Making electronic dance music in 1990 with budget home computer

Here's a look into making electronic dance music using budget home computer. Video courtesy of @CTRIX64
An Amiga 500, Stereo Master and handful of $1 records from a 1990 Sunday market: Can we make a dance track on a budget home computer? Of course! Back when big-name dance tunes required big-budget-gear, a secondhand Amiga let you take the first steps to making a dance-floor banger.

[@slon9120]

The fact this dude can make better sounding tracks on an Amiga and stereo master than I can on a modern PC and a modern DAW is upsetting

[@zaminhaidry]

😅

[@abysonhopz.15yearsand]

This is true bro sound quality of samples of 2000 songs is 🔥

[@halfexcat1822]

This guy is a monster, all the tracks he's making are bangers

[@tinkiniminki7712]

what is his name?

[@halfexcat1822]

@@tinkiniminki7712 ctrix

[@frano5957]

The final track is amazing, there is a lot of effects edited for each notes. Don't forget it is 4 tracks only...

[@hipflask]

100% accurate

[@tradevoorhees]

went crazy on that last joint.

[@canadianspurchase30million40]

as a music producer of this era using ableton 11, it's so insanely interesting to see how bedroom producers made music back in the beginning stages of edm. this video was a super fun watch good job!

[@bazz303]

ableton 11 got released 2021.... back then people uses noise and sound trackers like in this video, cubase or hardware sequencers. fun fact, people are STILL using soundtrackers.

[@morsject]

It wasn’t called EDM 😂

[@eventhorizon2873]

@@bazz303 cubase was next level, but i can remember this program was only available on Atari ST and later on PC. but the atari had only 4 channels and the ST was way more expensive. still a atari ST+cubase and midi keyboard was more proffessional. i remember a friend of my who also loved making music, making music for the gaming industrie(music such as in thunderforce megadrive). he send them copies. this guy was brilliant with Cubase.

[@bazz303]

@@eventhorizon2873 Atari ST _has_ 3 channel chipsound. Nothing more nothing less. Thanks to cool coders we can enjoy 4 channel digi sound. The Atari itself was pretty cheap. Cubase with its Dongle was the expensive part. But then Cubase and Midi is totally unrealted to the Ataris capability of generating sound. Total noiseless computer with a flicker free black and white monitor controlling Midisynths. Perfection. :)

[@kraftwerklover69]

The beginning stages were in the 70s with Kraftwerk.... in the 90s electronic music was already a standard

[@davey6024]

Bro has just blew my mind with how easy he made it look. He's a frickin genius making certified bangers on an amiga

[@keithpatience1233]

A Dutch hardcore band called Neophyte linked 3 computers together to have 12 tracks running at once . The ep was called " The 3 Amigas "

[@nekro9t2]

They also did the Protracker ep

[@keithpatience1233]

@@nekro9t2 haha yes I forgot about that one. I was an octamed man myself. I had an ep out on twisted vinyl Prototype - Mental floss

[@n00g75]

hmm you could use 8 channels with octatracker! so your have needed just 2 amigas for 16tracks!

[@whyflyguy007]

I'm pretty blown away by the level of quality you've accomplished with tech that far predates anything we have at our fingertips and is far more convenient to use today .. I think it's a testament to not blaming the tools, but looking at the artist and how we can best use those tools to the fullest.

[@timmyisded4446]

Casually pumps out fucking masterpieces like it’s nothing

[@rtql8d]

“I’m just playing around”. Creates certifiable top 10 hits

[@DespaceMan]

When I was a kid I built my own sampler from gathering the components & making the circuit board even had a preamp & mixer added for different inputs later adding high & low pass filters. I would hook it up to the VHS & sample actor voices for those explicit one liners "Feeling lucky punk" or explosions the special effects then add them all into a song. It's was great times always learning something & having fun at the same time with all your mates. One of our friends would sneak us into the radio broadcast station late at night on the grave night shift & we would sample a stack load off records or make our own mix tapes that didn't cost a thing, well the Maxwell tapes the good quality ones 90 XLII did, we used to get all the new hits before they hit the local records stores, naughty naughty hahahaha.

[@air6699]

That's amazing and really cool, what a chad

[@iLL.b]

How's ya sneak in? Sounds like fun adventures

[@tr3xbaybay724]

What a chad

[@JazzyFunkaHolic]

Man that sounds so cool. Im born 1991 and in love with tape, vinyl, Audio gear etc. And it was just amazing to read this Story. Being able to build a Sampler, the mystery around it etc. Really Talented

[@beef5010]

Damn, sounds like the plot to a fun movie.

