Commodore64 Music Making

Commodore 64 - Hard Core on the Dance Floor!

The quickest way to get music out of a Commodore 64 is to find a 'Music Machine' cartridge which lets you play the C64 like a synthesiser without the need of a monitor.
To connect the SID chip up to your midi rig there are several options: Rip it out and build a SID sound module (see Thurston Klose's wonderful and generous project) or find or build a c64 midi cartridge and load up software on the c64 to create patches. Wusses could also purchase a SidStation (I think they might be out of production now) or the HardSid sound card that puts up to 4 real SIDS into your computer.
To fully exploit the capabilities of the SID chip you gotta get hardcore and run a tracker program on the c64. Here is what I did:

A nerd would say to me, you lucky bastard you have a 1851. Yes, I AM a lucky bastard and have a Commodore 1851 disk drive attached to my C64. The 1851 is the little disk drive, as opposed to the large (ok enormous) and easily the coolest looking computing product EVER the 1541.
1541 Disk Drive The 1541 Drive

First, one downloads a tracker (also known as a music editor) from the internet. I have got Odin Tracker, though JCH seems to be the best and most hardcore.
I ended up using, shiver, Windows software for the transfering. Though I love Linux I aint hardcore enough to get the tools working under Linux yet. First there was CBMConvert which converts .d64 files (the type used by the sexy old drive and by c64 emulators) to .d81 files (that can be read by my drive). It took me a while to figure out to open the d64 image and select all the files then convert.
Then insert a disk into your drive and use copy1851 to put the .d81 image onto the disk. Both these programs are DOS but not scary at all. VOILA! I now have c64 software for my c64!

For those with the giant gorgeousness of the 1541 drive then build the x1541 cable and get Star Commander software, hook the drive up to your PC with the cable and VOILA! it's ready to stick in yer C64.

Oh and you have to get your head around the tracker paradigm - it ain't Fruity Loops Laptop Pussycat software, but hey, you ARE hardcore aren't you?

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