Archives of Genesis8 Amstrad Page from 1999 to 2012 about music

Captain Space Debris, Amiga and Amstrad CPC music mixed

Captain Space Debris is an Amiga original music written by Markus Kaarlonen, which was adapted on Amstrad CPC by BSC for the demo Digital Orgasm by Prodatron. So Vincent GR mixed both of them but even if there is a Youtube video of the mix, he prefers that you listen to the soundcloud version due to audio and video compression.

Source : Youtube

Twitch about the Sapiens game in 30 minutes by Le Daron with Didier Guillion and Gilles Soulet

In 30 minutes on Twitch with Le Daron about the Sapiens game with one of its progammer : Didier Guillion and the author of the music : Gilles Soulet. Dont miss it !

Source : Twitch

Second alpha of the soundtrakker for PC Arkos Tracker by Targhan (Arkos)

Targhan has released the second alpha of Arkos Tracker for linux, windows and mac.

Source : CPCWiki's forum

NQ!-Music disc for Amstrad CPC by Shining and HAL6128 (musics by n1k-o)

After releasing Pentomino last year, Shining got many feedback of people who liked the music. And as a big ay-chiptune fan and also a big fan of n1k-o, who is the composer of the Pentomino-music, he decided to do a music-disc, featuring only songs from him : : NQ!-Music disc

After getting the permission from n1k-o, the music-disc finally plays 26 songs, choosen by him. Because of the very crooked different frequency of the ay in the sinclair (where all the tunes come from), they sound not always the same on our Amstrad and many of them, he had to fine-tune. Some, which he wanted to use, were nearly impossible to convert, so the choosen-ones are not the 26 best, in his opinion, but the 26 best he could get up and running on CPC.

Since he joined forces with HAL6128 again, the great gfx was completely made by him. As only playing the songs is a little bit boring, and he wanted to play around a little bit with the crtc and the plus, he implemented the CRTC-register 3 equalizer (he thinks this will not work on TFT but on original monitors. Also the picture in Winape shakes a little bit, in JavaCPC it's ok.).

The pictures use 32k-Overscan and because he wanted to be compatible with 64kB, he had to reload some stuff, to arrange everything in the memory. But when you use the cartridge version or something like the M4, this doesn't matter at all.

As mentioned above, he wanted to play around with plus-sprites, so the demo detects if it is running on a plus and then enables (randomised) one of 4 different note-movements. 3 of them use 14 multiplexed plus sprites at the same time, so that you can see 28 notes on screen.

Source : CPCWiki

22th version of CHIPNSFX by CNGSoft, a multi-platform tracker and player for Z80 systems

The last version of CHIPNSFX tracker+player suite by CNGSoft is out since the 13th January 2018.

Source : CNGSoft

WIP of Athanor 2 by Eric Safar, a music tune by Hervé Monchatre

After the revelation of the game box of Athanor 2, here is a music tune by Hervé Monchatre.

Between McKlain and him, we can talk about ubiquity in the Amstrad CPC productions.

Source : Twitter

The Megatune(.XM) conversion for Amstrad CPC by SuTeKH/Epyteor

The_Megatune.xm has been converted by Sutekh/Epyteor on Amstrad CPC.

There are also 3 other musics he posted 5 hours ago on his Youtube channel.

Source : Youtube

AY (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST) Computer Sound Chip Emulator v2.9 beta 24

The ZX Spectrum Computer Sound Chip Emulator v2.9 beta 24 is available, it permits to listen to many music format files, including .YM, .AY and .AYM music files, for windows and linux.

Source : CPC Rulez's forum

New version (1208) of CHIPNSFX by CNGSoft, a multi-platform tracker and player for Z80 systems

The last version of CHIPNSFX tracker+player suite by CNGSoft is out since the 8th December 2017 : minor patch allowing longer title and description strings and accepting keys O, S and J as synonyms of Y on "yes/no" questions.

Source : CNGSoft

First alpha of the soundtrakker for PC Arkos Tracker by Targhan (Arkos)

Targhan has done many things, two are an Amstrad CPC soundtrakker (STarKos) and a PC soundtrakker (Arkos Tracker).

After the teaser of a new version (v2) of Arkos Tracker, now there is the alpha of Arkos Tracker for linux, windows and mac.

Source : CPCWiki's forum

AYMaker v1.2, set of tools to create and edit .AY audio files

AYMaker v1.2 is a set of console tools by Abrimaal to create and edit audio .AY files. The author is looking for someone to make a GUI.

Source : Facebook

Synchronized music of 1943 (Amstrad CPC and Amiga) by John Gage

A new video by John Gage : synchronized music of the arcade game 1943 (Capcom) converted on Amstrad CPC by Probe Software (AY in stereo) and Amiga.

The original music is written on both computers by Jason C. Brooke with the same octave and tempo.

Source : John Gage's Youtube canal

Synchronized music of Robocop (Amstrad CPC and C64) by John Gage

A new video by John Gage : synchronized music of Robocop (Ocean Software in 1989) on Amstrad CPC (AY in stereo) and C64 (SID in mono).

The original music is written on both computers by Jonathan Dunn with the same octave and tempo.

