Krystian Iwaszko (Pinokio) - THC Kokot Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP @1ucasvb

1ucasvb *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This video has a lame naive timbre-capture algorithm: it just finds the first zero-crossing and locks it to the left side of the screen. This way you see waveforms aligned to each other - at least most of the time. A decent algorithm is trickier than I thought. Until then, have another one. YouTube needs more chiptune anyway.

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You can find this along with tons of other great Atari music on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

updated 12 years ago

Krystian Iwaszko (Pinokio) - THC Kokot Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP

1ucasvb 2014-06-20 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This video has a lame naive timbre-capture algorithm: it just finds the first zero-crossing and locks it to the left side of the screen. This way you see waveforms aligned to each other - at least most of the time. A decent algorithm is trickier than I thought. Until then, have another one. YouTube needs more chiptune anyway.

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You can find this along with tons of other great Atari music on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

Menu/Theme from Rats in a Cage, by Petr Hudeček (?)

1ucasvb 2023-01-24 | Found about this nice little game from the Alpha Beta Gamer channel, and fell in love with its general feel and soundtrack. This theme/menu music is really good, and I felt it deserves more appreciation!

It has this perfect mixture of being relaxing, while also full of resentfulness and cynicism. Fits perfectly the sort of annoying office environment the game explores.

Since the game and its music have not received as much love as they should, here it is as another entry in this series.

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About the game.

RATS IN A CAGE is an upcoming a darkly funny corporate bullshit puzzle game on Steam. Greedy CEO tasked you to hack Santa’s computer to rewrite everyone's wishes to the company’s discount coupons or get fired. But the computer is protected by a very rude AI which is willing to cross any lines to stop you.

Steam (demo available): store.steampowered.com/app/2085890/Rats_in_a_Cage
Official website: ratsinacage.com
Official YouTube: youtube.com/@ratsinacage9521

Double Pendulum - How close does it get from the initial conditions?

1ucasvb 2022-12-19 | Each pixel in this diagram represents the time evolution of a double pendulum with initial angles and angular velocities X0 = (theta1, theta2, 0, 0), from -pi to +pi in either direction. (The time matches the video's. The simulation runs for 40 seconds.)

The brightness of the pixels indicate how close that pendulum gets from its initial condition in phase space X0 (that is, both initial position AND speed are taken into account), with white being "it goes back exactly where it started". As the pendulum moves farther away in phase space, the pixel gets darker. The color mapping is a decaying exponential exp(-0.5*|X(t) - X0|) using Euclidean norm.

In other words, for a given time t, white regions indicate points where the pendulum is completing a closed orbit. As the double pendulum is chaotic, things get messy really quickly.

Music is a harp arrangement of the left-hand part in Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer".

Mandelbrots Abyss 4K (improved)

1ucasvb 2022-12-12 | Here's a different take on the the famous Mandelbrot Set fractal I haven't seen before.

The set is defined as the points c in the complex plane such that the infinite recursive map z = z² + c converges. Usually, one counts how many iterations before the point diverges and colors the fractal based on that number. If it doesn't diverge after a set limit, you assume it's in the set, so you paint the associated pixel black.

I had the idea of shading it not by iteration count alone, but also by the length of the orbits, that is, the cumulative difference as one steps the iterations. What you get is a soft "shadow" around the edges of each iteration. This gives the Mandelbrot Set the appearance of an infinite abyss, with holes on many layers stacked on top of one another. Each layer is a "floor", corresponding to a given iteration step diverging.

This suggested a cool intuitive interpretation of the Mandelbrot Set: an infinite abyss, and the set is the locations in the complex plane one would "fall forever" if you jumped in. Otherwise, you hit one of the layers. I thought this was a pretty cool take on it.

Inspired by this new perspective, I figured why not try to render this "Mandelbrot's Abyss" with parallax? This is the result of a quick ShaderToy code to do it. You can run it in real time here (needs good GPU):

shadertoy.com/view/cdBXDy

The "lumpiness" comes from a mistake I did when computing the divergence. I ended up using the L1 norm not L2. I think this does not exclude any point from the set, though. In my opinion, the abyss visuals look better when you have a lot of little circular platforms going down. With P=2.0 in the ShaderToy, things are too smooth and the structure only gets interesting in lower levels.

Audio is just something shitty/creepy for the fun of it. :P

Atomic Rock Paper Scissors (Post-Jam version gameplay)

1ucasvb 2021-10-21 | This is just me doing a showcase of the newest Post-Jam version of Atomic Rock Paper Scissors.

You can play it here: 1ucas.itch.io/atomic-rock-paper-scissors-post-ld

This is a more polished version of our Ludum Dare 49 Jam entry, with many little & big updates: ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/atomic-rock-paper-scissors/atomic-rock-paper-scissors-gets-a-major-update

No leaderboards yet, but not sure if it's worth the trouble. And I hope the music isn't too annoying, I did my best with my zero-skills in composition and limited time. This was actually the first time I ever tried to actually compose something! The music can be found at: soundcloud.com/lucasvb/sets/atomic-rock-paper-scissors

The game is probably not very balanced and many new features could be added. We actually came up with many cool things we could do, but we're going to work on a bigger, better remake using a proper engine, to be released on desktop & mobile later. This JavaScript version is really just a prototype now.

Atomic Rock Paper Scissors - Explosion stress testing (BLOWING STUFF UP!)

1ucasvb 2021-10-06 | Just me fooling around with a ridiculous amount of nukes in my Atomic Rock Paper Scissors game. Play it here: 1ucas.itch.io/atomic-rock-paper-scissors

In practice you cannot get this many nukes, of course. I was really trying to do stress-test the particle and explosion system, and see if the ramping of the volume was working as intended for chained explosions. But it's ridiculously satisfying to blow shit up.

This is due to a bug in the sound engine. In a couple of playthroughs I got a bunch of nukes to blow up together, but then any further nukes got muted and made no sound. It also significantly slowed down the animations .I figured it was a bug worth patching it up real quick.

