Looking for "music" program using an AM Radio for sound

Anything Sinclair ZX Basic related; history, development, tips - differences between BASIC on the ZX80 and ZX81
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ts_mike
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:42 pm

Looking for "music" program using an AM Radio for sound

Post by ts_mike »

Way back when, I remember typing in a BASIC program from a book that would allow the user to play "music" using the keyboard. The "sound" would be generated by placing an AM radio near the computer. Via a series of loops and calculations, the machine would alter the "pitch" of the RF interference that the radio would receive. In this way, rudimentary music could be played. It was similar to the famous "daisy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EPmWvqZ0Rw music generator for the Altair 8800

I have looked online and through all my remaining books, but I could not find anything. I found techniques to use the "ear" port of the ZX81--that required machine language. I also found a program that would create music via switching between fast and slow mode which changed the pitch of the RF interference on the TV speaker, but I could not find anything that specifically used an AM radio.

Is anyone familiar with the program I'm talking about? It was a BASIC program, and it was published in a book. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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