Stone Oakvalley's Authentic SID Collection (SOASC=)
The automated Commodore 64 SID music to MP3 recording project based on the High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC) up to release #49.
   INTRODUCTION: 
The SOASC= project is a non-profit and a private project.The SOASC= project was an automated recording technique invented by me (Stone Oakvalley) in order to mass record music from the legendary Commodore 64 and its SID sound chips (6581 and 8580) including one variation chip. The purpose is to preserve Commodore 64 music in one of todays most common music format, namely the MP3. The original SID music files are today played by millions of people around the world on software players that emulate the real hardware SID chips. The emulated audio material can vary a great deal compared to the authentic sound of a real Commodore 64, and from my point of view, why have something emulated when you can have the real deal instead? We give you the authentic Commodore 64 music as it sounds on the real machine. Commodore 64 is a legend in computer history and in many ways influenced in todays culture (known as 8-bit music or chip music). It deserves much more than just emulating that raw & unique gritty sound! It made many people happy "back then", and we are here to offer that feeling again! To put in it words we all can understand: WE LOVE C64! The entire HVSC SID collection will be recorded as played from REAL Commodore 64's (both old and new) as per the latest collection available. With PSID64 as the REAL C64 player and 64HDD as fileserver, it all connects to multiple PC's with own tailored software, crude PAR: port control system/C64 keyboard interface and database structure tools written in PureBasic. Yes, its actually working. Also, a strong point to consider in this project is that ALL SIDs are recorded on both Commodore SID chip models regardless of what HVSC or the author of the SID had recommended. Remember: There are people out there that probably NEVER heard the elite sound of the 6581 and its sample/filter defects, but only the sound of 8580 and visa versa. For those people, they ONLY rembember the tune as played by their model. And this is a strong point of the SOASC= project: PRESERVATION for ALL! It is called AUTHENTIC because the process will NOT attempt to enhance any of the recordings, it is recorded straight plain out from the mono Commodore 64 Audio/Video connector. No stereo, no funny mixes, no compression, no filtering, no remix, no software noise reduction, no crazy SID hacks or other unatural Commodore 64 elements. If there is a poppy click in the recording its supposed to be there. The SID chip is unique as should be treated as so as well. I've adjusted DC BIAS to 0 and executed Volume Maximizer with no clipping using NORMALIZE.EXE and SOX.EXE. Noise Reduction was done by improving the physical grounding inside Commodore 64. Thats it! The final MP3 (224kbps, mono, 44100Hz) will contain all information from the SID itself, sorted in respect of the directory structure as defined by HVSC. Filenaming, title, author, copyright etc. A project this big shouldn't be done...because it IS insane. But fret not: Because, ONE crazy man called Stone Oakvalley - managed to pull off this world record class project in music conversion and preservation! FACTS OF PROJECT: End result: 154473 MP3 files with a total size of approx 500GB of authentic Commodore 64 SID music. Availability: The MP3 files will be made available on a totally non-bloated, real downloads and a website much similar to the database already used on the SOAMC= project. The project started to record in Oct 2006 and was finished Mar 2007. Pictures of the server used during 2009 and beyond: Spec: 2 x Intel Xeon @ 3.2GHz w/hyperthreading, 1.5gb ram, 1.4t hd space, 4u rack & 2 x 350watt power (redudant)  Pictures of the server used during 2008: Spec: 1 x Intel P4 @ 1.9GHz, 1.5gb ram, 1t hd space, 2u rack & 1 x 400watt power  
IMPORTANT TIMELINES: From start of project to the actual recording loop began, I worked 100% of my available spare time on this project. Hours spent on research and preperation: Approx 180 hours (pr. 12 October 2006) Amount of money spent: 1500 NOK,- ($235) -- Also more SIDs (PRG) were detected with errors and removed from initial recording setup. There are SO MANY factors involved in this project! By this date, the SOASC= project had recorded approx 9500 tunes automatically. All is now deleted, and the project will be restarted later this evening. It has to be perfect! possible achieve without going too far beyond what a standard C64 is made of! Initial recording was aborted after 9500 tunes, just because the SOASC= crew noticed some errors and also based on feedback from test users! From this date the SOASC= project will pump out approx 1000 of tunes each 24 hour session. HVSC#46 was just minutes after added to the new recording queue, (1500+ files). HVSC#46 was the next morning after added to the new recording queue, (1500+ files). All files accounted for! Final results became: 97755 files @ 300GB for both the SID6581 and SID8580 chips based on HVSC #46. First file to be recorded: "MUSICIANS\N\Nilsen_Ronny\Arcane_Rituals_T01.sid.mp3" - 19 Nov 2007 @ 02:46 Last file to be recorded: "MUSICIANS\B\Blidon_Jens\Sprite_Writer_T07.sid.mp3" - 17 Mar 2007 @ 06:47 All MP3 files online was deleted. Thats 48483 MP3 files! I was personally around when the last seconds was recorded, and the joy of seeing it finalize just was a kicker! Database checks out 100%. Houston, we do NOT have any more problems! The eagle is landed! SOASC= collection is FINALLY ready for launch! SALUT! Greets to all the people who managed to wait so long for this moment! Now over 154700 MP3 files! Also, this is the last ever recording done for the SOASC= project. The time has come to close the lid on this massive project lasting for 2.5 years. Commodroid has been debriefed and dismantled :-) The SOASC= team:   Stein Eikesdal a.k.a. Stone Oakvalley Svein Engelsgjerd a.k.a. Waxhead The inventor/maintainer Coder (c,php), sysadmin & guru |