Path: csiph.com!newsfeed.hal-mli.net!feeder3.hal-mli.net!newsfeed.hal-mli.net!feeder1.hal-mli.net!aioe.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Ivan Shmakov Newsgroups: comp.sys.sinclair Subject: ZX Spectrum tape signals in music Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2013 17:55:30 +0000 Organization: Aioe.org NNTP Server Lines: 55 Message-ID: <87libe7bot.fsf@violet.siamics.net> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: 41vvMPMLxfEjizuK6lSUHw.user.speranza.aioe.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Complaints-To: abuse@aioe.org User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.4 (gnu/linux) X-Notice: Filtered by postfilter v. 0.8.2 Cancel-Lock: sha1:ik1sWCLa/HpeUFrV8L0Uscm3sQY= Xref: csiph.com comp.sys.sinclair:1817 >>>>> zoguestuff writes: > Hello I wrote a song the other night which uses the Spectrum loading > sounds. I thought you might like it. I have made a video for it on > YouTube which shows a fictional 80's home computing setup (I know the > Spectrum doesn't properly load a SCREEN$ like that) - > http://youtu.be/PLWEy59lUhc > If you just want to hear it, it's also on Soundcloud at > https://soundcloud.com/zoguesounds/load > Anyway, I figured this would be a good group to inform of this. The > release name for this song is Deep Grass. Hope you enjoy it! Well, irrespective of the other qualities of this one, I'm a little bit disappointed that the Spectrum tape signal is mostly used for the background. (Reminding me of how the Fenster's adaptation [1] of the Free Software Song [2] uses a modem handshake sample near its end.) [1] http://audio-video.gnu.org/audio/Fenster-Free-Software-Song.ogg [2] https://www.gnu.org/music/free-software-song.html However, it makes me wonder, if it's possible to put ZX Spectrum tape signals into more prominent positions within the composition? FWIW, we can extract a few more intervals off such a signal (apart from, obviously, almost an exact octave between the lower and the higher frequencies used.) Indeed, a short investigation shows that, assuming "A above middle C" at 430 Hz (which is different to the "A440" standard, but still known to the music world), and taking some liberty regarding the exact frequencies Spectrum tape signals use (and considering acceptable some 10 cent variation of the prescribed frequency), we can easily produce the following notes of the musical scale, as, hopefully, shown in [3]. (And, at the very least, audio2tape(1) recognizes such a signal as valid.) 1921.875000 B 6 1289.062500 E 6 1218.750000 D#6 1148.437500 D 6 1078.125000 C#6 1031.250000 C 6 960.937500 B 5 There's still gap of seven semitones between E6 and B6, which, I'd hope, a talented composer may obviate by creatively emphasizing (and deemphasizing) the signal and the other samples used in the composition. [3] http://efye.am-1.org/~ivan/doc-files/zx-spectrum-2013/pitches-demo-data-1359307897.ogg -- FSF associate member #7257