[demo] We Were @ by Oxygene

Fantastic new Atari STe demo, came in first in the wild compo at STNICCC.

download/discuss

Medium Wave Radio Broadcasting Ends in Germany

The last remaining medium wave AM radio station in Germany has announced it will terminate its broadcast on December 31st, ending 92 years of medium wave radio service in the country. So, last chance for all noise enthousiasts to record some authentic samples of the beloved pheeewkrrrrrrrrzzzzz!

[album] VA - Best of Kittenrock Selection

 

One of the finest chiplabels is looking back on 10+ years of it's history in releasing the works some of the most legendary figures in the scene. Including tracks by Bitshifter, Secret Lab, Divag, Tom Woxom, Joss Manley, Steve, Linde, μB, and many more. Wow, there's even a track by me ;)

download

[mag] ACNews #60

 

Surprise surprise! A wild blog post appears despite AWW being officially on winter break ;)

Volume 60 of Alone Coder's ZX Spectrum diskmag is out, and it comes with a little article on Spectrum clones in the GDR, written by yours truly. Download it here in TR-DOS disk format. Btw the mag is supposed to appear bilingual (Russian/English) from now on.

[album] kolędy by foots

Beautiful and soothing OPL-2 FM ambient/chill out, perfect for a cold winter day that you spend comfortably at home.



With this, I'm off to my traditional end-of-the-year trash punk album recording session with my friends in the middle of nowhere. Which most likely means a temporary hiatus for Ancient Wonderworld till beginning of January. So, thanks for reading, and see y'all back in 2016!

[album] Apocalyptic Brain Meltdown by Tenshun

So y'all enjoyed yesterday's feature? Well, here's something completely different, then. Rough and unpolished, yet oddly enjoyable LSDJ darkness.

[album] ab41 by Jellica

This release comes with no cover art and no online player. And it's still one of the best, if not the best chiptune release of 2015, at least in my opinion. C64 minimal (the real minimal, not the electro stuff) at it's best. Well, unless you hit that download link, you'll never know what you're missing out on, I'm afraid.

download

[album] SIGINT by Zen Albatross

Some slick, dark and heavy new Gameboy material by Zen Albatross. If you like this music, you can support the artist by heading over to 8bitpeoples and purchasing a HQ download.

New FPGA SID Recreation Project Underway

A new, ambitious project is on its course to recreate the MOS SID chip in FPGA. The end product is intended to be a pin-compatible drop-in replacement, and the author is aiming for accuracy on par with reSID emulation.

Check out some w.i.p. sound examples, and get the latest updates at the FPGASID website.

[demo] amo3ba by Desire

It's alive - in 32 bytes! Code by HellMood, 3rd place in the oldskool demo compo at Demosplash.

download/discuss

[album] PLATO Computer Music 1977-1982 by Bill Schaeffer

Here's some of the best chipmusic from before chipmusic was even invented.

This music was made on a Gooch Cybernetic Synthesizer at the experimental music lab of the University of Illinois. The GCS was one of the first wavetable synths ever made. It generated sound from looped 256 step waveforms, and was programmed through a PLATO computer terminal.

The CD is available from CDbaby, if you're interested.

Computer Music in 1949?

Some time ago, it was revealed here on Ancient Wonderworld that CSIRAC was not the first machine to play computer music, and that actually Frances E. "Betty" Holberton programmed the UNIVAC I to perform music to the public a couple of months prior to the Sidney events in 1951.

Ever since, I have been wondering if there are perhaps even earlier examples of computer music. There are some claims that US Air Force Lt. Herb Finney wrote a music routine for the UNIVAC I serial #2 before B. Holberton did hers for the #1. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any substatial information backing up these claims. Furthermore, considering that the performance by B. Holberton might have been already in March 1951 rather than June as previously assumed, we cannot be sure who was first based on the currently known facts.

Then some time ago I stumbled across this odd CYHIST newsgroup message from 1997, wherein a certain Kathryn Kleiman claims that Betty Holberton told her that

"[...] in the spring of 1948, on the eve of the introduction of the BINAC, a party for all the employees of Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation was thrown. As a highlight of this party, she programmed BINAC to play "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" for all the employees who had worked so hard to get the machine out the door. The performance was quite a hit!"

Now that would be quite amazing. Especially considering that the BINAC only ran it's first test program on February 7th, 1949, and certainly wasn't operational in 1948. So until now I had good reason to believe that K. Kleiman's claims are incorrect, and that she got confused with the events surrounding the UNIVAC I. There is evidence that Louis D. Wilson installed a diagnostic speaker on the BINAC; but that's about it.

The BINAC

Or so I though. Until I came across this fascinating oral history interview with Jean J. Bartik and Betty Holberton, conducted by Henry Tropp in April 1973. On to page 169:

BARTIK: Well, we had it singing songs and stuff and playing music.

HOLBERTON: Well, that was done at the demonstration because that I did the night before the demonstration, and I don't remember when —

BARTIK: And when was the demonstration?

HOLBERTON: When was the demonstration in relation to shipment?

TROPP: That would have been fairly late

HOLBERTON: Fairly late.

TROPP: in '49.

HOLBERTON: It would have been in the spring. Yes.

Based on this, it is safe to say the above statement by K. Kleiman is indeed true, save for the year. I have not been able to pinpoint the date with certainty, most likely they are talking about the official verification test, which took place on April 7th, 1949.

Betty Holberton at the ENIAC

In any case, there you have it: The world's first computer music was made as early as 1949. So next time you write something about Betty Holberton (then still known as Betty Snyder), don't just mention her pioneering programming work on the ENIAC, the writing of the first computer manual, the development of the C-10 and COBOL programming languages, or the design of the UNIVAC console. Also mention that she invented computer music.

Sadly, no recordings were made of that historic achievement. Perhaps the papers by Betty Holberton contain some information about the inner workings of the music routine at least, so if anybody happens to stop by the Charles Babbage Institute in Minneapolis, I urge you to take a look at them and let me know about any possible findings.