Source : John Gage's Youtube canal

Ninth release of CHIPNSFX by CNGSoft, a multi-platform tracker and player for Z80 systems

Ninth release of CHIPNSFX tracker+player suite by CNGSoft :

• 20170731: ninth public release. New special case for arpeggios: the nibble F stands for -12 and changes the loop behavior. Sound playback is now wavelength-based rather than frequency-based, and thus closer to the hardware. Minor bugfixes in the keyboard map handling. Added CHUBBYGR.CHP, CHUBBYGS.CHP, MEGAPHNX.CHP and MEGAPHNY.CHP.
• 20170724: eighth public release. Fixed a serious bug in the noise generator: playback and WAVE output randomly skipped pure noise notes. New ATEAM.CHP, BURNINR1.CHP, BURNINR4.CHP, SOLOMON2.CHP, UNDERWTR.CHP, WESTBNK1.CHP, WESTBNK2.CHP and WINGSOD4.CHP: 32 sample songs
• 20170719: seventh public public release. New extended tremolos (60-9F) lead to important changes in the amplitude effect byte: old 60-6F become 5F, old 80 becomes 9E, old 81-8F become 61-6F, old 90-9F become A0; 70-7F stay as they were. Minor optimisations in the player. New command line options -b1, -b2 and -b3. New CATABALL.CHP, FREDDY_H.CHP, HYDROFOL.CHP and SCOR3020.CHP
• 20170708: revised sixth public release, with just one change: pressing backspace in order list panel updates pattern panel
• 20170707: sixth public release. New command line options -y and -Y (generate YM3 file, either full song or song loop), commands Control-W (apply transposition to current pattern), Control-D (detect duplicates and optionally erase them), Control-E (check for duplicates and optionally create them). Minor changes in CHIPNSFX.I80 extended mode vibratos, in the file dialog and the INCLUDE file compression. New DEFLEKTR.CHP, GRANGEHL.CHP, PHANTIS1.CHP, PHANTIS2.CHP, SCOR3020.CHP, THINGBBK.CHP and TIMETRAX.CHP
• 20170616: fifth public release. Fixed a file dialog bug reported by Garvalf (who also wrote CHIPNSFX's first new song from scratch), as well as minor internal consistency bugs. Pattern panel allows using Control-D. New ATOMINO3.CHP and DESPERA2.CHP

Source : CPCRulez's forum

The last V8, longplay, C64 remix on Amstrad CPC and C64 live remix

The Last V8 was released by Mastertronic in 1985 on Amstrad CPC (also on C64, Atari 8-bit), with programmation by David DARLING, design by Richard Darling, graphics by Jim Wilson and music by Rob Hubbard. Escape a nuclear bomb by running your car as fast as you can to a bunker which will protect you. It's a very hard racing game, with some dead end while you have limited time... Personnally I found it too hard and avoided it after a few games. The C128 version countains 3 levels instead of two.

A video of longplay has been done by Amstrad Maniaque on Youtube, there is also a (C64 remix for the Amstrad CPC released by Epyteor. And finally a C64 music live remix by [LukHash].

Source : Youtube

Roland Radio, an Amstrad CPC radio internet, soon with more tunes

Roland Radio is an internet radio, and its program should interest you : only Amstrad CPC music.

There will be more Amstrad CPC tunes soon on Roland Radio, so listen up !

Source : CPCWiki's forum

Fourth release of CHIPNSFX by CNGSoft, a multi-platform tracker and player for Z80 systems

Fourth release of CHIPNSFX tracker+player suite by CNGSoft : new command Control-D tells whether the current instrument is unused or the current pattern is a duplicate (Shift: erase unused instrument, turn current pattern into a link to the pattern it is a duplicate of). Minor bugfixes: inconsistencies in -P mode and in channel toggling, better compression when generating INCLUDE files, etc. Minor changes in several songs. New DESPERA1.CHP.

Source : CPCRulez's forum

Third release of CHIPNSFX by CNGSoft, a multi-platform tracker and player for Z80 systems

Third release of CHIPNSFX tracker+player suite by CNGSoft : new command line options -P (cursor follows playback), -k1, -k2 and -k STR (set QWERTZ, AZERTY or custom keyboard map), following a suggestion from Beb..

Source : CPCRulez's forum

Ingame music for El Linaje Real (ESP Soft) by McKlain on Soundcloud

You can listen to the ingame music by McKlain of El Linaje Real by ESP Soft on Soundcloud.

Source : CPCRulez's forum

New release of CHIPNSFX by CNGSoft, a multi-platform tracker and player for Z80 systems

Second release of CHIPNSFX tracker+player suite by CNGSoft : new command line options -F (48000 Hz) and -L (linear amplitude). A blue bar makes the active items stand out. Minor changes in the documentation file.

Source : CPCRulez's forum

Amstrad Sang pour Sang by Zisquier, the Amstrad CPC music with some metal added in it

Thanks to the Facebook Amstrad.eu CPC 464 / 664 / 6128 group, I stumbled on the r Zisquier youtubber who dont hesitate to remix Amstrad CPC music in metal mode. Will you recognize Barbarian, Nebulus and Antiriad ?

Dont hesitate to look for his other gameplay videos of Amstrad CPC games.

Source : Amstrad.eu CPC 464 / 664 / 6128

Nemesis the Warlock, remixes of the original music by Rob Hubbard, and video gameplay

Another game with Rob Hubbard music : Nemesis the Warlock with a gameplay video by Amstrad Maniaque.

