"This project brings together the SID interface for RC2014 by Quazar: https://www.samcoupe.com
(also shortly available from https://z80kits.com/shop/sid-interfac... )
... and my new MIDI interface for RC2014: https://www.tindie.com/products/shiel...
In the video I demonstrate how I've got some tracks set up in Logic which are sending on channels 1,2 and 3. Notes are being played on the SID by the RC2014 with a program I'm writing in Z80 asm."
"This is not my music. Though this video needs to be on the internet.
lot of this stuff is so niche or lost it just doesn't exist on youtube. it's not really what I usually do on this channel but if not me who else is going to do it.
So what's going on here. The Software on the Laptop is from Elektron's download page for the SID station. it is an ASID player. Basically you load a sid file into it and it sends that data via midi cables (not midi protocol)
so the Sidstation..Midibox sid. (I think Hardsid) can support ASID. probably others. DJ Indikator wanted a way for a real commodore 64 to be compatible with ASID so in recent years they made Station64
which is a full midi native c64 software but it amazing supports ASID. http://www.djindikator.net/c64/
The Elektron software doesn't know what it is sending to. So the c64 is playing it on its 6581r4ar into my mixer. into the little M8 tracker which is being an audio interface for my phone so this video has direct audio.
I was so happy to get this working. had to share. Also more people that hear Ode to 64 the better."
"A tune from the 'Disgaea' OST on Black Corporation's ISE-NIN
This is a fun one to play. It's layered with other sounds from the ISE-NIN (besides the drums). The ISE-NIN isn't a mono synth but the unison mode really thickens up the sound for leads. This patch utilizes polyphonic aftertouch for vibrato."
"A creepy tune for a dark and cold January Sunday evening.
As you can see, I've worked within 6 channels with MIDISID as an external instrument so that all of the audio can be captured from the back of MIDISID in one take.
I sat down last night with no ideas but after a little messing around we were almost at this stage. A little more tweaking today."
"This is a 6-oscillator synthesiser with a choice of 4 waveforms per voice, ADSR, filtering and modulations such as PWM and vibrato. It also has some advanced features like ring modulation and waveform sync.
The SID (;Sound Interface Device;) was designed for the 1982 Commodore 64 home computer. It has many features and a distinctive sound. MIDISID uses two modern SID recreations (Nano SwinSIDs). MIDISID has three modes allowing you to play .mid files or plug in a MIDI controller such as a keyboard. You can choose from preset sounds or dive into the parameters, create and store your own sounds.
"This is a video game music cover of Stardew Valley's "Journey of the Prairie King" overworld theme, created entirely on Gotharman's zaTurn modular synthesizer. I must admit I haven't played the mini game at all, but I stumbled upon this tune and it's so damn catchy! :D :D :D
To get it into the zaTurn, I looked up Stoh Shiba's piano sheet music of the piece as a starting point and programmed that into the sequencer, taking a few creative liberties. Because the zaTurn only supports up to 64 steps per track, I had to split the song up into 14 presets. Luckily, copy and paste works so well on the Gotharman instruments and there are multiple ways to enter notes into the devices. After I completed writing the sequencer presets, using only a simple zaTurn voice patch, I started the actual sound design process and the arrangement of the various pieces in the Gotharman song mode.
I only used samples for the quirky vocals at the end of the song. The rest is all patched internally on the zaTurn. The one-take recording received subtle EQ and compression in Cubasis afterwards and that was it.
- - - -
Track: 'Journey Of The Prairie King - Overworld' (from the game Stardew Valley, https://www.stardewvalley.net)
Original Composer: Eric Barone / ConcernedApe
Transcription by: Stoh Shiba"
"Okay, so. I went into the studio with no clear intention today but thought I'd give the Lofi-12 a rest and make a jam on the SmplTrek. After setting that up and finding that my Nord Lead needs it's button contacts cleaning before I can use it again I grabbed my XFM. Well, to be more accurate I picked up the prototype by accident and found this completely unfinished and unused idea on there. I realised I had something cooking on the Lofi-12 that would fit with it and boom, Unnecessary Dungeon Synth Breakbeat was made.
Dungeon Synth is a genre of music that apes the sound of old early PC FM soundcards and is usually paired with music that would fit in an old adventure game, but why not take that and mess it all up? :)"
"Lets compare my Seashore track on these three midi modules.
Track 'Seashore' was written on the Dirtywave M8
The bank and program selects are set so it will work on any general midi device.