Also, if you do have any other stories about early computer music, please do share them in the comments below.

[album] Tartare de Biscotte by Thiaz Itch

A new Thiaz Itch album, horray! No, it's not chip. But it's awesome, and more importantly, it's absolutely nuts. So I urge you to check it out anyway.


Btw if you like this, Thiaz Itch already had an equally crazy new release back in September, which I managed to miss somehow.

[album] Metatransit by Conquer Monster

Now here's something we don't get to hear very often: Sci-Fi Electro! Made with various sound chips and analogue equipment, the debut album by Conquer Monster is a unique synth-wave masterpiece. Dreamy and beautfully layered, this music will have you cruising through the galaxy - the galaxy of an 80's sci-fi movie that is.

The music ties in with a comic book release by Black Omen - seems fitting!



The album is also available on CD and VHS, physical copies as well as the comic book can be obtained through the band's web store.

[demo] xenos by sensenstahl

Creepy protein folding in 256 bytes? Oh yes! Fourth place in the oldskool demo compo at Demosplash.

download/discuss

[album] PSG Series 4 by Tomy

Now that's the spirit! After the last installment of his "PSG Series", Tomy claimed he "couldn't get anything more out of the SN76489". And here he is, proving himself wrong:



Simply the best music for the crappiest soundchip out there. Grab the download before the counter hits the limit!

Famicompo Pico 2015 Open for Submissions

Yeah, I know, it's been a bit quiet on here lately. Guess I'm just too lazy... or perhaps I'm waiting for a new autumn release to really blow me away, or another kickass out-of-compo sizecoding prod. Yeah folks, how about make me a nice sizetro for Ancient Wonderworld? Something dark and shady, with misty silhouettes and shit maybe?

In any case, here's an announcement for all you NES/Famicom music makers out there: Famicompo Pico 2015 is open for submissions now and until November 30th. So get tracking! Or MML'ing or whatever ;)

[album] Lisergamida by Pulselooper

New Pulselooper, yay! 3 years in the making, Lisergamida is a collection of fairly slow, acid-flavoured LPGT jams. Once again, Pulselooper manages to strike a perfect balance between dark, moody vibes and danceable, yet intricate beats. Comes with excellent remixes by BLEO, droid-on, hypnodrive, and Peter Swimm.


For those interested about the inner workings of these tracks, the LPGT source files can be downloaded here.

[demo] Shareware by Dekadence

A new C64 demo from Dekadence, with kickass music and neat PETSCII graphics. Third place in the C64 demo compo at Zoo.

download/discuss

[compo] TMDC 18 Announced

It's time for the Text Mode Demo Competition again! Here's the official invite, with neat music by Linde:

Submission period is from November 11th to December 12th as usual. For more info about rules etc, check the official TDMC website. Further questions can be discussed at pouet. Last but not least, the invite can be downloaded here.

[demo] Abre los ojos by oobc

This gotta be one of the craziest demos I've seen this year. First of all, the platform: CBM 8032 aka Commodore PET! If that alone isn't crazy enough, the demo itself is rather... different. It starts out with something which sort of resembles a twister, but then takes a rather unexpected turn. I don't want to spoil it too much, so let me just say that I have rarely ever seen something so unique and sinister. An absolute masterpiece in my opinion, and well-deserved first place in the Wild compo at Zoo this weekend.

download/discuss

[soft] FAT in Development Again

Just a short note to let you know that the Furious Advance Tracker project for Gameboy Advance is in development again, and a new beta is out. Still quite a few things missing, and the range of supported flash carts is rather limited as of now, but nevertheless I'm sure people will appreciate that stuff is happening again.

[album] VARUNA OST by izioq

Short but sweet Genesis/PC-Engine flavoured soundtrack for a new WIP shoot'em up named VARUNA. Digging that boss battle!

[soft] SAA1099Tracker

An excellent new online tracker for the Philips SAA 1099 sound chip (found in Sam Coupé, as well as some soundcard extensions for ZX Spectrum and PMD-85) has appeared recently, courtesy of Martin Bórek, one of the authors of the PMD-85 emulator.

SAA1099Tracker features a slick-looking interface and excellent documentation. It is written in HTML5/Javascript, and runs on all major platforms/browsers. The source is available on github as well.

SAA1099Tracker online

[album] CNTRY & NESTRNT by Bud Melvin

I never thought the day would come when I'd be promoting Country music. But this new EP by banjo-wielding, yodeling chip hero Bud Melvin leaves me with no choice but to post it on here. Yeehaw!

[album] Retrobeat/ZX81 by Yerzmyey Now on Cassette

AY and Amiga chipmusic hero Yerzmyey has a new cassette release! It contains music from his "Retrobeat" and "ZX81" albums. If you want to buy one (they cost just 3 EUR + shipping), get in touch with the man himself via yerzmyey at interia.pl.

[demo] cobalt blue by sensenstahl

Another stunning entry from what has to be the toughest 256 byte compo in demoscene history so far. 3rd place at Function, here is cobalt blue by sensenstahl.

download/discuss

[soft] TEDzakker 1.0 Released

As much as I like my own tracker, I can't hide the fact that another awesome music editor was released very recently. Hermit of SIDwizard fame proudly presents you TEDzakker, a tracker for the Commodore 264 series. It features a custom driver to achieve effects previously unheard on the TED chip.

From the release notes:

• 6 different player-types for different needs and rastertimes/sizes
• TED sound emulation on SID for C64 version
• HerMIDI MIDI-interface support (notes can be played, instruments can be selected)
• short 1ms whitenoise can be enabled for instruments (crisp soundstarts)
• SYNC and PHASE between the two channels, possible to create ringmod or PWM-like sounds
• bass sounds deeper than A2=108Hz by utilizing 'noiseloop'
• note-volume fade-in/out in instrument-tables to create volume-envelopes
• different mixing modes to map the virtual volumes of channels to shared volume
• normal/incremental vibrato, balanced vibrato/slide-speed strength in lower octaves
• Instrument load/save support (each instrument has its own individual table)
• Runnable and playable tunes can be exported directly from TEDzakker editor just like workfiles
• Built-in cheatsheet and built-in tutorial/example-tune for all player-types

The latest version can be downloaded here.
For further discussion, see the release page on csdb.