They are 2 nice remixes of this music :

• Nemesis the Warlock (Amstrad CPC) : Music remixed by Marcel Donne
• Nemesis the Warlock - Amstrad CPC by CPC moments

Source : Youtube

CHIPNSFX tracker+player suite by CNGSoft, a multi-platform tracker and player for Z80 systems

CHIPNSFX tracker+player suite is a musical software suite focused on lightweight code and data (the player itself is under 950 bytes long, and can be as small as 550 bytes) for the Amstrad CPC, Sinclair Spectrum 128 and MSX1 platforms; other hardwares can be supported with minor modifications in the player code, such as Sega Master System. The tracker can create songs up to 256 patterns long, patterns can be up to 96 ticks long, and there can be as many as 255 different instruments. The player itself is hardware-independent, the programmer can provide the external functions required to make it work on any Z80-based platform. CHIPNSFX was succesfully used in past projects such as :

• CNGTRO #1
• Justin
• Bubble Bobble for CPC
• Frogalot
• Hire Hare

Source : Tweeter

Some sweet music tonight ? Three remix of Thanatos for the price of one (piano and guitar) !

Thanatos remixed by DJ ThumpHeadAche is a superb adaptation of the Thanatos music, you should really listen to it.

Already mentionned in 2011, a beautiful play of Thanatos on piano by Alpiso is quite a hit too (Alpiso Youtube's channel has more Amstrad CPC tunes).

Warming some old 2011 news is still useful, the next link wasnt good in 2011 (corrected now), so what about listening to a Thanatos guitar arrangement played by Pacopersia this time ?

For the longplay video by cholo go to :

• part 1 of Thanatos
• part 2 of Thanatos
• part 3 of Thanatos

The music of Cauldron as an orchestral version, a remix, and a remake of the game

After the orchestral version of Barbarian, here is an orchestral version of Cauldron.

Will you get some more remix of its music : Cauldron (Amstrad CPC) : Music remixed by DJ Mitch (Hexenkuche Walpurgisnacht HardTance Mix) ?

Dont forget the remake of Cauldron for windows by Devilmarkus. But the download link doesnt work anymore.

Remix of the Target Renegade music by SuTeKH (Epyteor) from the C64 game

SuTeKH (Epyteor) wrote a remix of the Target Renegade music from the C64 game, available on John Gage's Youtube channel.

Source : Youtube

The Gemini chiptune collection by Sutekh (Epyteor), composed by Gemini/Insane

Sutekh (Epypteor) wrote another music disk : The Gemini chiptune collection, the music is composed by Gemini (Insane). There are 6 tunes.

Source : CPCWiki's forum

A new remake of the Ramparts music by Noisywan (work in progress)

He is back : Ömer Aydin (Noisywan), the author of several Amstrad CPC musics (see below). This time with a new remake being written of Ramparts.

Barbarian, its original Amstrad CPC music and an orchestral version by Endrody Gabor

Everybody knows the game and the music of Barbarian, but you should listen to the orchestral version by Endrody Gabor. It's the same video, first original music, then at 3m43 the orchestral version.

Source : Amstrad.EU group on Facebook

Amstrad CPC teaser for Arkos Tracker v2, a soundtrakker for PC and Mac by Targhan (Arkos)

Targhan has done many things, two are an Amstrad CPC soundtrakker (STarKos) and a PC soundtrakker (Arkos Tracker).

Today the news are good, a teaser for a new version (v2) of Arkos Tracker as an Amstrad CPC intro with a 9 channels music song, a conversion of a Rob Hubbard music. To listen to the 9 channels, you need a PlayCity sound card or an emulator like JavaCPC Desktop (check PlayCity on misc tab of preferences).

Arkos Tracker v2 will feature :

• works on windows, linux and mac
• play both psg and sample sounds
• unlimited channels
• overhauled interface
• 4 effect columns per tracker
• arpeggios and pitches inside tracks
• slow pitch and glide fxs
• import from AT1, SKS, 129, WYZ and MOD
• export to binary or sources
• any freq from each psg
• subsongs
• new format called AKY allows replay from 7 to 12 scanlines for 3 channels with a much better compression ratio than YM players

The code of this teaser is written by Targhan, font by Super Sylvestre.

Source : CPCWiki's forum

JB le Daron, Adventure 2 on Youtube, and an april fool on which I stumbled

Well CPC 4 Ever was an april fool. I fell for it nicely.

You still got the Amstrad CPC music announced on the site above played nicely on piano (done in two nights).

The game this time is an adventure graphic game in french, written in basic (hard to play without reading the listing) : Adventure 2 ou l'accusation. There is no relation to Adventure 1 ou la grotte also by Ludovic MABILLOT (Ludo's Software Distribution). JB le Daron prefered the first game to the second.

Source : Youtube

El Tesoro Perdido de Cuauhtemoc by 4Mhz, menu music by McKlain

Often in games, the music is either written by Tom et Jerry or McKlain.

For the music of El Tesoro Perdido de Cuauhtemoc by 4Mhz, it's the turn of McKlain (listen to the music on Soundcloud).

Some parts of the music makes me think of elite's music.

Source : CPCRulez

JB le Daron, a youtubber, but also a musician : CPC 4 Ever

SPOILER ALERT : it's an april fool !

I knew JB le Daron as a youtubber, I discover today that he isnt just that, but also a musician.

CPC 4 Ever is his project : the best musical themes of your favourites Amstrad CPC games are remixed, with piano for example. There are already 5 tunes available on the site. Personnaly I like them very much and is awaiting for more ! See you on Twitch the 4th April at 22:00.

Source : MO5

Remake of Sapiens by Didier and Olivier Guillion and music remixed

For old timers, very very old in case of Sapiens, I want to remind you that the original authors of the game Didier and Olivier Guillion have written a windows VGA remake of Sapiens. The game is a shareware for only 10 €.

