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Games Entertainment

Atari 2600 Hacks 107

Posted by michael from the things-man-was-not-meant-to-know dept.
olclops writes "Check out this guy's projects. He's an Atari 2600 programmer who's created, among other things, a cartridge that uses the 2600's sound generators to turn your atari into a full polyphonic synthesizer! The demos sound insane. Imagine being able to play console-perfect pitfall music from an atari hooked up to an amp. His other games look cool, too. Apparently, he'll be at the Classic Gaming Expo next weekend."
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Atari 2600 Hacks More

Atari 2600 Hacks

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  • What could be geekier? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Kwikymart ( 90332 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @02:28AM (#4003614)
    This is pretty geeky. What could be geekier? Well, for one, hooking it up to this [cmu.edu]
    • In it he states you can't see the drive headers move to high frequencies because our inferior human eyes can't pick this movement up. I'm thinking it could be more of a problem dealing with mechanical responce time or more precisely physics. The coil energizes one way and then the other before the head can even start to move. So the head just kind of stays in place.
  • "This site is temporarily down for Network Maintenance."

  • The New Old School Band (Score:4, Funny)

    by eric434 ( 161022 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @02:31AM (#4003626) Homepage
    Introducing the New Old School Band, with Lenny on the Atari with Synthcart, Joey on a Commodore 64 hacked to do guitar, Danny with the Drumsticks on the Apple IIes...

    On another note, if we put together a beowulf cluster of these, would we have a symphony? "Slashdot Symphony in AC Major..."

  • Why? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Kaz Riprock ( 590115 )
    For some things, "Because you can." just really isn't a good answer.
    • when it comes to music, 'because you can' is a perfectly acceptable response. the facile example is bach's toccatta in Dm. it was written with the intent of humiliating organists, but quite a few have risen to the occassion over the centuries.

      i don't normally quote users outside of a thread, but...
      "Never ask a geek why, just nod your head and slowly back away." - Rob Malda
      (User #1 Info) [slashdot.org]

      also, the musical style is very similar to something i enjoy immensely.

    • Re:Why? (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I believe a famous climber said he was climbing Mount Everest, "because it was there."
      I think "why" isn't as important as just accomplishing the goals you set for yourself.
      Now what have you done lately?
    • If you hafta ask, you'll never understand...
    • For those who hack, no explanation is necessary.
      For those who don't, no explanation is possible.

  • He's an Atari 2600 programmer ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by BxT ( 129134 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @02:34AM (#4003634)

    Now there's something that looks good on the 'ol resume. :)

  • Demos are not JUST 2600s... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Tokerat ( 150341 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @02:35AM (#4003639) Journal
    ...do I hear some reverb in there? Dont' expect your polyphonic synth to sound like anything but an original atari 2600.

    Still, old sound chips do have many unique qualities. I'd love one of these. Now if only he'd sodder MIDI into one...
    • It sounds a bit like there is light post-processing, though it may only be the encoding. But the chorus-like effect probably comes from using two of these, as the file name hints at. On the other hand, you can get good results even with simple analog synths with minimal input, especially through using low frequency oscillations.
    • The demos are labeled..The first 2 say 'These are from the Atari ONLY' and the others say 'Yes, I am using reverb' etc...
      • Not for the last one, unfortunately... The very first one sounds real good, anyway.
      • I clicked on the links from the story. They said it was supposed to be "just" the 2600.

        So in essence I didn't RTFA, but in my defense, the links provided should have been the "pure" links....

        It's a minor detail, I still think it's cool. What's the point of having a synth you cant' drown in effects anyways? :-D
  • The synth carts are very cool things. If you can find one for sale, I'd reccomend picking it up. My brother bought one and ran it on a black/silver 2600 (?) iirc, but sadly he had to sale all his game systems so it's gone.

    A very interesting hack though. To think it runs in just 128 bytes in the RAM!

    • Re:very cool (Score:2, Insightful)

      by faeryman ( 191366 )
      Oh yeah..I don't mean that only this particular 'game' runs in 128 bytes (I assume all the 2600 games did), but rather that it's so small by today's standards but can support something useable. I think it's really cool when people make projects on old systems like this since it's such a difference from computers with a gig of RAM.

  • Can we really trust this? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Kaz Riprock ( 590115 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @02:41AM (#4003654)
    Feedback from a satisfied synthcart user:
    "man, i wanted to tell you that my girlfriend is having trouble pulling me away from the damn atari...hte synth cart is the coolest thing ever."
    Yeah...right...like anyone who is jammin' on his atari deck like it's a mixer has a girlfriend. And even if he did, would he be worth trying to pull away from his killer 4 note mix?
    • Very true, I don't play video games at all, no consoles in my apartment. Hence, I usually have a girlfriend.