[soft] HoustonTracker 2 for the TI-82/83/83+/84+

After many months of coding, it's time 4 da calculator!

About

HoustonTracker 2 is a music editor/sequencer for the Texas Instruments TI-82, TI-83/82STATS, and TI-83+/84+/SE. It allows you to compose and play multi-channel 1-bit music directly on your TI graphic calculator.


Features

• 3 tone channels
• 1 non-interrupting drum channel
• up to 128 note patterns
• up to 64 drum/fx patterns
• sequence length up to 255 pattern rows
• 16-bit frequency precision
• 8-bit speed precision, can be configured per step
• various effects, including:
  - L/C/R stereo hard-panning for tone and drum channels
  - 8bit duty cycle control
  - duty cycle sweep
• 2 user definable samples
• up to 8 savestates
• edit during playback

sound example

project website
download (includes 82p/83p/8xp binaries and docs)
source

Bug reports? Suggestions? Feature requests? Post them in the dev thread over at the 1-Bit Forum.

[demo] arabeske 64 by Desire

A new out of compo sizecoding beauty by HellMood has appeared. arabeske 64 is a size optimized version of Frank Buss' 181 byte cellular automaton algorithm. The name is actually somewhat misleading, since after some further optimizations the smallest version is now a mere 55 byte.

With that, I'll be on my way to Deadline, so probably no posts from me for the rest of the week.

download/discuss

Autumn Blips @ Deadline Demoparty, Oct. 2nd

Coming Friday I'll be playing live at the Autumn Blips event at Deadline Demoparty in Berlin, together with Tronimal, The MM Project, STereochan, Computadora, Midi Man, and Alpha C. See you there ;)

website
facebook

[demo] Best of 2005-2015 by Jellica

The master of laid-back melodies and intricate beats has released a compilation with his best works, looking back at 10 years of making Gameboy music. If you haven't heard of Jellica before, then this is a perfect opportunity to check out his unique music. And if you're a die-hard Jellica fan like myself and got all the tracks already, then I'd still recommend downloading the album and donating a few bucks while you're at it, for all his excellent past (and future) work.

"Forum on the Future of Personal Computers" Video Recordings To Be Released

The Computer History Museum has started to release historic video recordings from the "Forum on the Future of Personal Computer". This was a monthly panel held by the Boston Computer Society, which brought together some of the biggest players in the computer world of the 80s.

First up is this remarkable gathering from October 1981, which brought together Don Estridge of IBM, Bill Gates of you-know-who, Mike Markkula of Apple, James Finke of Commodore, Jon Shirley of Radio Shack, Peter Rosenthal of Atari, and Nigel Searle of Sinclair.

The video recordings will released in format of a youtube playlist. Read up on background background information on the serie's blog.

[demo] Megapole by Baudsurfer

Be blown away by another amazing 256 byte prod from Function. Baudsurfer has presented some pretty wicked sizetros before, but this one is absolutely surreal. And when something like this only gets second place, you know the competition was tough...

download/discuss

[album] Erut Nevda Demissio Tristitia by Shnabubula

Shnabubula, arguably one of the most talented chip jazzers out there, has compiled some of his unreleased works from 2008-2010 into a new album. It was already released a couple of months ago, but I somehow missed it the first time round. So, time to make up for that. Enjoy!

[demo] Immediate Railways by Digimind

A new mind-blowing 256 byte DOS sizetro by... no, not one of the usual suspects of recent times. This one comes from the mighty Digimind, who has been into sizecoding since at least 1999. This one got first place in the PC 256 byte compo at Function 2015.

download/discuss

[album] lobits by Toxic Chicken

You know what I haven't posted in ages? Some good low bitrate music. So I'm very happy to announce this new bag full of cheerful 16 kbps treats by my all-time favourite lo-bit maniac, Toxic Chicken. Beware the chicken flu, it might put an incurable delirious happy grin on your face!

Get the download on archive.org.

[musicdisk] Chiperia Issue #3

Horray, another installment in the Chiperia musicdisk series has appeared. This one was submitted to the oldskool demo compo at Function, where it got 3rd place. As usual, it contains a load of awesome Amiga tunes ranging from demoscenish-classic to utterly crazy. With music by Curt Cool, Tecon, Serpent, h0ffman, triace, zabutom, tempest, and many more.

download/discuss

7days7engines

This week, I'm going to do a little code art project. For every day of the week, I'll release a brand-new ZX Spectrum beeper/1-bit music routine.

The demo tune for Day 1 is already up on my soundcloud. All the releases will be announced in this thread over at the 1-Bit Forum.

And in other news, the votepack for the 1-Bit Forum Contest is now online!

[demo] Kpacku Deluxe by Kpacku

So here we go, this is the ZX demo that had the audience at Chaos Constructions screaming like some teenage girls at a rock concert. And rightfully so. Do I even need to mention that this won the compo?

download/discuss

[album] GameJAHBoy! by XyNo

Here's a little EP to brighten up the mood :) LSDJ in da Jungle!


Free download at Redscientist Media.

[demo] PRECALCULATED by skrju

After 5 years of silence, skrju is back with a new "Russian newskool" ZX demo. Even though skrju prods are notable for their lack of limit-pushing effects, I've always been a huge fan of their stuff, and this new release does not disappoint. 2nd place in the ZX demo compo at Chaos Constructions.

download/discuss

[album] Andrea the Android by PSS-270

Horray, seems the autumn season of great music releases is slowly gearing up. From a magic dreamland, the Chippanze netlabel brings us this beautiful melancholic toy keyboard album by Polish micromusic wizard PSS-270. One of the best micromusic releases of 2015 so far in my opinion.


direct download

Also, this is my 500th post here on Ancient Wonderworld ;)

[demo] eihwaz by hedj & schafft

Ok, proper video captures for the CC Spectrum prods are in, so let's get it on. First up, we have some top notch 3D wizardry by hedj and schafft. 3rd place in the ZX demo compo.

