should be able to do) with the OpenMPT core for loading modules and analysing their patterns. The note information from the patterns would then be stored in a database using relative offsets (so that it doesn't matter if a tune was written in A minor or D minor). I find this idea very intriguing, but I can make absolutely no estimates if / when I will be able to code this. Is anyone else actually interested in such a project?
The jungle calls September 16th, 2011
Hoffman of Unstable Label has released an awesome jungle musicdisk called 8-Bit Jungle at the Sunrise Demoparty last weekend. Although it's not entirely new material, you can safely say that this is one of the best music disks for the Amiga for some time. The download includes Amiga diskette images as well as the original Protracker MOD files as well as MP3 renders. Download and enjoy!
The Sound of SceneSat Volume 2 May 17th, 2011
Finally, The Sound of SceneSat Volume 2 musicdisk is available in high quality OGG and FLAC! This epic collection of 73 fine tunes is nothing less than awesome.
Chillout and Psy stuff February 28th, 2011
Yersterday, I've come across some music by Maxus, and I was instantly captivated. On his website, you can find some really excellent chillout and psytrance music, all made with MadTracker. Some tracks I am especially fond of are:
- Andromeda (also check out the MadTracker source file!)
- Happy Flower
- Something Positive
- Colors of Life
- Off-Line (also featured on the Drone musicdisk)
If you like this, you will probably like other compilations by New Age Beats as well. "Andromeda" is for example included on M-Ether 2.
Amigaaaaaaa! October 27th, 2010
I haven't heard a tune as great as Human Nature by cTrix in a while. Positive, upbeat, light-hearted, and tracked to perfection, as I'm used to it from cTrix. Although this has been just released as MP3, his advanced tracking skill is evident here. Just listen to it!
Oldie but goldie September 2nd, 2010
Some of the first modules that I ever downloaded were In The Eyes and New Beginning by Sidewinder. True, they are rather old, but I still think their sound is simply fantastic. Crispy samples, punchy drums and the looping background sound make "In The Eyes" one of my most favourite tracks. Six years after downloading it, I still can't get enough of it. "New Beginning" is also a very upbeat track with great samples and a nice rhythm.
Impulse Tracker awesomeness July 12th, 2010
In case you have still any doubts that great music can be produced with good old Impulse Tracker (and in any other case as well), you should give Sphenx's music a go. Most tracks are absolutely wonderful compositions, often also pushing the tracker's limits. I especially love the "Space Ring" series, Shuttle Departure is a really awesome track!
Goal Accomplished April 8th, 2010
At this year's edition of the Breakpoint demoparty (which was sadly the last one, *sniff*), I was holding the unofficial tracked music compo on behalf of The Mod Archive. My expectations were not very high because of some erroneous information on the Breakpoint website (some texts still said that there is no tracked music compo anymore until a week before the compo), but I was positively surprised: Not only did Breakpoint 2010 set off a new visitor's record, we also had a great tracked music compo with a total of 19 quality tracks! This proves again that such a compo is still definitely needed and I hope that the follow-up party will have an official tracked music compo again. You can grab the releases from here, together with the results. Wohoo!
Dance For The Sun March 13th, 2010
Some time ago, I found (rather by accident) the track Dance For The Sun by Boor (aka Crystal Score) on Nectarine. It won the MP3 compo at the Takeover 2000 demoparty. And it very well deserved the first place. I haven't heard many tracks which are as light-hearted, naïve and beautiful tracks as this one. This is just great!
Anyway - See you at Breakpoint 2010!
Tekkno January 20th, 2010
Here are some enjoyable classic tekkno-rave mods!
- alf - no-mercy - Probably one of the best of its kind in just four channels. Great synth lines, a piercing piano, classic tekkno samples and the raaaaaaave feeling.
- travolta - condom corruption - Another classic in four channels. No need to say more...
- travolta - orient expression - Starting with some synth chords and steam engine sounds, this is quickly turning into some very nice and fast tekkno track with nice synth sweeps.
- travolta - testlast - A classic which is even a part of a Nectarine jingle. Fast and aggressive.
Have fun with this little collection, and feel free to share and discuss other similar tracks.
On a side note, I have now spent more than a third of my liftetime with trackers. I made my first attempts at tracking at the age of 13. Tracker music has accompanied me the most of time of my life, given that one of the first tracks that I could ever remember (and definitely the first computer game soundtrack I can remember) is Steelchambers 2 by Olof Gustafsson from the fantastic Pinball Fantasies game. I remember it from when I was maybe five years old, and I still love this tune. It's just too great. But what are the prospects like? I seriously don't know. But I just hope that tracker music will be part of my life for many more years!
