Atari XL music awesomeness. (Emulated Gumby)

Watch in High Quality for Stereo! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5w4x9hze9Q&fmt=18 (Thanks,
igneousphantom!)

This music is to show that Atari didn't really support it's own products enough. The XL/XE series were Great machines for the days. It's been supported more by it's users than by it's maker, or any software company. Kinda sad.

If you want to get this first hand, find Atari800winPLus and some bootroms, and do visit the site mentioned. It's awesome.

Oh, forgot to mention... The jumpy bars of grey show the amount of time per vertical blank used by the sound routine. Feature of the player program... Loads of time left for basic game mechanics.

I'm a bit bashed by the fact that this video didn't turn out to be stereo. I thought the video capturing of the emulator doesn't do Stereo, but the Audio capturing does, so I've uploaded that to http://www.alphasys.nl/downloads/glu.mp3 (2.114.967 bytes) if you care to hear it properly. Or do what igneousphantom did and add &fmt=18 to the end of the URL.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Atari
• 800
• XL
• 130
• XE
• music
• raster
• glu
• stereo
• 8-bit

[m34nb34n]

I bought an atari 800 xl just because of the pokey sound chip. And it was under $ 50. But I can't figure out where to get any good music programs for it. Any leads?

[Alphasys]

@m34nb34n Hmmm... You have a real problem there, assuming you have an NTSC machine. Most XL/XE music programs have been made in Europe, running on PAL machines. The system wasn't quite as popular in the USA, hence the lack of programs.

A PC solution would be running an emulator like Altirra, or using (windows native) Raster Music Tracker. (Google for it.)

Please give me some info (via PM) about the system and peripherals that you have so I can help you find appropriate software.

[MazeleyFanClub]

For the love of god stop acting like children fighting about Atari/C64 supremacy, you're over 30 and that's pathetically sad.

[Alphasys]

@MazeleyFanClub You're right in my humble opinion. C64 and Atari 8-bit are comparable with some differences. Which is best, well, that's in the eye of the beholder, which is a nice way to say it's a matter of taste. And there's no way to compare tastes.

[Sakuzo]

I'd give a kingdom for get those sounds on my Korg X50

[Alphasys]

I have no idea about the capabilities of the Korg X50. If it can sample, you might try a google search for Raster Music Tracker and make your own.

It has a cycle exact 6502c and Pokey in there, so you can't get anything better besides a real machine, but there's no difference in my experience.

[Alphasys]

I owned both systems. They were both built on Rockwell's 6502, with each it's individual extra's added on, they both employed custom chips to obtain a different, but still very similar result, on clockspeeds that are not even a percent of what we all have now in our mobiles.

I love them both, and I think it's an insult to the designers who all did an incredible job, to say one system is above the other. They both have their unique merits.

[ImIndoPeople]

@1981Myname umm i think they are great competitors see for c64 deseert dream demo/ and for xe.xl see Numen

[DragonFlyback256]

@1981Myname

The only real crappy about C64 (as i only STILL have that one, so i can't really say a thing of other systems), is that, when a loading error makes the CPU try to execute an invalid instruction code (= has no meaning to it), it steps into an infinite loop, and there is no protective mechnanism to avoid this internally. But that's really it all. Computing tech up until the end of 80s was made of awesome compared to that of todays. Your statement is an insult to the C64 system.

[joecassara]

A POKEY is far less than a SID, which is why it takes so many CPU cycles to make it sound like a SID. But great demo.

[LeszekEl]

shit song , shit computer, but it was my first, so ATARI IS BEST FOR EVER AND EVER, SHAME ON YOU COMMODORE USERS !

[pauljs75]

I had an XE and a friend had a Commodore, and he always tried to give me a hard time.

But I didn't see the point. I always thought both were a helluva lot better than the overpriced 8086/286/386 based PCs and crap-tastic Apple IIe's at school.

The later Amigas and STs also had their rivalry. But by then, multimedia 486 PCs and Macs which were just as good were looming just around the corner.

Hardware wasn't ever too bad, their fate was sealed because the companies were mismanaged to hell.

[jjovereats]

It's stereo!

[inphanta]

@1981Myname: Dear me. Why do Atari fanboys always sound so bitter? The XL and the C64 were both good machines. Yes, I had a C64, but I can appreciate the 8-bit Atari computers. Your "cheap crappy system" comment just sounds childish.