Spring reverb on a 64, never would've thought of that, you're an absolute genius... as if we didn't know that already :) I can imagine you entering a wild compo with something like this.
Also, resonance in neighboring pipes, giving a kind of harmonic reverb which is also a huge part of piano sound. The spring reverb does have some of this harmonic quality (If you flick the spring of a spring reverb while it is connected, it reveals its artefacts with this bouncy arpeggio-like sound).
Basically room acoustics affect the sound which the listener receives. The same effect is had with ancient Roman and Grecian play stages (the seats in the auditorium reflect sounds), and face masks amplify the actors voices.
It's quite logical though, if you think about it. It's like the headphones or speakers you use to listen to music. The music itself may be good, but if you use bad headphones, it will sound bad. For speakers, room acoustics are also important to consider.
Fascinating research, lft! So glad to peer into the workings of your mind once again. (And I had no idea spring reverbs existed! That’s a brilliant electromechanical solution.)
I recall I had a program from one of the Commodore-specific magazines (c.1984) that let you play the keyboard synth-keyboard style (rather than accordion). It worked great except that, as with your project, it could not correctly read all the possible 3-note combinations. I also recall building a spring reverb from a kit back then but it always sounded twangier than yours.
4:12 NICE! AmigaBASIC was a huge part of my life back int he day. :D Great project! You should get a breadbin 64 and put the spring reverb inside of it... or maybe I should. :D
Whilst I really love your videos as an ex organist I have to disagree about your first statement that pipes sound "tinny" and only provide simple wave forms that you would find in a computer. Not true. It depends of course on the organ, but those you would typically find in my country of birth (the Netherlands) have pipes that each produce rich and complex sounds with very specific envelopes that are essential to create the characteristic sound of the organ. True, the acoustics of the church are or great importance, but without the character of the original sound form the pipes you can reverb till the cows come home, and it still doesn't sound like an organ. In fact the key ingredient that makes an organ really sound like an organ is the inclusion of mutation stops, pipes that are solely there to amplify harmonics, often whole sets of them (usually called mixtures). There is also the use of stopped and open pipes to create sounds with either full sets of harmonics or only odd harmonics. I have spent years trying to recreate the true sound of the organ using only basic waveforms (digital subtractive synthesis). In the end I was able to get a reasonable approximation of a single diapason with the use of at least 8 sine oscillators two noise generators, six envelope generators and four filters, as well as plenty of keyboard control voltage feedback into all of these elements. And all that just for a single stop! That does not take away that I am in awe of your inventiveness and abilities, please keep up the good work!
The opening exactly echoes the old promo film for the Soviet Topaz-1 analog synth accordion: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-L_FHtjrpkcA.html To continue the circle, digital midi button accordions can function as computer keyboards too
Pure genius! It was a real pleasure having this little chat with you at Revision some time ago. You, sir, a real nice guy. And as said: pure genius! Thanks for sharing all this.
lovely ^___^ when you played the art of fugue subject i was eager to hear more ;D spring reverbs are so nice-a raw electric guitar signal can also sound rather plain, but it too comes alive with just the addition of spring reverb…i know some people think of them as "cheap-sounding" compared to plate or room reverb on account of their "pingy" or "squeaky" qualities but i think they have a special character all their own
Very very nice. Just my annoying question again: Could you play some whole book by Bach on it and release it music-only? I am listening to Bach books all the time and miss some unusual instruments, like vintage electric pianos and organs...
Glad RU-vid finally recommended this today; thanks for making this, I think it's absolutely awesome. And also weirdly emotional. I love C64 music, I've heard the mighty church organ play but never would have imagined the two meeting. But you made it happen!
Excellent video and demo, thank you! Now for the tough question, good sir. Initially I thought that you had a software trick up your sleeve to produce this amazing sound. Is there a way to somehow “capture” the sound that you are producing and then “import” it somehow back to the C64 via a sampled track or something similar? It’d be so great to get this kind of sound as a music bed or sound file for gaming. Thanks again for sharing your brilliance.
I don't think I was aware of just how much the reverb matters for the sound. I will remember that, though! I do think that not having each sound play in two or three different octaves (or even fifths) makes a very big difference as well! Of course, you can play with just one stop open for each manual/pedal, which this sounds like.
Very interesting. Reminded me of this Bradbury adaptation with, probably, Polivoks, but that one didn't have this awesome reverberation. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-H36D5JC5kE4.html
Haha, those lines that appear across the screen near the 4:10 mark is a reference to the Amiga BASIC demo that came with Workbench 1.3 - it would play that song (Jesu joy?) while drawing lines like that. Edit: Here it is: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-522uWGQV134.html
Ingenious. On the editing part I think you should have mixed it additively, each organ sound adds to the total volume, then it would have been perfectly realistic.
Genious, beautiful and one heck of a flex to throw out at parties! Thanks for enriching the world with silly, cool nerdy builds like this! We silly nerds of yore love it!
awesome video. I remember the guitarist from Captain Beefheart said that the poor man's reverb in the 70s was to lay the guitar amp on its back under a piano
You are such an interesting guy! You are an audiophile of the most rare variety. You commordian video brought me to your channel, this video has me officially subbed. Keep on being you good sir!!!
I love this video so much. I have watched it at least half a dozen times since it was posted and every time it makes me laugh with delight at its ingenuity and beauty. Thank you!
Never thought about the similarities between accordion buttons and computer keyboards, you learn something every day. I wonder if I can buy white keycaps to make my keyboard a bayanboard. Now I am kind of curious to see two C64's with some bellows in between to control sound volume. Would that be a sixtyfourdion? :)
A late reply, but he probably said "Sixtyforgan", not "64 game". He's specifically mentioning how the "instrument" is limited by the actual electronic design of the C64 keyboard (that wasn't intended to handle pressing multiple "random" keys at the same time). If you were asking about software to use, I suppose you should look for his Qwertuoso: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xwsZ41pA_Vo.html
