Bad Apple SMS (SN76489)
by Inverse Phase
dollmaker
dollmaker
I'd like to think the artistry and energy put into the original Bad Apple video and song from the Touhou bullet hell series shines in this 8-Bit version. It definitely captures the fun of the 'solos' and the key change that locks the finish of the original. This version of the track also sustains and builds that driving energy and fun of the original at 150 bpm! Seriously a cult favorite, Inverse Phase does it again.
Alexis Crim
Glenn Magus Harvey
Toxic Orochi
w00keee
A MAGNI
mouse6502
kaztah
48kRAM
fluffy
twd
Ami
cybervox
TeRRY LeIFeSTe
t_tera
Kreativ Snail
jetCold
djpackrat
ZeroCiaran
Cactus
Chris Goad
Steve J
Tyrel Souza
hypatian
Jens Larsen
psykon
mdv_sthlm
Jay C
Sebastian Tomczak
Cameron Mullett
penthor mul
SgtCrispy
thombert
swankypalmtree
Jacob Nelson
Glenn Platt
James Cochran
Brandon
cocoalabs
Eidos
litterin
Alex
woob
discord_inc
edenist
Natalie
Matthew Silver
MARBTHEFAN
Shane Riley
Nick Hagman
Christopher Burns
Dave
zeratul2099
xaiax
TheGameboyGTS
Wayne Manselle
kieranhj
TenAndroids
tzeb
localflick
Falken
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about
If you're not familiar with Bad Apple, it's a song from ZUN's Touhou series of games. It was remixed and featured in a promotional silhouette video and quickly became a meme in the demoscene as a bar for video compression and streaming. Demo groups have been actively "porting" the PV to various computers and consoles, and the results have just been insane. There are Commodore 64, Atari 2600, even TI84 calculator versions of the demo, each with its own set of technical achievements.
However, there was no port of the video to the BBC Micro (colloquially, "Beeb"), a popular UK computer, until now. UK demogroup Bitshifters took it upon themselves to produce a version of the Bad Apple video that would not only replay on a BBC Micro but also do so smoothly in a Teletext mode exclusive to the machine and fit on a single floppy disk. They also needed someone to port the audio to the Beeb, which is where I came in.
To properly understand the capabilities of the machine, it has a 6502 running at 2mhz with 32KB of RAM, perhaps roughly comparable to an Apple II+. The BBC Micro also has an SN76489 for sound which provides three channels of 50% square wave and rudimentary whitenoise that sounds like banging on trashcan lids. This chip first appeared in the TI99/4 (as the TMS9919 or SN94624), and also in several other systems like the Colecovision, Sega Master System/Game Gear, IBM PCjr, and Tandy 1000. There were various revisions.
To properly get a song over to the BBC Micro, I first wrote an SMS song in Deflemask's PAL mode to get things as closely to our target as possible, and then we used additional scripts to convert the output to the Beeb, mainly because the oscillator clock runs at different speeds between the two machines. Then we fine-tuned the errors out as best we could.
You can watch the final result here:
bitshifters.github.io/posts/prods/bs-badapple.html
What I found while working with this is that the diffferent variants of SN76489 — while the changes between revisions were extremely minor — might contribute to a lot of interesting bugs and errors. I'm currently researching this more.
What you are hearing in this specific version is the song as it replays on the Sega Master System, before conversion and processing. As soon as I have a good recording from a BBC Micro, I'll create a small EP with both of these tracks.
However, there was no port of the video to the BBC Micro (colloquially, "Beeb"), a popular UK computer, until now. UK demogroup Bitshifters took it upon themselves to produce a version of the Bad Apple video that would not only replay on a BBC Micro but also do so smoothly in a Teletext mode exclusive to the machine and fit on a single floppy disk. They also needed someone to port the audio to the Beeb, which is where I came in.
To properly understand the capabilities of the machine, it has a 6502 running at 2mhz with 32KB of RAM, perhaps roughly comparable to an Apple II+. The BBC Micro also has an SN76489 for sound which provides three channels of 50% square wave and rudimentary whitenoise that sounds like banging on trashcan lids. This chip first appeared in the TI99/4 (as the TMS9919 or SN94624), and also in several other systems like the Colecovision, Sega Master System/Game Gear, IBM PCjr, and Tandy 1000. There were various revisions.
To properly get a song over to the BBC Micro, I first wrote an SMS song in Deflemask's PAL mode to get things as closely to our target as possible, and then we used additional scripts to convert the output to the Beeb, mainly because the oscillator clock runs at different speeds between the two machines. Then we fine-tuned the errors out as best we could.
You can watch the final result here:
bitshifters.github.io/posts/prods/bs-badapple.html
What I found while working with this is that the diffferent variants of SN76489 — while the changes between revisions were extremely minor — might contribute to a lot of interesting bugs and errors. I'm currently researching this more.
What you are hearing in this specific version is the song as it replays on the Sega Master System, before conversion and processing. As soon as I have a good recording from a BBC Micro, I'll create a small EP with both of these tracks.
credits
released February 28, 2017
Original Bad Apple theme by ZUN.
Dance Remix by Masayoshi Minoshima and Nomico.
SN76489 Arrangement by Inverse Phase.
Please attribute Inverse Phase with a link back if you use this track. No ownership of Bad Apple is expressed or implied.
Please do not upload my music to YouTube.
Original Bad Apple theme by ZUN.
Dance Remix by Masayoshi Minoshima and Nomico.
SN76489 Arrangement by Inverse Phase.
Please attribute Inverse Phase with a link back if you use this track. No ownership of Bad Apple is expressed or implied.
Please do not upload my music to YouTube.
license
all rights reserved
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about
Inverse Phase Baltimore, Maryland
Chiptune/8-bit music and indie game composer. I also run an electronic entertainment museum called Bloop.
discography
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Apr 2024 -
Oct 2023 -
Jun 2012 -
Mar 2016
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Street Fighter X Mega Man OST
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