The original music was written by Gilles Soulet, here are 2 remix of the music on Youtube :

• Sapiens - Atari ST, midi music for monotimbral synths (Yamaha MU1000 with DX)
• Sapiens Main Theme Remix

The Amstrad CPC original music of Sapiens is of course also available on youtube.

Amstrad Dreams, 5 music tunes by DATAStream on SoundCloud

Amstrad Dreams by DATAStream is a music album of 5 tunes written by Martyn Stonehouse.

There are 6 tunes on Bandcamp.

Source : Gryzor's Twitter

Music of the game Great Gurianos mixed (Amstrad CPC and C64) by Vincent GR

I didnt know this game, but the Amstrad CPC and C64 mixed music of Great Gurianos by Vincent GR is nice.

There is a longplay of Great Gurianos by Amstrad Maniaque on Youtube.

The game was one of the first written by David Perry. It's a port of an arcade game by Taito : Gladiators. It was out in 1987 by Elite Systems.

Source : Youtube

a music remake of the Amstrad CPC game Saboteur II by Geovarius on Soundcloud

A remake of the music of Saboteur II by Geovarius on Soundcloud is available. Sometimes when you look for the words 'Amstrad CPC' on a search engine, you find things.

A music remake of the Amstrad CPC game Airwolf II (Elite) by Geovarius on Soundcloud

A remake of the music of Airwolf II (Elite in 1987) by Geovarius on Soundcloud is available.

A music remake of the Amstrad CPC game Deflektor (Vortex) by Geovarius on Soundcloud

A remake of the music of Deflektor (Vortex in 1987) by Geovarius on Soundcloud is available.

A music remake of the Amstrad CPC game Marauder (Hewson) by Geovarius on Soundcloud

A remake of the music of Marauder (Hewson in 1988) by Geovarius on Soundcloud is available.

Geovarius on Dailymotion playing his remake of the music of Saboteur 2

After having listened to the musical remakes of Geovarius on Soundcloud, it's time to see him playing Saboteur 2 on his keytar (keyboard guitar) starting at 8 minutes and 5 seconds.

Source : Dailymotion

Synchronized music of Beverly Hills cop (Amstrad CPC and C64) by John Gage

A new video by John Gage : synchronized music of Beverly Hills cop on Amstrad CPC (AY in stereo) and C64 (SID in mono).

The original music is written by David Whittaker.

Source : John Gage's Youtube canal

Synchronized music of Zub (Amstrad CPC and C64) by John Gage

A new video by John Gage : synchronized music of Zub (Mastertronic in 1987) on Amstrad CPC (AY in stereo) and C64 (SID in mono).

The original music is written by David Whittaker.

Source : John Gage's Youtube canal

CPC vs Virgill by TRSI, an Amstrad CPC music disk (july 2016)

CPC vs Virgill by TRSI is an Amstrad CPC music disk released in July 2016.

You can listen :

• music disk CPC vs Virgill (TRSI, 2016) on Youtube
• music disk CPC vs Virgill (TRSI, 2016) on Soundcloud

Source : Octoate

2016 Favourite demoscene productions by 4Sceners and Bitfellas

4Sceners and Bitfellas published their favourite demoscene productions for the year 2016 :

• 3rd place for the best music disk : CPC vs Virgill by TRSI
• 2nd place for the best game : Pinball Dreams preview by Batman Group
• 7th place for the best game : Outlaws

Source : Octoate

Basic v1.1 - Ready, a compilation by McKlain of Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum musics 2011 to 2016

McKlain has released another musical compilation with his musics written for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum between 2011 and 2016.. I am listening to it while writing this, what should I say, pleasing as usual. Continue the good work !

Source : CPCRulez's forum

Roland Radio, an Amstrad CPC radio internet now with an Android application

Roland Radio is an internet radio, and its program should interest you : only Amstrad CPC music.

There is now an Android application for Roland Radio.

Source : CPC Radio's Twitter

Golden Axe music with a mix of SID (C64) and AY (Amstrad CPC) by Vincent GR

Some music in a world of brutes, Golden Axe mixed with the SID of the Commodore 64 and the AY of the Amstrad CPC by Vincent GR.

Both tracks had different tempo and pitch so Vincent had to transpose C64 a bit higher to match the tempo with the CPC.

Golden Axe played with the SID (C64) and the AY (Amstrad CPC) by Vincent GR

Source : Vincent GR's channel on Youtube

Synchronized music of Pro BMX Simulator (Amstrad CPC and C64) by John Gage

An original video by John Gage : music of Pro BMX Simulator Amstrad CPC (stéréo) and C64 (mono).

The original music is written by Matt Gray and David Whittaker.

Source : John Gage's Youtube channel

Synchronized music of Glider Rider (Amstrad CPC and C64) by John Gage

An original video by John Gage : synchronized music of Glider Rider Amstrad CPC (stereo) and C64 (mono).

The original music is written by David Whittaker.

Source : John Gage's Youtube canal

WYZTracker v2 by Augusto Ruiz, WYZPlayer and cpcwyzlib

WYZTracker is a tool developed by Augusto Ruiz (interface in english and spanish), from Retroworks, that can be used to compose music for WYZPlayer.

WYZPlayer is a Z80 player for the AY-3-8910 sound chip (a 3-voice PSG : Programmable Sound Generator designed by General Instrument) used by (and for) the Amstrad CPC, MSX and Spectrum. It can be used for games and demos due to its minimal use of CPU and RAM, the player takes little code and all musics are compressed.

