Tempest Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 Thanks to the generous efforts of John Hardie the rom for Monkey Music has finally been released. While this early version of Grover's Music Maker was known to exist for a long time, the rom was never made public. In reviewing the game I've discovered that it is very similar to the earlier version of GMM but with completely different tunes and dance moves. This version also features an 'unlimited freestyle mode' where the player can enter as many notes/moves as they want, but they cannot be played back. The current known prototypes lack this mode and the number of notes/moves is limited to 50. http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/grover/monkeymusic.htm I've also overhauled the main Grover's Music Maker page with more info: http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/grover/grover.htm Programmer Stephan Keith also informed me that he was responsible for the earlier version of Xevious for the 2600 that was ultimately cancelled. Tod Frye then picked up the project which is the version most of us know today. http://www.atariprotos.com/2600/software/xevious/earlywip.htm Both Grover's Music Maker and Monkey Music feature tunes that still haven't been identified (letters R & S in GMM and variation 15 in MM). I've learned that all the songs were public domain, so that may narrow the possibilities down a bit. Maybe we can finally figure out what these were supposed to be? Monkey Music (8-18-82).bin 13 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 That's cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7800Knight Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 Good find! I love your Atari Protos page. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ever2600 Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 John's awesome! That pretty cool news! Getting harder and harder to find the Unreleased ones any more and now that there's not many left. Thank you as well Tempest as you always do an incredible job keeping up with the late breaking stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 Excellent. Many thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 21, 2022 Author Share Posted July 21, 2022 9 hours ago, 4ever2600 said: Getting harder and harder to find the Unreleased ones any more and now that there's not many left. You'd be surprised what's mostly likely still out there in some form or another. All it takes is talking to the right person and a little luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrshoujo Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 My main annoying gripe with Atariprotos is the lack of download links to ROMs. Show and talk about them, nice, but no download? Arrrggh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 21, 2022 Author Share Posted July 21, 2022 8 minutes ago, Mrshoujo said: My main annoying gripe with Atariprotos is the lack of download links to ROMs. Show and talk about them, nice, but no download? Arrrggh. Sorry I have to do that for legal reasons. I dont want to run afoul of the copyright holders, especially since I've done work with the current Atari. All the prototypes I have have been released here on AA though. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asaki Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 18 hours ago, Tempest said: Both Grover's Music Maker and Monkey Music feature tunes that still haven't been identified (letters R & S in GMM and variation 15 in MM). I've learned that all the songs were public domain, so that may narrow the possibilities down a bit. Maybe we can finally figure out what these were supposed to be? Song 15 is "To market, to market, to buy a fat pig. Home again, home again, jiggety jig." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_market,_to_market Song 16 sounds more like the Alphabet Song to me Song 17 is "Baa Baa Black Sheep" Song 5 could alternately be "The Farmer and the Dell", same tune. That off note in Alouette really hurts me =( Not sure about those two Grover tunes. I think I like the Monkey version a lot better, the Grover animations aren't as good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 21, 2022 Author Share Posted July 21, 2022 42 minutes ago, Asaki said: Song 16 sounds more like the Alphabet Song to me Song 17 is "Baa Baa Black Sheep" Song 5 could alternately be "The Farmer and the Dell", same tune. Right you are, I'll change those. I was wondering why Twinkle Twinkle Little Star had all those weird eighth notes in it, but it makes more sense for the Alphabet Song. 42 minutes ago, Asaki said: Song 15 is "To market, to market, to buy a fat pig. Home again, home again, jiggety jig." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_market,_to_market Yeah I guess so. The beginning sounds a little off but I think you're right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 21, 2022 Author Share Posted July 21, 2022 46 minutes ago, Asaki said: I think I like the Monkey version a lot better, the Grover animations aren't as good. Yeah the Monkey Music dance moves are more complex. I think they had to be simplified because they would look weird when being done by Grover (especially that first one where his head rolls around on his shoulders). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeafAtariFromKansas Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 Another finest prototype out of black hole out there. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BONEMAN Posted July 22, 2022 Share Posted July 22, 2022 One please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 22, 2022 Author Share Posted July 22, 2022 10 hours ago, DeafAtariFromKansas said: Another finest prototype out of black hole out there. ? That was thanks to John Hardie. He found the rom and said I could distribute it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 Matt, I still have Preston Stuart credited for the graphics of Monkey Music and Grover's Music Maker. But this isn't correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 24, 2022 Author Share Posted July 24, 2022 1 hour ago, Rom Hunter said: Matt, I still have Preston Stuart credited for the graphics of Monkey Music and Grover's Music Maker. But this isn't correct? It's not. I spoke with Stephan Keith himself. He did most of the graphics himself except for the Grover graphics which were done by Laura Scholl. His wife Catherine did all the music but as she was not an Atari employee she went uncredited until now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted July 24, 2022 Share Posted July 24, 2022 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 On 7/24/2022 at 3:16 PM, Tempest said: It's not. I spoke with Stephan Keith himself. He did most of the graphics himself except for the Grover graphics which were done by Laura Scholl. His wife Catherine did all the music but as she was not an Atari employee she went uncredited until now. So what CCW Grover was Stuart working on then here (on page 40-43, page 93 and page 96): http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/magazines/electronic_fun/electronic_fun_mar83.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted July 26, 2022 Author Share Posted July 26, 2022 5 hours ago, Rom Hunter said: So what CCW Grover was Stuart working on then here (on page 40-43, page 93 and page 96): http://www.ataricompendium.com/archives/magazines/electronic_fun/electronic_fun_mar83.pdf No idea. It wasn't Grover's Music Maker though. Stephan said they added Grover late in the design of MM in order to make it more marketable and that Laura Scholl was the person who did those Grover graphics. Maybe Preston was just doing graphics of all the Sesame Street characters to see what games they could be used in? Has anyone ever interview him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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