SID

If you’re looking for some of the weirdest, most distinctive synthesized sounds around, try “SIDs,” vintage chiptunes crafted on the Commodore 64’s SID (Sound Interface Device) chip. The SID was the first computer sound chip with real thought put into it. It wasn’t just tacked on as an afterthought. It didn’t just beep on and off monotonously. And it was designed by an actual musician, Bob Yannes, the young electrical engineer who built the SID in 1982. He stuck 3 voices on the chip, with each configurable as one of 4 different waveforms (sawtooth, triangle, pulse, and noise).

One of the coolest things about SIDs is that the songs are not strictly composed as a series of musical notes — instead, each song is actually a computer program that drives the SID chip itself. It’s a literal melding of songwriting with computer programming. Perhaps because of the type of individual this activity attracts, SIDs are best described as hyperactive, pirouetting without warning from piercing tones to gritty pulses to theremin-esque warbles (not to mention the noise-based “drums”). It’s a sound unlike any other.

The predominant SID specimen on eMusic, “C64: Massive Sidplay Party Mix,” is a marathon grab bag medley and not for purists, but it’s a reasonable taste (and at 60 minutes on a single track, quite the bargain!). SIDs can also be heard in today’s “retro hardware”-based bands like Treewave, 8-Bit Weapon, and Tugboat. For composers, Elektron in Sweden sells the SidStation, a MIDI sequencer with an actual SID chip inside, each one transplanted from a genuine 1980s Commodore 64.

Most original 80s SIDs were soundtracks for Commodore video games. These are the real deal, but you’ll need a program like Sidplay to play them. Check out the High Voltage SID Collection — with over 35,000 SIDs in total, you’ll probably want to start with the Top 100. (A personal favorite is the jubilant classic “Thing on a Spring” by Rob Hubbard.) Finally, Karen Collins undertakes a surprisingly deep analysis of SID music here.