1bit Music

http://shiru.untergrund.net/1bit/ seems to be the most comprehensive site for matters of 1bit sound synthesis (if it has nothing to do with Tristan Perich, that is).

Primitive Electronics

One potential aim of this project is a 1 MIPS (minimum) core for Retro made without a microprocessor. That still may mean doing it with discretes, but I think it would be mighty interesting to invoke even more primitive hardware. The goal would be to make construction the whole system possible without controlled atmospheres (beyond those used in the creation of wire, circuit board material, etc.)

As such, today's links are:

• http://www.hpfriedrichs.com/
• His books for cheaper than Amazon:
• http://www.lindsaybks.com/bks2/vxtal/
• http://www.lindsaybks.com/bks7/finstr/

thought experiment

Transcript of a chat between Alan and me yesterday. Posted with his permission and edited to remove irrelevant elements.


Alan: I had an idea for a thought experiment I wanted to run by you.


me: Oo. Hit me.


Alan: You could get a bunch of rocks and a bucket,
and if all you were interested in doing was keep track of how many things you had at a particular moment,
it serves as a "computer."
similarly, if you want to do some arithmetic you can use an abacus, or for more complex math, a slide rule.


me: Not unlike counting on your fingers, but with the added benefit that it serves as a memory.


Alan: If you keep a notebook, you could even have a rudimentary storage medium, writing down equations and results.
What makes this situation unsatisfactory such that you want to build a computer?
Is there some minimum bound that those tools don't meet but your computer does?

I haven't looked at this yet, but it appears to be relevant (via @adafruit):

Building a 4-Bit computer

Strength lies in obsolescence

Whee! I've never even written Assembly and I'm trying to design a computer. That's why Alan lent me his copy of this book.

But this is my copy, which just arrived today. It's older than I am, which is fantastic.