On a side note, it's funny to see that n1k-o seemingly produced the music for at least half of the ZX demos at Chaos Constructions this year (this one is no exception). Well, I very much like the guy's work, so I can see nothing wrong with that ;)

download/discuss

[demo] Satan Stole My Atari by Lamers

Let's interrupt the Chaos Constructions galore for this lovely new Atari STe demo by Lamers. Perhaps not the greatest prod on earth, but it sure is a hell of a lot of fun, and thus, well deserved first place at Riverwash's oldskool compo.

download/discuss

[demo] CALL256NOW! by Serzhsoft

So, where were we? Right, awesome prods from Chaos Constructions. I'm still waiting for YT uploads of some of the main prods, so in the meantime let's have a look at another mindblowing sizetro. Arguably the best thing to come out of the CALL NOW! hype, here's the winner of the 256 byte Speccy contest. ZX 48K + AY sound.

download/discuss

[demo] Electric Force by realm of illusion

A load of outstanding prods were released at Chaos Constructions this year. So let's get right to it. First up is an insane 233 byte intro for the Vectrex. Second place in the combined 256 byte compo.

download/discuss

irrlicht project live at Ohrbit 2015

Here's me playing live at Ohrbit Festival Duisburg a few weeks ago:

Videos from all other liveacts at Ohrbit 2015 are available as well. Thanks to Dengeki Gamer for filming and editing these!

[album] Nexus Genesis by Hunty

While we're at it, here's another one from Ubiktune, released just a couple of days ago.

Nexus Genesis was supposed to be the soundtrack for Sonic Nexus, a Sonic fan game for the SEGA Genesis/Megadrive that was developed in 2006-2008. Unfortunately the game never made it beyond demo stage. Well, at least we're getting this kickass music by Hunter Bridges aka Hunty now.



Ubiktune release page

[album] VA - STAFFcirc vol. 1

No good chipmusic releases lately? I partly blame the summer time, when things are always slow. But I guess I also have to blame myself for not paying attention.

So here's something that was released a couple of weeks ago already. STAFFcirc vol. 1 is a compilation full of jazzy, chilled-out weirdness with a strong SNESish touch for the most part. Also, frog sounds seems to play a major role in this mysteric release.



Ubiktune release page

[demo] Oh Five! by Pacific

A very joyful Amiga OCS/ECS production from the Pacific crew. Top notch synchronization, and an awesome rasta plasma sphere in the middle. Second place at Gerp's Amiga demo compo.

download/discuss

LPGT ported to Symbian

LPGT aka Little Piggy Tracker has been ported to Symbian S60v3. So now you can rock... errr, I mean chip out on your Nokia phone. More info and latest builds are available in the release thread at cm.org. Source code is available on Github as well.

[demo] Be Kool Fool by Focus Design

Wazzup folx, everything Kool? Check out this absolutely Kool Amiga AGA prod from Focus Design, which won the Amiga demo compo at Gerp this year.

download/discuss

[demo] pulse by Checkpoint

Time to get word out about this Atari ST beauty before it starts to smell ;) Here's the second place in the Atari compo at Summarhack 2015. It's maybe worth mentioning that this lost to DHS' streaming music entry by just 1 point.

download/discuss
better video at dhs.nu

[demo] Ditch by Resource

Neat little C64 onefiler by Resource. Second place in the 8-bit demo compo at Árok Party.

download/discuss

[diskmag] Info Guide #11

You may have noticed that I don't regularly post about disk/paper/pdf magazines here anymore. This is because most of them tend to focus on gaming, collecting, and other "retro" issues, which are somewhat beyond the scope of this blog.

Alone Coder's legendary ZX Spectrum mag "Info Guide" is an exception in that respect, as it focuses predominantly on developement and coding. You'd have a hard time finding such a massive knowledge base in diskmag form anywhere else.

For the first time, the mag is now also available in English. And it also has an article by yours truly, of course on the topic of 1-bit/beeper music ;)

download/discuss

International Teletext Art Festival 2015

The 2015 edition of the International Teletext Art Festival is due to launch tomorrow. 15 artists from around the globe will compete for the grand price. This years motto is "Stay Home!". Which makes sense, because as every year, works will be presented in your home via the teletext pages of ARD, ORF, ORF III, SRF, and arte.

ITAF2015 will run until September 13th. Works will also be presented at Ars Electronica in Linz, AT from September 3rd - 7th.

[demo] Eager (to live) by Life on Mars

A new colourful ZX Spectrum production with advanced AY sound tricks, made by introspec, with great energetic music by nq. Party version scored 1st place in the ZX demo compo at 3BM Openair 2015. This is the final version though.

download/discuss

[demo] breed by sensenstahl

We're back to present you this incredible 256 byte MS-DOS intro by sensenstahl. Produced out-of-compo, this marks a new level of beauty in the land of size-coding imho.

download/discuss

[demo] Binary Roads by Software Failure

Nice 56k Amiga AGA intro by Software Failure. Nothing too spectacular, but well paced and cheerful. First place in the combined intro compo at Euskal 2015.

download/discuss

Btw for the next 10 days or so things will be a bit slower than usual on here, as I'll be going to Germany to play at the Ohrbit Festival in Duisburg, among other things.

[album] Clay Memory by fluidvolt

After a long pause, fluidvolt has published his new album on Ubiktune. As was to be expected from the master of intricate relaxation, it's a bag full of heartwarmingly weird, beautfully jazzy wonders.

All sounds stem from the GBA game "Mother 3". The 300+ instruments soundfont is available for download as well.

1tracker Updated

Today is a great day! Well, for me at least. And why is that? Because Shiru has just released a new version of my all-time favourite music editor. Low and behold, 1tracker 0.19 is here, just in time for the 1-Bit Forum Contest.