Finally, you can use cpcwyzlib by Raul Simarro, an Amstrad CPC library to play wyztracker tunes with SDCC. He also wrote the cpcrslib used with z88dk.

Source : Forum de CPCWiki

Hewson Consultants, a book and some 8bit music

Hewson Consultants, created in 1980 by Andrew Hewson, did publish several good games on Amstrad CPC like Uridium, Paradroid, Nebulus, Firelord, Stormlord and Cybernoid, but not only.

Available on their site web, a book (epub or not) as pre-order, and 11 incredible tracks from 10 classic Hewson games, remade by legendary artists (reduction of 40% with the code retrogamer on Bandcamp).

Source : Twitter

Hacked version of Paperboy with music by Fano (128 Ko), reviewed by Xyphoe

Since at least march 2012, a 128 Ko version of Paperboy with music added by Fano does exist (download on source link, see below).

This Paperboy version has been reviewed by Xyphoe on Youtube.

Source : CPCWiki's forum

Roland Radio, an Amstrad CPC radio internet

Roland Radio is an internet radio, and its program should interest you : only Amstrad CPC music. You can follow them on Twitter and facebook (cpcradio).

Source : CPCWiki's forum

A new Amstrad CPC music disk by SuTeKH (Epyteor) : Boulder Dash

Boulder Dash by SuTeKH (Epyteor) is a new Amstrad CPC music disk. Other music disks by SuTeKH :

• Now That's What I Call Chip Tunes 1 (2011)
• Now That's What I Call Chip Tunes 2 - Preview (2011)
• Some More CHIPTUNES (2012)
• This Musicdisk Is About 20% Cooler (2012)

Source : CPCWiki's forum

8bit Game of Thrones Remix on NESKeytar

A 8bit musical remix of Games of Thrones (George R.R. Martin) on Youtube which sounds Amstrad CPCish.

And by the way, if you like George R.R. Martin (who write on an old msdos computer with the wordstar word processing), I suggest to read the Wild Cards serie. It's about an extra terrestrial virus released on New York in 1946. This virus kills almost everyone touched by it (black queen), some still lives but becomes jokers : monsters with sometimes a superpower more or less effective. And for only a few they become aces : super heroes, or deuces if their power is not really that useful. It's a must read.

Source : Clubic

Ultrasyd live at the Blip festival (2011 in New York)

Ultrasyd playing live at Blip Festival 2011 in New York, May 19th, 2011. Set performed using Atari STe, Amstrad CPC 6128 and Nintendo GameBoy. Background visuals provided by NO CARRIER.

Funky stars, an Amstrad CPC 8bit version of a classic tune

McKlain has written an Amstrad CPC version of Funky Stars, also known as Hybrid Song. Original song by Quazar of Sanxion. This song is known for being used in numerous keygen programs.

This song is part of his future music disk for the Amstrad CPC. Stay tuned.

It's sampled from his Amstrad CPC 464, no emulation, made with Arkos Tracker.

Be nice to your Amstrad CPC, get a better sound with a Digiblaster, Amdrum or Music Machine

As much as we love our Amstrad CPC, the sound we get with the General Instrument AY-3-8912 sound chip isnt the bestone on 8bit computers. Happily it's possible to get a better sound with either a Digiblaster, an Amdrum or a Music Machine.

The first version of the Digiblaster was designed by Face Hugger (Interview of Face Hugger by NoRecess) and printed in the German magazine CPC Amstrad International in issue 8-9/1991. It's a small hardware device plugged into the CPC's printer portto play 8-bit mono sound samples. Joshua made a redesign for better sound quality (electronic printout of Digiblaster v1 and v2 here).Then there is new Digiblaster by Futurs : the SoundPlayer and the SoundPlayer+ (VN96 network included). The SoundPlayer+ was replaced later by the SoundPlayerNG.

The digiblasters v1, v2 and SoundPlayer(+/NG) can be connected to passive mono speakers.

A few months back, Bryce made a redesign with even better sound quality : the Digiblaster v3. You can feed the AY output through the card so that both sound sources are played through the same speakers. The DigiBlaster has been made dual-mono so that both speakers play the sample as is done withthe AY-3-8912 Channel B. The AY and Digiblaster sound levels are balanced. You must use active stereo speakers.

You can write music using the Digiblaster with :

• Cocoon Player by One (1995)
• Digitracker by Prodatron (1993)
• The Drumming CPC by Andreas Stroiczek (aka Face Hugger), published as a listing in issue 4/5'92 of CPC Amstrad International
• FuturePlayer by TFM (FutureSoft)
• Protracker by Crown (1993)

At least 2 Amstrad CPC demos did use the Digiblaster : Bordelik Demo 4 (1995) and Digital Orgasm (1994).

The Amdrum has been made by Cheetah, but it uses the expansion connecter. It can also play 8bit samples like the Digiblaster, and was advertised as a drum synthesiser. You can check the youtube video of the Amdrum being used with the JavaCPC emulator.

A third device which I found on CPCWiki : the Music Machine, using the expansion connector like the Amdrum. Another hardware letting play sound samples, designed by Flare Technology andmanufactured by RAM Electronics. It could record sound with a microphone.

Source : CPCWiki's forum

Results of the 3 compétitions held at the ReSeT#8 meeting in Coutances

And the winners are :

• graphic : Rexbeng
• demo : Krusty, graphics by Grim, Beb, Ced and Voxfreak, music by Tom et Jerry, for Glory holes
• music : Pulkomandy

All entries will be available later.

