Aurally, there was not a great deal to write home to tell your Mum about during the advent of the 8-bit home computer era. Games produced adequate burps and belches to accompany in-game action and that was about it. Early ZX Spectrum attempts at anything that resembled a tune were painful to say the least, and amplified using the EAR lead through the family ‘not so portable’ music system saw the family dog run for cover ‘barking’ up the garden path. The C64, with its infamous SID chip, did not fair much better, the true potential of the computer’s sonic capabilities still to be realised.
It was only towards the end of a short, sharp development did the bedroom developer consider the sound effects that would accompany the action depicted in their game. Musical scores were normally far from the ability of said developer; gamers were systematically deafened by the silence of games’ loading screens and main menus.
It took a special kind of person that could move from the pixel by pixel nature of 8-bit game development into the world of musical notes, quavers and synthesised drum beats. These individuals, technically adept at programming low level machine code and gifted with a good ear for a catchy melody, thankfully started to appear and games became far more ‘colourful’ as a result.
Looking back, with a smidgeon of nostalgia, a number of names spring to mind when reminiscing over the tunes synonymous with the 8-bits – Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway, David Whittaker, Fred Gray to name but a few.
Chris Abbot continues to keep the C64 musical scores in the minds eye with live events called “Back In Time” that celebrate the classic SID tunes with modern remixes played live in front of a conglomerate of fans. Tracks such as Spellbound, Parallax and Comic Bakery have never sounded so good – a testament to the underlying quality and longevity of the tracks in the first place. Chris’ website, www.c64audio.com, celebrates the myriad of the tunes locked away in the recess of all C64 owners’ sub-conscience; I suggest a quick browse is in order, for non-C64 lovers as well.