Atomic Rock Papers Scissors (a game for the Ludum Dare 49 Game Jam - Theme: Unstable)

1ucasvb 2021-10-05 | This weekend was Ludum Dare 49 game-making event, the theme was "Unstable". Me and my sister joined the jam together. Here's a gameplay video of our entry: ATOMIC ROCK PAPERS SCISSORS! You can play it here: 1ucas.itch.io/atomic-rock-paper-scissors

I did the code, music and some minor graphics, and she did the graphics, sounds and some of the game design as well.

I actually think the idea we came up with is pretty fun. Needs balancing, but it could be a good game. We're gonna start working on a mobile version together.

The Fields are Blooming (from The Settlers II soundtrack by Haiko Ruttmann) [Orchestra Remake]

1ucasvb 2021-09-26 | I've always been very fond of this track from the game Settlers II, originally composed by Haiko Ruttmann. But I never felt the original MIDI nor the CD audio original lived up to its full potential.

This is my first attempt at getting there, although it's still not how I wanted. I envisioned it with more brass and more flowing string sections but it's pretty hard to get the dynamics right. For now, I'll upload this version since it's a mostly complete take on it, and I figured others might enjoy it.

I've had a very specific narrative in mind when I imagine an orchestration of this track. Due to the title and nature of the game, I always took it to be a dirge for the land itself (the blooming fields), and this is how I set it up. The focus on the settlers themselves is secondary. Here's how it goes:

The idea for this music, in my head at least, is to split the track into two parts: one shows the pristine wild nature during a warm day of spring, when the fields are blooming with flowers. An ominous sound of trumpets is foreboding the distant arrival of settlers, here to conquer this natural land and destroy it. After a moment of quiet, a sudden change in winds announces the arrival of the settlers in these lands.

The second part is about humans destroying nature in their settling of it, and the frenetic industry and war that results from it. (The strings symbolizing greed and death, with brass and anvils symbolizing industry and war.)

But all of this is just in a small patch of land. Meanwhile, not far from there, other blooming fields await their turn to be conquered and pillaged by the settlers, and we lament their fate under their arrival.

---

Anyway, I will probably revisit it later, now that I have a subscription to EastWest's ComposerCloud. But I really am out of my depth in how to use it properly.

This is just me fooling around during the weekend, not a serious attempt at anything.

Puzzle Castle (1996) - Game music and soundtrack (Game & CD audio rips, downloads in description)

1ucasvb 2021-01-09 | (For download links, see below.)
OK, this one is SUPER obscure, so I don't expect a lot of audience.

A good friend of mine mentioned this game as being a big part of her childhood, so I decided to rip the music of it for her! I suppose other people are also going to be very nostalgic about this game, so it would be nice to have it up on YouTube.

I reverse engineered the data files of the game to extract the music (a pretty weird fragmented use of RIFF), and there's a lot of shorter musical cues that were not included in this video but are included in the ZIP archives (links below). The game also included 4 Redbook audio songs, which I also ripped and included in the end. "Join the Party" and "Banquet Song" also appear in-game in lower quality, so I only included the high quality versions here. But all are included in the ZIPs.

Download links:
- MP3: http://1ucasvb.com/stuff/puzzlecastleost/Puzzle_Castle_MP3.zip
- OGG: http://1ucasvb.com/stuff/puzzlecastleost/Puzzle_Castle_OGG.zip
- FLAC: http://1ucasvb.com/stuff/puzzlecastleost/Puzzle_Castle_FLAC.zip

The game is actually quite well made, especially for a children's game! With great music, cute illustrations, many fun animations, little details all over the place, references to some things only older audiences would get (like The Beatles), good voice acting, etc. Clearly a work of passion to all that were involved! It's a shame it's all been mostly forgotten, so hopefully this video brings a bit more appreciation to this work many artists and developers put a lot of dedication into. :)

Here's a complete playthrough: youtube.com/watch?v=POqJJw4Ei-A

"Puzzle Castle" was based on a book by the same name, written by Susannah Leigh and illustrated by Brenda Haw, and published by Usborne Publishing. There are many other books in the "Puzzle" series, but only "Puzzle Castle" was made into a game.

The game was a joint venture of Trampoline, Media Station Inc. and Usborne Publishing, and the music was composed by Media Station's CEO at the time, David Gregory.

I hope those people nostalgic for this game out there enjoy it! :)

Timestamps:

00:00 Puzzle Castle Theme
00:15 The Adventure Starts (Cross the Moat)
00:57 Where is Titus? (Castle Entrance)
01:41 Royal Portraits (Picture Gallery)
02:37 Princess Posy's Problem
03:37 The Look-Out Tower (Dung Catapult)
04:21 Beth & the Babies
05:34 In the Kitchen
06:21 Which Way Now? (Basement Doors)
07:29 The Wizard's Den
08:43 Sophie Finds the Way (Maze)
09:36 The Monster's Lair
10:42 Success!
11:23 The Grand Banquet
12:01 Join the Party (CD)
13:09 Princess Posy's Song (CD)
14:45 Beth's Song (Beth's Lament) (CD)
16:33 Banquet Song (Finale) (CD)

(I just love "Join the Party", such a fun song!)

Bartek Wąsiel (BeWu) - Candy Mountain Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP

1ucasvb 2017-01-08 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty.

I figured BeWu from Grayscale Project wasn't getting enough love on my channel, so I'll upload some of his music too.

This is a video made with a complete rewrite of my original Python script, which I'll be releasing to the public soon after a few more tweaks to the algorithm.

I finally got around to implementing my "TimbreCapture" algorithm, which finds the exact waveform shape being repeated for a note (the timbre's minimum waveform) and consistently centers it on screen. This way we can always see the exact shape of the wave being played at any given moment and how it changes.

It's working well so far (misses a few weirder waveforms), but I still need to add a couple more features to it. Stay tuned for the source code soon.

Oh, and there's more! I'm also going to be releasing the source code for my tool to convert POKEY dumps to MIDI files. These will require a modified version of asapscan from the ASAP library.

