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sid ringtones
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2023-02-26
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Commodore64 Ringtones
*************************************
RINGTONES
Would you like a SID ringtone?
(SID is the Commodore 64 Music
interface device called the "Sound
Interface Device" normally
abbreviated to SID)
I would like to talk a little about
getting SID tunes (Commodore 64 music
files) onto your mobile phone. Of
course as SID is such a classic sound
that's why I started the text about
SID tunes. Other Commodore machines
like the Amiga and plus4 also have
distinctive sound tracks, but for me
it's the SID sound chip that creates
a unique feeling. In the case of the
Amiga, music files are usually called
Mod files and I will look at these
later. I love the Sid sound so much
that I am concentrating on these as
ringtones, however some of this
article will be useful for other
Commodore machines and even some
games systems.
Distinctive
Sid sounds need no real introduction,
many call the sounds just pops and
bleeps others call them genius
musical works of art, because of the
creativity needed to get the best out
of the limitations of the hardware.
The SID sound chips tones are
instantly recognisable. It has also
been said that because the SID chip
contains analogue circuitry that no 2
SID chips sound alike due to
variations in manufacture, heat etc.
There were 2 main revisions of the
Sid chip, there was the 6581 and the
8580. This isnt a SID history lesson
and if you want to find more I
suggest reading here for a start
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_
Technology_SID
People often say one SID is better
than another, this I think really
depends on the musician, as he/she
will have designed the sounds and
music for a particular chip and it
may sound odd using the opposite chip
for which the sounds were designed.
There are differences, but as this is
just about ringtones, then it's just
a case of finding music you like most
modern demos will list the Sid chip
used to design the music with.
As A True Commodore SID music fan
wouldn't it be great to have a SID
ringtone on your mobile phone, to
replace that Nokia tune?
Dependant on you phone and of course
the devices age, this would dictate
the sort of sound you can have. Some
Mobile phones for example can play
polyphonic ringtones, some can play
wav file, some support midi file or
some are only tone based; the tones
are generated with the phones
internal composer application.
Once you have the specification of
your phone, then you can investigate
how to get the sound or tune onto
your phone. Of course if you have an
older Nokia phone like the classic
6310 this phone has tools to create
"composer" music or RTTTL files
RTTTL
Ring Tone Text Transfer Language was
developed by Nokia as a way of
transferring tunes from one device to
another. There is a Wikipedia entry
for more information about RTTTL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_
Tone_Transfer_Language
Here is an example of a RTTTL file
sanxion_loader:d=4,o=5,b=125:16g6,
16g6,16d6,16p,16f6,16p,16c6,16d6,16p,
16a#,16p,16f,16g,16p,16f6,16g6,16a#,
16a#,16c6,16p,16a,16p,16c6,16f6,16a#6
,16a#6,16a6,16p,16f6,16p,16c6,16c6,
16a#,16a#,16c6,16p,16a#6,16p,16c6,
16a#6,16c7,16a#6,16c6,16p,16a#,16p,
16f,16p,2g
These RTTTL files are normally saved
as ASCII text files and can then be
imported into your phone, again it
depends on the phone how you would do
this but you could use a Commodore 64
to create the text file remembering
to save the file as ASCII
Here is an example of a Nokia
Composer tune, Nokia phones usually
have an application called composer
where you can type into an
applications the tunes data, some
phones show musical staves where
graphical "notes" can be dragged and
dropped.
Start the Nokia composer and set the
Tempo then press the keys as shown
Tempo: 125
588*, 5, 2, 0**, 4, 0**, 1, 2, 0**,
6**#, 0, 4, 5, 0, 4*, 5, 6**#, 6#,
1*, 0**, 6**, 0, 1*, 4, 6#, 6#, 6,
0**, 4, 0**, 1, 1, 6**#, 6#, 1*, 0**,
6#, 0**, 1, 6#, 1*, 6**#, 1, 0**,
6**#, 0, 4, 0, 5999
The end result is, you set this file
as your phones ringtone and you have
a squeaky mono tune playing out the
theme to Sanxion loader.