That in itself is a huge surprise, since Shiru declared he had abandoned the project two years. But what's even better, the new release finally contains the incredibly powerful Phaser2 ZX Spectrum beeper engine, which was so far not available in any editor at all. Another pleasant addition is the Stocker engine, which so far could only be used via a Vortex Tracker converter.

Well then, see ya later folks, I've got some 1trackering to do...

Update 15-07-30: 1tracker has been updated again and now contains a new, mindblowingly powerful engine called Phaser3.

download 1tracker 0.20 .exe
download source
discussion

[demo] Is That a Demo in Your Pocket? by Snorpung

Woohoo, a new Gameboy demo by Snorpung has appeared. And appearantly it didn't even run in any competition :o

download/discuss

[demo] RELIEGION by thesuper

Thesuper are back with a new ZX Spectrum demo - funky colours with a message, and 1st place in the 8bit demo compo at DiHalt.

download/discuss

Ziloghino Kickstarter

 
Yeah, everything is -uino nowadays, and this is no exception. Still, this one might appeal to some... The Ziloghino aims to be a modular microcontroller board with a 20 MHz Z80 CPU at it's heart. The basic kit consists the main CPU unit, a memory shield with Flash and SRAM, a Flash programmer shield, and an I/O shield. Pricing seems to be ever so slightly at the upper end of the spectrum, but fair enough for a small-scale project like this.

Read up on the details on the project's Kickstarter page and help out with funding if you like.

[album] VA - Turntnes (Hexawe Compo Pack)

Recently LPGT aka Little Piggy Tracker celebrated it's 10th anniversary, and of course Hexawe partied hard with a massive NES-flavoured competition. Now results have been announced, and the compo pack has been released. As usual, pack is a pleasantly varied mix ranging from dance to noise, and lives up to it's legendary predecessor dunknesfunk. I'm especially pleased to see many LPGT veterans return, such as XC3N, ovrthrustr, Peter Swimm, ovenrake, d_strct (ex e.s.c.), and even the mighty Flashbob! Though right now my favourite track from the compo is "hexamerica" by Pulselooper.

Read more about the compo and download the compo pack here.

Update: Now also available on bandcamp in a slightly remastered edition.

[demo] AAA Tears by kotsoft

Some awesome sizecoding on ZX Spectrum. The effect itself may not be that new, but I've rarely seen it pulled of so smoothly and well designed. First place in the combined 256b compo at DiHalt, by the way.

download/discuss

[album] Power Tricks by Vince Kaichan

New Gameboy stuff from one of my favourite chipdudes of the current age, Vince Kaichan. Or, as Cheapshot put it, "6 more reasons to quit chiptune". 'Nuff said, now hit the damn play button already!

1-Bit Forum Competition 2015

As I mentioned earlier, the 1-Bit Music Forum just recently re-opened after a complete database loss. To get things rolling again, we've now launched a big fat music competition with contests on various platforms, a category for tiny (1KB) tunes, as well as an opportunity to show off your coding skills.

The compo will run till September 1st and is open to everyone, although only registered members of the 1-Bit Forum may vote.

Read up on the full details and join the party here.

[demo] Travel by Resistance

Sorry for the silence folks... real life was getting a bit in the way recently, but I hope to make up for it in the coming days.

So, today we have a neat Sega Megadrive/Genesis demo by Amiga veterans Resistance. Actually not so veteran at all, as this is not only the groups' first Megadrive dempo, but supposedly it's also Nainains' first forray into coding.

Not that many effects to see here, but the graphics and music are slick, and on top of that, some fresh Sega stuff is always highly welcome of course. The demo came in 3rd at Solkogens' oldskool compo, by the way.

download/discuss

[demo] Pre-Release by Five Finger Punch

A demo for the Spectravideo 328? Bet you haven't seen that for at least a decade. First place in the oldskool compo at Edison. The demo runs on a homemade cartridge, schematics for that can be found here.

download/discuss

1-Bit Forum Is Back

With great pleasure I can announce that the 1-Bit Forum has been relaunched today. It's all still quite empty over there since we had to start again from scratch. But please don't let that deter you from coming abord and dicuss everything about 1-bit music, whether you're a n00b or an expert!

[album] bed/knife by jangler

Jangler of BattleoftheBits fame has released a 2-track EP full of intricate AdLib weirdness. Well worth checking out if you like odd beats, strange chords, and eerie atmospheres.

[demo] Fantasmolytic by Censor Design and Oxyron

Don't think I've seen quite that many skulls and android skeletons in a C64 demo before. And of course you can't go wrong with something that has both Censor Design's and Oxyron's seal of quality stamped onto it ;) First place in the oldskool compo at Nordlicht.

download/discuss

[album] One Myth by garvalf

Horray! garvalf has released his debut ZX Spectrum 1-bit album. With it's dark and hypnotic tunes, it's the perfect antidote for all the summer sunshine happiness. Also, finally someone is using my beeper engines :D

[demo] Derivative 2600 by Cluster and DMA

Rubber cube on the Atari VCS? Hell yeah! Ran in Nordlicht's oldskool compo, placings aren't in yet though so I can't tell you yet.

Update: 2nd place it is.

download/discuss

[demo] Deus faber by Baudsurfer

Nope, nothing to see here. It's just the winner of Outline's 128 byte compo, some more totally boring unimpressive 3D stuff by a certain Baudsurfer. Move along...

download/discuss

Tomorrow: Floppy Disk Festival in Rotterdam

For all of you who can make it to Rotterdam tomorrow (Friday 19th), I've got a very special recommendation for you: Floppy Totaal, the ultimate floppy disk festival! There's a whole day full of floppy related events to be experienced. Things will start with a floppy film workshop to be held at 12 (lunchtime). And in the evening there'll be a live music program with international lo-bit guests (including yours truly), as well as as all-night floppy DJ set. Everything takes place at the famous WORM in Boomgaardsstraat 71. Don't miss out on this one-of-a-kind event.

