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C64 SID

Shadow Ninja – Awesome C64 Chiptunes by SID Ninja 64

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What can we say, we are suckers for sweet, sweet C64 SID chiptunes!

We were recently stumbled upon the Shadow Ninja chiptunes concept-album on Bandcamp by the mysterious musician SID Ninja 64. What we heard was quite impressive and literally music to our ears. The original SID tunes on this album are stylised after great C64 maestros like Tim Follin, Jonathan Dunn, Matt Gray, Ben Daglish, Jeroen Tel and Chris Hülsbeck to name just a few – a pretty good darn pedigree.

If you are into SID tunes or chiptunes in general, check out SID Ninja 64’s Shadow Ninja album right now!

image source: SID Ninja 64



Rob Hubbard’s SID Chiptunes Reconstructed in TrueStereo

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If you are a fan of the Commodore 64’s SID chip and the brilliant music and sounds it pumps out, then you’ll also know the works of one, Mr. Rob Hubbard! The SID Maestro created countless classic chiptunes for some of the biggest games on the Commodore 64, from Commando, International Karate to Monty On The Run and Sanxion to name just a few.

This album reconstruction of Rob’s classic SID music in full stereo was painstakingly (and lovingly) assembled by Jason Page (aka: No Other Medicine). Jason had previously worked with Rob on the Project Hubbard KickStarter campaign, so this reconstruction was a homage to Rob.

The best thing about this album is that the 11 chiptunes are not remixes or hacked versions of Rob’s work, rather they have gone through a process called “True Stereo” to highlight the brilliance of the original tracks.

We reckon the best way to enjoy this album is via a pair of good headphones (or stereo speakers), so kick back and crank up the volume and enjoy some classic chiptunes in full stereo!

Thank you to Jason Page and Rob Hubbard for this aural pleasure!

 

Chiptune: L.E.D. Storm

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Being avid C64 gamers, we often get asked (quite often actually) if we have a favourite C64 chiptune from that era.

Picking one favourite out of a sea of fantastic chiptunes is literally like finding a needle in a haystack. C64 music from maestros like Rob Hubbard, Matt Gray, Jeroen Tel, Ben Daglish, Steve Rowlands, Martin Galway and Tim Follin spring to mind immediately.

Who could forget the mesmerising IK+ tune by Mr Hubbard or Matt Gray’s aural pleasure in Last Ninja 2. There is one chiptune that does stand out for us (sorry Zamzara by Charles Deened), which is Tim Follin’s L.E.D. Storm riff based on Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke On The Water’ – so, sit back, relax and take in this awesome 8-bit SID tune.

If you have a favourite chiptune, please share it with us via Twitter or Facebook!