Intellivision Chip Tunes Needed!

[+nurmix]

I'm looking for more Intellivision chip tunes to use in The Intellivisionaries Podcast.

 

I want music that was created on the console (or at least can be played on the console).

 

MP3 or WAV format is fine, although a ROM/BIN file I can load into my Cuttle Cart and record from my modded Inty would be great too.

 

Songs that utilize the extra 3 voices of the ECS are a big plus.

 

If I use your music on the show, you will be credited in the show notes, as well as on the show itself.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Arnauld]

You can find some rather sophisticated 3-voice chip tunes here:

 

http://knox.ac.free.fr/intv/ym-player/

 

However, there were NOT created on the console. These are Atari ST tunes that were unpacked, converted and re-packed to an Intellivision comprehensible format. The original author is credited in each ROM. I just wrote the conversion program and the Intellivision player.

 

Arnauld

[BBWW]

What about songs using the ECS Musical Keyboard. :-)

[Foom]

Have you contacted the band Astrosmash? They have some EXCELLENT chip tunes. Some are mixed in with other instruments, but they still definitely have an Intellivision feel. http://astrosmash.rocks.it/

- Doug

[tacrec]

Thanks, Doug! Glad someone still appreciates what I'm doing.

 

I can remove the effects in my songs, making them "chiptune style" if desired.

 

New music coming in June btw

[+nurmix]

Thanks, guys! I will check these out.

 

For those who listen to the podcast, you'll know that I am an electronic musician, and pretty much all the original music in the show is mine (intro and outro themes, segment bumpers, etc). But I work with MIDI, sequencers, samplers and synths. I've never tried my hand at a 'chip tune' tracker. But a while back William from Elektronite hooked me up with one. I just haven't had a chance to dig in and try it out yet.

[+nurmix]

You can find some rather sophisticated 3-voice chip tunes here:

 

http://knox.ac.free.fr/intv/ym-player/

 

However, there were NOT created on the console. These are Atari ST tunes that were unpacked, converted and re-packed to an Intellivision comprehensible format. The original author is credited in each ROM. I just wrote the conversion program and the Intellivision player.

 

Arnauld

Thanks, Arnauld. Since I was a big ST fan / user back in the '90s, I know I'll love these. ST and Falcon demos back in the day had fantastic tunes!

[+nurmix]

What about songs using the ECS Musical Keyboard. :-)

That's something I've wanted to do for a long time. But to make it work well (as I've mentioned here in the past, and DZ and I have talked about it), if I had some sort of Intellivision "synthesizer" program, that would run on the Inty itself, and allow tweaking of the sounds to create more interesting timbres and tones, that would be fantastic.

 

Of course adding a MIDI interface to the Inty / ECS would be even more amazing, but I'm not a programmer, not am I a hardware guy, so I'm not the one who is going to make this happen.

 

I'm hoping one day DZ will be convinced to at least make the synth software part of it...

[+nurmix]

Thanks, Doug! Glad someone still appreciates what I'm doing.

 

I can remove the effects in my songs, making them "chiptune style" if desired.

 

New music coming in June btw

I can use them either way, but I'd be curious to hear a more 'pure chip tune' version if it's not too much trouble.

 

Honestly, I wasn't overly familiar with your band / music, but I just did a quick preview of some of your tracks on SoundCloud, and they are really impressive!

 

If you don't mind me using some I them in the podcast, that would be great. I will of course give you credit.

[tacrec]

I can use them either way, but I'd be curious to hear a more 'pure chip tune' version if it's not too much trouble.

 

Honestly, I wasn't overly familiar with your band / music, but I just did a quick preview of some of your tracks on SoundCloud, and they are really impressive!

 

If you don't mind me using some I them in the podcast, that would be great. I will of course give you credit.

Sure. Send me a PM of which ones you want.

Edited June 1, 2014 by tacrec

[+doctorclu]

Should see about getting a skilled pianist to play a tune on the keyboard and record that.

