The gAtari 2600 Is the Greatest Musical Instrument You’ve Never Invented

Eff me. Well, I’m pretty sure that nothing else is going to top this for the remainder of the year, so after this post I’m going to bury myself in the ground until 2012 hits. Behold cTrix, an Atari programming mastermind and inventor of the nerdiest musical instrument ever: the gAtari. Yes, I said gAtari. Just let that set in for a moment. I’m not even the one deciding that gAtari should be in bold letters, that’s just the way the word comes out when you type it into a computer. gAtari. See?

Anyway, cTrix is an Australian brainiac who has a particular knack for taking apart computer bits and pieces. Utilizing his strength and fusing it along with his love for music and the Atari 2600, created a behemoth of a device that can play both.

The “gAtari” was my excuse to do something a little silly after I discovered that the Atari 2600 was more limiting than I realized! (31 pitches, minimal waveforms and only 2 channels!) I needed an EQ which could take a high voltage and drop it down to line level (Boss bass EQ) plus a way to hold loops between tracks and parts (Boss delay). So rather than have it “DJ” style config, I thought I make something a little more creative. It uses my atari-x-mod converter software which compiles binary files for Atari. [source]

More info can be found over at cTrix’s website here. After the jump we’ve got footage from one of his musical performances at Blip Festival Tokyo 2011. I think the crowd really enjoyed themselves. I think.

[via GeeksAreSexy]

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