»PIC:barclip2.ilbm» »CL9: Where's the AHI?! »PIC:barclip2.ilbm» »CL4: By Kam_ »CL1:Before I start to write about the main topic of this article, I'll consider a certain question: I want to write about the lack of multichannel modules in the Eurochart. This is a very narrow topic, so many of you might doubt the sense in making an article like this for a diskmag. Maybe I should simply send an e-mail to the maineditor of Eurochart - Darkhawk that is- and present my arguments to him? No. I've felt that this topic is quite linked to some negative scene-things, and an article about this can be interesting for some people. Perhaps I might open somebody's eyes to certain matters? Or maybe not? »CL0:What is the most important thing in a diskmagazine? Graphics? Well, the title picture must be quite good, a clear panel will make the reading easy, and extra cliparts would be nice. But no - graphics are not the most important thing. Music? Huh, cool scene tunes are needed! They're building atmosphere and put us in a pleasant mood. But again - you know... Perhaps code? Yes, code is important, but not the most important thing. »CL1:So, what should diskmag makers drive at? Of course the magazine should open on the computer of each scener. Is it difficult? Certainly not! Everybody in the scene are PPC owners? No, the majority still use old Motorola's, so the mag should be for those cards. Graphic cards are also not available inside the Amigas of many sceners, AGA is the standard, and its not possible to develop it by software. Besides - the AGA chipset, ceaselessly criticized by Amiga users, is not so bad, and it can display 24-bit graphics sufficiently good (jpg's & png's in low resolution and ofcourse 24-bit iff's - perfect for scene gfx). What about the music? Well, Paula's four channels are not impressive any more :). But programmers have developed them - bigger quantities of channels are mixed on those four channels by the processor, so it's possible to listen to and to compose multichannel modules on your Amiga. Martin Blom's AHI is now the standard. The great tracker - DIGI Booster Pro by Tomasz and Waldemar Piasta - makes use of it. So each diskmag should run on machines with this equipment: about 4 MB RAM, AGA chipset, 680x0 card and AHI installed. Logical? Not for everybody. »CL0:The Eurochart, which for a long time has been the most popular diskmag, discriminates those musicians, who resign the old Protracker for the incomparably better DBPro. Why do I think so? That's simple - the magazine don't support AHI. Why? The most logical explanation will be my own sentence from this article: "the magazine should open on the computer of each scener". But the real scener, not common lamer. AHI will not work on 020 (well, maybe if mixing rate is around 5 kHz?... :), on 030 I suppose that using a few channels is the upper border of normal quality. But on 040 everything works fine! If the musician want to compose a 32-channel module with 16-bit samples and DSP, he should know that 060 will be minimum. But it's possible to evade this - not many sceners possess sound cards (including me unfortunately), so you can convert the samples into 8-bit quality instead. You will not feel the difference on Paula. »CL1:Can someone seriously interested in the Amiga-scene have only 030? Never! Firstly - we should not treat those people seriously, secondly - for a long time, demos have not been made for that specification (they will run, but you know what will happen), so why make a diskmag for it? But maybe the Eurochart Staff thinks that if someone can't watch the demo, he can at least read about it? Silly talk. Personally I own a 68040/40 with co-processor, and I can't say that I'm very proud of this. I think that this is an absolute minimum, and slowly I must start looking for a job to earn some money for something better :). »CL0:I feel discriminated. I don't like to write modules in Protracker and I will not do this. But then again - why do I join those I criticize? I've sent one 4chn module to the Eurochart, but »PIC:df3» this is a little remix of my ten-channel DBM, and converting it was boring and tiresome. The Eurochart - through lack of AHI support - isolates itself from some quantity of support. Magazines can be initiators of changes in the scene - a smaller demand for four-channel, a smaller number of Protracker modules. That would then mean a bigger quantity of DBPro tunes (well, at least I hope so). But it is not difficult to see that there are less four-channel modules. Just take a look at the diskmags (not only the Eurochart) - these are old modules! What's up? Lack of 4chn modules? Just support AHI! »CL1:Look at Polish magazines. They support the AHI package for a long time. Therefore it was possible to listen to the great "Living In The Past" by JazzCat in Taboo #2, "Looking For Changes" by Maxym in Taboo #3, and "Cos o czym sie nie mowi" by Grogon in Taboo #4. In the last two years, there has been no impressive module in a diskmag relased outside of Poland. Tunes were just O.K. Not really an enthusiastic approval for musicians. »CL0:I don't say that multichannel modules will raise the standard of music published in the Eurochart right away. But firstly: chances will be bigger; secondly: The Eurochart can then receive more music support. And at last, thirdly: it will be an opportunity for each musician to present his music as he himself wants it. I think that's the point, isn't it? If the possibility to open the mag on 020 and 030 is so important for the Eurochart staff (I think that's absurd), they should do something with a magazine prefs file or something, where each user can set AHI support to ON/OFF. For those "AHI OFF 'sceners'" the EC Staff can put in one four-channel tune, while the rest will be played by AHI. This is my proposal. And my request. The choice is yours. »CL6:PS: I invite to polemics somebody from EC Staff.