When did computer music begin and how much has it affected our way of making and perceiving music?<\/p>\n
At the beginning of the 90s\u00a0getting hold of sequencers, synthetisers, drum machines was massively expensive, especially if you were a student\u00a0 and you could only count on your weekly allowance, which you mostly used for gigs, clubbing and maybe records if you were – like I was – an aspiring DJ, so in the end you were left with very little to get the so much craved hardware.<\/p>\n
On the other side, if home computer took by storm the colourful imagination of all of us 80s kids, the following, natural – and less expensive – step was moving from videogames to music-making softwares. The process was quite slow though, we were not in a rush of owning the most updtated softwares mostly because they were not so widespread and the network exchange was not like it is today. Back in ’94 we started using a software very basic in both graphics and performance, similar to the personal Desk Mate of Tandy 1000<\/a> from the end of the 80s that we used to manage a GEM keyboard – including drums –\u00a0 and also plunk a legendary and masterful Korg Polysix<\/a> (Pink Floyd, just to name one band). Going further into the decade we began to use sofwares like Fast Tracker II<\/a>, used to make the first electronic music tapes: a mix of coarse ambient wave and primal jungle, something that would still be trendy today. Towards the end of the 90s the most popular software were Hammerhead<\/a>, an impressive drum machine simulation, Rebirth<\/a> and Cubase<\/a>, this last still supporting us today with its most updated versions. Somebody had been already experimenting with computers: softwares for the the legendary Vic20 were peeking out or even the very first soft\/samplers for Amiga 500, with separate cartridge in the package, which also worked as sound card.<\/p>\n At Gong we always draw from the past and love to reinvent that typical lo-fi suggestion connected to the first wave of computer music, so…hooray for old softwares!<\/p>\n If you really want to go deep into the topic, go and have a look at Obsolete Computer Music<\/a> group on Facebook, you will find out a lot about the old softwares used to make music “from home” and maybe you will find again the software you used ahead of times.<\/p>\n