I have had this Roland SC88VL for a year or so and I use it fairly often as I don't have many poly synths and it doesn't take up much space. The QY100 is a recent addition. The super Midi pak I will feature more, it just got an update to work quietly on PAL machines.
Note seems between unplugging the audio cables from the qy100 and sc88 the Left and Right got flipped.
BPB 64 includes 30 presets, covering bass sounds, pads, leads, and the inevitable fast-paced arpeggios that make the SID chip so legendary. All sounds were captured raw, directly from the SID chip, so you're getting the same infamous grit and lo-fi crunch that you'd get if you hooked up a C64 directly to your audio interface."
Additional demos followed by pics and details form the Tindie page:
"Prismatic Spray is a deeply explorable bytebeat synth that implements many novel features. It includes a multitude of physical controls, mesmerizing visuals and full MIDI implementation. Highlights include but are not limited to:
A Full User's Manual
Yup. You won't just get a link to a github repository and some hex. Prismatic Spray comes with a multi-page instruction manual to guide you in your explorations (it is approximately 8.5" x 5.5" if you are searching for frames). This manual is written in the tongue of old and should be incomprehensible to anyone not familiar with first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
Chromatic Tuning
Prismatic Spray is tuned to a western 12 tone chromatic scale. You can play it like any other synth. No horsing around with cycles and Hertz. Prismatic Spray is adjustable through about 6 octaves from the dark blue knob on the front panel. The full range of MIDI notes is available when using MIDI via USB or TRS-A.
Looping
Prismatic Spray can be set to loop over any region of a bytebeat equation. The start and end points are adjustable after the loop has been set. At the tightest settings, Prismatic Spray becomes almost granular sounding. Irritatingly granular.
Visualizations
Prismatic Spray can display a visual representation of the current bytebeat audio output in real time on the 1.5" color display. Alterations to the bytebeat equation using the knobs will effect the patterns and colors of the visualization. There is also a regular menu with actual useful data to look at if you hate cool graphics.
Analog Filter
Are things sounding too wonderful? Can't take any more bristling fizzles? Prismatic Spray has an analog filter to roll out as much high end as you'd like. Like pretty much all of it.
40 Bytebeat equations
Prismatic Spray has 40 bytebeat equations to explore. Each equation has three variable to adjust (along with pitch, time skip and a kind of 'time stretch-ish' effect). You can get lost. I heard a voice talking in there once. It was saying "YaaaaYaaaaYaaaaYaaaa".
Over 30 presets
Okay ... that's not a lot to brag about, but the non-volatile memory inside the Prismatic Spray is limited. You get ~30 preset slots for saving your favorite crusty, ear splitting zapazoids.
A Case
Yay! You don't have to worry about shorting anything out, snapping the PCB in half or breaking off a protruding component! Prismatic Spray comes fully enclosed in a 3D printed case (available in various colors). The glowing innards of the Prismatic Spray are clearly visible (mostly with the clear case) while the unit is in operation.
"Using the S/T&H module as a bit crusher to modulate a VCO’s frequency. Resulting in atari arcade machine sounds.
Dual Negative Slopes both in cycle mode. One providing a variable voltage source of which to be sampled. The second is simply clocking the S/T&H. Output of the S/T&H is being fed to the VCO Freq Modulation input. Audio is just direct from VCO’s output.
"I built this custom Super Nintendo MIDI synthesizer using a real Super Nintendo (SNS-001) and a Super Midi Pak cartridge.
The Super Midi Pak cartridge is an incredibly well developped product that lets you control a Super Nintendo sound card via a MIDI I/O cartridge. It's rare that such a product is released to the public in such a stable and complete state.
The cartridge is available for purchase (www.supermidipak.com/), but there's a long waiting list for it.
The challenge for this project was to fit everything in a 1U rackmount enclosure. One of the things that had to be modified was the cartridge port angle, so that it sits parallel to the board instead of perpendicular.
The pitch adjustement knob uses a LTC1799 Precision Oscillator instead of the original crystal assigned to the audio chips. Credit for this mod goes to Sam from Look Mum No Computer. Go check out his channel if you haven't already.
This project is a one-off, and I don't intend to build more of them. Sorry!"
"I recreated the title music of 'Commando', the Commodore 64 game from 1985 - on an Elektron Syntakt. To do this I reverse engineered the 6510 assembly code of Rob Hubbard's driver and analysed the SID chip timings in extreme detail, in order to emulate it as close as possible on the Syntakt.
Just like the SID chip on the C64, I'm only using three monophonic channels.
Some text on the process and inner workings of SID tunes on Commodore 64 is available as well.
Sound is taken directly from the Syntakt’s outputs."
