makke

I recorded a video of how I recreated the sound of Thriller and then used that sound to make a remix of the C64 theme from Ghosts n Goblins. I hope you like it and/or find it informative and inspirational. Take me to the clip!

R.I.P., Ray Manzarek.

Wednesday saw the British Academy Video Game Awards, and they played C64 remixes as walk-on music for the presenters. Seeing Ben Kingsley walk on to my remix of Last Ninja 3 was a bit surreal, even if the tune only played for a few seconds. The tunes played were: Reyn - Galway - Comic Bakery Title Chris Abbott - Hubbard - Thalamusik 2000 Reyn - Daglish- Bombo Tron - Hubbard – Sanxion Reyn - Daglish - Deflektor Makke - Reyn - Last Ninja III Makke - Joseph - Sacred Armour of Antiriad Donne - Hubbard - Knucklebusters Instant Remedy - Hubbard - Commando Donne - Hubbard - Lightforce Reyn - Follin - Magic Johnson's Basketball Reyn - Norman - Aztec Challenge Reyn - Cooksey - Ghosts and Goblins Reyn - Galway - Arkanoid Title Reyn - Galway - Parallax Title The ceremony was televised and can be streamed from here http://www.bafta.org/awards/video-games Oh, and good friend of the C64 remixing community - as well as computer game legend - Jon Hare, founder of Sensible Software, presented the award for Use of Audio.

With work and the newly started band, I don't really have that much time for remixing/composing in Renoise these days. I'm starting up a new project using HardSID 4 U though. If you get one of those we can talk about it. Generally my xrns-files aren't that impressive from a technical view. I tend to keep things very simple and clean. I find that the easiest way to get a good sounding result. I like your philosophical approach, and as such you do have at least fractions of a point. Sadly, your reasoning falls flat due to the technical negligence, as pointed out by Yoozer. Whether you're composing or remixing (and I use "remixing" as a term for re-arranging, covering or interpreting an already recorded musical piece by another composer) the technical aspects remain the same. I take it you're not in the group I referred to as "in-the-know", and thusly you proved my point that people not in-the-know seem to think remixing is completely different from any other kind of music making. You also failed to see that I never used the word "compose" in my first post.

Renoise. Sometimes I get the feeling people who're not in-the-know of music making think remixing is completely different from every other way of making music. It's not. I don't mean to take a stab at you here, newkeithmoon, it's just that people keep asking me what I use to "remix tunes", rather than what I use to make music. I just find the wording peculiar.

My favourit comment on it so far is that the CD is "so retarded it's genius".

The cream of the crop (if I may say so myself) of the European C64 remixing scene has pulled together and produced a spectacular (if I may say so myself) album, combining classic C64 game tunes with the sound of contemporary 80's mega hits! The CD is produced by Markus 'LMan' Klein (of remix64.com), released by Chris Abbott (c64audio.com) and contains remixes from Romeo Knight, LMan, Makke, Tom Detert, Tron, Moog, Binster, Ziphoid, Boz, Sonic Wanderer, Tonka, Skitz, Trace, Slaygon, iFadeo and even (gasp) a guest appearances here and there from Chris Abbott. Free clips of all the tracks, as well as information on how to order is available here: http://www.c64audio.com/productInfo.php?cat=R64SE How do we get away with this? Well, as always proper royalties are payed to all original composers, so you know your money doesn't end up in the pockets of some greedy executive. Also, no samples were used from the songs we try to mimic. This is a pure scene effort. And before you start to go all "why should I pay for this yadda-yadda, the Internet's full of free stuff, you money grabbing so-and-so's". First off, most CD-projects like this actually lose money. We do it because it's fun. And second, it's the right thing to do. Make sure the original composers get an extra bonus for the music they've composed, and otherwise let us enjoy free of charge. Plus, CD's are lovely things! So at least check it out.

If you've missed the news, this Friday (June 22th) there's a Commodore 64 concert in London at The Spitz. So if you're in or around London on Friday, do stop by for a great concert and to meet up with some scene celebrities! 8-bit Weapon, Jeroen Tel and Reyn Ouwehand among others will be performing. A lot of remixing personalities will be there, including yours truly, Romeo Knight, LMan, Tron of the Subversive Elements, Slaygon, Boz, and many more! It'll be a great night! For more info check out the official site: http://www.c64audio.com/productInfo.php?cat=BITLIVE2007 See you there!

Yup. Jon Hare and him composed it, and Richard arranged it for, as far as I know, all the platforms it was released on.

People who owned a Commodore 64 or an Amiga, should all know who Richard Joseph is. He's made some of the greatest soundtracks ever to games like Barbarian, Cauldron 2, The Chaos Engine, Sensible Soccer and Canon Fodder. Sadly, Mr. Joseph left us yesterday afternoon, after losing the battle with his lung cancer. The news has left me personally absolutely hollowed, as he's been a great inspiration to me since my early teens. I also had the pleasure of meeting and talking to the man, and he was the nicest person ever. He was also one of the few old school composers who took the time to get involved with the remixing scene, and gave feedback to remiers and also remixed some of his old stuff. The world has lost a great man. Rest in peace, Richard Joseph.

In short, all old scene chiptunes are copyrighted. If you've created something, you own the copyright to that. What most old scene chiptunes are not, however, is registered with a publisher or the likes, which makes it a lot harder to prove you did it first - and raise the cash and guts to take a multinational recording company with the best lawyers money can buy to court on a copyright infringement charge. The record companies know this, and usually seem to think "Let's go ahead and f these guys over. Should they have the guts to take us to court, we can probably buy ourselves free pretty cheaply". And the world keeps turning. Ah, crap! That's a bad typo. I meant to write Timbaland, my mind and fingers must've slipped. I seem to be unable to change the topic though.

Harmless borrowing, or shameless rip-off? You decide yourself. Personally, I find it "funny" how the record industry can turn young kids into criminals while "proteciting their own interests" - then, at the same time, they don't seem to have any problem stealing music from generous people who release their creations for free. The word "hypocrisy" springs to mind.

Ach! I forgot to provide the lyrics when I sent the remix in. Well, here they are, so if anyone else asks just point them here. These are actually the words printed at the back of the box/cassette case on the original game, so I can't take credit for writing them. They simply fitted as song lyrics, so I don't think I changed anything - just lifted them right off. Anyway, hope y'all will enjoy the tune!

Just saw this. I'll try to remember exactly how the lyrics goes...hmm...I think you were pretty close with your lyrics. I can feel them coming in the dead of night For a lost patrol too weakened to last through the fight Bombs blazing, lighting up the sky I can hear them closing in with every hour On a lost patrol so weak all they can do is cower Sniper gazing, deciding who's to die As the end is drawing near With the light of dawn I shed a tear for those who've gone I can see them firing at us from afar A lost patrol who don't quite know where they are As the end is drawing near With the light of dawn I shed a tear for those who've gone