[demo] colorbepp 2 by utz

So I also made a sizecoding prod for Outline this year... of course it couldn't compete with all the other magnificent entries in the 128 byte compo, but nontheless I'm quite happy with it, considering it's my very first attempt at size coding. It's basically a 3-channel ZX Spectrum beeper music player with the remaining bytes used on some el cheapo gfx.

download/discuss

[demo] Gagrakacka Mind Zone by Disaster Area

Check out this brand-new, top-notch demo for classic Amiga. Took first place in the Oldskool compo at Flashback this year. Well, can't go wrong with a name like "Gagrakacka Mind Zone".

download/discuss

[album] Tufty - Back In the Day

Seems Tufty found an old treasure chest! It contains 21 Atari ST digi tunes, made in his teenage years between 1988-1992. Golden classics :)

[demo] Sun road by Baudsurfer

Second place in the 128 byte intro compo at Outline - Baudsurfer taking the cake again.

download/discuss

[demo] Hypnoteye by Desire

Yes, we're back from our Spring break. Time to work through the backlog of good stuff that stacked up in the meantime.

Again, a lot of great 128 byte prods were released at Outline this year, so let's get started with those. Here's the 3rd place, Hypnoteye by HellMood/DESiRE, for MS-DOS.

download/discuss

[daily dosis] Kjell Nordbø Tribute #7

It's the final day of the Kjell Nordbø tribute series here on Ancient Wonderworld. Signing off with a very simple, yet strong and expressive ballad, "Den indre kilde". Thanks for listening, and don't forget to check back in one week, when normal operations will resume on the blog.

[daily dosis] Kjell Nordbø Tribute #6

Today we're featuring one of Kjell's most crazy work, the 17 minute epos called "Delusion", again from the Larger Than Life musicdisk.

[daily dosis] Kjell Nordbø Tribute #5

No, it's not a track from Jellica or ???, but yet another tune to demonstrate the extreme versatility of Kjell Nordbø. This dubby minitiature is called "X-Factor".

[daily dosis] Kjell Nordbø Tribute #4

"The Little Big Man"

[daily dosis] Kjell Nordbø Tribute #3

And another one from Larger Than Life. As you might have already guessed, I'm quite fond of that release... Anyway, this is "Kjellfire".

[daily dosis] Kjell Nordbø Tribute #2

Another track from Larger Than Life, this is "Lifeblood".

[daily dosis] Kjell Nordbø Tribute #1

Ten years have passed since Kjell Nordbø aka Bluez Muz' passed away under tragic circumstances.

I only learned about his music many years after his death. Nontheless, I consider him to be one of the best, most original C64 music composers of all time. If you want to find out more about Kjell Nordbø, please go and read the obituary on chipflip.

On this occasion, Ancient Wonderworld will comemmorate his legacy with a special, week-long edition of Daily Dosis, featuring Kjell's music recorded from an R5 8580 SID.

All the recordings were provided by the 6581-8580 project.

Let's start with "Sunrise", a track from Kjell's final musicdisk, "Larger Than Life".

Spring Break

Just letting y'all know that up to the first week of June, things will be a bit slower here on Ancient Wonderworld, as I'll be travelling the vast realms of the European North. There will most likely be no regular updates during that time. Nevertheless, I've got a little special lined up, which will run from May 25th to 31st. Stay tuned!

[album] FM Radio Underground by Jredd and Groovemaster303

These guys never get tired, do they? Pleased to announce yet another hi-quality, ultra-groovy SEGA Genesis/Megadrive album by Jredd and Groovemaster303. Check it out!

World of Spectrum Forums Back

After a prolonged downtime, the World of Spectrum forums are up and running again. As far as I understand, the whole thing is currently still in test mode and the layout is not final yet. But nevertheless I'm more than happy that my favourite online community has returned!

Rekengeluiden van PASCAL - The Oldest Dutch Computer Music Recording

(c) Philips 1962

On my quest of documenting the beginnings of computer music history, I've come across another gem from the early days. Here's the story behind this amazing time capsule in audio form, whose significance has been largely overlooked so far.

We are writing the year 1960. After a somewhat sluggish start the computer revolution is getting into full swing in the Netherlands. At the Natuurkundig Laboratorium in Eindhoven, Philips just completed their second computer, the Philips Akelig Snelle Calculator (Philips Frighteningly Fast Calculator), or short PASCAL.

The head of the NatLab at the time, a certain W. Nijenhuis, had the idea of installing a small amplifier and loudspeaker on the PASCAL, which would pick up radio frequency interference generated by the machine. Unsurprisingly, the usual course of events unfolds: While actually intended for diagnostic purposes, people quickly discovered that they could abuse the speaker to make simple music. But Mr Nijenhuis, rather than scolding his staff for the waste of precious calculation time, actually decides to record those rekengeluiden (computing noises) on a 45 rpm vinyl.

Thus, "Rekengeluiden van PASCAL" was born. Side A of the record contains recordings of the computer during regular operation, including some of the mechanical noises the machine would make. Likewise, the first track on the B-side is a recording of a prime number calculation. Listening to these recordings may already give us an idea of how the whole radio frequency interference music business came about: These algorithms don't just produce random bleeps and bops, they actually sound quite beautiful themselves, and are remniscent of some modern day bytebeat compositions.

Track number two on the B-side is a nice rendition of a Mozart minuet. But Nijenhuis doesn't stop there. The last track on the B-side, "Stochastische melodie", takes things one step further - it's not just performed by the computer, but the machine also composed it.

The record was distributed as bonus material with Philips' in-house magazine, the "Technisch Tijdschrift" in Spring 1962. Chances of finding a copy nowadays are probably close to zilch, but fortunately a kind soul has uploaded an mp3 version. So, I hope you'll all enjoy this one-of-a-kind piece of computer history!