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The Grayscale Project is an awesome Atari 8-bit music collaboration from Poland. Members are:
Grzegorz Kwiatek (Greg), Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) and Bartek Wąsiel (BeWu).
http://grayscale.scene.pl/en_index.php

You can find their work, along with tons of other great Atari music, on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

[60fps] Grzegorz Kwiatek (Greg) - Misunderstanding Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP

1ucasvb 2017-01-08 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty.

Here's Greg's "Misunderstanding" once more, but in 60 FPS and with the new TimbreCapture algorithm.

This is my favorite Atari POKEY chiptune, but it has a bug: if it loops, the tempo of the loop is reduced to 1/4, which gives this song a very somber and ominous feel to it. Check it out: youtube.com/watch?v=vsnuAuGwb54

However, that is not how it was intended to be played, apparently, so true to the name that was nothing but a misunderstanding from my part. I still love that bugged version and to me that'll always be the real version of this song.

Either way, instead instead of publishing the bugged version, I'm putting up the trimmed normal version. If you guys really want me to put the full version, let me know in the comments and I'll revert this video to the original longer version.

This is a video made with a complete rewrite of my original Python script. I finally got around to implementing my "TimbreCapture" algorithm, which finds the exact waveform shape being repeated for a note (the timbre's minimum waveform) and consistently centers it on screen. This way we can always see the exact shape of the wave being played at any given moment and how it changes.

It's working well so far (misses a few weirder waveforms), but I still need to add a couple more features to it.

Oh, and there's more! I'm also going to be releasing my tool to convert POKEY dumps to MIDI files. These will require a modified version of asapscan from the ASAP library.

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The Grayscale Project is an awesome Atari 8-bit music collaboration from Poland. Members are:
Grzegorz Kwiatek (Greg), Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) and Bartek Wąsiel (BeWu).
http://grayscale.scene.pl/en_index.php

You can find their work, along with tons of other great Atari music, on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

Tomasz Dajczak - Eureka (Theme / Song 4) Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP (NEW ALGORITHM)

1ucasvb 2017-01-08 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty.

This is a video made with a complete rewrite of my original Python script, which I'll be releasing to the public soon after a few more tweaks to the algorithm.

I finally got around to implementing my "TimbreCapture" algorithm, which finds the exact waveform shape being repeated for a note (the timbre's minimum waveform) and consistently centers it on screen. (Although, like in this video, I think it looks better when it's NOT centered and is anchored on the left side.)

This way we can always see the exact shape of the wave being played at any given moment and how it changes.

It's working well so far (misses a few weirder waveforms), but I still need to add a couple more features to it.

I'm trying to figure out what's the ideal way to handle those very fast note changes/arpeggios. For now, I'll be trying it out on some shorter and lesser known songs (which I still think are nice) just to get more stuff out there and try the new algorithm out in different cases.

Stay tuned for the source code soon.

Oh, and there's more! I'm also going to be releasing the source code for my tool to convert POKEY dumps to MIDI files. These will require a modified version of asapscan from the ASAP library.

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You can find more of Tomasz Dajczak's work, along with tons of other great Atari music, on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

[60fps] Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) - Zizibum Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP (NEW ALGORITHM!)

1ucasvb 2017-01-07 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty.

Here's Lukasz Sychowicz amazing "Zizibum", now in 60 frames per second and with the new algorithm.

This is a video made with a complete rewrite of my original Python script, which I'll be releasing to the public soon after a few more tweaks to the algorithm.

I finally got around to implementing my "TimbreCapture" algorithm, which finds the exact waveform shape being repeated for a note (the timbre's minimum waveform) and consistently centers it on screen. This way we can always see the exact shape of the wave being played at any given moment and how it changes.

It's working well so far (misses a few complicated waveforms), but I still need to add a couple more features to it. Stay tuned for the source code soon.

I also decided to post this track as I've been working on an orchestration of it, which I'll post in about a week or so.

Oh, and there's more! I'm also going to be releasing the source code for my tool to convert POKEY dumps to MIDI files. These will require a modified version of asapscan from the ASAP library.

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The Grayscale Project is an awesome Atari 8-bit music collaboration from Poland. Members are:
Grzegorz Kwiatek (Greg), Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) and Bartek Wąsiel (BeWu).
http://grayscale.scene.pl/en_index.php

You can find their work, along with tons of other great Atari music, on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) - Overmind (Song 1) Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP

1ucasvb 2017-01-07 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty.

This is a video made with a complete rewrite of my original Python script, which I'll be releasing to the public soon after a few more tweaks to the algorithm.

I finally got around to implementing my "TimbreCapture" algorithm, which finds the exact waveform shape being repeated for a note (the timbre's minimum waveform) and consistently centers it on screen. This way we can always see the exact shape of the wave being played at any given moment and how it changes.

It's working well so far (misses a few weirder waveforms), but I still need to add a couple more features to it. Stay tuned for the source code soon.

Oh, and there's more! I'm also going to be releasing the source code for my tool to convert POKEY dumps to MIDI files. These will require a modified version of asapscan from the ASAP library.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Grayscale Project is an awesome Atari 8-bit music collaboration from Poland. Members are:
Grzegorz Kwiatek (Greg), Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) and Bartek Wąsiel (BeWu).
http://grayscale.scene.pl/en_index.php

You can find their work, along with tons of other great Atari music, on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) - Zbig Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP (NEW ALGORITHM!)

1ucasvb 2017-01-07 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty.

Here's Lukasz Sychowicz cover of "L'Amour Toujours (I'll Fly With You)" from L'Amour Toujours by Gigi d'Agostino, which he titled "Zbig" for some reason.

This is the second video made with a complete rewrite of my original Python script, which I'll be releasing to the public soon after a few more tweaks to the algorithm.

I finally got around to implementing my "TimbreCapture" algorithm, which finds the exact waveform shape being repeated for a note (the timbre's minimum waveform) and consistently centers it on screen. This way we can always see the exact shape of the wave being played at any given moment and how it changes.

It's working well so far, but I still need to add a couple more features to it. Stay tuned for the source code soon.

I also decided to post this track as I've been working on an orchestration of it, which I'll post in about a week or so.