Nokia
http://arcadetones.emuunlim.com/c64.
htm
Polyphonic
So you have a newer phone, one that
can play midi files. Well there are
various ways of extracting midi note
data from Sid files for example the
sid2midi application, or just have a
look on the internet, listed here are
a variety of websites hosting midi
versions of the SID tunes. But
depending on your phone you may be
surprised and disappointed at the
results that these midi files
present. Although the notes and
timing is correct it's doubtful the
instruments will sound anything like
the classic SID chip inside your
commodore machine.
RING TONES COMMODORE
www.vgmusic.com/music/computer/commod
ore/commodore/index-classic.html
http://home.c2i.net/skot/c-64f4_1.htm
http://almighty.c64.org/
http://midi.thehylia.com/downloads/
commodore
MP3
Depending on your phone you may have
the option to play Wav or MP3 files,
if you visit the website below,
Remix sites of Commodore tunes
http://remix.kwed.org/
You will be presently surprised that
people have already Remixed well
known SID tunes using modern
synthesisers. The resulting files are
available to download free of change!
Some stick rigidly to the original
tune others are very different
interpretations. Some people though
will still prefer the original SID
sound rather than a remix, and to be
honest I love the originals, so what
options do we have for getting the
SID sound onto our phones.
Below are a couple of SID style
emulators for various phones, you
need to check your make/model to see
which is applicable to you, whether
it's a windows mobile or a Symbian
based model check with your phone
manufacturer for details about your
phone. There is even a SID player for
java enabled mobile phones.
PocketSID for example is a music
player for Windows Mobile 2003 and
Pocket PC 2002 mobile phones
available from here
http://pocketsid.progenitus.com/
SID player for Series60 v2
http://mikie.iki.fi/symbian/sid.html
A Java-based Commodore 64 emulator
for mobile
http://sourceforge.net/projects/
jmec64/
Still not good enough
We haven't quite finished, you could
use win vice for example and record
the output to a wav file Do this by
starting the application in Vice then
on the menu select SNAPSHOT then
select Record sound
Then select where you want the file
to be saved and a name to call the
file
Notice Vice displays a message to let
you know sound is recording giving a
"sound Recording started" at the
bottom left of the screen.
When you have finished select the
menu item snapshot then the submenu
"stop sound Recording" you may need
to tidy up the wav file a little in
your favourite sound editor, then
copy the file to your phone somehow,
this would depend on the phone some
use USB some have removable storage
for example SD cards.
If your phone can't support wav
files, you could convert the file to
an Mp3. Although again this is
emulation of the SID chip rather than
a real machine. You could go directly
to the superb website
http://www.6581-8580.com/ Stone oak
valleys Mp3 recordings of Commodore
Sid files and download the MP3 of
your choice.
Ok so Mp3 isn't a format you like and
you want a none compressed Wav file
or some other audio format supported
by your phone, the options here are
to record directly from SID or an
amplified version of SID chip. Using
an AV cable is the best method to
record directly from SID to a
recording device, the cable connects
into the back of the Commodore 64 AV
port and has a yellow RCA connector
and a white connector one outputs
video the other sound, remember the
SID was mono so there is no stereo
output.
Protovision still sell these cables
and here is a direct link
http://www.protovision-online.de/
catalog/product_info.php?products_
id=108&osCsid=00ecd790aea27877034753
19767d2a10
This will give you the nose and
interference associated with the SID
chip, some people say this noise and
interference is what makes the sound,
others just feel this is distortion
and try to filter out the noise with
graphic equalisation or compression.
you could of course send the output
directly to an amplifier or computer
to clean up the sounds and filter out
any noise, but to be honest I think
the noise and interference are really
part of the SID sound, then you need
to save the file to your mobile
phone. You will need to read your
phones documentation to find how this
is done
Amiga files
Of course a similar connection from
an Amiga to a receding device could
be used for Amiga Mod files. There
are websites to download remixed
Amiga mod files and MP3 recordings of
Amiga files like the Commodore 64
again you could try
Stone Oak valleys Paula website
http://www.paula8364.com/
There are also mod player websites
where the phone can run an emulator
and then play the mod file. I am
unsure if this can be used to play as
a ringtones though and do not have a
new phone to test it with.
Mod Players
http://www.pdagold.com/software
/detail.asp?s=404
http://www.pocketpcfreewares.com/en
/index.php?soft=15
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