A few hours later and I’ve managed to make a rather nice production using only a cheap Casio Keyboard - the kind you can buy in the supermarket along with your milk and bread. I always use my little CTK as a scratch pad when writing new songs, but I had the idea of trying to produce a track using nothing but.
Some Stereo Separation and a compressor added after recording.
Original Song is AutoTron by Garth Knight.
A bit of software came with my BBC Microcomputer called “BBC MUSIC PROCESSOR”. Its very easy to use, but sadly I wont be using it as its a “record whilst playing the QWERTY keyboard” type of software and that is very uncomfortable.
BUT, one of the demo songs it came with was a set of Christmas carols! As its close to christmas, I thought it seemed appropriate to share. :)
Static version of this image originally drawn on a BBC Model B Microcomputer.
You can view the animated version below (as Tumblr and DeviantART outright refused to upload the file). PLEASE VIEW IT FULL SIZED BY CLICKING HERE.
To make the image, I basically had to retype the ENTIRE program in a BBC Micro emulator and then capture the video.
YES! I finally got my BBC Microcomputer back!
To celebrate, I went and programmed some graphics in BASIC in the style of Russian Suprematism.
God I love this computer; its beige, orange and black colour scheme pleases me.
In Lieu of an Actual tree for my bedroom, I went and programmed one!
The program first draws the shape of the tree to use as a reference point for the lights. 400 random lights are then placed on the tree, using the 8 extra “flashing” colours as references for the different sets of lights. Once its finished drawing all the lights, it turns them all off, draws the outline for the tree and then cycles through random colours for each set.
So I stashed my 30 year old Korg Poly-61 in the shed because after I repaired the battery, the keyboard went funny and each key on the upper half flew wildly out of tune!
I was about ready to throw it in the rubbish as it would cost far more than what the keyboard is worth to have it fixed.
I thought “hey, before I do that, I’ll plug it in one last time and play with its uber sexy bass lines!”
I plugged it in, started playing and… every single key on the thing works after being stored in a damp shed for three months.
Odd, but I’m not complaining.
On a side note, early 80s keyboards always manage, without fail, to be some of the best looking machines you will ever lay your hands on.
Spent a little bit of time tinkering with, and cleaning, my 1988 Roland D10 Linear Arithmetic Synthesizer. Look at that pristine clean surface! Its amazing what a damp sponge, a bar of soap and elbow grease can accomplish.