Sources: 
discogs entry for "Rekengeluiden van PASCAL"
Alberts, Gerard: Een halve eeuw computers in Nederland. In: de Nieuwe Wiskrant, issue 22-3. Univ. of Utrecht, March 2003. Online at http://www.fi.uu.nl/wiskrant/artikelen/223/223maart_alberts.pdf

10 Years Battle of the Bits

The most epic battle in the chipmusic world has been raging on for 10 consecutive years now. Happy Birthday, battleofthebits.org!

[album] Untitled Game Boy EP by Jellica

Very, very pleased to announce this new EP by another of my absolute favourite artists, Jellica. These are some of the most beautiful and unique chiptune works I've ever come across. And as Jellica hasn't released anything in quite a while, I'm extremely happy to see this.

[album] Sunday Groove by Vince Kaichan

New jazzy grooves from Vince Kaichan (ex VCMG). Horray, super smooth!

CSIRAC Was Not The First: Rewriting Computer Music History Once Again

For many years it was believed that the first experiments in computer music were done by Max Mathews at Bell Labs in 1957. In the early 2000s however, a research team concerned with the history of the CSIRAC mainframe at the University of Sidney, Australia found documents confirming a musical performance by that machine on August 7th-9th, 1951. Also, in 2008 the BBC unveiled a hidden gem from their archives: A computer music recording from autumn of 1951, done by Christopher Strachey on the Ferranti Mark I at the University of Manchester just a few weeks after the Sidney performance.

In fact, Geoff Hill's 1951 experiments have held the status of the first computer music in history ever since. However, according to my most recent research, it's time to change the record once again.

The UNIVAC I control panel, designed in part by Betty Holberton

In May 1990, the Charles Babbage Institute, the Smithsonian Institution, and
the Unisys Corporation brought together many of the pioneers and masterminds behind the UNIVAC I computer for a commemoratory Univac Conference. During the main panel, the attention suddenly turns to the little lpudspeaker that was installed on the machine for diagnostic purposes. Louis D. Wilson recalls:

When we were testing BINAC out, we were working two shifts and we worked all night long, and we had a radio going. After a while we noticed that you could recognize the pattern of what was happening at the moment by listening to the static on the radio. So I installed a detector in the console and an amplifier and a speaker so that you could deliberately listen to these things.

At this point, Frances E. "Betty" Holberton starts to wonder:

Does anybody know who actually wrote the first generator for the UNIVAC or for any computer that played music? [...] Herb Finney?

Morgan W. Huff responds:

Herb Finney, Air Force. Office of the Air Comptroller.

Hmm, interesting, but that doesn't really help us, since nobody puts a date on it. What does help us however is the conversation between Wilson and Holberton that now follows:

WILSON: Well, if you remember it, the dedication party, when we got the first machine running, John Mauchly programmed...

HOLBERTON: No, I programmed that.

WILSON: Oh, did you do that?

HOLBERTON: I certainly did. It was supposed to have been a surprise, and we did it at 2 o'clock in the morning. There were some engineers working on the BINAC and they heard it. It was actually an interpretive routine. It only had eight notes and it played "For he's a jolly good fellow," or something like that. But it was supposed to have been a surprise and it wasn't.

That "dedication party" Wilson mentions can indeed be dated. It's the dedication event of the completion of the first successful UNIVAC I installation for the US Census Bureau, which took place on June 14th, 1951.

Frances E. "Betty" Holberton

In fact computer music history might go back as far as the early days of the BINAC computer, but unfortunately we may never know. Betty Holberton is not around to tell her story anymore, she passed away in 2001; and I have yet to find more information about Louis Wilson or the mysterious Herb Finney. So, for the time being, the date of June 14th, 1951, may stand as the first ever public demonstration of computer music.

All quotes in this article are taken from the transcript of the 1990 Univac Conference at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, pages 72-73. The transcript as well as the original audio recordings can be found here.

[album] PSG Series 3 by Tomy

Pulling all his tricks, Sega wizard Tomy has released a fresh batch of Master System (SN76489) tunes. Again, over 90 minutes of high quality, vgm-inspired material. Grab the free download before the bandcamp counter runs out!

[album] Teh Art of Party Trolling by Jankenpopp

Lowtoy Netlabel has released a new crazy album by Jankenpopp, one of the masterminds behind Windows93. Made on, err, le Game Boy.

Here's what you're getting yourself into if you're gonna click on download:

And now, download and party hard!

[music] Collection of Japanese MODs from 1999-2001

Fellow chiptuner maak has posted a collection of Japanese MODs, ITs and XMs from the years 1999-2001. Rescued from an old CD, it contains 300 MB worth of rare and obscure works, many of which might be previously unknown to the western world.

download

[demo] Stellar by Kpacku

Kpacku has released a new beautiful mini-demo for the ZX Spectrum 128K. The lovely music was made by one of my all-time favourite AY musicians, nq.
The prod took second place in the 8bit compo at Multimatograf this weekend.

download and discuss

[music] Hi Fi Sky by LMan

Talking about SID music, here's something that's definately not from this planet:

Yes, that really is just one single SID, using the 2 SIDvoice/ 3 digivoice player by The Human Code Machine and some ingenious sound design by LMan/MultiStyle Labs.

download/discuss

[demo] GoatLight by Fairlight & Offence & Noice

Here's a neat new C64 prod by the Fairlight/Offence/Noice allstars gang. A bit scroller-heavy, but has some great effects as well. And the music is rad.
Also, 3rd place in the oldskool compo at this year's Revision demoparty.

download/discuss

[album] Songs From Migrational Waves by 2G1B

A new, all around amazing new Gameboy release has appeared. Two Games One Boy aka 2G1B aka Julian Carrara brings us this unique mix of latino-flavoured dub. Highly recommended. And if you like it, don't forget to buy the CD!

[demo] Reborn by Appendix

I believe I haven't posted this little gem of an Amiga demo yet... first place in the 64k Amiga intro compo at Revision 2015, here is Reborn by Appendix.

