Rob Hubbard, Martin Galway, Mike Alsop, Mike Riedel, Tommy V. Dunbar, David M. Hanlon, Roy Glover, David Whittaker, Ben Daglish, Jeroen Tel, Gigolo Tony, Front 242, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, Nitzer ebb, Aphex Twin, Planet Patrol, Skinny Puppy, Egyptian lover, and many other musicians.
Late night copy parties as a kid. The bbs era of the 80s when there was no world wide web and the standard modem speed was 300 baud. Telephreak, Color 64, and most importantly - the sid chip.
c64 Messiah consists of an individual artist composing music with both sounds from the 80s vintage computer system, the commodore 64, and modern day composition tools and instruments. Instead of taking a purest approach and only using sounds from the c64, he combines samples, real time synthesis from various audio hardware, and whatever he feels could benefit a particular song.
A quote from the c64 Messiah "...don’t get me wrong. The sid chip sounds excellent generating sounds on it’s own. If I were to only utilize the sid chip I believe I would appeal mainly to a c64 audience or on a whole the chiptune community. By combining the sounds of this computer and modern instruments my audience becomes much greater." People can listen to a song if they are into the particular style and think its excellent without knowing what a c64, chiptune, etc is all about. It’s all about the MUSIC first and foremost..."
The c64 Messiah has been producing music under various monikers since 1991 and has work spanning numerous styles including - neoclassical, jazz, speedmetal, hiphop, downtempo, new wave, gabber, breakcore, jungle/drum ’n bass, experimental and more. His personal music tastes varies greatly which directly influences his compositions and helps to make it diverse.
The Commodore 64 personal computer released in August 1982 became the best selling single computer model of all time. It also contained the sid chip which enabled the greatest 8 bit noises ever produced.
Roberto Aloi (aka c64 messiah) can still picture the day he was at his parent’s
bedside. He managed to convince them that he needed a c64 by somehow associating inflation before the holiday season as a viable reason for purchasing a c64 personal computer. It really made absolutely no sense and it’s doubtful he had any clue what inflation was at such an early age.
The c64 did not have the highest video resolution available or a staggering palette of colors to choose from.
What it did possess was a revolutionary sound chip referred to as the "SID" chip. The SID was created by engineer Robert "Bob" Yannes who later founded the Ensoniq digital synthesizer company. Yannes was inspired to create the "SID" by his previous work in the synthesizer industry and was not impressed by the current state of computer sound chips.
Instead, he wanted a high-quality instrument chip, which is the reason why the SID has features like an envelope generator, previously not found in home computer sound chips. The sid was instrumental in making the c64 the best-selling computer in history and is partly credited for initiating the demoscene.
Yannes is best quoted as saying "I thought the sound chips on the market, including those in the Atari computers, were primitive and obviously had been designed by people who knew nothing about music."
- Robert Yannes, On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore.
The young messiah had no clue that the computer he played games on, bbsed with, and practically grew up using would inspire music creation years later. It’s funny how his various Amiga machines and IBM compatibles have been forced into retirement at the local landfill and his c64 is still always within reach...
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