tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60548476183535347372011-12-15T11:28:50.975-08:00All hail the SID chip!Simple Gameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06993624060293955287noreply@blogger.comBlogger231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-79060610835721616912011-09-04T08:45:00.001-07:002011-09-06T09:53:08.788-07:00

If you are/were a Ubik's Music user, you probably wonder if it's possible to save a tune you made as a SID or WAV. Well, the answer is yes, it's definitely possible but it's a little bit convoluted to get there. I am assuming you don't have a Commodore 64 and you are using an emulator like VICE to run Ubik's Music.Here's how you do it:1) In Ubik's Music, you compile your music. It will save a PRG

Simple Gameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06993624060293955287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-10717789759804470522011-01-07T10:15:00.000-08:002011-01-07T12:25:57.356-08:00

Once upon a time, back in the magical 80s, there was a British heavy metal band called "Battleaxe". Let's just say that they almost made it super big. Anyways, the video below plays one track of the 2nd Battleaxe album "Power From The Universe", it's called "Make it in America":Battleaxe went through several lineups over the years (note that they are still playing and touring to this day) but

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-21514621912571520432011-01-02T15:12:00.000-08:002011-08-28T20:20:46.058-07:00

I "met" John Stormont on youtube (had to do with a Commodore 64 tracker named Ubik's Music). After graciously giving me the Ubik's Music manual, he provided me with a bunch of tracks (44 of them) he had made back in the day (1987) using Ubik's Music. I thought the tracks were pretty cool. John is not Rob Hubbard or Russel Leiblich but he's pretty darn good. Not too long ago, I started a music

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-85357682427397186702010-09-13T05:29:00.000-07:002010-09-14T13:42:29.710-07:00

This is the manual for Ubik's Music, a sequencer/tracker for the C64. For more info on this fine Commodore 64 music application (and that includes a video), see the Ubik's Music post.Click on the pictures above for larger versions. Thanks John for the scans. There is a very important mistake that John discovered in these instructions. They tell you to Poke 50974 (hexC17D) to access your music

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-57924456176455442852010-09-10T16:50:00.000-07:002011-01-08T07:50:15.962-08:00

"Instant Music" from Electronic Arts (1986) is a bit different from any other music applications on the Commodore 64 as it allows you to 1) create music from scratch or 2) "jam" along an already made tune.Jamming (or "mouse jamming" as it's called) means that you can jam using one channel while the other two are playing a tune. Since I don't find "mouse jamming" too appealing, I am gonna focus

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-26838722214589094522010-09-06T16:47:00.000-07:002010-09-13T06:23:52.331-07:00

The video above showcases demo tracks number 00 and 01, just to see what Ubik's Music looks and sounds like.Here are some commands that can get you started:F8 Start/Stop songRUN-STOP (Esc on pc keyboard) Enter menuSHIFT+ENTER Edit current sequenceF1 Edit valueF3 Insert rowF4 Delete rowThose last 3 work when you are stringing up the sequences in the song menu and when you are making up the

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-87023710064581055652010-09-06T16:27:00.000-07:002010-09-06T16:38:50.797-07:00

Ubik's Music is a tracker for the Commodore 64 released in 1987 by Firebird. You make the patterns tracker style - each note is entered in letter notation with its duration as an hexadecimal number - and then string the patterns together to make up a song. Anyways, here's the review that can be found in Zzap! 64 (November 1987):

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-23378825537543044552010-09-06T09:47:00.000-07:002010-09-06T10:50:54.313-07:00

This game from 1985 is kinda like karaoke for piano playing, sort of. When the game starts, you are given the choice of playing along 12 classics which range from "Capriccio Italian" to the "Toreador's Song".Once you have chosen a tune to play along, your task is to play the melody on the keyboard, initially, by following what keys the program tells you to press (Single Key Play) and then, once

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-37821728352468231712009-07-30T17:44:00.000-07:002009-07-31T07:59:07.673-07:00

The beginning of the MGMT tune "Kids" on Activision's Music Studio.I had heard that song a few times on the radio (a while ago now, when MGMT was not too popular) and thought that was pretty cool. But, for some reason, the radio guys would never give the name of the song and who was responsible for it. So, being pretty resourceful, I would "google" what I thought was the title of the song, that

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-6029191684970647172009-07-08T19:05:00.000-07:002009-07-16T10:32:26.703-07:00

Zzap! 64 did a review of various Commodore 64 music applications in its 1987 Christmas special edition. The article, reproduced below, talks about fine Commodore 64 music products such as Electrosound 64, Sound Studio, FM Sound Expander (keyboard and chip add-on), Microvox (sampler), Datel Sound Sampler, Rhythm King, Advanced Music System, Popular Classics (karaoke keyboarding), Ubik's Music,

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-77353842363842746082009-07-06T18:22:00.000-07:002009-07-08T03:49:47.475-07:00

Rhythm King is a really neat drum machine for the Commodore 64. It makes full use of the 3 channels the C64 has, in other words, you can play up to 3 drum sounds at the same time.The "recording studio" (as opposed to "live play") has a bunch of options but the most important two (well, the ones discussed here) are the "pattern editor" and the "edit song" mode.In the "pattern editor" mode, well,

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-55162223185843432322009-07-05T08:02:00.001-07:002009-07-05T08:04:13.928-07:00

The following shows what the magazine ZZAP! 64 thought about MicroRhythm. Feel free to click on the picture in order to get a readable version (it will open in a blank window).

