sID JAm

* * * Commodore 64 SID Music * * *
43,116 Contenders...
The entire HVSC Collection...

Hear them two at a time...
and decide their fate!

What is sID JAm?

sID JAm is a "Battle of the Bands" style Commodore 64 music player. (Wait! What is a SID?). While there are plenty of Commodore 64 SID emulators out there, sID JAm adds a fun spin to your music experience, putting you in the middle of the action as judge and player (in a quasi-game sense of the word). sID JAm randomly selects two tunes. It's up to you to decide winners or losers of this massive tournament of 43,116 song files currently available in the High Voltage Sid Collection.

How does sID JAm work?

sID JAm plays music through the JSidplay2 emulator by kenchis. JSidplay2 and sID JAm are both written in Java, and require Java Runtime to be installed on your computer. You may need to read and click "Ok" or "Accept" to some security warnings to run sID JAm.

Please note that JSidplay2 is cycle-exact, and requires a fast CPU to perform optimally. See below for options in sID JAm to adjust the playrate if the music skips on your computer.

So how to I use sID JAm?

Once Java is installed and you download and launch the sID_JAm.jar application file, sID JAm will play as a stand-alone application that looks like this:

sID JAm gui pic

sID JAm Controls

Upon launch, sID JAm chooses two contenders and plays the first.

Click "jAM" to switch between song files.

Winner: Click the Winner button below the tune you prefer to select a winner.
sID JAm continues to play until you click jAM again to confirm your selection.

Flame: If a tune is so bad that you never want to hear it again, you can "flame" it by clicking the flame button. This will immediately disqualify it for future rounds. Only first round tunes are eligable for flame. Once you've deicisioned a tune, it's in the race for better or worse, so flame-on if you hear something bad! Otherwise, this is a double-elimination tournament.

Bracket: You can choose which tournament bracket you wish to play with the "Bracket" selector. Brackets are identified by their win-loss record. You can view any bracket but you can only play tunes having no more than one loss on their record (and not flamed).

(...) The bracket viewer button allows you to view the contenders in a given bracket. This feature also allows you to search for tunes. A future version of sID JAm will allow custom plays of any tunes you view or search on in the bracket selector--stay tuned!

Wait! The Wait! button allows you to change your mind. Once you click Winner or Flame your decision is not final until you click "jAM" again. You can click "Wait!" instead to change your mind and allow the round to continue. A future version of sID JAm will include additional options for this button.

Sample Rate: Due to the high CPU demand of the C64 emulator, sID JAm is configurable to play lower sample rates. Although lower rates produce lower quality music, they may help reduce skipping on lower-end computers. Experiment with this setting. You may wish to try the "Crazy Low" setting for a fun twist on some of your favorite tunes.

Player Controls are, hopefully, self explanetory. Some, but not all, song files include multiple tracks you can advance forward and backward through. You can also pause and play. If your computer is fast enough, the fast forward button may allow you to scan forward through a track.

Mute voice: The three green "dot" buttons allow you to mute any or all of the three Commodore 64 SID voices of a tune. This is fun for disecting a tune while it's playing.

You be the judge

When it comes to 43,116 song files, this is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. How you choose winners and losers (and death by flame) is entirely up to you. I enjoy listening to SID music while I do other things. sID JAm will usually remember where you left off, and you can change tournament brackets at will. For the best experience, simply enjoy the tunes as they come.

For the most part, choose the tune you like best. You can click jAM as many times as you like to swap between songs before judging. Once you select your winner (or flame a songfile) your decision is final after you click jAM to start the next round.

Given 43,116 song files with an average playtime of two minutes per file, you'll be listening to over 1,000 hours of music just in the first round. You'll be amazed at the match-ups sID JAm randomly offers. Don't trap yourself into splitting hairs between two mediocre tunes. Use any tie-breaker you wish, such as a cool name (or eliminating an offensive song title--apologies, but some are offensive). You might catch yourself giving favor to a recongized artist, or simply choosing the older release in an otherwise neck and neck race. In the case of two really great pieces of art pitted together in the first round, take care, as 0-1 tunes tend to fall into oblivion (remember, two losses means elimination).

Why do I need a login? What do you do with my e-mail and password?

sID JAm is all about the community choosing the best C64 music out there. Although there is nothing particularly secret about sID JAm, passwords are a convenient way to ensure your sID JAm experience is your own. Your e-mail is stored, primarily, for login administration (password resets, etc). Be sure to check the leaderboard for the top contenders across all sID JAm players. Passwords are encrypted with a one-way "salted blowfish" algorithm, such that no one--even the administrators--knows what your password is. You may delete your account at any time. This will remove you from our database entirely (including your e-mail and any wins and losses you recorded using sID JAm).

Hint: Deleting and recreating your account is a great way to start over once you've tested sID JAm.

Please contact the administrator (below) if you have any additional questions.

Future versions of sID JAm

Depending on interest, I may wish to devolop and release additional versions of sID JAm playable on the web via Flash or perhaps mobile devices. Please see below to send feedback.

I'm Having Trouble (or more questions).

Please e-mail jguinn@bonevalleyfilms.com for any issues you encounter or any feedback you would like to provide. Thanks for trying sID JAm!

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Mail questions/comments to jguinn@bonevalleyfilms.com