[@WarzoneTales]

Damn this guy is like a historian, archeologist and sound engineer in one person.

[@Consure]

How are we all just seeing this video now, 2+ years after its debut!? Bringing back memories of some old tracks for sure!

[@rikatan]

Because it's a reupload from a random channel. Which is strange considering the video is still up on Ctrix's actual channel, along with a few other great videos on trackers and tech.

[@robinfielding]

Best YT recommendation for ages

[@Andres33AU]

It's incredible how creative musicians were with limitations, but also how versatile they were with tech. Thanks for the fun and fascinating video, and I also love how the track you made sounds like it's from the early 90s, haha.

[@iAmJankus]

so glad this popped up on my feed.

[@SilverTsunami88]

same here i just discovered this 5 minutes ago!

[@democracyforone]

@@SilverTsunami88 one minute ago for me

[@mikeypeek9767]

This blew my mind today. I've never seen or heard of this before despite making music on laptops for almost 15 years!!

[@akismatthaiadis8135]

I wish I have seen this video back in 1989.....

[@SpaceGhost999]

So you're telling me this Is a fairly obscure video from two years ago. And suddenly the KZbin algorithm randomly decided i needed to see it today?🤔

[@producedby3am344]

me too lol

[@Saltinator]

im glad it did, awesome vid

[@sethseth6ify]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2qwiYyQnZadmdU here's the original video, if youtube doesn't remove the link

[@joeldukes303]

That’s what we’re telling you Bigfoot.😂

[@SpaceGhost999]

@@joeldukes303 who's Bigfoot?

[@Krunklehorn]

You referred to the track as "cheesy house" but I guarantee /everyone/ was groovin' in their chair by that point.

[@ghostnyx]

it's mind blowing how far audio technology has come in the past 30 years

[@emailtour]

Yes this guy is a big Monster he can dig on anything anywhere very hard.

[@cheesiesticks]

15:17 jesus christ this is mindblowing

[@ACTNRPLY]

I thought the same shit This dude makes some great music and is really technically proficient at using those old samplers and trackers My jaw was on the floor when he was cutting that sample up like that

[@MrTommyP23]

The algorithm chose you today & It was an absolute win

[@leefull]

Same, brings me back. I loved banging out tunes on my A500, what a trip back in time. Total win.

[@madvolunteer8794]

Records for 3sec ''aaaaaand we are out of memory''

[@Nsr3lias]

Lol as an modern day producer I thought my life is hard finding inspirations. Can you imagine these legends have to put insane amounts of work collecting vinyls, floppy disk & ideas. Nowdays everything is one tap away from your computer it’s all in the internet.

[@Harmonic_shift]

Those who create samples/sounds for others to use are beautiful people.

[@djstacktrace]

12:23 "pretty cheesy sounding house track there!" False. It's dope.

[@ForwardBias]

Did the algorithm just hit? seeing a ton of new comments haha

[@carbss]

sure did!

[@bobgregorasz7685]

Yep. KZbin decided this video is what the worlds needs, in these trying times. Also, this totally sounds like any number of Sega Genesis soundtracks, of my youth (Streets of Rage comes to immediate mind)

[@ForwardBias]

@@bobgregorasz7685 I'm glad it did! This video was amazing. I love music production and old Amiga / Commodore stuff, so it was right up my alley :)

[@tinto278]

KZbin has chosen you Singapore Community Radio to be on everyone's recommendations. Well done.

[@lamardoss]

I don’t know why this is suddenly being suggested to everyone but I’m glad it is. Good stuff here man.

[@RedMeansRecording]

Absolutely boss programming here

[@yebii_]

I feel like I've just discovered an ancient world that I should have been a part of. This is all so very inspiring!

[@splntr.exe1]

it feels like a musical adventure for composition instead of just making music, really interesting.

[@capnjames]

HIS BEATS GO THO

[@giuseppeputton3654]

I super respect electronic music producers of the 80s and 90s. you had to have a real pulsing passion and love to work with these devices. it took ages to make a track. Amazing thing the music was way much cooler with less technology by your side, you needed to have some real electric and electronic know-how to be an electronic musician. in a way, it made a lot more sense. it wasn't just pressing buttons. these guys were artisans of music

[@moritzbierdimpfl7233]

you sound old

[@giovanniguirguis8139]

Im so glad i clicked this

[@ironrion]

How awesome dude love it

[@MrBirchieBirch]

The late 80's, early 90's UK Hardcore/Jungle rave scene owes everything to the Amiga and Atari ST.