Oh, and there's more! I'm also going to be releasing the source code for my tool to convert POKEY dumps to MIDI files. These will require a modified version of asapscan from the ASAP library.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Grayscale Project is an awesome Atari 8-bit music collaboration from Poland. Members are:
Grzegorz Kwiatek (Greg), Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) and Bartek Wąsiel (BeWu).
http://grayscale.scene.pl/en_index.php

You can find their work, along with tons of other great Atari music, on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

Jakub Husak - His Dark Majesty (Song 4) Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP (NEW ALGORITHM!)

1ucasvb 2017-01-07 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty.

For this video, here's one of the in-game songs composed by Jakub Husak for the extremely recent Atari computer game "His Dark Majesty", published in 2010. Yes, people still make games for old platforms! It's a pretty cool game, actually. Official website: http://hdm.atari.pl/

This is the first video made with a complete rewrite of my original Python script, which I'll be releasing to the public soon after a few more tweaks to the algorithm.

I finally got around to implementing my "TimbreCapture" algorithm, which finds the exact waveform shape being repeated for a note (the timbre's minimum waveform) and consistently centers it on screen. This way we can always see the exact shape of the wave being played at any given moment and how it changes.

It's working well so far, but I still need to add a couple more features to it. Stay tuned for the source code soon.

I also decided to post this track as I've been working on an orchestration of it, which I'll post in about a week or so.

Oh, and there's more! I'm also going to be releasing the source code for my tool to convert POKEY dumps to MIDI files. These will require a modified version of asapscan from the ASAP library.

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Check out His Dark Majesty, which you can play using an Atari computer emulator: http://hdm.atari.pl/

You can find more of Jakub Husak's work, along with tons of other great Atari music, on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

The Weather Man (2005) - Fast Food scene

1ucasvb 2016-09-18 | "The first time I was struck with something, a chicken breast from Kenny Rogers, I was standing next to a garbage pail.

I thought it might've been an accident, that they were throwing it out.

The second time, it hit me square on the chin, a soft taco.

Then, pop. A falafel. McNuggets.

Always fast food.

Fast food.

Shit people would rather throw out than finish.

It's easy. It tastes all right, but it doesn't really provide you any nourishment.

...

I'm fast food."

Dave Spritz, The Weather Man (2005)

Music: either "Mini Bar" or "Disappointed" from the original score by Hans Zimmer.

Test run of my Universal Resonator prototype

1ucasvb 2016-07-10 | Here's a quick demo of one of my current projects, what I'm calling an "Universal Resonator". This was my final project for this semester's experimental physics class at my university, but it's an old idea I had in mind for quite some time.

The idea is to have a device that, when put over surfaces, detects their resonant frequencies and then generates vibrations at that frequency. This way, we can see how everyday objects resonate.

This is merely a prototype. I'm already working on a better and more portable version.

This device makes use of my Lazy Discrete Fourier Transform (LDFT) algorithm, which is what's used to detect and isolate the low resonant frequencies that most objects have. Pitch detection algorithms like zero-crossings, auto-correlation or FFT/FHT are not good enough for this use, so I had to come up with my own thing.

I also had to write my own code to handle the OLED, because I can't afford 1024 bytes on a 128x64 bitmap buffer, like most libraries do. My code only uses 6 bytes of memory, and it simplifies things because I'm really just writing text and vertical columns, so I can specialize the code for my needs. It's also good because I had to make my own bitmap font, so I created the characters that are more useful to me.

Lazy Discrete Fourier Transform on the Arduino Uno

1ucasvb 2016-06-11 | I got around to implementing my "Lazy Discrete Fourier Transform" algorithm on the Arduino Uno yesterday. Not all the optimizations are in place yet, but it's running nicely so far, pretty much real time.

The data comes from the ADXL345 digital accelerometer, which is set to a sampling rate of 800 Hz, detecting +/- 4g at 10 bits of precision.

The code first grabs around 3000 samples of the Z acceleration, and uses it to compensate for the gravity and the orientation of the sensor.

The data is ran through my LDFT algorithm, which finds the amplitude at frequencies from 0 to 299 Hz with precision of slightly more than 1 Hz per bin (bins always overlap with this method, AFAIK), each bin at 16 bits integer precision. Absolute value of the transform is shown in the OLED in the 0-127 Hz range, so it's 1 bin per column.

You can see it detecting a peak reliably at around 13-14 Hz, which is the resonant frequency of my table (which I measured before with more precise methods). At the end you can see it detecting 0 Hz (constant gravity) plus some sensor noise as I tilt the sensor.

The whole idea behind the algorithm wasn't implemented yet, and I don't think I'll need it in practice given current results, but it would allow many other different optimizations. I'll have to study more signal processing theory to really see what's going on and see if it's more than a silly hack.

The main point is that I'm more interested in lower frequencies than higher frequencies, so Fast Fourier/Hartley Transforms would require me to store a lot of samples to detect those reliably. With limited memory, as in the Arduino Uno where I only have 2048 bytes of SRAM, I cannot afford that approach. Those transforms also extract the entire spectrum, so they spend a lot of computation on the higher frequencies I don't care about.

The low frequency vibrations I'll be detecting are also short lived, so the whole FFT/FHT approach wouldn't work well enough because windowing at different times could mess it all up, especially since the windows have to be large.

Wavelet transforms might have helped, but it's not trivial to implement and it seems to me they would perform badly on the Arduino as well.

My algorithm is an alternative take on the problem that takes all these issues under consideration. It's optimized to detect amplitudes of lower frequencies in short bursts of signals. (So in principle, it sounds similar to wavelets, but I'm not using anything like wavelets.)

But, as opposed to FFT/FHTs/wavelets, the result is not a complete representation of the data. Part of the optimization is that I explicitly discard a lot of the information in the signal based on certain assumptions of regularity and the frequencies of interest. This is one of the ideas behind the algorithm, so applicability may be really limited.

I'll have to study the approach and signal processing theory in more detail (and more algorithms that do similar things) before I give out any specific details on this, as maybe there's something worth publishing more formally in here, instead of just copying and pasting my code online.

