It’s one thing to talk about the MIDIbox SID, a DIY project that turns the fat warmth of the Commodore 64’s synth chip into a powerful beatbox/bass synth. It’s another thing entirely to see it in action — Roland ain’t got nothin’ on this.
Also airing on YouTube: the C64 Orchestra renders classic music from the 1980s in full orchestral form. To be honest, I was hoping “C64 Orchestra” meant a room full of SID synth players, but perhaps that’ll come next. It’s especially worth watching to hear 80s C64 composers Rob Hubbard (Commando, Master of Magic, etc.) and Jereon Tel (Cybernoid II, Supremecy, etc.) talk about composing for the C64’s restrictions, all in assembly language code. There’s no question these restrictions — and the ingenuity employed by the composers to overcome them — give the music its iconic clarity.
There are MP3 audio files of the C64 Orchestra’s performances on their site. If you want to catch them live and happen to be near, erm, Apeldoorn (granted, not an enormous part of our demographic), they’ll be playing the Gigant September 22.
Via C64Music, the blog to watch for C64 info. Now, back to work on my Prophet64 setup.
I wish I had some basic electonics experience. I would love to build me one of these!
that sounds amazing!
Commodore 64 Orchestra of Chicago, who actually have been around longer and were the first ones to use a room full of Commodore 64 computers with REAL SIDS. I found them at http://www.commodore64orchestra.com, this playlist of the 1980s fanatics who actually use multiple Commodore 64 Computers. Rumour has it that their Kraftwerk album is being released on the Mp3 Death label.
Commodore 64 Orchestra Playlist – 93.1 / 6.03.06
1. Kraftwerk – Music Non Stop (Nico Demonte's Remix)
2. 8 Bit Chip Headz- Weird Science
3. Ramiro Vaca (Extermer) – Amiga Strippoker
4. Commodore 64 Orchestra – Supercomputer
5. Vangelis – Bladerunner (000000000001 edit)
6. Markus Schneider – Vectormania
7. 000000000001- Blonde Digital
8. Thomas Detert – Neuronics
9. Jeroen – Afterburner (c64 chip overload edit)
10. New Order – Blue Monday
11. Antony Crowther Ratt – Suicide Express
12. Klaus Grongaard (Link) – Weird Science
13. Rob Hubbard – The Human Race (Nico Demonte's SID Edit)
14. Mark Wilson – Outrun (Nico and the Velvet Underground Edit)
15. Mr. Oizo – Flat Beat (Nico's Disco Mix)
16. Matt Furniss – Manchester United (Nico's 2006 World Cup Edit)
17. Giorgio Moroder – The Chase (Nico Demonte's Moog edit)
18. Nico – Keep Me Hanging On
19. M. Nilsson-Vonderburgh – Living on Video
20. Rudolf Stember – Cylogic
21. Dave Warhol – Neuromancer
22. David Whittaker – BMX Simulator (Nico's MTV Remix)
23. Michael Winterberg – Android Music Mix
24. Depeche Mode – Behind
25. Kraftwerk – Model
26. Mark Wilson – The Longest War
27. Markus Schneider – Shake Your Brain
28. Japmaster – SpaceRide
very nice article.
[…] this morning while reading the create digital music blog, i came across this post about a diy commodore 64 beatbox/bass synth box. needless to say, my interest was more than piqued. […]