A famous saying goes that necessity is the mother of invention, and if we think for a moment about the computer systems of yesteryear, that idea fits perfectly. The code jockeys of the day had to do everything possible to overcome, avoid, and/or exploit the limits at hand, and music was no exception. On this occasion, the excellent YouTube channel The 8-Bit Guy teaches us some details about how sound worked on old computers and consoles, as well as its evolution.
Think of the song from a classic video game. No matter which one: bring that memory back. Play the sound in your head as if it were the first time. It wasn't hard, was it? Some tunes have been burned into our brains, and that's not only due to their quality, but also to their impact. My first computer didn't have a sound card, and all the 'noises' were emitted by the built-in speaker. I swear I could still recognize the music of Prince of Persia from a kilometer away, and despite its limitations, the sound was fantastic. How could they achieve something like that? The latest video from the YouTube channel The 8-Bit Guy explains it to us:
From CPU to Dedicated Sound Chips
At first, all control over sound was in the hands of the processor, and although programmers could extract relatively complex tones, the process devoured available resources. The computer world only had to wait a couple of years to make way for dedicated chips in computers and consoles. The number of available channels was low: in the case of the Nintendo NES, the total was five, while on the Commodore 64 there were only three. Even so, developments on the Commodore 64 were much more impactful for one reason: the channels on the NES could only emit a single type of sound, but each channel on the Commodore 64 could generate up to four. As if that weren't enough, the old Basic jockeys discovered that it was possible to change sounds on all channels dynamically and in real time, paving the way for extremely advanced combinations and things like chiptune movement.
The 90s: AdLib and the Rise of PCM Sampling
We enter the decade of the 90s, and during those years the first dedicated sound cards for IBM PC and compatibles appeared, among which the AdLib stands out, based on the eternal Yamaha YM3812. With a total of nine channels and the ability to program them independently, sound on computers had changed forever. However, there was one more trick up the sleeve: PCM sampling. This technology found great acceptance among enthusiasts thanks to another historical computer, the Commodore Amiga, and to subsequent music in MOD format, part of the DNA of the demoscene culture. Although today we can enjoy entire soundtracks for every game, the truth is that the old 'beeps' and 'boops' haven't lost their charm...