      Although right after my /.karma topped out, my girlfriend dumped me, then I had the longest dry spell I have had in years. Maybe I shouldn't have spent so much time reading /., or maybe I shouldn't have slept with that bartender. I am still holding out for a hot rich girl, with a convertible.

  • This is great! (Score:2, Informative)

    by httpamphibio.us ( 579491 )
    It's really interesting that in the last couple years lo-fi synthesis and reworking of old systems has made more progress than hardware synthesis (I'm aware of all the advances in software such as Scanned, Fourier, etc but none of them have made it to hardware yet. We've seen C64 SID chips make a comeback in the form of the SIDstation [sidstation.com], and two great Gameboy synthesizers, Nanoloop [nanoloop.com], and Little Sound DJ [littlesounddj.com] all three of which are incredibly useful and have interesting and unique sounds. The kind of DIY synthesizers we'll find in 10 years is going to be fascinating.

    I hope the guy that is manufacturing the carts [charter.net] doesn't get overly slashdotted so I can get mine! :)

    • Re:This is great! (Score:4, Interesting)

      by OneFix ( 18661 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @02:51AM (#4003680)
      We've seen C64 SID chips make a comeback in the form of the SIDstation

      But, the terible part about this is that to make one of these, 2 C= 64's have to "die". Last I checked, noone was making the chip and since noone is making the C=64 now, this is sadly causing the destruction of the last "good" C-64's.

      I truly think the SIDstation is kewl, but I'ld actually like to see them start making new chips for this purpose. Or, better yet, break the C=64 down to a single chip (more than do-able) and turn it into a PDA...imagine all of the applications for a handheld C= 64...this way they would also have some processing power with that SID chip...
      • I've toyed with the idea of building a ReBirth/TB-303 style pattern sequencer + realtime controls prog in C64 assembly. Unfortunately, my 6502 skillz are the opposite of 1337, ie non-existent. And I don't have a hardware C64 anyway. Wouldn't want one as my sole musical instrument, but it would work OK for bleepy-squelchy techno noises...
        • Dunno if this helps, but there's a SID Chip emulator for the PeeCee called SIDPLAY [geocities.com]. It only approximates the SID, which is really an impossible process, as the SID is a hybrid Analog/Digital Chip.

          I vaugely remembered hearing discussions about a C64 on a ISA/PCI card, but don't know if it's real or if one can even be found today.
      • you can take sid out of c64 without breaking it, so the c64 will still be usable, just without sounds.
      • I would just like to point out that "no one" is actually two words, not one. I realize that many Slashdotters are not native to the English language.
      • No C64's "die" in the creation of the Sidstation. Elektron bought up every available sidchip on the market awhile ago. They stopped being made years ago, but warehouses still had boxes and boxes of them.
      • I believe Elektron has stated that they only use virgin SID chips in the SIDstation. In fact, since SIDs are no long produced, Elektron's supply last year had dwindled to approximately 20 virgin chips, meaning only 20 more SIDstations could be sold. They later found another small batch of chips to continue production with, but these finds are never large; only 100-200 chips at a time. Therefore, future availability of the SIDstation is always in doubt.
      • ...you gotta check out QuadraSID. [www.refx.de] It's a VSTi for Cubase. Emulates 4 SID chips simultaneously for a total of 12 voices per instance of the VSTi. This is definitely one of my favorite virtual instruments. The sounds bring back fond memories of C64 Tetris - best soundtrack for a game EVER, even today. It was 40 minutes long for chrissake! :)

        alex
      • "...and since noone is making the C=64 now, this is sad..."

        You spoke TOO soon! Check out the CommodoreOne, [geocities.com] a re-creation of the famous C64, through the use of modern components.
        (PS- Jeri, the lady making it, is a fine-looking female!)
        • While that's a kewl project, there only seem to be 3 resellers (all in Europe)...And then, if you follow that link to the go64 article, you'll realise that the "MonsterSID" is a digital chip, therefore it suffers the same problem as all SID Chip emulators (no analog). The whole thing looks like nothing but a hardware emulation of the C64...I'm not saying that's bad (Coleco emulated the 2600 with their adapter module)...however, "pet projects" don't count...

          Kewl project though...(and yes, she does look good)
  • This is some amazing stuff, if anybody has anymore links to things like this, post em.
    • Okay - Cuttle Cart [schells.com]. Play any 2600 ROM on real hardware by encoding it as audio and playing it into the cart. A complete collection of Atari 2600 ROMs is six or seven 99-track CDs. That includes a large number of unreleased prototypes, modern releases and hacks.
      • The Cuttle Cart was used in the development of most of my 2600 projects. It allows you to go from source code to having the program running on a real Atari in a matter of seconds. It's a great tool and it's too bad he's not making them anymore. The Cuttle Cart is based on the Supercharger [cox.net]. -Paul
  • Were the demo mp3s encoded ON the atari ?