[@mateythegreat1399]

Dude! I am 50 and had a great blunt before watching your video. First thing first, It was fantastically put together and informative and secondly, it brought the good old days back to mind and sent me 35 years back Thanks mate and keep up the good work

[@CTRIX64]

No worries. more is coming soon (I took a break for a while) This is actually leached / reposted content. My actual channel is at kzbin.infovideos There's an Atari video coming in a couple of months that's taken me over a year to create. Very similar to this one.

[@DaWolfsOnCrAcK]

The beats you created are giving me hardcore Streets of Rage vibes and I'm so here for it! Anyone who's interested in this kind of music, look up Yuzo Koshiro. Maybe find some inspiration and way to apply some of these sick skills

[@udance4ever]

lol that's what I was thinkin! bangin indeed!

[@anakondase]

In the early 90's I was drummer in a band. To be able to practise at home, I lived in a not so sound proof apartment, I bought an Alesis D4 and trigger mics and stuffed my drums and played with a headset. I remember connecting it up to my Amiga to sample all the sounds from the module. It took quite some time to sample all 500 sounds because I was very much a perfectionist. I was glad I did after though since it ment I had a huge amount of drum samples to use when I made songs in the tracker.

[@BadBoy-wk5uu]

Where have u been when people could need this videon in the 90’s?!

[@Bobo-ox7fj]

Two year old video, but all the comments seem to be from today

[@deadheadwill2609]

man, where was this video in 1990

[@hm09235nd]

People deep within the military industrial complex were getting smashed off their tits making chooooooons in the 70s, and sharing them via ARPANET

[@richardcorfield9926]

I remember sending off a postal order for these disks. So I took cash to the post office to get a postal order to put in an envelope and wait weeks for the floppy disks to come back.

[@BrandonFoy]

“Bring the bass in!” Yessssssssssssss 🙌🏾

[@dorsia6938]

That feel when this guy makes a better track on 30 year old technology than you can make with modern software and synths :')

[@Kurty94]

Software tries to replicate the sound of the old technology anyway. It's always better to use original equipment

[@c.j.1089]

Amazing how much you can get done with a 1.44mb floppy

[@NTRSN-Archive]

It was the DD not a HD diskette ;)

[@makru940]

880 KB :)

[@LCOmusic]

uwu?

[@claudevieaul1465]

I still use the old 1.44s on my old synths, for backup and restore of settings and patches mainly, but also to run MIDI files from - they've never failed me.

[@JazzyFunkaHolic]

Yea totally. I grew up with a mpc that used Floppy Discs too, so im used to using small samples. Now I own a digitakt and people tell me the New mpc offers so much space and the dt has only 1gb, and its so much for me 🤣 back then i had that 1gb in 100s of floppys

[@erichhitchcock3368]

When I saw Tony Williams' "Lifetime," hearing 2 seconds of Allan Holdsworth imistakeable guitar sound woke me up a bit to something familiar from those days 30+ years ago...I sure miss THAT GENIUS! In 1990, I purchased a Casio Guitar Synth (not the toy one)...I saw Stanley Jordan live, he was using one; when I saw one in a music store, I bought it. Incredible machine, it was an ESP strat, with a midi generator, and option to drive a remote unit. I plugged one into a Kurzweil and wow!...that was phenomenal.

[@JoyThiefTheBand]

Okay, these beats are way too fire for how casual this video is! Love this whole thing end to end.

[@sleepyjuice]

It took 2 years for this to be suggested to me, but I'm glad it was

[@shinjiikarir]

same

[@Fabermorrow]

Same

[@snakeplisken5787]

And....we're out of memory. Hahaha, awesome

[@hectormartinon3237]

I didn’t actively look for this, it came to me like a dream ✨

[@BlakeBickerstaff]

Same. I've been on a KLF and 90s house KZbin kick lately so maybe that's why

[@xknxkn139]

better than 80% nowadays productions

[@YourGuyWedge]

Pretty efficient way to tell us you dont explore music and just listen to the radio. also ironic comment cause this just reuses the previous generation of music

[@bohemianvillage676]

Yeah! This gives you a proper feel for how the early rave/'ardkore/jungle records were made. There were many samples that popped up in several tracks with a slight change in pitch.