YM-64, an YM player for C64 by Norbert Kehrer

Playing SID music on Amstrad CPC is possible, but you can also play YM music on C64 using YM-64 by Norbert Kehrer.

Source : Norbert's emulators

WYZTracker v0.5.0.6 by Augusto Ruiz, WYZPlayer and cpcwyzlib

WYZTracker is a tool developed by Augusto Ruiz (interface in english and spanish), from Retroworks, that can be used to compose music for WYZPlayer.

WYZPlayer is a Z80 player for the AY-3-8910 sound chip (a 3-voice PSG : Programmable Sound Generator designed by General Instrument) used by (and for) the Amstrad CPC, MSX and Spectrum. It can be used for games and demos due to its minimal use of CPU and RAM, the player takes little code and all musics are compressed.

Finally, you can use cpcwyzlib by Raul Simarro, an Amstrad CPC library to play wyztracker tunes with SDCC. He also wrote the cpcrslib used with z88dk.

Source : ESP Soft

C64 SID on Amstrad CPC, software or hardware ?

The Amstrad CPC use the General Instrument AY-3-8912 sound chip, providing 3 channels, each configurable to generate square waves, white noise or both. A small array of hardware volume envelopes are available. The C64 use the SID sound chip with also 3 channels, each configurable to generate 4 different waves forms : sawtooth, triangle, pulse, noise. It offers other features, much more than the AY-3-8912.

So is it possible to listen to SID music on an limited Amstrad CPC ? The answer is yes, and if you are lucky enough to read french, you will be able to read the article "les SID-Voices" on Quasar. So to resume, yes you can do it on a plain Amstrad CPC, but if you play 3 SID-Voices, you wont have enough CPU time to do something else. Otherwise on an Amstrad CPC+ using the DMA, you will be able to do something else than playing music. The Quasar article comes with the AY+ source to play SID-Voices on a CPC+. On a plain Amstrad CPC, you can use a program by Geco, a hungarian programmer. He usually works on the Elan enterprise, he wrote a SID player for this computer, and ported it to the Amstrad CPC. Download this Amstrad CPC SID player (128 Kb only).

Some informations about this utility directly from the author (taken from chipmusic.org) : I created the player used 6510 emulation code of Simon Owen, and CPC header checking. The player spends a lot of time with 6510 code, this is the reason of speed changing on CPC, on Enterprise I met less speed changing, may be the cause of this on EP the processor is running at 4Mhz if the code is not in the video Memory. Yes, only some feature is emulated, frequency registers, envelopes in 50Hz, control registers (without wave formats), and volume register, if I remember well. And the noise emulation is also interesting on CPC, because when noise should apply then I give fix 0f value to noise channel, and drive the frequency with tone channel frequency (set reg 6 tone and noise enable on a channel), with this solution 3 different noises can appear on the AY. The player can play songs in 2 speeds, 50Hz, and 100Hz, does not matter of SID speed, ex if the speed of SID is 60Hz the player plays it on 50Hz.

Finally, you can play it hard too, with an extension. Read about it on CPCWiki (a bit of drama included).

Nightshift, an Amstrad CPC music compilation by Mr_Lou

Nightshift is a compilation of 11 musics by Mr_Lou, artwork by BlueAngel, code by Kevin Thacker (aka arnoldemu) and catart by tastefulmrship.

Video longplay of Teenage mutant hero turtles 2 by Xyphoe, included the hidden music

The music of the Amstrad CPC game Teenage mutant hero turtles 2 has been found on the original support.

You can download a .DSK image with the music on CPCWiki.

And now a youtube video of the game by Xyphoe, music included.

Source : CPCRulez's forum

A new music remake by Alpiso : the Amstrad CPC game Saboteur II

Alpiso strikes again ! A new musical remake is available on youtube : Saboteur II.

Airwolf 2 music remake by MrBedev and longplay video by CholoCPC

Here is a music remake of Airwolf 2 by MrBedev on Youtube.

For the longplay video by CholoCPC :

• longplay part 1 of Aiwolf 2
• longplay part 2 of Aiwolf 2
• longplay part 3 of Aiwolf 2
• longplay part 4 of Aiwolf 2

Source : CPCRulez's forum

Antiriad played on piano and longplay video

Not a remake but simply the music of the game Antiriad (the armor of) played on piano by Alpiso on Youtube.

For the longplay video by Cholo head to longplay part 1 of Antiriad and longplay part 2 of Antiriadon Youtube.

Thanatos played on piano and longplay video

Once again a beautiful play of piano by Alpiso about the Thanatos game on Youtube.

And if you dislike piano, what about listening to a guitar arrangement played by Pacopersia about the Thanatos game on Youtube ?

For the longplay video by cholo head to the longplay part 1 of Thanatos, the longplay part 2 of Thanatos and the longplay part 3 of Thanatos on Youtube.

Nebulus : theme remix, video longplay and remake

A remake of the Nebulus music is available on Youtube by Alpiso.

That was a hard game, I only went to the second tower (and there are 8 of them), so if you want to see all towers, here is a longplay of Nebulus by Wanderlain on Youtube.

You can also play remakes of Nebulus : Tower Toppler for windows, linux, BeOS and MacOS X, or Power Toppler for Iphone with 2 missions of 8 towers, it has been developped by Silver Software (the game cost 0,79 €).

A music remake of the Amstrad CPC game Navy Moves by Mcklain

A remake of the Navy Moves music is available on Youtube by Mcklain.