Probably not, as I'm a pretty stupid person, so I doubt I'd stumble upon something big.

It's just nice to see my own little hack working.

Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) vs my lazy Discrete Fourier Transform (LDFT)

1ucasvb 2016-06-01 | Here's a straight up comparison between the FFT (in blue) and my algorithm (in red), which so far I'll just call "lazy discrete Fourier transform" (LDFT)

This is audio sampled at 44100 Hz, the final notes of "Magnetic Rag" by Scott Joplin, as played by Alessandra Celletti.

FFT was taken with a 1024 sample cosine window (16-bit integers), which by Shannon-Nyquist gives us a 512 bins of 44100/1024 ~ 43 Hz bandwidth, from 0 Hz to 22050 Hz. In other words, the FFT spends A LOT of time, processing and memory on higher frequencies. But I don't care about those!

This is why I rolled out my own method, which I could dynamically bias towards the lower frequencies with different bandwidths. Couldn't find anything in the literature about this, so I came up with my own stupid algorithm. It's not really a sparse DFT or a straight up DFT either, from the looks of it. Haven't found anything similar. Doubt it's revolutionary, just a really lazy specific implementation of the general ideas.

My method here was biased towards the lower frequencies. I used 512 bins (each a 16-bit int).

For my specific purposes this method seems much better in terms of memory and computations. I'll load this up on the Arduino later this week and see how well it goes.

It certainly looks more promising than a 256 sample but 128 frequency bin Discrete Hartley Transform on that thing!

I'll work out the details of the theory behind this thing a little bit more and make a post about it somewhere. I'll let the experts tell me how stupid and trivial it is, which is fine, but I'm sure other people could benefit from it.

EDIT 1: A naive implementation is too slow, but there's several ways to optimize it. Will work on it more.

EDIT 2: Got it working in real time on the Arduino Uno now: youtube.com/watch?v=ON6XEtqmbgI

Test for my discrete Fourier/Hartley-like transform algorithm

1ucasvb 2016-06-01 | I'm working on an Arduino project which needs to get accelerometer data and find the peaks in the frequency spectrum.

However, the Arduino Uno only has 2048 bytes of SRAM, which is pretty much nothing.

The usual libraries for spectrum analysis use the Fast Hartley Transform, which runs on at most 256 16-bit samples. You need to store them in an array, window, transform then read the results. In total, the damn thing eats up about half of the memory available, and it's super slow considering data keeps pouring in.

This also sucks because that'd mean I could only detect frequencies up to half of the sampling rate. Half of the transform is just redundant, as it is

I needed something faster that can run on any range of frequencies I want and that used less memory. So I came up with some dumb, kinda naive algorithm to do it. It worked really well!

I might write about this later on. Lots of ideas for ways to refine it.

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This was the result of a prototype, made in Python, of the algorithm running over a sound file, the last few notes of "Magnetic Rag" by Scott Joplin, as played by Alessandra Celletti.

The results compare very well with the abs value of the FFT of the same data, although my algorithm works different than the usual FFT.

Chiptune Orchestra - Piona by Łukasz Sychowicz AKA X-Ray (Atari POKEY)

1ucasvb 2016-04-26 | I always thought some chiptunes, especially using Atari POKEY, could work as orchestral pieces.

So I decided to orchestrate a few!

The goal is to be as faithful as possible. No notes were added other than octaves or reusing existing chords and bits of melody, to keep the melody intact. A few minor transitions were also added to make the layering more interesting, but this is merely a time aesthetic, not tone.

This is "Piona" (subsong 1) by the POKEY master, Lukasz "X-Ray" Sychowicz.

Here's the original: youtube.com/watch?v=krGRhxfO5Eg

I've been fooling around with this one forever, but I never managed to get the instrumentation juuuust right. I don't have the proper woodwinds and brass styles I need.

This is the best I managed so far.

The original has a nicer punch to the beats. I really wanted to do that using a brass and woodwind ensemble sound, but nothing I tried sounded good enough. I ended up doing it in the piano, which makes it smaller.

There's also a very high pitched bit near the end of the loops that I really really really tried to make it work, but I ran into problems.

First, my script that extracts notes from POKEY data and converts to a MIDI file didn't manage to extract those notes. They come from a very specific technique that I couldn't really find a way to map to pitches.

I tried transcribing them manually, but it took a long time get just a little bit. It's too fast and the waveform is just super weird.

The bit I DID manage to transcribe, I tried my best to make it work Best I could make it was with a xylophone, but it's just way too fast to be "orchestrable", in my view. Sadly, I had to leave it out. Maybe some day I'll find a way to get that part right.

It's a very short piece that loops, so I had to play around with some repeating bits, changing the instrumentation, to make it more interesting. This may be boring to some, but I don't want to change the tune, remember?

I'm following a Ravel's Boléro sort of philosophy here: change the flavor of the sound, not the tune.

It all could be better, of course, but since I'm the only person that cares enough to give this sort of thing a try I have nothing else to compare to.

Hope you guys like it! I've been listening to it for a while now and I'm rather fond of the result, even if it's not exactly what I have in mind.

Orchestrated Game Music: Dawn of City AKA 10000.mid, by Sue Kasper from the game SimCity 2000

1ucasvb 2016-04-16 | Here's a very hasty and lazy orchestration of that song from Sim City 2000 that nobody else seems to like.

Yeah, it sounds a bit weird. That's how it really is, if you check the original.

No, I'm not going to fix it.

General Relativity - Conceptual illustration of time and space distortion

1ucasvb 2016-04-11 | Here's a conceptual illustration of time and space being distorted, as in General Relativity.

The actual distortion occurs in 4D spacetime, and this is merely an illustration made as an attempt to improve on the typical "rubber sheet" model. The space and time distortion were exaggerated for illustration purposes.

Orchestrated Game Music: Song 3, by Simeon Peebler, from the game Warheads SE

1ucasvb 2015-05-06 | Here's the game music #3 from the old school gravity shooter "Warheads SE"

I always thought this song deserved more love. So here's an orchestration of it! I have not changed notes or the melody at all, I only reproduced everything as closely as possible while aiming for the spirit of an orchestral instrumentation.

