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Music downloads
 
Video clips
 
Chip music

Bolero

I perform Maurice Ravel's Bolero on a variety of homemade 8-bit
instruments.

Download

  * Linus Akesson - Maurice Ravel - Bolero.mp3 (MP3, 26.2 MB)

Some stats and details

  * 9 hours and 42 minutes of footage
  * 52 mixer channels
  * 13 neck- and bowties
  * 9 different instruments
  * 1 crazy automaton
  * 0 regrets

This project took me a bit over half a year to finish.

I hope you'll enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed making it! There
are many little details that I'll let you discover on your own.

[automaton-]

It was fun to put my tools and methods to the test with this huge
undertaking. When I started out I had no idea if my mixing and
video-editing process would work at this scale, but it turned out to
only need a few tweaks here and there.

The nine instruments are: The Qweremin (breadbin / regular C64C /
dark C64C), Qwertuoso (breadbin), the Paulimba, the
Tenor Commodordion, the Family Bass (albeit not as a bass this time),
my still unnamed floppy-drive noise instrument (1541 / 1541-II), the
C=TAR, the Chipophone, and a newcomer: NES timpani.

The timpani sound is based on the famous NES staircase triangle wave.
But there is no register for controlling its volume, and yet we can
hear an envelope with a release phase. To achieve this, I rely on a
neat trick that was used already in Super Mario Bros.: It turns out
that the triangle channel is mixed with the ADPCM sample-playback
channel and then fed through a non-linear resistor network (the
output is proportional to ((adpcm + triangle)-1 + C)-1). Therefore,
adding a constant DC offset via the sample channel makes the triangle
more or less compressed.

In nearly every part of this video, what you see is what you hear;
the audio and video were recorded at the same time. But the automaton
is different: Thanks to its 100% repeatable performance I could
capture the sound of each individual section of the hardware, with
the microphone up close, and then mix the parts according to taste
and combine them with the visuals from a separate take.

Fun fact: You can't see it in the video but the automaton is
supported by original C64 boxes:

[boxes-smal]

Posted Friday 19-Dec-2025 08:00

Discuss this page

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for what people (other than myself)
write in the forums. Please report any abuse, such as insults,
slander, spam and illegal material, and I will take appropriate
actions. Don't feed the trolls.

Jag tar inget ansvar for det som skrivs i forumet, forutom mina egna
inlagg. Vanligen rapportera alla inlagg som bryter mot reglerna, sa
ska jag se vad jag kan gora. Som regelbrott raknas till exempel
forolampningar, fortal, spam och olagligt material. Mata inte
tralarna.

Anonymous
Fri 19-Dec-2025 21:55
This is amazing. All my respect to you!
[Report abuse]
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13 more comments hidden. Click to show all.

EmilLindroth
Emil Lindroth
Fri 19-Dec-2025 21:59
This is the best and most awesome thing I have seen and heard in
years! The hard work you've put in to it along with a masterful
performance is mindblowing.

In this day and age of ai generated music you've surpassed excellence
by not only bringing the computer as an electric music instrument to
life but also delivering art at an unprecedented level.

You, sir Linus Akesson are a true artist. And I mean that with the
deepest of respect as an artist myself. I hope your art will reach
around the globe as many times as viraly possible for many years to
come.

Thank you Linus for brightening the world with you brilliance and for
raising the bar. I wish you all the best of fortunes in life.

Emil Lindroth
Blues keyboardist
[Report abuse]
[Quote & reply]
Anonymous
Fri 19-Dec-2025 22:09
Amazing! Incredible! Thank you for sharing!
[Report abuse]
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Anonymous
Fri 19-Dec-2025 22:12
This makes me nostalgic for Final Fantasy III for the Super NES.
[Report abuse]
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Anonymous
Fri 19-Dec-2025 22:49
I was already a fan of your work, but this takes the cake.

Congratulations on another amazing piece!
[Report abuse]
[Quote & reply]
Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 01:13
I absolutely love this. The snare is incredible. At 5:06 I thought it
was printing something that would finish at the completion of the
piece. Alas, v2 ;)
[Report abuse]
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 01:22
This is absolutely amazing. I don't even know where to begin. Thanks
for making this!
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 03:54
You da man LINUS! Whats next? Maybe excursions Samuel Barber?
[Report abuse]
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 05:20
Incredible!
[Report abuse]
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 08:57
This put a stupid smile on my face for 15 minutes and it's still
going. Just an awesome idea! Thanks so much!
[Report abuse]
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 08:59
This was one of the best things this one has seen in its life, it's
so cool to see all your custom instruments in context, and it is not
sure any other performance has ever bought it so much joy to watch.
[Report abuse]
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 10:10
The coolest musical-technological project I could possibly imagine.
Incredible performance. I'm honoured to share the web with you,
maestro.
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 10:25
Popped up in my YouTube feed Christmas 2025 and a lovely Christmas
present it is, thanks for sharing.
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 11:48
Absolute madman!
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 13:44
!Brutal! Gracias por compartir un trabajo tan bien hecho. 
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 14:38
Congratulations on finding a way to make Bolero entertaining!
[Report abuse]
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 15:37
What an amazing surprise to find. You did this great justice! Thank
you.
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Anonymous
Sat 20-Dec-2025 22:57
Fantastic! Truly inspired. What a wonderful gift you've given us!
Thank you!
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