Hello everyone, HVSC Update #22 is now available for download, with many more of your favourite SID tunes for you to enjoy. This time around we have the competition entries from North Party 6, Assembly 2000 and LCP2000 along with quite a fair few game tunes, and over 600 SIDs this update :) After this update, the collection should contain 13,632 SID files. This update features (all approximates): 607 new SIDs 25 fixed/better rips 3 repeats/bad rips eliminated 355 SID credit fixes Main Artists Featured In This Update: Steve Barrett Thomas Detert Feekzoid Reyn Ouwehand SoedeSoft David Whittaker Joachim Wijnhoven Agemixer AMJ Amorphis (Compod) Ass It Avalon Bzyk Carlos Da Blondie Deetsay Dr. Voice Eco Froyd Glover Iron Cat Jeff Jurgen van Dongen Leming Mermaid Sascha Nagie Paco Phobos Praiser PRI Randy Roy Sabre Sandman Shogoon The Blue Ninja Kay Tichelmann Tonka Trident Wacek Walt Wuiti Zyron and many more... So what else is new in this update then? ---------------------------------------- All of Jeff's tunes from the superb "Deus Ex Machina" demo, released by Crest. (If you haven't seen this demo on a real C64 yet, I suggest you do.) There's also a fair few SID Hunt game requests fulfilled, including long outstanding ones such as Jetsons and Three Stooges, along with many more tunes from your favourite composers. ------------ Help Wanted! ------------ As you know, HVSC and its contributors strive to attain as accurate credits as possible. However, there are occasions when the composer is unknown, particularly for games or old style demos. And this is where you come in. If any of you do have the time, please feel free to look through the GAMES and DEMOS/UNKNOWN directories of HVSC, and if you own the original C64 games concerned, with the instructions, please check the instructions to see if any composer is credited, and let us know. Similarly, if you were part of an old demo group from the mid to late 1980s and happen to know some of the old tunes in the /DEMOS/ UNKNOWN directory, then get in touch also. As much as everyone involved with HVSC strives, there are occasions when being able to look at an original game often reveals the answers needed. ------------------------- composers.c64.org Website ------------------------- Have you ever wondered what your favourite C64 composer looks like, or indeed how they actually sound in real life? Well, thanks to a project and website maintained by both HVSC Crew member Peter Sandén and HVSC contributor Per Bolmstedt, now you can. Neatly sorted into alphabetical order, you see pictures of each composer, along with some MP3s where the composers introduce themselves. There are also some bonus C64 related MP3s on the site (they're at the bottom of the page) and overall is well worth a visit. Please go here: http://www.composers.c64.org/ -------- Sidplay2 -------- As some of you will already know, work is continuing into a more accurate cycle-based SID player. At the moment beta versions of Sidplay2 are available for testing, so that users can actively participate into ensuring a better future for SID emulation. For more information about the Sidplay2 project, along with newsgroups and feedback, please consult the following web page: http://sidplay2.sourceforge.net ------------------- HardSID MIDI driver ------------------- For those of you that use the HardSID SID-based sound card, note that the long awaited MIDI driver is close to release. There are already some MP3 samples available, along with screenshots, at the HardSID web site: http://www.hardsid.com/ --------------------------------------------------- Zombie Nation/Kernkraft 400 covers C64 tune shocker --------------------------------------------------- Some of you may have heard the dance smash over the summer that is the above. It's been a hit pretty much all over Europe. What you might not know is that it partly covers one of the tunes from the C64 game "Lazy Jones" as composed by David Whittaker. For those who own the game, enter the "Stardust" room, and there it is, exactly the same. With the help of Back In Time maestro Chris Abbott, there's been negotiations so that David has been duly paid a fee for their cover (amount undisclosed, so please don't ask, I don't know!) Nevertheless it does make an important point in that if you are thinking of covering a SID tune for commercial purposes, then you should obtain permission from the original composer as well as pay them due royalties as well. Those involved in the popular art of C64 remixing to MOD/XM/MP3 format are unaffected: their work is distributed freely for others to enjoy on a non-profit basis, and certainly their work is definitely appreciated by the musicians themselves. ---------------------- Danko releases 6581 CD ---------------------- Just a few days after the release of the previous HVSC Update, and I receive a mail from Tomas Danko that his long awaited CD, "6581" has been released. Some of you may have already tried out the sample MP3s from his website, and the full album is mainly dance inspired, sort of Robert Miles tranceish, with the SIDStation producing a lot of the percussive work. For more information, please go: http://stage.vitaminic.se/danko/ (Vitamin IC music site, you can also order the CD here) http://www.danko.censor.net/ (Tomas Danko's web site) -------------------------- MODs covered on C64 update -------------------------- The "MODs Covered on the C64" collection has received an update! The following modules have been added: Cartoon-chips86.mod Expression.s3m Global_Conquest_II_X.xm Heavy.mod Mictrotune.mod Over2.mod Pinball_Illusions_menu.mod The_Settlers.mod Note, the redirection URL no longer works, so please use http://hafnium.prg.dtu.dk/~theis/stil/MODs/ to access the site. Thanks to all those who contributed! Enjoy the new update, lots of nice stuff for us all to listen to, and hopefully there'll be another update just before Christmas. Kind regards Warren Pilkington.