 

Other than that, I think this would be a great place to list resources for creating music for the Intellivision music player programs.

[+nurmix]

Should see about getting a skilled pianist to play a tune on the keyboard and record that.

 

Other than that, I think this would be a great place to list resources for creating music for the Intellivision music player programs.

I'm a decent piano player (more of a song writer than a stellar musician), but it's more I want a way to tweak the ECS sounds beyond simple square waves - within the Intellivision/ECS itself.

 

For that I need some sort of ECS synthesizer / sound creation software, where I could, say.. layer a couple voices together, each with a different tone. Honestly, I don't even know if this is possible.

 

Sure, an alternative is to run the ECS' audio through outboard signal processors, but that's not quite the same thing.

[BBWW]

I'm a decent piano player (more of a song writer than a stellar musician), but it's more I want a way to tweak the ECS sounds beyond simple square waves - within the Intellivision/ECS itself.

 

For that I need some sort of ECS synthesizer / sound creation software, where I could, say.. layer a couple voices together, each with a different tone. Honestly, I don't even know if this is possible.

 

Sure, an alternative is to run the ECS' audio through outboard signal processors, but that's not quite the same thing.

Yeah, am a songwriter mostly. Did some music in Basic many years back on a TI-99-4a and then a PCjr. It's been a long time. If my job wasn't my hobby too I'd have more time.

[DZ-Jay]

I'm hoping one day DZ will be convinced to at least make the synth software part of it...

That's one of my goals. I don't need convincing, just a longer solar-cycle.

[DZ-Jay]

I'm a decent piano player (more of a song writer than a stellar musician), but it's more I want a way to tweak the ECS sounds beyond simple square waves - within the Intellivision/ECS itself.

 

For that I need some sort of ECS synthesizer / sound creation software, where I could, say.. layer a couple voices together, each with a different tone. Honestly, I don't even know if this is possible.

 

Sure, an alternative is to run the ECS' audio through outboard signal processors, but that's not quite the same thing.

It is possible, it's just that, other than a noise and envelope generator, the Intellivision does not provide any filtering or wave shaping facilities. Also, all tones are square waves, and you can only adjust their frequency.

 

My plan is to also define layered LFOs on software, to provide some fancy frequency and amplitude modulations.

 

With the ECS you get three more voices, so we could try to do additive (or subtractive) synthesis, to some degree, and still be able to layer a couple of individual melodies.

 

And of course, like we discussed, use the disc of the hand-controller as a "pot" knob to calibrate the effects. I'm thinking of an old-school, modular interface like an old ARP or Moog synth, where you "patch" the signal from module to module, each one modulating the sound in some way.

 

dZ.

[+nurmix]

It is possible, it's just that, other than a noise and envelope generator, the Intellivision does not provide any filtering or wave shaping facilities. Also, all tones are square waves, and you can only adjust their frequency.

 

My plan is to also define layered LFOs on software, to provide some fancy frequency and amplitude modulations.

 

With the ECS you get three more voices, so we could try to do additive (or subtractive) synthesis, to some degree, and still be able to layer a couple of individual melodies.

 

And of course, like we discussed, use the disc of the hand-controller as a "pot" knob to calibrate the effects. I'm thinking of an old-school, modular interface like an old ARP or Moog synth, where you "patch" the signal from module to module, each one modulating the sound in some way.

 

dZ.

 

This all sounds fantastic. If enough sound modulation can't be achieved with the software approach, we could think about doing some circuit bending modifications on an ECS, adding some physical knobs, etc.

 

After that, if I could have more than one Inty/ECS set up (and in my dream scenario, all controlled by the same music keyboard), then we could really have a "modular" synth, with decent polyphony. Then all we'd need is a MIDI interface! Wasn't something like that used 'back in the day' to record the music for the Billiards game music? Or was that on a MIDI keyboard, and then the note data was converted to Inty assembly code?

[tacrec]

It was a midi keyboard I think.