Very frustrated with the iTunes app store C64 emulator problems. How many decades must pass before people realize that the C64 hardware, not to mention the decaying floppy disks and tapes are going to be dead without methods of enjoyment like this? Perhaps it will just be a minor speedbump in the scheme of things.

I also noticed to my disappointment that the “easy to use” Ubuntu Linux comes with a crippled version of VICE that is missing essential files and would not be easy for a casual user to find. Thanks be to .rpm files for Redhat and SUSE…

http://technologizer.com/2009/06/21/commodore-vs-iphone/

-Seth
ps- Jan, I got an xbox 360 for the VERY same reason! ahaha! Long live Wasteland!!

@Andrew: The timing of my Xbox purchase turned out to be impeccable, as the Live Arcade version of Portal was released a couple of days after I got the console (I never really cared for HL2/TF2 so I couldn’t be bothered to purchase The Orange Box just for Portal).

As for a Max Headroom special, it would be a short show: there’s only 6 remixes of it according to http://remix.kwed.org/?search=max+headroom. Plus the one by Marcel Donné that I played on episode 022, of course.

Jan here’s an idea for a show…how about all the best Max Headroom remixes?

Great show, I must say! I like the mix of remixes, news, discussions and SIDs a lot and it’s always nice to hear new songs that I haven’t found yet!

You mentioned that SIDplayer was released to iPhone/iPod Touch - why I of course had to search for it! SIDplayer comes both in a “lite” version and a regular version, where the “lite” version only enables a few selected SIDs. The regular costs 22SEK, which feels like an affordable price - then you can download the entire HVSC and update it when new stuff comes up.
It works nicely so I really recommend it. It’s easy to search but it lacks a “playlist” function, but I guess a later release will remedy that!

Keep up the good work! I hope to hear a new show before christmas!

I’ve always felt that the C64 Take-away should be about more than ‘just’ the music. Especially seing as I (like a lot of other people) will listen to every remix out there at least once anyway.

Also, fantasy RPGs just don’t have the same appeal as something that will let you empty a full clip on three approaching pistoleros, reducing them into a thin red paste.

After all, if all I want is the tunes I can just download and play stuff from Remix.Kwed.Org, etc.

So you were a Wasteland fan? Amazing I have yet to try/review that game. I need to put it on my short list. Mass Effect ate up a lot of personal time, so I’m sure Fallout 3 would do the same to me, but I’m a PC gamer, not a console gamer (I still consider the C64 a type of PC, never did like the Nintendo type stuff). Just something about using a keyboard that appeals to me.

Hope the next episode doesn’t take too long to come out!

_RM

@Fac: Glad you liked it. I look forward to you mocking my release schedule again next year.

I downloaded a listed. A great great episode. You have always been creating great episodes and hope the next will be more more interesting.

I’ve got some sound related news here if you’re interested:

They just came out with a sound related api for JS (oh, and P.S. it wraps the flash engine of course)..

http://www.schillmania.com/projects/soundmanager2/

http://noname.c64.org/csdb/scener/?id=8090

That being said, I didn’t really care much for the actual music in the Vicious SID demo. Mind you, now that the technology is in place, its just a matter of time before someone will use it to create some truly breathtaking tunes with it.

Here is the demo:
http://noname.c64.org/csdb/release/?id=72678
And here is dhe mp3:
http://www.scs-trc.net/x08/music/vicious_sid_mp3.zip

Remember, this sound actually comes from a C64, stunning eh?

Have a nice 2009 and congratulations on getting married!
- Merijn

As usual, a great selection of tunes that I otherwise might have missed from random RKO downloads. I also tend to skip tracks that don’t initially interest me in the first 10 seconds, but with your podcast I give them a full listen and am usually pleasantly surprised.

Have a Merry Christmas, and dust off that old C64 (or an emulator) for a game or two while you’re kicking back to some Yule-tide tunes!

Cheers,
-R.M.
C64 Walkabout

Based on my experience you should always suggest speaking over parts of the track when asking for permission to play something from a commercially available remix CD. Most of the time the artist will have no problem with you playing the track in its entirety, but others will ask you to either talk over parts of it or play only an except.

Personally I’m not a huge fan of DJs yelling obscenities over tracks to encourage people to buy them. As a listener I’d much rather prefer to have a voice-over on the intro/outro.

In the end it boils down to “ask first”.

Now, I don’t recall you ever doing this on your show, but I do recall hearing a few live shows on Slay Radio with “Boz” and I have a question about the ‘boz-clips’ that are play over the music to “ruin them” so that people will buy the commercial CDs. For instance you can’t very well play a song that has Boz yelling @#@!$!@ in the middle of the song when your mother or boss is in the room.

So with that being said, seeing as you are a member of the c64 remix community, and I figured you’d know, is this part of the “Gentleman’s agreement” that they have listed on Slay Radio? Or do you have to contact the people who make the remixes and they give you permission to play the song on your show provided that the song is “ruined” by one of the “Boz Clips”?

