Wellington, 8th February 2012
Musical Tribute
To mark the release of the AmigaONE X1000 "First Contact" system we commissioned free-lance music composer Rachel Dickinson (aka Rayne Leafe) to create two original soundtracks as a tribute to the ground-breaking Amiga 1000 computer. We asked her to compose a new start-up boot sound for the AmigaONE X1000 which built on the Amigas' original diagnostic audio test. We also asked her to create a longer piece which captures the spirit of the AmigaONE X1000. The result is A-EON Starlight an atmospheric and evocative music score which evolved from her new boot theme.
According to venerable AmigaOS developer Olaf Barthel, "the Amiga 1000 audio diagnostic test (aka boot sound) is based upon the Siegfried horn motif, as used in Richard Wagner's Ring cycle. The code for the Amiga 1000 boot ROM does not contain just the Wagner snippet, but also something else: the five tone "theme of the mothership" by John Williams as used in "Close encounters of the third kind". Barthel added "The author of the audio diagnostic code appears to be Siegfried W. Bleher. The theme played by the Amiga 1000 appears to be an edited version, which plays faster than Wagner's original, and is not exactly in tune with it either. The notes played are as follows: c, g (long note), e (1/128th note), c, d, e, f, e, d, d. The playback frequencies and speed are hard-coded for an NTSC machine, which might explain why it sounds like it does. The individual sound generation code uses a sine wave and emulates an ADSR envelope with short attack time and a slightly longer release time. From what I can tell, the diagnostic code and the music as we know it today finally came together on 13 May 1985. Also (I tested the code when I discovered it), John William's five tone theme did not sound quite as good as in the film. In the film score, the cue that contains the five tone theme is called "wild signals". It is perhaps fitting that the Amiga's 1985 "Close Encounter" developed into the AmigaONE X1000's "First Contact".
Rachel commented, "I spent my childhood using an Amiga computer and it's a special privilege for me to be able to contribute to its continuing success. When I was asked to write the boot sound for the new AmigaONE X1000 I wanted to pay homage to both the simple boot theme of the original Amiga and the enhanced start-up sound created for AmigaOS 4 by Japanese electropop artist, composer and Amiga user Susumu Hirasawa. I've tried to remain true to the tone row of the original boot sound while adding a modern interpretation. The A-EON Starlight theme is an expansion and exploration of the new boot theme. I hope you enjoy my musical Amiga tribute. "
http://soundcloud.com/rayne_leafe/amiga ... boot-theme
http://soundcloud.com/rayne_leafe/a-eon-starlight
Non male!
