# Trying to remember C64 music program **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313 "2015-05-18T17:33:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/1 "2015-05-18T17:33:09Z")
I’m trying to remember the name of a music program I had for my C64 years ago. It displayed the music on a grand staff, but just one event at a time, so when you were playing a song back you’d see the notes kind of dancing in place on a staff in the middle of the screen. It also had a BASIC like language to allow simple animation synced with the music - I think it was all sprite based. It came with a bunch of demo songs, including Stars and Stripes Forever, Carnival of Venice, Entrance of the Gladiators, and Funeral March For a Marionette with a crawling worm animation. Does anyone remember this and what it was called? ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/2 "2015-05-18T17:46:49Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I’m trying to remember the name of a music program I had for my C64 years ago. It displayed the music on a grand staff, but just one event at a time, so when you were playing a song back you’d see the notes kind of dancing in place on a staff in the middle of the screen. It also had a BASIC like language to allow simple animation synced with the music - I think it was all sprite based. > > It came with a bunch of demo songs, including Stars and Stripes Forever, Carnival of Venice, Entrance of the Gladiators, and Funeral March For a Marionette with a crawling worm animation. > > Does anyone remember this and what it was called? [This one?](https://youtu.be/ARvOiWEKcRQ?t=161) The C64 (and the other 8-bit machines of the time) had a variety of music software, all of which looked… fairly similar ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/3 "2015-05-18T18:02:34Z")
I recall there used to be a C64 program called Bank Street Music writer which allowed you to enter notes onto a staff, forming chords of up to three notes at once. Since I didn’t know music myself, I could use it to enter a song I saw transcribed in a book and found out how the tune sounded. I haven’t seen anything like it since. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/4 "2015-05-18T19:19:11Z")
No, not either of those. It only showed one event at a time on the screen, so you would see only one note per voice on the screen at any time. During playback it kind of looked like it was flipping music flashcards, with the staff being just wide enough to display one note. ---
**Author:** ![jepflast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@jepflast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jepflast)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/5 "2015-05-19T16:33:46Z")
My brother runs the site [vintagecomputing.com](http://vintagecomputing.com) where they handle these types of inquiries all the time, calling them Fuzzy Memories. The community there usually can find the answer. Scroll down on his site to find another Fuzzy Memory and send him an email at the link there. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/6 "2015-05-19T18:35:34Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > I recall there used to be a C64 program called Bank Street Music writer which allowed you to enter notes onto a staff, forming chords of up to three notes at once. Since I didn’t know music myself, I could use it to enter a song I saw transcribed in a book and found out how the tune sounded. I haven’t seen anything like it since. You mean on modern computing platforms? There are MANY options if you’re looking for software that will allow you to enter notation and play it back, including free web based ones like [this](https://www.noteflight.com/login). ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/7 "2015-05-19T19:18:58Z")
I had it but forget the name. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/8 "2015-05-19T19:24:59Z")
[Suspended](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspended) is the name of your now edited out second question Laggard. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/9 "2015-05-20T02:03:31Z")
I remember copying a program out of (I think) Compute! that allowed you to record songs by manipulating the SID chip. I got a LOT of mileage out of that one. I had floppies (literal floppies!) full of songs out of sheet music books from the library. I wish I could remember the name of it, though. I think it was more than just the single column of notes at a time, though, so it probably wasn’t yours. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/10 "2015-05-20T02:10:23Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I remember copying a program out of (I think) Compute! that allowed you to record songs by manipulating the SID chip. What do you mean by this? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/11 "2015-05-20T02:34:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What do you mean by this? It was basically a GUI for getting the SID chip to play music and be able to save it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-remember-c64-music-program/720313/12 "2015-05-20T14:36:59Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > It was basically a GUI for getting the SID chip to play music and be able to save it. Ah. It was probably Sidplayer, if it was from Compute! Or Compute’s Gazette.