  • At least pick good music (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jvmatthe ( 116058 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @03:07AM (#4003709) Homepage
    ...console-perfect pitfall music...
    Yeesh. That's a terrible choice. The 'music' in Pitfall consisted mostly of Pitfall Harry doing a Tarzan yodel over on a vine, right? Maybe there was some bit of music when you started the game, but it was minimal.

    If you want to talk real Atari 2600 music, then at least pick something cool like California Games [atariage.com] ('Louie, Louie' and 'Wipeout') or BMX Airmaster [atariage.com]. Heck, even Pressure Cooker [atariage.com] had a catchy freakin' tune that puts Pitfall to shame.

    If by Pitfall [atariage.com] you really mean Pitfall II [atariage.com], then that wasn't really the Atari 2600 doing all the sound. That was a special chip on the cartridge (similar to the hack done with Ballblazer [atariage.com] on the Atari 7800) that was handlin the cool music. It was awesome, that I'll admit, but it really isn't the 2600 doing the work and the emulators that support it had to add specific support for that particular cartridge to make the music work correctly.

    • Dammit! The death music in Pitfall is hands down the peak of the craft. I'd love to be able to play that any time I wanted, without the cumbersomeness of actually playing Pitfall and dying.

  • for those interested (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The SID chip from the Commodore 64 was recently put into a separate synth named the Sidstation [sidstation.com]. It's not a hack but it's a hack gone professional - aka. an innovative product. Elektron, the people who make it, are the most impressive audio hardware manufacturer's around right now, IMO. I can only wait to see what they do next.

  • Strange place to find it... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by OneFix ( 18661 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @03:29AM (#4003759)
    I haven't seen mention of the relatively new song found on Andrew W.K.'s I Get Wet [amazon.com] warning: the album has caused some controversy over the artist's bloodied face on the cover. The track is called "Ready To Die" and it features an intro done on what sounds like a PSX...it sounds similar to the chocobo music in the Final Fantasy series and the whole album is a very interesting mix of synth, guitar, and piano.

  • i like it... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mattbland ( 260913 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @03:45AM (#4003792)
    and from the majority of comments on here i can see that most of you don't. you don't see the point. he ddi this for his own enjoyment. to make a machine to something it wasn't designed to. to push the bounderies.

    most of the comments on this story have been trolls, or sad people on about why does this belong here. it belongs because it's cool.

    slashdot may be news for nerds and stuff that matters, but stuff appears on slashdot also because of it's encentric appeal or sheer coolness. don't forget it.

    btw, i had a 2600 with star raiders back in the early eighties. it came with one of those 'keyboard' pads, which i tried to plug into my spectrum and monitor the outputs so that i could use it with a game i was writing. i got nothing out of it that the machine could read, so i'm actaully glad that someone used them for something else apart from the one or two games that needed them.

    • ...i can see that most of you don't. you don't see the point. he ddi this for his own enjoyment.

      And he sells them. Enough people think he's on to something that it's a paying proposition. He sells enough that in April he dropped the prices. I'm surprised the trolls haven't been complaining about /. using the front page for advertising, even though that's not at all what the story's about. It's impressive as hell, and the fact that it's totally useless doesn't really matter.

  • Sound insane... (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Well, I think the demos might sound insane because they've had a big amount of reverb put on them.

    They don't sound much more impressive than C64 demos (and probably less so, in fact), they just have nice postproduction!

  • GRONK PISSHA PI-GRONK GRONK PISSHA! (Score:3, Funny)

    by herrd0kt0r ( 585718 ) on Saturday August 03, 2002 @04:09AM (#4003821)
    aww JEAH! old sk00l ghetto synth in da hizzaus!

    as mentioned above, the sidstation [sidstation.com] uses SID chips from the commodore 64 to generate all sorts of crazeh beeps and gronks-- the site also has a ton of demos [sidstation.com] as well.

    for all you crazeh c64 SID toon fans, be sure to check out the High Voltage SID Collection [freeuk.com]! tons of great SID toons from your childhood, including, but not limited to:

    - Contra! bew bew bee boop ba boodaboop!
    - Commando! chikkachikkabowgronk!
    - Ultima IV! ba blinng! ba da bling! ba da bling. ba da blonng...
    - and who could forget the cutting edge voice synth of Neuromancer? SSSHOMM SHINNGS MMEEEVVERR CHANNNSGE!

    you'll need the SIDPlay plugin [geocities.com] to listen to these things with winamp. don't forget you can move the slider doohickey to choose from multiple tracks within each SID toon! WOOHOO!