Original can be found in my channel: youtube.com/watch?v=gr_gqhagJrk

Download available: soundcloud.com/lucasvb

Chiptune Orchestra - Draconus by Adam Gilmore (Atari POKEY)

1ucasvb 2015-04-09 | I always thought some chiptunes, especially using Atari POKEY, could work as orchestral pieces.

So I decided to orchestrate a few!

This is the theme for the game "Draconus", by Adam Gilmore. Here's the original: youtube.com/watch?v=OOwtBwrh4Rs

The goal is to be as faithful as possible. No notes were added other than octaves or reusing existing chords, to keep the melody intact. A few minor transitions were also added to make the layering more interesting, but this is merely a time aesthetic, not tone.

Sometimes this doesn't quite work, as in the last portion of this piece. It doesn't seem to translate well. This is the best I could do for now.

I could've polished this more as well. I may try again in the future, as this is such a great tune.

Chiptune Orchestra - Global War by Peter Elfinger (Atari POKEY)

1ucasvb 2015-04-02 | I always thought some chiptunes, especially using Atari POKEY, could work as orchestral pieces.

So I decided to orchestrate a few!

The goal is to be as faithful as possible. No notes were added other than octaves or reusing existing chords, to keep the melody intact. A few minor transitions were also added to make the layering more interesting, but this is merely a time aesthetic, not tone.

This is "Global War" by Peter Elfinger. Here's the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-f3eDqMZpY

I could've polished this more but given the obscurity of this piece, I decided to upload it as it is.

Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) - Maxi 2, Song 2 Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP

1ucasvb 2014-06-21 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos. I had this one lying around for a while, so I decided to upload it too.

This video has a lame naive timbre-capture algorithm: it just finds the first zero-crossing and locks it to the left side of the screen. This way you see waveforms aligned to eachother - at least most of the time. A decent algorithm is trickier than I thought. Until then, have another one. YouTube needs more chiptune anyway.

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The Grayscale Project is an awesome Atari 8-bit music collaboration from Poland. Members are:
Grzegorz Kwiatek (Greg), Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) and Bartek Wąsiel (BeWu).
http://grayscale.scene.pl/en_index.php

You can find their work, along with tons of other great Atari music, on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

Nils Feske (505) - Short Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP

Sal Esquivel (Kjmann) / Kenet & Rez - Unreal Superhero 3 Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP

1ucasvb 2014-06-20 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This video has a lame naive timbre-capture algorithm: it just finds the first zero-crossing and locks it to the left side of the screen. This way you see waveforms aligned to each other - at least most of the time. A decent algorithm is trickier than I thought. Until then, have another one. YouTube needs more chiptune anyway.

Here's an Atari POKEY remake of one of the most well-known chiptune tracks of all time, "Unreal Superhero 3", used on a famous keygen by Digital Insanity.

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You can find this along with tons of other great Atari music on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

Unappreciated Game Music: Ingame Music by Lee Nicklen AKA Kayotix (Nitromes Rust Yard)

1ucasvb 2014-03-08 | Continuing my series of videos on Unappreciated Game Music. I'll be posting music most people don't seem to care about, from games most people don't seem to be aware of.

Here's the in-game music composed by Lee Nicklen for Nitrome's "Rust Yard". Nitrome is well known for their top-notch Flash games, and Lee Nicklen was behind a lot of their soundtracks.

This track, however, stands out to me. It is one of the best pieces of music on a Flash game I've ever heard, on the level of Amanita Design's games (Samorost 2 and Machinarium). I could not legally buy it, however, because iTunes and Amazon MP3 Store block Brazil, but I managed to get someone in the US to buy this track for me.

You can listen to Rust Yard's soundtrack on Lee Nicklen's SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/nitrome-music-by-nicklen9/sets/rust-yard

If you enjoy this, buy the track and support the artist: http://www.kayotix.com/news/nitrome/rustyard

Play "Rust Yard" at Nitrome's website: http://www.nitrome.com/games/rustyard

Unappreciated Game Music: Main Theme by Israel Castro (Oddy Smogs Misadventure)

1ucasvb 2014-03-08 | I decided to start a new series of videos: Unappreciated Game Music. I'll be posting music most people don't seem to care about, from games most people don't seem to be aware of.

Here's the main in-game music composed by Israel Castro for PlayMedusa's mobile game "Oddy Smog's Misadventure", available for both Android and iOS.

If you enjoy this, buy the track and support the artist: http://playmedusa.bandcamp.com/track/oddy-smogs-misadventure-main-theme

PlayMedusa's website: http://playmedusa.com

The continuous Fourier Transform of rect and sinc functions (animation)

1ucasvb 2013-03-03 | The continuous Fourier transform takes an input function f(x) in the time domain and turns it into a new function, ƒ̂(x) in the frequency domain.

In the first animation, the Fourier transform (as usually defined in signal processing) is applied to the rectangular function, returning the normalized sinc function.

More information: http://1ucasvb.tumblr.com/post/44489240563/the-continuous-fourier-transform-takes-an-input

Completing the Square (animation)

1ucasvb 2013-02-03 | Animation for Wikipedia and related projects.

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Completing_the_square

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Completing_the_square.gif

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Completing_the_square.ogv

Gram-Schmidt Process / Orthonormalization of a basis in R³ (animation)

1ucasvb 2013-02-02 | This is an animation for Wikipedia and related projects. It shows the Gram-Schmidt process for obtaining an orthonormal basis for R³, using the usual dot product.

The GIF version: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gram-Schmidt_orthonormalization_process.gif

Rolling Racers - Moment of Inertia (animation)

1ucasvb 2013-01-05 | "An object's moment of inertia I determines how much it resists rotational motion. In this simulation, four objects are placed on a ramp and left to roll without slipping. Starting from rest, each will experience an angular acceleration based on their moment of inertia."

More details and the related math, as well as the POV-Ray source code, are available at the media page: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rolling_Racers_-_Moment_of_inertia_(HD).ogv

----------

Just another animation for Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons I did. Rendered it in HD, so I figured I'd post it here as well.