[@kennyball3956]

WHY is this vid just poppin off....2yrs old but all the comments r from old skool boys like me within the last 4 hrs....great work fella

[@InTheBalance79]

Sounds better than any of the trending things going on now.

[@danic.3760]

I started with Impulse tracker in 1995, this video reminds me the good old vibes. Nowadays I'm still making music with FL Studio and I live from it. A good producer/musician can create good music with any thing as this video shows, nice work ;)

[@ten-brink]

This is fantastic! Man how I wish the internet was as established as it is today in the early 90's. I was a poor kid in a small town in Sweden and no one I knew had any knowledge about this stuff. I could've made so much higher quality stuff back then with the money I spent on the wrong equipment. Back then I didn't know what a sample was, I thought all electronic music was made with midi to expensive synths and drum machines. The only thing my parents could afford was a used Atari ST an a used Roland MT-32. In itself the MT-32 wasn't bad, but it had almost no sounds for EDM, especially drum wise. Then mid 90's I bought a Windows PC on installment, and an expensive DAC I don't remember the name of from a local music shop, because it supposedly had good General Midi. It sucked too, the drum kits were horrible. It wasn't until 1997 that I actually learned what a sample was when I got a collection of EDM drum loops on cd-rom, and FINALLY I had good kicks, snares and hihats.

[@kennyslg8914]

Wow, I can't believe this only has 7,080 views. This was very informative. For the longest, I always wondered how musicians made electronic music without the use of DAWs. It's amazing seeing how far production has come in 30 years. Makes you wonder if in 2050, people will be looking back at our current DAWs like this?

[@archulettadave]

Got my Amiga in 1989, built a 3 second sampler in high school electronics lab. Amiga forever ❤️

[@WibbleWobbl]

Honestly surprised I watched till the end - I can appreciate passion like that

[@vauxmili]

This is the best video I've ever seen

[@DedicatedAngler]

U got the good kush?

[@xa1a]

Annnnnd were out of memory. Laughed out loud. Takes we way back! Miss the tracker days

[@skeennah1927]

I was born in 1975, I had an Atari ST, this video was amazing and nostalgic, absolutely loved it. I remember going to Turnkey on Charring Cross road, coming back home and asking my mum for £1200 to build up a studio..........................................She laughed

[@HarmanPremiumYT]

Wow what a gem, this video is why youtube can be so amazing

[@EdgeOfPanic]

Ah yeah childhood memories, I was one of those kids with an Amiga+sampler in the early 90's and was lucky enough to have my own CD player i could hook up and take samples! Classmates didn't believe I made stuff like that at home on my Amiga just to show how much of a novelty it was back then. Thanks for this nice video.

[@toshiroinhell]

I'm 17 and have been producing on FL since I was 13... It is so interesting seeing how people produced at home with these samplers and systems.

[@Lamster66]

Well no they didn't actual Musicians and Home producers used synth sample and Drum modules triggered by a midi sequencer used SMPTE time code to sync up a 4 track or 8 track into a mixer. They then played back the recorded instruments like Guitars and Vocals from the multitrack and the midi sequencer played the midi modules back live and you mixed that. In the early 80s we used synth modules and Hardware sequencers This was relatively new because prior to that Analoge sequencers triggered analog synths via trigger pulses and control voltages or built in sequencers like in the Sh101 or the Pro1. Midi effectively changed everythng, by the end of the 80s we were either using Cubase ( Yes it really is that old) or C /lab ( which later became Logic) on an Atari 1040 Or Steinberg Pro 16 or Pro24 This type of software shown here was for geeks who couldn't get girl friends Spent way too much time playing Elite. when not meeting with other geeks to play Dungeons and Dragons

[@toshiroinhell]

@@Lamster66 jeez bro im not reading all that... bro wrote an essay lmao

[@Lamster66]

@@toshiroinhell And that's why you'll never learn anything bro!

[@xys007]

I still have my favourite mod files on my hard drive. Probably the only files I keep transferring from PC to PC since 90's. I have build my own Covox clone just to listen to those files. BTW ... Thanks youtube for recommending this video!

[@WSNO]

My favorite kind of youtube content; informational guide making me spend all my money on old stuff that would be much cheaper and easier for literally anybody to do in an app in 2022

[@jasonemartin]

lol, so true!