I just wondered how that worked because I’ve been looking into doing something similar myself. (Not a c64 podcast, more of a video podcast and doing the same thing with movies only riffing them instead (I’m a big MST3K/RiffTrax fan)…

Thank you,
Andrew J. Leer
http://leeand00.tiddlyspot.com/

Suggestion : give the time the tune plays with the tunes names.

Keep up your excellent work!

Hope hearing more and amaze my wife with the sounds.

Here’s a weird but possibly interesting story for next time:

http://www.pagetable.com/?p=48

Using Commodore Basic as a scripting language on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.

Also, congratulations on getting married chief!

Keep up the good work sir, oh, and congratulations on getting married too Jan!

Until next time…

- ben near San Francisco, California

And finally, I can listen to this at work!

@Brian: Glad you like the show. Stick around for more - I’m not quite dead yet.

Thought you might enjoy my little “interview” with remixer Chronberg. Of course we give ample recognition to Remix.Kwed.Org!

http://c64walkabout.com/2008/10/02/exclusive-interview-with-c64-remixer-chronberg.aspx

Cheers,
-R.M.

As for “I love my C64″ and “Great Gurianos CyberJungle remix”, you can grab both of them from http://Remix.Kwed.Org.

http://remix.kwed.org/?search_id=3747
http://remix.kwed.org/?search_id=3738

Is there a chance I can get the intro tune and the “Cyber Jungle” remix as MP3s somewhere?

René

-R.M.

I’ve had bouts of extreme obsession with things in the past only to find my interest wane over time. But I usually come back to these obsessions of mine in due time.

Maybe a little injection of retro C64 gaming at my blog will revive the spirit of a weary (or overworked in “real life”) previously prolific podcaster?

Cheers,
-R.M.

(And in case you’re one of those foreign types who couldn’t understand any of the above - Steen asked me to keep up the podcast, and I replied that I’d certainly try my best to keep up the irregular schedule.)

Jeg var simpelthen nødt til at komme forbi her, og sige mange tak for de pæne ord - jeg blev (næsten) helt rørt!

Tak for det Jan, og bliv ved med din podcast

Steen

There’s also a number of Kraftwerk references in C64 remixing. The booklet for Press Play On Tape’s “Run/Stop Restore” album includes an alternative cover, done in the style of Kraftwerks 1978 album “Man-Machine”. Also, PPOT have performed live dressed in red shirts and black ties.

Also, Makke did a Crazy Comets cover named “Komet Non-Stop” - after Kraftwerks “Musique Non-Stop”.

Look at this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHEoMpMvz7A&feature=related

I’ve only heard of them just today, but they seem to be the oldest eletronic band I’ve come across other than The Who. I really like their sound Jan!

The manual is a bit sparse, but DSOrganise seems to built as a generic tool that just happens to support SID playback. But since this application has proven the DS’ ability to play SIDs so I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of someone developing a ‘proper’ SID-player for the console sometime in the future.

In fact, if anyone reading this knows anyone in the DS homebrew community, start pestering them to make it happen.

Do the SIDs play one after another, or do you need to manually move it forward (one thing I hate about many SID players is the lack of a “playlist” feature that takes multiple tracks into account, or songs in multi-track SIDs that are cut short).

Cheers,
-R.M.

Oh, and there is a way to play SIDs on your Nintendo DS! It’s a homebrew program called DSOrganise (http://www.dragonminded.com/?loc=ndsdev/DSOrganize). I’m not sure if the author ported SIDPlay or made his own SID player, but it’s a way of playing SIDs on the go using your DS. I can’t vouch for the quality of sound compared to a real C64, since I haven’t owned or seen one myself

Keep up the good work!
-Charlie

Also, nice site you’ve created there - I’m quite flattered to be cited as the inspiration for it. Listened to your podcast on Ultimate Wizard and I’ll have to give it a spin on the emulator one of these days to see how it compares to Jumpman. Mind you, Lode Runner was always my platformer of choice.

First, the audio feedback/message site comes up with an “Page Not Found Oops! Looks like you followed a bad link.”

Second, I thought I’d tell you about the site I’m running now which was inspired by your site. Though the themes are completely different, and music is not the focus, I’d been wanting to do a sort of “gateway” to the Commodore 64 for newbies and old fans alike, a way to rediscover all of those old cool games, in addition to everything C64 related, new and old.

May seem a bit ambitious, but a primary theme will be to keep the focus on people who are new to the C64 or new to emulating a C64, and happenings in the C64 scene (like music) that might interest people who are (re)discovering the Commodore 64.

Anyway, your podcast inspired me to do a “blogcast” (although I’ve only posted one podcast on the old game Ultimate Wizard, and my regular blog posts outnumber it several times over).

