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The MOS Technologies 6581/8580 SID (Sound Interface Device) was the built-in sound chip of Commodore's CBM-II, Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 computers. It was one of the last sound chips to be made for any home computer prior to the digital sound revolution.
The SID was created by engineer Robert Yannes, who later founded the Ensoniq digital synthesizer company. Together with the VIC-II chip, the SID was instrumental in making the Commodore 64 the best-selling computer in history, and is partly credited for initiating the demo scene.
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2 Modern developments 3 Features 4 Notes 5 External links |
The C64 had an agonizingly slow disk drive protocol, taking minutes to load its 64K into RAM. As a result, while the disk loaded it was common for game companies to play music, sometimes called a "loader". Because the SID chip was so good, this may be why composers for Commodore game music have received somewhat more attention compared to composers for other game platforms.
The 6581 had a quirk that changing volume levels on a channel would result in a slight "pop". Eventually this bug was found to be useful for producing a fourth voice of percussive sounds and even digitized speech. Unfortunately, this "defect" was partially corrected in the 8580 used in the C128.
Well known composers of game music for this chip are Martin Galway, known for titles including WizBall, and Rob Hubbard, known for titles such as International Karate.
In the late 1990s, an electronic musical instrument utilizing the SID chip as its synthesis engine was released. It is called the Sidstation and is produced by Swedish company Elektron. Since the SID chip had not been manufactured for years, Elektron allegedly bought up almost all the remaining stocks of the chip.
Also in the 1990s, a sound card for IBM PC compatibles called HardSID was released. The card contains one or two SID chips and allows a PC to utilize the sound capabilities of the chip directly instead of by emulation via generic sound cards (e.g. SoundBlaster).
In June 1998, a cycle-based SID emulator engine called reSID became available. It is software, available with C++ source code, and licensed under the GPL by Dag Lem.
The Catweasel MK3, a PCI controller card for IBM PC compatibles, Apple Macintoshes, and the AmigaOne, includes a hardware SID option.
A Game Music
Modern developments
Features
Notes
.SID file, known colloquially as a "SID", is a sound data file (akin to NSF) typically copied directly from the SID chip music/sound of a Commodore 64 game or demo.