| Original Rags |
| Composer |
Scott Joplin |
| Released |
1899-03-15 |
| Title Origin |
Official |
|
Original Rags is Scott Joplin's first printed ragtime.
Title
The title Original Rags is drawn in big letters on the original publication's front cover.
Composition
All sections are in 2/4 and major. Section C is in C, section D in D, the rest in G.
Games
Schizofrenia (C64)
Every time the level selection screen appears, Original Rags starts at the introduction. Section E and some of the ties are missing. It loops back to section A instead.
The game has no audio credits, but the driver's programming style matches all of Terry Watts' games.
The arrangement is tuned at 434 Hz, sounding closer to F♯, and plays on two sawtooth waves with a notch filter. They sound different on every machine because the SID chip's filter is notoriously unstable. It should be recorded:
- on a C64 PAL where the filter is noticeable and pleasant (and as likely intended).
- on a C64C PAL.
Impossible Mission II (C64)
In Impossible Mission II, you have to collect six unique musical sequences. On the way, you may find two duplicates and have to erase them. On the C64, the six sequences have the same melody, but different instruments. In an apparent pre-release for the C64, the melody is the second occurrence of section A of Original Rags. In the final game, it's the much shorter Sequence 4.
Although the SID chip has proven more versatile by 1988, some of the instruments are so similar that the duplicates may be hard to hear. In the pre-release, two instruments are even identical, but can be distinguished by a wave on the bottom.
Unlike the theme in the final game, the driver is custom, tuned to NTSC, and synchronized to the screen refresh. For history's sake, both settings are recorded, but what the arrangers used is unknown. People who worked at Novotrade could be asked for confirmation. Gábor Pongyor sadly passed away.
- VICE 3.2 with C64C NTSC. The VGMPF considers old NTSC too similar.
- A real C64C PAL with an 8580 R5 4091. The slower hardware tunes the music at 434 Hz, sounding closer to F♯.
The sequences are all five tracks in the rip labeled pre-release.
Alf the First Adventure (C64)
In-game, the highest notes on bars 17 to 24 play on one triangle wave.
The eighth rest in bar 20 and the second half of bar 24 got cut, putting these bars out of sync. The last note in bar 21 and the first in bar 22 changed from B to D.
For recording, the game was played in VICE 3.2 with C64C (NTSC). It sounds the same on every SID chip and is track 3 in the rip.
Links
