++ ukchill.com ++

Thalamusic revisited. A Commodore 64, a Zzap!64 cassette tape and a couple of synths I wish I had back in 1987. One for all the 8-bit geeks out there!

I’ve had a bit of spare time this weekend, and I’ve re-discovered some old Amiga stuff I had – including a (rather lame) cover of Thalamusic I did many years ago. Firing up MilkyTracker let me export the nice’n'crunchy 8-bit samples that I originally made from a Zzap!64 cover cassette (an early computer games magazine), so I had to do the only sensible thing and rework the track using some of the (slightly better) gear I have around these days!

I re-implemented the classic bass synth line using the JP-8000 RPS feature, and tracked the swooshy noises from my Novation Nova, finally programming up a new lead sound on a Fantom Xa – I tried to recapture some of Rob Hubbards airy choir sound he used on the tape version. I also kept a few sounds from the original C64 game, just for nostalgia!