Comments on: Worth the wait.

Worth the wait.

hellojed — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:36:41 -0800

It's the mid 1980's, computer games are stored on cassette tapes and they take a very long time to load. This lead to the creation of loading music.

The idea behind loading music is to keep the user entertained for the five or so minutes that the computer takes to load the game. Two names which stick out when one looks for Commodore 64 music include Rob Hubbard (Interview), and Martin Galway (Interview) Besides the music for Robocop, Galaway's highlights include: Slap Fight Instant Remedy Whizball Parallax The budding music genre at the time was also not immune to the occasional remix (done by Peter Clarke) Other highlights: Sanxion By Rob Hubbard Power Drift by Dave Lowe Dominator (Previously) (Also previously) (You guys seem to like this old computer, don't you?)

By: Joe Beese

Joe Beese — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:53:52 -0800

hellojed: "You guys seem to like this old computer, don't you?" I was also impressed to learn that it broadened the PC market more than any other computer.

By: run"monty

run"monty — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:57:02 -0800

Loading music? Why spoil the pleasure? This is like whale song to me.

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:05:32 -0800

run"monty: "This is like whale song to me." I always find Dot Matrix printers to be soothing.

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:07:45 -0800

Tangentially related: the ultimate use for your C64: "Eating a sandwich."

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:09:26 -0800

I watched one for a while, then I realized I wasn't waiting for anything so I turned it off again. Maybe later, if I need to soft boil an egg.

By: rpn

rpn — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:12:33 -0800

My favorite loaders from my c64 times are probably Last Ninja by Ben Daglish and Skate or Die by Rob Hubbard. Still listen to the Last Ninja music from time to time

By: run"monty

run"monty — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:14:34 -0800

I always find Dot Matrix printers to be soothing. I know what you mean.

By: CaseyB

CaseyB — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:14:42 -0800

I used to load Skate Or Die just to listen to the music. That tune blew my 14 year old mind.

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:20:23 -0800

Is this like when you flip toggle switches on the front of your PDP-8 to enter the tape loading program using the "shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm?

By: hippybear

hippybear — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:23:24 -0800

It wasn't exactly loading music, but the theme from M.U.L.E. sticks in my mind to this day. *book-a-CHUNK-a-book-a-CHUNK-a-book-a-CHUNK-a-CHUNK-a-CHUNK-a-CHUNK-a* *doo! doo-doo DOOOOO, doodeeloodeeloodee doo! do-do DOOOOOO!*

By: Electric Dragon

Electric Dragon — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:32:09 -0800

The ZX Spectrum had its very own style of loading music.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:38:06 -0800

Electric Dragon: Oh, man. Oh dear. I just wet myself laughing. Thank you for that. The makers of my laundry detergent thank you, also.

By: notsnot

notsnot — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:39:08 -0800

Man, I love my old TI tape sound. Trying to emulate the sound via text, a la "ENNNNNHHHHH, Eh-UNNNGK Eh-UNNGK Ehhhhh UNNGH NNNNNGKH NNNGHK" makes me feel like I'm doing a script for a Don Martin article in MAD.

By: schoolgirl report

schoolgirl report — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:39:16 -0800

Parallax is so great. I used to crank it up and turn out the lights.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:42:45 -0800

It's interesting to note, back in the day when computer programs were stored on tape, radio stations in (then) West Germany would broadcast programs over the air for listeners to tape and use in their computers.

By: PROD_TPSL

PROD_TPSL — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:45:09 -0800

Aahhh... those early, heady days of 8-bit Microcomputers. Back then you could really come to grok it all to the bare metal. Most will consider them primitive and useless... but these old systems started is all. Commodores and Spectrums, Apples and Osbornes. It was a golden age. I too, miss the siren song of Dot Matrix printers... generating reports and other miscellany. Of datasettes and 5141s. I'm just another 8-bit Boy. Yo. MOS 6510 4 Lyfe, Yo.

By: Electric Dragon

Electric Dragon — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:47:11 -0800

hippybear: don't knock it, man. (I speak as a proud former owner of both a Spectrum and a Spectrum +3, complete with 3" [sic] disk drive.) The Spectrum was very big over here during the 80s and those sounds are bound to induce nostalgia in those of us who had to put up with its cheap rubber membrane keyboard.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:49:53 -0800

This is like whale song to me. Tape Load Error

By: hippybear

hippybear — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:51:25 -0800

Electric Dragon: I wasn't knocking it as a concept. I had a friend with a Sinclair, and others with TRS80s, and don't find it alienating or even non-inspiring in some odd retro way at all. I'm just laughing at the "loading music" comparison. It tickled me, in a good way.

By: davemee

davemee — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:09:49 -0800

I met Galway a few years back at a Back In Time event in Soho, where Press Play On Tape were playing. The night started late, and the bouncers had kicked Jeff Minter out from the queue as they assumed he was some kind of hobo, and no-one was there to endorse his significance as they had gone hunting drinks elsewhere. Galway was a very nice man. He knew you all pirated his games.

By: The Devil Tesla

The Devil Tesla — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:12:23 -0800

This is absolutely wonderful. Sometimes the best stuff is made because of limits like this.

By: davemee

davemee — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:14:51 -0800

Also, don't forget the mix-e-load, where you could remix the loading music as the game loaded to ram. Ideal for DJs with short (or long, depending on the title) attention span.

By: zarq

zarq — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:51:06 -0800

I remember the M.U.L.E. theme! What an earworm. Tangentially related: The C64 1541 5.25" drive head made a variety of unusual humming noises when it read, wrote or moved across a floppy disk. I used to have a demo program which took advantage of this, and moved the drive heads in a precise pattern to generate "Daisy Bell". You can hear it here.

By: jscott

jscott — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:52:12 -0800

I recall that my Atari 800 had a cassette-based game that, in the channel not used by data, had a professional voice introduce you to the game followed by the many minutes of guitar music required to load. It was awesome.

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:13:30 -0800

All these posts about Martin Galway, and no-one has mentioned the (awesome) music for Comic Bakery?

By: furtive

furtive — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:35:28 -0800

The audio is a bit quiet on this example, so crank it up and enjoy the intro to ACE 2, a great two player fighter jet dog fighter.

By: furtive

furtive — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:48:40 -0800

Let us not forget all the awesome Accolade intros: Grand Prix Circuit Test Drive II: The Duel Also: North East Crackers Intro I And although completely different than regular Tetris music, check out this amazing Commodore 64 Tetris Track. Oh, check out this suped up fan version to Zak McKracken & the Alien Mind Benders I could go on...

By: furtive

furtive — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:13:25 -0800

The Card Cheat, damn I didn't know that song was from Comic Bakery, that track is epic!

By: jfuller

jfuller — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:58:00 -0800

Why mess around with the loading music when you can just pop the program cassette directly into your cassette deck and listen to the bitstream? Mavis Beacon's Typing Tutor has some interesting middle passages.

By: obiwanwasabi

obiwanwasabi — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:19:27 -0800

I haven't heard or even thought about this stuff for over 20 years, then bam - a few beats and I'm humming along like I last heard it this morning. Thanks! Whenever I see gang tattoos part of me thinks "Why did they choose the font from Whizball?"

By: Spatch

Spatch — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:45:21 -0800

The C64 version of Ghostbusters had a sing-a-long version of the theme song, complete with lyrics and bouncing ball. It was pretty damn awesome, but I think it wasn't a diversionary tactic while loading. I think you had to load the entire thing up to hear the song (and presumably play the game afterwards.)