Anyway, I figured I’d try to “spread the Commodore love” in my own way, and since teaching used to be a big part of my life, I figured, why not teach people how to enjoy C64 gaming once again?

The site is: c64.gotom.us (just using an old domain I’d bought some time back and have for many more years - haha)

Meanwhile, I continue to listen to your old podcasts, and find something new to enjoy every time!

I’m hooked on Chronberg’s remixes right now, and a little Hazel.

Cheers,
-Robinson Mason

- leeand00

Another super show!

I’ve missed the C64 Takeaway since the last show, but I’m glad to say that it’s good to have you back. I enjoyed the show while gardening (made it a little easier pulling weeds!)

Keep up the great work!

There’s a couple of writeups on it here:

http://remix64.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4777
http://www.bigmech.com/misc/c64mods/noisereduction.html

(Mind you, I can’t be held responsible if you end up frying your computer)

The last Green Beret tune went from Wendy Carlos to more of a Klaus Doldinger / Giorgio Moroder. Good stuff! Looking forward to the next podcast…(still have more to catch up on!)

Now I just need to fill it with disk images for the C64 emulator. =)

My ideal setup would be a C64 with an MMC64 cartridge, The MMC64 has a built-in SID player, so you can stick the entire HVSC on an Secure Digital card.

Unfortunately my C64 is tucked away in the basement due to space constraints, so I’m making do with the Mac version of SIDplay. The tunes played on the Take-away aren’t emulated, though - for those I use the straight-from-the-real-thing SID recordings on the various cd sets available from http://www.binaryzone.org/

I stumbled onto the bittorrent link at Remix.Kwed.Org (what a treasure trove of tunes) and found MULE and Master of Magic remixes in the “No Longer on” torrent, but just to have one of my requests hit your podcast is an honor, I really enjoy them.

By the way, speaking of SIDs, which I also love as-is, is there a good method/preferred program to make a playlist to play SID files consecutively in Windows?

The SID-plugin for WinAmp requires manual advancement of songs from what I could tell. A program called XMPlay has a much better plug-in, but it often messes up the projected length of songs and you are left with several empty minutes (for instance, 5 minutes of dead space after a 30 second SID clip). For now I use XMPlay, but it is not totally hands-free easy listening.

What do you use, if anything, to hear SID tunes back to back? (If you say an original C64 I might have to bust my old unit out - haha)

Cheers,
-R.M.

Just sat through a full podcast on my ride in to work today, perfect length for my commute!

- RM

Would love to hear a few remixes of songs from games that I’ve never heard elsewhere (haha- my “requests”) but haunt my eardrums occasionally:

“Realm of Impossibility” - by Electronic Arts
“Adventure Construction Set - Opening Theme” - by Electronic Arts
“Below the Root - Intro Theme”
“Archon and Archon II - Adept opening music”
“Master of Magic” By Mastertronic / Ron Hubbard

Anyway, great stuff!

- RM

If you guys are looking for new stuff to review, you might want to check out the “Syntax Era” album ( available on http://c64audio.com/ ) - it’s a brilliant blend of 80s pop and Commodore 64 classics - and I’m not just saying that because the producers are friends of mine.

I checked out your show a while ago, and I wanted to email you because I think you have a really great concept. Your shows are interesting, and I’ve had fun listening through them. The episodes keep getting better and better.

I’m always looking around for new shows to listen to because I’m a podcaster too. I do a weekly music review show called Have You Heard (http://www.haveyouheard.net). We interview musicians, talk about music news, and review two new records every week. You should check it out. I’d love some feedback on the show.

-Adam Trimble

http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-13636_11-188095-16.html

I don’t know why they are cracking a C64 open here, but if anybody wants to take a look at a SID chip there it is…

I’ve got a semi-8-bit commercial for you here…

http://creativity-online.com/work/view?seed=3kcWQIfc

They even use the C64 font right at the end!

Thanks for the podcast. Good to see you back.

CG, I just noticed that you’re doing a chiptune podcast yourself. I’ve grabbed the back catalogue, and will give the first one a spin on my commute tomorrow.

…good grief - WDR Radio Orchestra is like the BBC Symphonic Orchestra! I can’t believe it as much as Huelsbeck can’t :p

Thanks for your dedication!

Missed the show and it’s always an essential listen on my MP3 player! Keep up the great work.

Simon

Can’t wait to see you back again later this month…I have missed the retro beats on my iPod. (might download the archive again when I haven’t got a backlog of other podcasts to listen to.)

When you get back in *ahem* 2 months…check out this story:

http://news.zdnet.com/2008-9584_22-6222406.html?tag=nl.e550

It’s an interview with the guy that made the C64…

His name is Jack Tramiel. It’s a really boss story, I like it, hope you do too!

SUICIDE!!!

not

see you in feb 08 looking forward!