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-5425094245838356092009-07-04T11:22:00.000-07:002009-07-09T12:08:08.861-07:00

MicroRhythm is a drum machine for the Commodore 64, written by Simon Pick and released by Firebird. It is a single channel drum machine, which one may find a tad limiting. As usual, you create patterns (bars) and then string them together to form a drum track (song). Each bar or pattern holds a maximum of 16 steps.F1 toggles between "bar write" and "song write" mode.In "bar write" mode, to change

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-69140971708738471612009-07-03T13:56:00.000-07:002009-07-03T14:27:53.631-07:00

The following shows what the magazine ZZAP! 64 thought about Electrosound. Feel free to click on the pictures in order to get readable versions (they will open in blank windows).

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-7688174025263931692009-06-24T15:31:00.000-07:002009-07-02T06:25:39.236-07:00

If you’re like me and can’t get enough of Commodore 64 SID tunes, here’s a little gem that’s one of the included demos in Music Shop, the most excellent music editor for the C64. Kajun Klog is also featured in Bounder, a weird (but interesting) platform game that features a lot of tennis balls.

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-74773341225422565612009-06-23T15:29:00.000-07:002009-07-02T06:41:56.895-07:00

Who can forget this peace anthem from 1983? Anyways, 99 luftballons, also known as 99 red balloons in the Anglo-Saxon world, catapulted Nena to one-hit wonder status. To be fair, she’s had a pretty long-lasting career in her native Germany and she delivered a good string of hits in the 80s beside the balloons song.This is of course just the intro. A big thanks to Music Studio from Activision.

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-59379540612713229042009-06-22T15:28:00.000-07:002009-07-02T06:42:05.142-07:00

New Order’s Blue Monday on the Commodore 64! Who needs sequencers or synthesizers when you have a C64 laying around with Music Studio from Activision?Blue Monday was released in 1983 when the Commodore 64 started to rule the byte world.

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-13485555880667615682009-06-21T15:26:00.000-07:002009-07-02T06:42:13.235-07:00

Music Shop is a music editor published by Broderbund for the Commodore 64. It is similar in terms of functionality to Activision’s Music Studio. The interface doesn’t have the bells and whistles of the Activision title but it gets the job done, as they say.When it starts, Music Shop’s main window shows, besides the traditional staffs, three drop-down menus (a la windows):Tools* Setup Screen* Get

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-49492644175418134992009-06-20T15:25:00.000-07:002009-07-02T06:42:22.546-07:00

Axel F, written by Harold Faltermeyer, was part of the soundtrack for the movie Beverly Hills Cop starring Eddie Murphy (and the great Judge Rheinhold).Here's a C64 (short) version made with Activision’s Music Studio. Wonder how many versions of this fine tune have been made over the years (sorry to add to the pile).

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-65963318774087706452009-06-19T15:24:00.000-07:002009-07-02T06:42:31.026-07:00

Top Gun Anthem, written by Harold Faltermeyer, was of course part of the score for the movie Top Gun. It is such a great instrumental that I couldn’t resist producing a (short) Commodore 64 version using Activision’s Music Studio.

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-67053681479214131592009-06-18T15:03:00.000-07:002011-01-11T10:38:25.935-08:00

Electrosound from Orpheus is a synthesizer/sequencer for the Commodore 64. It is one among the many music creation apps that are available for the C64. You write tracks (songs) by combining so-called sequences (patterns). You compose a sequence by assigning a note (and its instrument) to a channel for each sequence step. Electrosound has three channels and a maximum of 240 steps per sequence.I

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-17834248975770020582009-06-17T15:02:00.000-07:002009-07-02T06:42:55.812-07:00

Activision released quite a gem in 1985 with Music Studio. Budding composers could finally put their melodies on five and a quarter inch disks and share them with their neighbors.For starters, the interface is just brilliant. You place notes (and other musical things) on the staffs (two of them) using the joystick. There are four basic interface sub-menus: edit (delete, copy and move note blocks)

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6054847618353534737.post-48183335159710237282009-06-16T15:01:00.000-07:002009-07-02T09:51:38.824-07:00

Pro-Drum is a drum machine that enables you to write some backing drum tracks on the Commodore 64. There are two modes (press F1 to switch between the modes): one for creating drum patterns (on two channels) and one for putting the patterns together to actually make the drum tracks.This neat little drum machine was released by Dutch-USA Team in 1988. The interface is very well done and there’s

Commodore 64noreply@blogger.com0