MIDI from the ARK

[MickB]

Anybody got a Commodore 64 midi cartridge?

Oh yes, I'm quite serious! The Commodore 64 was a nifty little computer which takes quite a high seat in my studio setup. The sound chip, the SID, was a proper semi-pro' analogue synth' shrunk to a chip, so I can tell you that it's very handy.

The C64's SID has actually been recognised as a musical intrument in its own right.

I've looked on Ebay, but it's absolutely ages until one crops up.

(As an aside, I would recommend a C64 as part of your gear, even if it's merely in the form of a PC-based emulator, like one of the Win Vice range. Particularly if you can find a copy of Instant Music, a simple sequencer which allows you to compose bits of music and uses artificial intelligence to keep it all in key, etc. (Someone's selling a job lot of those on Ebay.))

[altitude909]

You can build a midibox SID for about $50 and just use the SID chip from an old c64

[MickB]

Well, it's certainly a way to have the MIDI connectability.

But you lose more than you gain there because a SID box isn't as programmable as a MIDI unit.

However, a new line of enquiry could be made as to whether the writers of the VICE emulators could write a MIDI plug-in for their software. That'd solve everything.

[DavidK]

Originally Posted by MickB

(As an aside, I would recommend a C64 as part of your gear, even if it's merely in the form of a PC-based emulator, like one of the Win Vice range. Particularly if you can find a copy of Instant Music, a simple sequencer which allows you to compose bits of music and uses artificial intelligence to keep it all in key, etc. (Someone's selling a job lot of those on Ebay.))

For me, that would be like cutting the grass with a pair of scissors.

[MickB]

Maybe, but if you want jingles in 30 seconds, it's a god send.

[altitude909]

Originally Posted by MickB

Well, it's certainly a way to have the MIDI connectability.

But you lose more than you gain there because a SID box isn't as programmable as a MIDI unit.

However, a new line of enquiry could be made as to whether the writers of the VICE emulators could write a MIDI plug-in for their software. That'd solve everything.

Yes it is (controlled via Microchip PIC184520). The Midibox SID FAR exceeds anything that could be done with it via the C64 and it supported on all platforms and even has a VST front end if you want to use it

http://ucapps.de/midibox_sid.html

[MickB]

What I want a C64 MIDI cart for specifically is not just to run Instant Music from it, but also the other Commodore music packages I have. After running them on the SID, it'll be nice to use the same arrangements playing through other units.

Plus, I can program the SID to make specific sound effects via either compiled BASIC routines or direct machine code programming. I'd have to learn a new lot of things to program the SID in its new environment.