C64

• Game Music

  Turrican Composer Chris Huelsbeck Releases C64 Anthology

  September 23, 2015 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Turrican Composer Chris Huelsbeck Releases C64 Anthology Share this Turrican Composer Chris Huelsbeck Releases C64 Anthology

  

  Chris Huelsbeck, composer of many Commodore games back in the heyday of the console such as Turrican, Great Giana Sisters (and its modern iteration, Twisted Dreams) and Apidya has released an album comprised of original recordings created using the Commodore 64 hardware.

  The SID Anthology Vol. 1 is a thoroughly “mixed and mastered to be enjoyed on modern stereo systems as well as headphones while still preserving the vibe of the original hardware, this C64 music can now be experienced in previously unheard quality.” Given Huelsbeck’s history with the sound hardware of not only the Commodore 64, but also the Commodore Amiga, it’s familiar territory for the composer.

  The 13-track album can be purchased on Bandcamp for $6.99. The fact that this is volume one would seem to indicate that this will be something Huelsbeck hopes to continue with, so fans should likely keep an eye out for future installments if this one tickles your fancy.

• Chip Music, Music Production

  Inverse Phase’s Music from Old Sound Chips

  August 23, 2013 | Haroon Piracha | 3 Comments Share this Inverse Phase’s Music from Old Sound Chips

  

  With an interest in chip tune music must come a certain desire to figure out the best reproduction of those chip tune sounds. Having a synthesizer myself, I always thought creating a chip tune piece was as simple as using a square wave coming out of my analog SH-201. Everyone has a different method, but this was my approach. Despite different approaches, there is a tremendous difference in the sounds produced from any sound chip, let alone those in video game consoles and handheld devices.

  For instance, the timbre of a C64 square wave sounds way different than an NES square wave. They are both square waves, yet the aesthetics that make up the sound drastically differs for each system. If you were going to create an NES based chip tune, it wouldn’t help to emulate chip sounds from a C64, or in my case, my analog SH-201. How can someone spot the difference? Inverse Phase, Mr. MAGFest, as some call him, often teaches people the differences, so they could be armed with an applicable sound palette before creating their own chip tunes. Today, I’ll go over some of these differences thanks to a lecture by Inverse Phase titled Music from Old Sound Chips.

  (more…)

• Chip Music, Featured, Game Music

  Musical Awesomeness Generator: Neil Baldwin Interview

  November 10, 2009 | Audun Sorlie | 11 Comments Share this Musical Awesomeness Generator: Neil Baldwin Interview

  

  If the name Neil Baldwin immediately rings a bell, that likely means you are a huge fan of NES music; however, for the less informed, let me quickly educate you. Neil Baldwin is awesome, and the reason for that is that he was one of the few Western composers back in the day that really put his mind and soul into working with the NES, pushing the limitations of the system’s audio chip to the absolute limits, and composing fantastic songs in all his games. He is one of the founders of Eurocom, and with them, he composed and developed many titles over the years, often based on movies. Eurocom is still going strong, having recently released Dead Space: Extraction on Wii.

  Baldwin was kind enough to take time to talk to us about his past, present and future works, and educating us on just how challenging, yet wonderful it was to work with the NES back during the peak years of the system, as well as his works on C64, SNES and N64.

  So step back in time and look into the amazing world of NES development with Neil Baldwin! (more…)

• Game Music

  Contest: Symphonic Shades 1st Edition, Get Them Before They’re Gone!

  May 7, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this Contest: Symphonic Shades 1st Edition, Get Them Before They’re Gone!

  

  We have good news today on two fronts. First of all, the album release for the Symphonic Shades concert featuring the music of Chris Hülsbeck (that’s “Huelsbeck” for those of you who fear the almighty umlaut) has sold so well that they’ve burned through their inventory and are offering an identical second edition later this month. Even better, it’s being sold at a lower price, and is currently available for pre-order here.

  The second piece of good news is that we have two copies of the first edition here in our offices just for you. So, what do you have to do to win one? Simple! Send us an audio file of you saying “Hülsbeck,” and the two entries that we find the most entertaining will win a copy of the album. Send your entries to [email protected] by May 28, 2009 at 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time to be considered!

  Are you at all surprised by the popularity of this album? Are you with many others in thinking it was one of the best albums of 2008?

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