A music remake of Target Renegade by Hulky2006

After the music remake of Target Renegade by Ömer Aydin (Noisywan), here comes the one by Hulky2006.

Kangaroo is blowing out &28 candles today

Kangaroo is today blowing out &28 candles. For my part, due to my light dyslexia, I never felt so young at 24 years old. By the way, you can also find Kangaroo on Jamendo

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Source : CPCWiki's forum

Number doesnt matter

Size doesnt matter by SuperSly (Les sucres en morceaux) let me think about an Amstrad CPC demo or music made on more than an Amstrad CPC. Alas, I am no genius, some people have already done that on ZX Spectrum with a music Hung up by Ay Riders made on 2 Spectrum for example. It's a nice music by the way. If you know about other demos or musics made on more than 1 8bit or 16bit computer, let me know please.

Contests results of the Amstrad CPC meeting ReSeT #0

Here are the results of the 4 contests of the ReSeT #0 meeting (and soon they will be available for download) :

• demo : Krusty with the demo Les experts à Coutances
• 4 Ko intro : Krusty with Still the best
• graphics : Rahow with LittleDGirl (on CPC+)
• music : McKlain with Take Off

See below for the photo of Krusty the winner (on the left), and Beb (on the right) who made a graph for the demo Les experts à Coutances.

CPCE features the best sound accuracy of the various Amstrad CPC emulators

If you care about sound accuracy on Amstrad CPC emulators like Mr_Lou, you should know that at the moment the best emulator is CPCE (last version is v1.94 patched on 2th June 2011).

Thanks to this interesting discussion on CPCWiki, dont doubt that more emulators will have soon a better sound accuracy, a new version of WinApe may even be out soon.

Source : CPCWiki's forum

Amstrad expo is dead, long live ReSeT #0 !

Amstrad Expo is no more, but rejoice as ReSeT #0 is the new name of the Amstrad meeting organized by the tireless Eliot.

As usual you can expect a warm welcoming, good food, not much sleep (except if you are a sissy and use a bed), 4 competitions :

• demo : runnable on CPC6128 or 6128 Plus, without any extension
• 4 Ko intro : runnable on CPC6128 or 6128 Plus, without any extension. Maximum size is 4 Ko (4096 bytes)
• graphics : all formats/modes are allowed. The entry must be submitted with its viewer program runnable on CPC or Plus
• music : any executable music on CPC or Plus. The entry must be submitted with its player. No size limit

CPC Hardware will be given for free at the party-place: monitors, keyboards, floppy-drives, floppy-discs... All the parts from CPCParts.net will be available to repair and upgrade your CPC with the help of hardware specialists.

The ReSeT Party will take place from Friday 24th (10:00) to Sunday 26th of June 2011 (18:00) at Foyer des Jeunes Travailleurs in Coutances. The price is 11 euros per day for the entrance, drinks and food. You can book a double room at the party place for 20 euros per night.

Please use the ReSeT #0 site to register if you intent to come, thanks in advance.

A music remake of Mission Omega (Mindgames) by Noisywan

A new music remake by Ömer Aydin (Noisywan) of Mission OMEGA is available on Youtube.

All Noisywan music remakes can be downloaded if you wish.

4 contests on CPC Power

CPC Power is holding 4 contests : coding, GFX, music and logo GFX.

Lost in fractal dimension by Ultrasyd

A new Amstrad CPC music written with Starkos Tracker : Lost in fractal dimension par Ultrasyd.

a music remake of HATE (Hostile All Terrain Encounter - Vortex) by Noisywan

A new music remake by Ömer Aydin (Noisywan) of HATE (Hostile All Terrain Encounter by Vortex) is available on Youtube.

a music remake of the Amstrad CPC game Vindicator by Noisywan

A new music remake by Ömer Aydin (Noisywan) of Vindicator is available on Youtube.

a music remake of the Amstrad CPC game Saboteur II by Mcklain

A remake of the Saboteur II music is available on Youtube by Mcklain.

Arkos Tracker v1.0 beta 3 for PC

You can download Arkos Tracker v1.0 beta 3 for PC by Targhan.

Here's the changelist :

• AKStoYM, a command line tool to convert any AKS song into an interleaved or non-interleaved YM6 format,
• MSX2 compatible player test thanks to WYZ.

If you don't have .Net, you can still use the command line tools (AKStoYM, STKtoAKS, AKStoYM) if you have Mono installed.

Source : CPC Rulez's forum

Arkos Tracker v1.0 beta 2 for PC

You can download Arkos Tracker v1.0 beta 2 for PC by Targhan.

Here's the changelist :

• Complete coding of the sound generating and outputing by myself. The emulation is more accurate, and will allow the implementation of samples and Sids in the future,
• Plug in your best MIDI Keyboard or any MIDI-In device, play and record your music with it,
• 150hz and 300hz replay modes are now available. They are very slightly slower than on a real CPC. Nothing you should notice...
• CPCBooster output is now very accurate,
• Ability to save Interleaved/non-Interleaved YM6 format,
• AKStoBin : a command line software to converts any AKS song into a binary to use on hardware (warning, you still need .Net to use it),
• STKtoAKS : a command line software to converts any STarKos songs into an AKS song (warning, you still need .Net to use it).

Arkos Tracker v1.0 beta for PC available

You can download Arkos Tracker v1.0 beta for PC by Targhan.

Source : CPC Rulez's forum

ZX Spectrum Computer Sound Chip Emulator v2.9 beta 9

The ZX Spectrum Computer Sound Chip Emulator v2.9 beta 9 is available, it permits to listen to .YM, .AY and .AYM music files.