  • Off Topic? (Score:2, Informative)

    by paganizer ( 566360 )

    My Brother, who is an Insane Genius©, Has been using Atari systems, mainly the 800 [atari-history.com]'s and the Mega ST [atari-history.com], since around '87 I think; He's got them hacked all to hell, built a scanner head into a printer, Parallel processing with random mutated code, good stuff like that.

    These machines are incredible for their era, which is not surprising considering they pretty much lost all the best talent in the company to Amiga [atari-history.com].

    Enjoy Freenet [freenetproject.org] & Frost [sourceforge.net] while you can.

  • Finally after 26 years of profound research someone has found useful utilization for the Atari 2600!!!

  • It really makes me think of how underused most technology is before we discard it and "upgrade" to the next better thing.

    I think we need more people like this who innovate new ideas into old technology and use it in ways it was never thought of to be used in, even if it is just for a hobby or personal employment. (Did I just say we need more hackers?)

    Also, check the songs he made with TWO ataris, wild.
  • Paul did a great job with the Synthcart. We held a Synthcart Beat Contest [atariage.com] back in February where users could submit beats that would be included on the final version of the cart. You can listen to all the submissions [atariage.com], at the buttom of the page. Many of them are quite good considering the instrument. :)

    Len Charest even created a web-based Synthcart Beat Data Generator [cogent.net] for the contest to assist people in generating the beatdata.h file necessary to recompile the beats binary that you could then run on an Atari 2600 to listen to your creations.

  • I can't believe no-one has mentioned the port of Doom for the Atari 2600 [planetquake.com] yet!
  • Amazing. Absolutely amazing.
    However i would have a few questions. First, what is the root device acting as the synthesizer. I believe that Atari was only capable of creating monophonic sounds from its own synthisizer. It is not possible to force and old synthesizer to create something it was not designed to do. Howver what i think that this guy did was create a synthesizer in a box, and used some good electronic engineering techniques to use the same electrical lines as the sound and control input/output, circumventing any microprocessing from the 2600 root board. Also i do question what type of sound quality the machine produces. If the lines inside the 2600 (soldered on a circuit board) are in good condition then he could transfer CD quality music through them. However impedance differences might create problems using noncommercial sound equipment. I applaud the man for creating a device that does indeed hack the Atari 2600, but maybe its not as cool as we thought
  • ...grab a copy of the album, "Nintendo Teenage Riot" by Alec Empire of Atari Teenage Riot fame. He made the entire album on a Game Boy.
  • I was right in the middle of playing Pitfall, when suddenly I noticed the game start to slow down.

    I scratched my head in wonderment until I notice Pitfall Harry stop in his tracks, give me the finger, and a crudely-drawn voice bubble appeared above his head with the words "1 0wnz0r j00R VCS, fagit!!!"

    Right away I knew I had been hacked, so I immediately lifted the phone cradle off my modem. Fortunately, it was only a 300 baud connection, so the culprit only made of with a K or so of the Pitfall! ROM that was inserted into the cartridge slot at the time. And simply cycling the power on the console wiped any malicious code he might have entered directly into the 2k of onboard RAM...

    Phew! Close calls...
  • Now what would really be impressive if he used those old thumb-buster joysticks to control the music!

    See how long you can DJ for before your hands fall off!

  • Synthcart (Score:2, Informative)

    by Paul Slocum ( 598127 )
    Wow! Slashdotted. And my page survived too. Now I just have to bowl and 300 and get on the gong show. :o)

    Programming the Atari 2600 is pretty unusual. I had never programmed anything else like it. The 128 bytes of RAM and crazy cycle dependency is really satisfying to conquer. For in-depth info on Atari 2600 programming, check out The Dig [neonghost.com].

    I've always had fun getting music out of devices that weren't really intended for it. One day I whipped together a really simple music program on the 2600 and it sounded so neat that I just kept adding features.

    The Synthcart does just use the Atari 2600's built in sound circuits. The only modification I did to my Atari was to get the audio before it goes to the RF modulator, but this was just for convenience. The 2600 has two independent oscillators. It's basically got 8 different waveforms, 4 bit volume control, and 5 bit pitch. The biggest limitation is the pitch since it's just divided down from the system clock, so you don't end up with many in-tune notes.

    There are a lot of other great Atari 2600 homebrew authors out there doing some neat stuff. You'll find most of their works on Hozer Video [hozervideo.com] and you can find info on works in progress on Atariage [atariage.com].

    See you at CGE!

    -Paul

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