****************************************************** *** *** *** comp.binaries.cbm is a moderated binaries- *** *** only newsgroup (no discussion or *** *** crossposting allowed) for Commodore 8-bits *** *** *** *** For information on comp.binaries.cbm visit *** *** http://stockholm.ptloma.edu/comp.binaries.cbm/ *** *** *** *** This file is also available via FTP from *** *** ftp://videocam.net.au/cbm/incoming *** *** (allow time for submission to be received) *** *** *** ****************************************************** * One from the Vault is a collection of frequently requested, useful or just plain interesting past posts sent to comp.binaries.cbm, as archived by the moderators. If you have a request, please send it to the address in the headers. Take care when replying to these messages, as many were posted years ago. >From: Cameron Kaiser >Reply-to: Cameron Kaiser >X-Original-Posting-Date: This very famous of demos was a combination of Glen Bredon's five-block Swish moire demo and a collection of tunes called Synth Sample. A very hearty thanks to Chris Link for the post. It works on both NTSC and PAL; the program is self-documenting, and you can get credits by LISTing it. One of the oldest demos extant, it originated entirely on CompuServe, back when it was actually friendly to Commodore users. Georg Feil, the author of Synth Sample, appeared on c.s.c many moons ago and told the people there the story behind the songs. Here's an excerpt from his post (comments by me) [notes updated 7/2002]: >Date: 27 Oct 98 00:18:00 GMT 1. Theme from Stationary Ark, a nature show on PBS. Sorry, I have no additional info on this one. It appears on Synth Sample as interpreted by a friend of mine. I didn't know what it was myself until I happened to see Stationary Ark one time. This song does not play properly on some C-64's where the SID chip filter is calibrated differently [ probably referring to 8580 SIDs -- Mod. ]. 2. Saturdays in Silezia, by Rational Youth. A fluffy pop song I taped off the radio. Seemed simple enough to render on the C-64. 3. Spiral, by Vangelis, from his Spiral album. 4. Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield, from his Tubular Bells album. I just thought this was ultra cool. Used as the music to The Exorcist, unfortunately. 5. Theme from Magic Shadows, written by Harry Forbes. Magic Shadows was a half-hour movie show on TV Ontario, sort of the Canadian equivalent of PBS. They'd show old movies in half-hour installments. I have no idea if there's an album. I taped it off the TV. 6. Theme from A Clockwork Orange, by Wendy Carlos, on the Clockwork Orange Soundtrack. This is a synthesizer adaptation of Prelude for Flatte Trumpets from Henry Purcell's opera "Libertine". Apparently there are two versions of the soundtrack album, one with more of Carlos' synthesizer stuff on it than the other. [ The album is credited to Walter Carlos, before his, um, conversion. George reproduced the Beethovenalia version, which is more melodic; the title theme is done in the style of Purcell and is much more bombastic and dissonant. By the way, the entire soundtrack CD is excellent. -- Cameron Kaiser ] 7. Oxygene II, by Jean-Michel Jarre, from his Oxygene album. Great stuff, much better in the original form than the cheesy Synth Sample rendering. I recommend Jarre's first three albums: Oxygene, Equinoxe, and Magnetic Fields, in that order. His more recent ones largely suck (IMHO). (Actually instead of spending your money on old JMJ why not get something more up-to-date, like almost anything by the Orb, older Future Sound of London (e.g. ISDN), Funki Porcini's first album, stuff off the Ninja Tunes label, or anything by Kruder & Dorfmeister...) 8. Canon in D minor, by Pachelbel. This is a very popular classical hit. I transcribed the notes from a Transactor or Compute! article (this is the only Synth Sample piece not transcribed by ear). 9. Enola Gay, by Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark. From one of their earlier albums -- not the first, maybe the second or third.