Yeah, I've said it before, I normally don't post Amiga AGA prods here, but well... see for yourself.

download/discuss

[soft] Knaecketraecker 0.2b for Commodore 264

Horray! A new tool for making TED music (Commdore 16/116/Plus 4) has appeared, thanks to degauss of Bauknecht fame. Knaecketraecker is the first cross-dev tracker for the C= 264 series.

download (Windows .exe)

[demo] ABCDemo by Genesis Project

I hear you like obscure platforms? Well, here's something for you, then. A Genesis Project prod for the 1978 Swedish home computer ABC 80, and winner of the wild compo at Gubbdata this year. Enjoy!

download and discuss

GB-303 - New Sequencer Cart for Gameboy

Hype hype hype! A new sequencer cartridge for the Gameboy Classic has appeared. As the name suggest emulates the sound of the famous TB-303 synthesizer. It can run as a slave to LSDJ or standard MIDI, as well as a master for Nanoloop.

Orders for the first batch of 20 open tonight, so you better be quick if you want one.

More info on the project can be found here.

[album] Corrosão Seletiva by Pulselooper

Gotta take a break from all these mindblowing demos. Instead, I'm gonna promote this excellent new Gameboy release, by no other than the mighty Pulselooper. He's back, and he's pissed! From the release notes:

Over the past decade, a new Middle Class has emerged in Brazil. Very partly due to government aid that since 2002 had as its main point the extinction of extreme poverty, leveraging classes C to B and B to A. This new Middle Class, abnormally, took for itself a point of view of hatred and rancor to the same popular programs that, in a way, helped create their new status. And they recently went to the streets, asking for demands like the obligatory prison of young people under 18 years, dreading an absurd so-called "communist government in Brazil" and also supporting the back of the military dictatorship from the 60s and 70s. This album is a tribute to them.

A direct download can also be found here.

[demo] It Came from Planet Zilog by phantasy

I'm amazed and very pleased by the wide range of platform choices this year at Revision. Now for the 2nd place in the oldskool compo, here's a Gameboy Color release. Stunning code by Dalton, slick gfx by exocet, and lovely music by a certain zabutom.

download and discuss

[demo] 8088 MPH by Hornet/CRTC/DESiRE

And now for the possibly most awesome production from Revision this year - a new prod for the original IBM PC (with CGA graphics) by Hornet and friends. Perfectly well deserved first place in the oldskool compo.

Update: Trixter has posted some in-depth background information about the demo on his blog.

download and discuss

[demo] Lambo by Genesis Project

Whoa, I haven't even posted all the great stuff from Forever, and already the next round of awesome prods starts to roll in, this time from Revision. Placements aren't even in yet, but I just couldn't resist already posting this stylish SEGA Master System demo by Genesis Project. Unhunhunhun, Genesis Project on Master System.

Update: What, only 7th place in the oldskool compo?

download and discuss

40 Years Microsoft

Today we salute an unlikely birthday candidate ;) Yes, it's been 40 years since a certain Bill Gates and a certain Paul Allen founded some obscure, long forgotten company named Micro-Soft. I'm sure nobody remembers them nowadays, but once upon a time they were well known for fabulous products like the Xenix operating system, and the Z-80 SoftCard addon for the Apple ][.

[demo] Requiem by Vision

Today we present: A morbid piece of art and beauty, made by Mermaid. First place in the C64 compo at Gubbdata. It's in part dedicated to the memory of Kjell Nordbø, who passed away 10 years ago.

download and discuss

50 Years DEC PDP-8

Slightly belated as usual... Happy Birthday PDP-8! The world's first commercially successful minicomputer was presented to the public for the first time on March 22nd, 1965. What a bargain at only 18,000$!

The Mahler Project by Wavesitter

Some new crazy stuff from Gasman: An orchestra of ZX Spectrums BEEPing a symphony by Gustav Mahler. Wow, simply wow. Not only did it impress a pretty big crowd at the Museum of History and Science in Oxford last year, but the report also won the Wild compo at Forever 16.

[demo] New View 48K by Conscience

And one more from Forever 16. Second place in the ZX Spectrum compo, this is New View 48K. Made by a new all-star team featuring Alone_Coder, nq, trixs, TK90Xfan, and more.

download and discuss

[album] ＿​|​￣​|​○ by goto80

New beautiful ambiglitchy music tape by Goto80. Yessssss! Cassette edition is limited to 100, so better grab it quickly before it's gone.

[demo] Back to the Gemba by Gemba Boys

Still waiting for video caps of some of the other awesome 1K intros released at Forever. Well, in the meantime, I'm afraid this humble kickass Speccy prod by Gemba Boys will have to do...

First place in the ZX compo at Forever 2015.

download/discuss at the usual place

[demo] 16 Shapes of Grey by MaPa & PG

Ok, here's one for the Atari 8-bit folx. Those "50 Shades" jokes are getting a bit old, but this prod by MaPa and PG is quite fresh! Graphics and a Pokey soundtrack in 1 kilobyte, you don't see that every day. And so it rightfully won the 1K intro compo at Forever.

download and discuss

[demo] 80 Rectangles by Busy

Wow, a load of awesome prods were released at Forever this year. Let's start with the winner of the 1K ZX Spectrum competition, made by Busy.

download and discuss

[musicdisk] The Chiperia Project Issue #1

Actual Amiga chiptunes are becoming somewhat scarce today. So I'm very happy to announce this lovely new music collection for Amiga OCS/ECS. Featuring some cute works by Wiklund, vedder, TRiACE, Dascon, notorious, and more.

download and discuss

[demo] above by sensenstahl

Sensenstahl has released a new 256 byte MS-DOS sizetro. Beautifully designed and quite unusual for a sizecoding prod.

download and discuss

[demo] Fantavision - 1985 Demo for Apple //e

A spectacular 30 year old demo for the Apple //e computer has been unearthed. Even though it consists mostly of animations, the hi-res visuals are mindblowing for the time (and not just that, considering the state of the Apple //e demoscene). It might well be on of the very first times such effects like unlimited bobs, rotating cubes and plotspheres were presented.

Download and discuss