Re:Trackers: The Sound of 16-Bit [video]
by hjtkfkfmr on Monday November 22, 2021 @09:19PM
(#29313931)
On your first link, the 1991 one, you can hear the very distinctive TB-303.
Could those be samples? Sure, but it's much easier to use the real thing than try to record those modulations.
Maybe they also used a tracker on that song.
Re:Trackers: The Sound of 16-Bit [video]
by kristopolous on Monday November 22, 2021 @09:37PM
(#29314023)
many musicians use a stack - I sure do. It's a bunch of tools I somehow make work together.
Unless we can track down interviews with the people, I think all we have are educated guesses. It is true to say however, that these days, Amigas sell for thousands of dollars (such as https://ebay.com/itm/224602338650) because modern musicians want to use vintage tracker software in music production.
People are still putting out hardware on it. Here's something from 2020 https://cdm.link/2020/08/amiga-just-got-a-new-open-8-bit-har...
2nd we need to establish what tracker music sounds like - especially how it's limited.
Here's a 1991 trance track, Komakino - Frogs In Space (Trance Mix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjFBs_30uKU
Or a 1992 track, Cosmic Baby - Magic Cubes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMCl9tIfje8
I wasn't in the studio and I don't personally know the artists, but it really sounds like tracker music to me.
Now I know that's probably not convincing enough so let's get into demo disks, such as Breathtaker (1994) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-QUFFcxVjc or Day of Reckoning (1992) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfxDTgK3grg - go to 1:45 to hear those long pads you claim are impossible (they aren't). Or what about Wildfire's demos in 1992? (https://youtube.com/watch?v=0bk-qbbsgog)
And here's what's termed "Tiesto-Style" trance showing the actual tracker. https://youtu.be/6tNizdyx-DE?t=231
Different people used different tools, that's absolutely true. My claim is that trackers played a major role as an instrument in the development of that contemporary style.