Line integral of a scalar field (animation)

1ucasvb 2012-08-17 | Animation I created for Wikipedia and related projects. Decided to upload the high-resolution version here as well, as it may be helpful to others.

Link to the animated GIF: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Line_integral_of_scalar_field.gif

Link to the VECTOR FIELD version:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Line_integral_of_vector_field.gif

--------

Line integral of a scalar field, f. The area under the curve C, traced on the surface defined by z = f(x,y), is the value of the integral.

A scalar field has a value associated to each point in space. Examples of scalar fields are height, temperature or pressure maps. In a two-dimensional field, the value at each point can be thought of as a height of a surface embedded in three dimensions. The line integral of a curve along this scalar field is equivalent to the area under a curve traced over the surface defined by the field.

In this animation, all these processes are represented step-by-step, directly linking the concept of the line integral over a scalar field to the representation of integrals familiar to students, as the area under a simpler curve. A breakdown of the steps:

1. The color-coded scalar field f and a curve C are shown. The curve C starts at a and ends at b

2. The field is rotated in 3D to illustrate how the scalar field describes a surface. The curve C, in blue, is now shown along this surface. This shows how at each point in the curve, a scalar value (the height) can be associated.

3. The curve is projected onto the plane XY (in gray), giving us the red curve, which is exactly the curve C as seen from above in the beginning. This is red curve is the curve in which the line integral is performed. The distances from the projected curve (red) to the curve along the surface (blue) describes a "curtain" surface (in blue).

4. The graph is rotated to face the curve from a better angle

5. The projected curve is rectified (made straight), and the same transformation follows on the blue curve, along the surface. This shows how the line integral is applied to the arc length of the given curve

6. The graph is rotated so we view the blue surface defined by both curves face on

This final view illustrates the line integral as the familiar integral of a function, whose value is the "signed area" between the X axis (the red curve, now a straight line) and the blue curve (which gives the value of the scalar field at each point). Thus, we conclude that the two integrals are the same, illustrating the concept of a line integral on a scalar field in an intuitive and more familiar away.

Nils Feske (505) - Gamma Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP

1ucasvb 2012-08-13 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This video has a lame naive timbre-capture algorithm: it just finds the first zero-crossing and locks it to the left side of the screen. This way you see waveforms aligned to each other - at least most of the time. A decent algorithm is trickier than I thought. Until then, have another one. YouTube needs more chiptune anyway.

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You can find this along with tons of other great Atari music on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

Kazuo Hanzawa - Gunstar Heroes (Rolling Chaser) Chiptune Visualization

1ucasvb 2011-12-07 | So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. I thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This time, a 16 bit platform! Why the hell not? A chip is a chip.

Here's "Rolling Chaser" from the EXCELLENT game Gunstar Heroes. Always been very fond of this game and this track, but I'll be honest here, I don't think it looks that interesting.

I really love the way this game's music sound like. It's very different and full of "metallic" timbres. I love it! I'll upload "Military on the Max-Power" as well from this game. Feel free to suggest anything else.

The Mega Drive / Genesis also had a Texas Instruments SN76489 chip, as found in the Master System. Some games used it, others did not. It was used in this track, and you can see two square waves and a white noise channel somewhere in there. The bottom channel is the YM2612's digital audio channel.

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You can find this along with several other awesome Sega Mega Drive / Genesis music at Project2612:
http://project2612.org

Neil Baldwin - Magician (Abadon Battle / Final Boss) Chiptune Visualization / NES NSF

1ucasvb 2011-12-04 | So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This time, I decided to try a different platform, so I picked the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Here's one of tracks from the game "Magician", one of the most underrated game scores for the NES. I'll upload two or three more tracks from this game.

This was the first time the author, Neil Baldwin, worked on the NES. He has a break-down on his website where he describes the influences and challenges of composing each track. Very interesting read: http://dutycyclegenerator.com

Track requested by beefinator14. (Dude's got some good taste.)

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You can find this along with several other NES music at Zophar's Domain NSF Archive:
http://www.zophar.net/music/nsf.html

Neil Baldwin - Magician (Lake) Chiptune Visualization / NES NSF

1ucasvb 2011-12-04 | So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This time, I decided to try a different platform, so I picked the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Here's one of tracks from the game "Magician", one of the most underrated game scores for the NES. I'll upload two or three more tracks from this game.

This was the first time the author, Neil Baldwin, worked on the NES. He has a break-down on his website where he describes the influences and challenges of composing each track. Very interesting read: http://dutycyclegenerator.com

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You can find this along with several other NES music at Zophar's Domain NSF Archive:
http://www.zophar.net/music/nsf.html

Rob Hubbard - Skate or Die 2 (Level 1) Chiptune Visualization / NES NSF

1ucasvb 2011-12-04 | So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This time, I decided to try a different platform, so I picked the Nintendo Entertainment System.

If you're watching this, it probably means Rob Hubbard needs no introduction to you. So I'll just explain what's going on.

The fifth channel you see down there is a very primitive form of digital audio called "delta modulation". Interesting stuff, but very limited.

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You can find this along with several other NES music at Zophar's Domain NSF Archive:
http://www.zophar.net/music/nsf.html

Jesper Kyd - The Adventures of Batman and Robin (Gotham by Night) Chiptune Visualization

1ucasvb 2011-12-03 | So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. I thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This time, a 16 bit platform! Why the hell not? A chip is a chip.

So here's "Gotham by Night", the music from the first level of the kickass game "The Adventures of Batman and Robin", composed by one of the best video game composers around, Jesper Kyd. Yes, the music is really over 6 minutes long. There are longer ones in the game.

Oh yeah, important note: the clipping you see in each channel (as it gets too loud) is from the actual music. So that's actually accurate. I'm extremely careful to not clip any audio accidentally, something most people aren't even aware of (especially those who are into loudness). Also, my script reduces the amplitudes by 15% so the adjacent channels don't touch visually. So that's an aesthetics thing.