[@19grand]

Wish I'd seen this video in '88.

[@AddlerMartin]

Looks like the algorithm gods got us all together for this wonderful video

[@robi1483]

Praise be the gods!

[@intuitivecat]

I appreciate that the first platter you lay down to sample is Coldcut.

[@euruani]

One of the most Interesting video I saw in years

[@Fractal_blip]

Thats actually a sick track. ..

[@luismurag]

This randomly came up on my recommended. This is absolutely genius. Fantastic.

[@varelastheo]

Wow, you just crank out pure gold. I swear 1989 was peak western civilization. Amazing machinery

[@dominiquejubin]

yo, that track at the end is a banger, in fact, the track before that is as well

[@TomBudin]

bro what a tune holy shiz!!!

[@BoyLucid]

We don’t know how easy we got it now

[@coldcall9563]

That "cheesy house" jam was straight up fire.

[@aquaevitae]

On the other hand. The fact that studio grade music tech was outrageously expensive at 80's and 90's, very effectively ensured that there was not too much competition in the industry.

[@CraigMansfield]

Oh man :) I was born in '73, so I saw the entire PC evolution from day one. At the time, things like this seemed unattainable. And to a point they felt like if you could do it, you'd be something "special". Mind, not that many people could afford an Amiga - that was the dream. Things like "real speech" photos and videos were all hopes for the future..... actually realistic colours were something of a dream. I was lucky to have a ZX Spectrum, then an Atari ST with a load of consoles along the way (Megadrive and Dreamcast were my favourites). You certainly know your stuff! I still love the sound of the old Commodore 64 sound chip. I even shagged a girl one time because she had a Commodore 64 and Mission Impossible.............................. wasn't impossible after all hahaha

[@bayzilian6868]

Fun fact: You didn't look for this video. The video looked for you...

[@khybercourchesne]

Died laughing at “…and we’re out of memory.”

[@edwardfletcher7790]

Maximum 1mb on standard A500 ! LoL

[@YakuiMeido]

"and your home computer sounded like this" 0:50 Chiptune fans: "Perfection"

[@_dusklo]

the tech and stuff was interesting but can we agree that when he got the sequencer up, bro was making fire fr

[@hleet]

WOW ! It's like we are in the 90's and discover for the first time a "how to" make music with a computer ! 😄 very impressive setup. Fast forward 2022 ... we have 1000 times better hardware & softwares but 1000 times shittier music too ! lol. I guess, limitation is really a blessing for talented people.

[@kasberge7164]

Very well put!

[@Manerr]

I don't regret clicking on KZbin suggestions after that video. It just gave me a lot of ideas (I am a music composer myself )

[@stenyxx]

so sweet. captures the early-90s aesthetic perfectly, step-by-step

[@NobuxD]

We really take modern technology for granted lol

[@markparvin5727]

"We'd better save this" - damn right you had, some of those grooves you made are truly excellent!

[@ssss-df5qz]

There's something way cooler watching you build a tune on this equipment than someone on a launch pad.

[@Inmate533]

1985: "Ah man. This 8-bit stuff sounds like pure shit." 2022: "Ah man. I love this 8-bit 80s-sounding stuff." 1990: "No, it didn't sound like that in the 80s."

[@MikeTrainormusic]

The time period between analog to a (useable/reliable) digital brought so much innovation with such little and limited resoures. It's a quirky but interesting time for audio. Zip disks wasn't too far away from this, then mp3's, then a 'giant' leap forward; all happened in a very short amount of time

[@brutallyremastered4255]

What a stud getting the place pumping live.

[@milantrickovic1059]

This is FANTASTIC!

[@jackedkerouac4414]

As someone who started making music with Reason 2.5 this was fascinating

[@mimik5856]

What an absolute gem of a video

[@donky2807]

Yoooo whoever recommended this to me at KZbin needs a raise, this is awesome! So good!

[@cduemig1]

I never would have imagined an Amiga could do this. Very cool.

[@cubdukat]

That was virtually it's main purpose. It didn't have a MIDI I/O like the Atari ST series, but it ran rings around them with trackers like OctaMED. It was incredible all of the things the Amiga was capable of doing with what it had.

[@Axter6]

I got covid so I have nothing to do. Im just on youtube all day pretty much, this is blowing my mind. Incredible stuff.

[@udance4ever]

aw get well soon & let this kinda sh*t get yr mind off things!