Elektron Musical Instruments

On Tue, 18 Jan 2000, Eric Weik wrote:

> From: Eric Weik <eweik@...>
> 
> >I remember some UK musicians on the C64 that used the technique called
> tables >on the Sidstation. They created very strange sounds that almost
> sounded like >samples. Anyone else remember these sounds? Can't remember
> the name of the >composers though.... It was that guy who also coded a lot
> of games... like >Suicide Train. How's that for a classic C64 game? :-)
> 
> Just out of curiosity, do you mean something that "sounded" like a sample,
> or actually was sampling?  A crude 4 bit D/A could be simulated on the C64
> by jogging the volume register (lower 4 bits of $D418) at audio rates.
> This method didn't have anything to do with tables though (well, I suppose
> that technically the sample was a "volume table").  Was there a method that
> resembled the SIDstation table function too?
> 
No, he's right. With the right coding, you can make the SID produce sounds
that can be mistaken for samples (I myself made that mistake several
times :)...

Just take a listen to Bionic Commando
(http://samhain.c64.org/~sid/HVSC/C64music/Follin_Brothers/Bionic_Commando.sid)
for an example of a weird drum solo (with steel drums), all produced by
the SID...
Several other tunes by Tim Follin have similiar instruments. Check them
out (esp. Ghouls & Ghosts!)

If you're using SIDPLAY on a Mac you can turn on the SID register view to
see which waveforms are used. Though I have to admit that you'll need to
know quite a bit more than the information in the SIDStation manual to
decypher the register contents. Knowledge is power! ;)

Cheers,
Andreas