spectrumizer — demos

MIDI → ZX Spectrum AY (PT3). All clips are the bundled public-domain examples (ode-to-joy, pachelbel-canon, korobeiniki, greensleeves) rendered through spectrumizer's software AY. Each .sna is a self-playing 128K snapshot of the same module — load it in any Spectrum emulator to hear the real player.

Faithful (3-voice reduction)

Straight reduction of the source to lead / bass / harmony.

spectrumizer ode-to-joy.mid -o faithful.pt3 · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

Chiptune

Octave-doubled lead + a kick/snare synth groove with off-beat hi-hats — the default chiptune flavour.

spectrumizer ode-to-joy.mid -o chiptune.pt3 --style chiptune · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

Chord arpeggios

Pachelbel's Canon with --arps: channel C plays each chord's root and cycles a major/minor ornament at 50 Hz, so a single AY channel implies the whole triad — fake polyphony, the classic AY/Follin trick.

spectrumizer pachelbel-canon.mid --arps · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

Seventh & sus arpeggios

Greensleeves, harmonised with sevenths and suspensions: the chord detector reads Am7, Fmaj7, G7, Em7, Cmaj7 and the Esus4 cadences, and channel C cycles each chord's full tones — four-note harmony from one AY channel.

spectrumizer greensleeves.mid --arps · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

Echo

Ode to Joy with --echo: channel C repeats the lead half a beat later and quieter — the other classic AY trick.

spectrumizer ode-to-joy.mid --echo · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

Vibrato lead

Ode to Joy with --vibrato: after each note's attack the lead's sustain wobbles the tone period sub-semitone at 6.25 Hz. The offsets ride inside the PT3 sample, so the vibrato costs nothing in the patterns.

spectrumizer ode-to-joy.mid --vibrato · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

Real drums + harmony

Korobeiniki — the public-domain Russian folk song behind Tetris — with a real GM drum track: kick, snare and hi-hats (closed ticking the off-eighths, open closing each bar). Drums win channel C, but the chord voice fills the rows between hits and re-attacks after each one, so the percussion costs almost no harmony.

spectrumizer korobeiniki.mid --style chiptune · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

Buzzer bass (pure envelope)

Pachelbel's Canon — its ground bass voiced low. Channel B is the AY hardware envelope itself, oscillating at the note pitch with the tone off — the characteristic deep AY buzzer. Pitch is coarse, but the low ostinato resolves cleanly.

spectrumizer pachelbel-canon.mid --style chiptune --bass envelope · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

Buzzer bass (tone + envelope)

The same Canon with the tone kept on for exact pitch while the hardware envelope adds the buzz — pitch-accurate at any register.

spectrumizer pachelbel-canon.mid --style chiptune --bass envelope-tone · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

No dynamics

Flat per-channel volume; compare with the chiptune clip to hear the velocity-driven dynamics.

spectrumizer ode-to-joy.mid --style chiptune --no-dynamics · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

Equal-tempered tuning

Equal temperament instead of the exact PT3 tone table — slightly off from where the chip actually plays.

spectrumizer-play chiptune.pt3 --tuning equal · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

Mono

Mono instead of the default ABC stereo (A-left / B-centre / C-right).

spectrumizer-play chiptune.pt3 --stereo mono · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator

Everything at once

Pachelbel's Canon with the flags combined: chiptune octave lead with vibrato on A, tone+envelope buzzer bass on B and chord arpeggios on C slowed to 2 frames per tone (--arp-speed 2, an audible ripple) — the whole piece an octave down, at flat volume.

spectrumizer pachelbel-canon.mid --style chiptune --bass envelope-tone --arps --arp-speed 2 --vibrato --transpose -12 --no-dynamics · download .pt3 · .sna for an emulator