On an extra note: it seems this is the only version of this music on YouTube in which the overall audio isn't clipped due to overdrive during the creation or mixing of the audio. This is the best version you'll get here. Enjoy!

This track is probably the single most badass piece of music ever to grace the Mega Drive/Genesis Yamaha YM2612 sound chip. (I'd love to be proven wrong here.)

This great chip has 6 separate FM-based channels (that's why the waves don't look square), each one with the ability to pan left, center or right on its own. This panning was ignored on the visualization. The YM2612 also had one digital audio channel, which was, surprisingly, completely unused in this track. Jesper Kyd was too good with FM to bother with that wimpy digital stuff!

The Mega Drive / Genesis also had a Texas Instruments SN76489 chip, as found in the Master System. Some games used it, others did not.

I may do some more videos with the YM2612, but don't expect any music from the SNES. Since its audio chip used multiple digital channels fed with PCM data, the waveforms won't be really interesting to look at.

Digital audio from chips are BORING. All hail analog chiptunes!

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You can find this along with several other awesome Sega Mega Drive / Genesis music at Project2612:
http://project2612.org

Koji Kondo - Super Mario Bros. (Theme) Chiptune Visualization / NES NSF

1ucasvb 2011-12-03 | So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This time, I decided to try a different platform, so I picked the Nintendo Entertainment System.
At the moment, I know very little about this platform or the audio chip used, but we see here two square wave channels, one triangle wave and one noise channel.

Since I made a video using the theme of "The Legend of Zelda", per FlamingRuby's request, I thought I might as well do the other classical theme from NES, the theme from "Super Mario Bros."

Enjoy this classic.

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You can find this along with several other NES music at Zophar's Domain NSF Archive:
http://www.zophar.net/music/nsf.html

Koji Kondo - The Legend of Zelda (Theme) Chiptune Visualization / NES NSF

1ucasvb 2011-12-01 | So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This time, I decided to try a different platform, so I picked the Nintendo Entertainment System.
At the moment, I know very little about this platform or the audio chip used, but we see here two square wave channels, one triangle wave and one noise channel.

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You can find this along with several other NES music at Zophar's Domain NSF Archive:
http://www.zophar.net/music/nsf.html

Tokuhiko Uwabo (?) - Clotho from Columns Chiptune Visualization / Sega Master System

1ucasvb 2011-11-30 | So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This time, I decided to try a different platform, so I picked the Sega Master System, one of my favorites.
This music uses the console's Texas Instruments SN76489 sound chip, which supports three pure square wave tone channels and one noise channel (unused in this track).

This track is from the puzzle game "Columns" (also known as "Shapes & Columns"). "Clotho" is the name of one of the Three Fates (Moirae) from Greek mythology, and there are two other tracks in the game named after the other two (Lathesis and Atropos).

The author in the title is taken from the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis version, which features the same music with a different (and I think, worse) instrumentation. It may not be accurate.

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You can find this along with several other great Master System music at SMS Power's VGM Archive:
http://www.smspower.org/Music/VGMs

Nobuyuki, Kodaka San - Ufouria: The Saga (Overworld) Chiptune Visualization / NES NSF

Roy Glover - The Seven Cities of Gold (Theme) AKA La Bomba Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP

1ucasvb 2011-11-27 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This song is an adaptation of a Spanish choral song called "La Bomba" by Mateo Flecha el Viejo. More information & lyrics: http://www1.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/La_Bomba_%28Mateo_Flecha_el_Viejo%29

Some modern renditions:
youtube.com/watch?v=6ccLIjL_djE
youtube.com/watch?v=QOMysDm9KCQ

This video has a lame naive timbre-capture algorithm: it just finds the first zero-crossing and locks it to the left side of the screen. This way you see waveforms aligned to each other - at least most of the time. A decent algorithm is trickier than I thought. Until then, have another one. YouTube needs more chiptune anyway.

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You can find this along with tons of other great Atari music on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) - Yoomp! Theme Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP

1ucasvb 2011-11-27 | *** PLEASE, WATCH IN HIGH QUALITY FOR PROPER AUDIO! ***

So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

Here's the theme song for the very recent (2007) Atari game "Yoomp!".

The game is pretty damn fun, and it looks and sounds great. Look it up on YouTube, there are tons of videos.

You can find more about this excellent game at: http://yoomp.atari.pl/

This video has a lame naive timbre-capture algorithm: it just finds the first zero-crossing and locks it to the left side of the screen. This way you see waveforms aligned to eachother - at least most of the time. A decent algorithm is trickier than I thought. Until then, have another one. YouTube needs more chiptune anyway.

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The Grayscale Project is an awesome Atari 8-bit music collaboration from Poland. Members are:
Grzegorz Kwiatek (Greg), Łukasz Sychowicz (X-Ray) and Bartek Wąsiel (BeWu).
http://grayscale.scene.pl/en_index.php

You can find their work, along with tons of other great Atari music, on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org

Radek Sterba (Raster) - Videopoly Chiptune Visualization / Atari SAP

1ucasvb 2011-11-24 | I just found out today (November 24th, 2011) that Radek Sterba has passed away early this year, in July. He will be missed by many. Truly a great man, and a hugely important figure in the Atari scene.

I always thought his music had a careful, harmonic and subtle touch that no other Atari composer had. His melodies were very emotional as well, and this particular tune is a good example. It's short and very bittersweet.

He's always been one of my favorites ever since I stumbled upon the Atari SAP Music Archive.

So here's to you, Raster. Rest in peace, and thanks for everything you've done to make this world a more interesting place.

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So, I decided to take a look at all the separate channels of some chiptune music at once. Thought it might look cool, since those waveforms are usually so pretty. I quickly put together a script to create this and other videos.

This video has a lame naive timbre-capture algorithm: it just finds the first zero-crossing and locks it to the left side of the screen. This way you see waveforms aligned to each other - at least most of the time. A decent algorithm is trickier than I thought. Until then, have another one. YouTube needs more chiptune anyway.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
You can find this along with tons of other great Atari music on the Atari SAP Music Archive (ASMA) at:
http://asma.atari.org