Source : CPC Rulez's forum

Arkos Tracker preview for ... windows

Targhan (Arkos) has announced on the CPC_FR mailing list a preview of Arkos Tracker for windows. You can see a video of this Arkos Tracker preview on Youtube. Final version could be released in 2 or 3 weeks.

Seing the video, you can export to .WAV et .YM, and import .SKS (STarKos Tracker). The program can send the sound directly to an Amstrad CPC with a CPCBooster (I have some to sell, cant remember at the moment the price I paid for them, but they will be selled without a profit) or of course directly on the sound card of the PC.

More features given on the CPC Wiki's forum :

• 256 patterns available
• Each pattern is composed of 3 independent tracks
• 512 tracks available, each being reusable in any pattern, or even several times in the same pattern
• Each track can be transposed independently in a pattern
• A track has a height from 1 to 128 lines, independently of the pattern that uses it
• 255 instruments available
• The instrument editor allows you to modify each registers of the PSG
• Replay frequency of 13, 25, 50, 100, 150 or 300hz
• Possibility to put "events" in your song. They can either be used to synchronize your music with your production, or trigger digidrums for exemple
• Big news : instruments are divised into two channels : a Software, and Hardware one. These channels can be independant or dependent from each other. Allows using two waves at the same time
• Allows you to play sound effects in a very flexible and powerful way. You can also play the SFXs without any music
• You can import any STarKos song
• NO SID/DMA for CPC+ for now. I may plan that...

About the Player :

• Only 25 scanlines maximum used !
• On top of being faster than the STarKos player, it's lighter : one and a half kb.
• The player works on Amstrad CPC, MSX, Spectrum or Pentagon (using conditional assembling : only the necessary code is used).
• The generated songs are very light (about as much as the STarKos song. Sometimes a bit lighter, sometimes not).
• Can be used in Basic (call the player by yourself, or use it under interruptions), and Assembler.
• The source of the player is given, and documented.
• The format of the music is given. So you'll be able to create your own custom tools (conversion, new players...).
• Fade in/out available.

About the sound effects :

• Every instrument of your song becomes a sound effect.
• You can play/stop a sound effect on any, or all, of the 3 channels.
• You can choose the note, volume, speed of any triggered SFX.
• You can add Pitch to them (useful to add randomness to the sounds, for example).
• Sound effects are in a seperate file : you can use the same sound bank even if you change the music.

Music remake of Boulder Dash by Noisywan

A new music remake by Ömer Aydin (Noisywan) of Boulder Dash on Youtube.

Making Amstrad CPC music on CPC or PC

If you need to write some music for an Amstrad CPC program (either demo, game, etc...), you can do it either on an Amstrad CPC :

• STarKos v1.21 by Targhan,
• Digitracker v1.4 by Prodatron,
• Soundtrakker 128k by Oliver Mayer,

Or you can do it on a PC :

• WYZTracker for windows (needs .NET v2.0) by Augusto Ruiz, an .AY (Amstrad and Spectrum) music creation utility using a pattern-based editor, spanish interface only at the moment, short english manual inside
• Vortex Tracker II v1.0 beta 19, a Win32 PT3-editor, can load, play, edit PT1, PT2, PT3, STC, STP, SQT, ASC, PSC, PSM, FLS, GTR, FTC, FXM, AY (ZXAYAMAD) files and save them in PT3 format or in temporary text format. You can export modules into SNDH-format to play it on Atari ST, and into HOBETA (with player or without player), AY's ZXAYEMUL format, SCL or TAP to play it on Amstrad CPC ou ZX Spectrum, for more information go see Vortex tracker's website.

Also, it's possible without an emulator to listen to .YM, .AY and .AYM files with ZX Spectrum Computer Sound Chip Emulator (same address than above).

If you use other music tools, thanks to let me know so I can add informations here and in the comp.sys.amstrad.8bit FAQ).

a music remake of Cauldron 2

Cauldron 2 is a classic, you will be able to find an interesting music remake of Cauldron 2 on Youtube by Ömer Aydin (Noisywan).

Source : CPC Rulez's forum

A music remake of Target Renegade

After Cauldron 2, it's the turn of Target Renegade,  you will find a music remake of Target Renegade on Youtube by Ömer Aydin (Noisywan).

A remake of the Ramparts music by Noisywan

After Elevator Action, it's the turn of Ramparts,  you will find a music remake of Ramparts on Youtube by Ömer Aydin (Noisywan).

a music remake of Elevator action

After Target Renegade, it's the turn of Elevator Action,  you will find a music remake of Elevator Action on Youtube byr Ömer Aydin (Noisywan).

Mega-Mad-Mix Demo CPC Version and Amstrad CPC Musics Ultimate Compilation by Megachur

Megachur just released 2 music disks : Mega-Mad-Mix Demo CPC Version and Amstrad CPC Musics Ultimate Compilation. Beware, if you are using WinAPE, you must desactivate the "Fast Disk Emulation" option. Sources of these 2 music disks are available.

Source : Push'N'Pop

Kangaroo Musique on Jamendo

I was just browsing on Jamendo when I did a research on the Amstrad keyword, and found the page of Kangaroo Musique, a well known musician on Amstrad scene. If you are fond of Amstrad CPC games music, hit the jamendo widget below (shockwave needed), but try his other albums too.

And if you are german or if your german isnt too rusty (mine is quite rusty), you can read Kangaroo blog.

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