Jason Brooke

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Jason C. Brooke
Jason Brooke.jpg
Gender Male
Born Late 1960s
Birth Place Kippax, West Yorkshire, England
Nationality British   UK.svg
Aliases Jas.C.Brooke
Jas
Jas C Brooke
Jaz.C.Brooke
J.C.Brooke
Jaz Brooke
Jas.Brooke
J.Brooke
Musicon Design
Binary Design
Binary Sight and Sounds
Binary Sigh and Sounds
Jas. C. Brooke
Jas C. Brooke
Jason C Brooke
Jas C.Brooke
Jason.Brooke
J.C.Brookes
Jas.C.Brookes
J C Brooke
Jason.C.Brook
Jason C.Brookes
J. C. Brooke
Jas Brooke
Jason Brooke of Musicon
Jason C. Brookes
Jason Brooks
Jason Brookes

Jason Brooke (goes by Jas.C.Brooke since 1986) is a British former video game programmer and composer. He spent most of his early career composing music and rearranging arcade music for early home computer systems, most popularly the Atari ST, the ZX Spectrum, and the Commodore 64.

Brooke started out composing as a hobby on a Casio MT-31 and PT-30. He wanted to compose for a living, but was told by his school to learn to differentiate between dreams and reality. Just then, he saw his schoolmate programming on his Sinclair ZX81 computer. He tried it for himself and was fascinated with it. In 1983, he had saved up enough money to buy his own ZX Spectrum. In 1984, he teamed up with another schoolmate, Martin H. "Boffy" Smith. They programmed various things and sold a music editor called Muzik to Melbourne House for £300. However, it was never released. From June to October 1985, Brooke wrote a Christmas game called Plum Duff (ZXS).

Around Christmas 1985, he heard that Binary Design was looking for game programmers, went for an interview, and got the job. Since March 1986, he resides in Prestwich, Greater Manchester.

Binary's musician was the legendary David Whittaker, who had Brooke write new sound drivers for him. By late April 1987, Whittaker had left and Brooke had become Binary's musician for all platforms (without noticing that it fulfilled his childhood dream). In November, Brooke followed Whittaker's invitation to competitor Musicon Design.

In 1989, Brooke was getting bored of music and returned to programming. He followed an invitation to Zippo Games and freelanced for game companies as Day 1. In 1996, Brooke was about to retire from working on video games, until he learned about Perfect Entertainment's new office in his hometown, where he developed an audio codec. However, in 1998, due to financial troubles, Brooke was let go from the company. Brooke then went to program PlayStation and Game Boy games at Software Creations. At their successor Acclaim Studios Manchester, he programmed in C for the GameCube and Xbox, but found the games unethical and quit the video game industry in 2003.

Brooke does not listen to much music anymore, because he still imagines arranging for three voices. For his website, he programmed in JavaScript. He regularly tweets about Christianity and British politics, occasionally puns and his past. One of his brothers is video game graphic designer and artist Lyndon Brooke.

Audio Development

Apart from Plum Duff (ZXS) and World Darts (AST) (see their pages), Brooke went always the same way.

Generally at Binary Design and Musicon Design, everything 8-bit was developed on Einstein computers, wired to the target computer for testing. A sound driver was programmed once per platform, and songs and sound effects were arranged by typing numbers and labels into the driver's source code, using the platform's respective assembler (see sections below). Most audio for the Spectrum 128K, CPC and MSX was tested directly on the Einstein as those platforms have the same CPU and audio chip, only differently tuned. To have arcade songs rearranged, companies sent audio cassettes, many of which Brooke recalls were recorded in an open arcade.

David Whittaker created a driver for Commodore 64 in late 1985 and Amstrad CPC, but Binary's game programmers complained about their slowness. In June 1986, upon Whittaker's request, Brooke rewrote the CPC one to be much shorter, faster, and more flexible. This driver got adapted to more platforms and released by late September.

Shortly after, Brooke, himself a Whittaker fan, made audio the same way. Some rippers believed that Brooke was an alias of Whittaker. Whittaker and Brooke updated the drivers separately from each other, leaving them distinguishable after all. Brooke retuned most drivers a couple of times, accidentally transposing soundtracks by up to two semitones.

Upon finishing a soundtrack, Brooke sent a disk with the module and instructions with titles and a date. Examples are found at a programmer and an interview.

Amiga

Main article: JCB

Brooke used an unknown assembler on an Amiga. Where he got samples is unconfirmed, but some of them look like pre-calculated waveforms. On 2022-01-11, he tweeted:

“
I always felt like my Amiga music was my worst. I needed time to imrpove my driver but often ended up just adding a drum line on the 4th channel, trying to add fill to 3 channel AY chip tunes. That worked best on Vixen as you can't have too many "jungle" drums🙂
„

Amstrad CPC

In 1986, shortly after rewriting Whittaker's driver, Brooke bought a CPC, Einstein and Mikes Assembler for £700.

Arcade

Brooke's only scored arcade system is basically an Amiga 500 at NTSC, so he likely treated it as such.

Atari 8-bit

Brooke used Mikes Assembler on an Einstein wired to an Atari 800.

Atari ST

Apart from World Darts (AST), Brooke used an unknown assembler on an ST.

In ST Format Issue 2, dated September 1989, Brooke started a sound programming course. Further parts have not been found.

Commodore 64

Brooke used Mikes Assembler on an Einstein wired to a C64. He loved some of its thick sounds, specifically basslines on Whittaker's huge loud speakers.

Since May 1988, Brooke occasionally used SID's built-in filter, mostly a band-pass filter sweeping over the entire frequency range, apparently aware that this range varies on every machine. Still, in VICE 3.4, his usages sound best with 6581 (ReSID) and a bias of around -250. Brooke's audio sounds otherwise the same on every SID chip.

DOS

Brooke used an unknown assembler, probably under DOS. He supported the following devices (though it was up to the game programmer which the gamer heard):

MSX

Brooke used Mikes Assembler on an Einstein wired to an MSX.

ZX Spectrum

In 1983, Brooke bought a ZX Spectrum and "an add-on sound box". Apart from Plum Duff (ZXS), he used Mikes Assembler on an Einstein wired to a Spectrum. He supported the following devices (though it was up to the game programmer which the gamer heard):

Gameography

Note: Brooke mentioned in an interview working on an NES game at Zippo for Rare, that was not released. A Zippo co-founder credits Brooke for programming a such game called Roller Thrasher, but does not credit anyone for audio.

Released Title Sample Notes
1987-01-0? Elevator Action (CPC) Unreleased music.
1987-04-?? Strike! (C64)
1987-0?-?? Rasterscan (ZXS) Driver. Arranger?
1987-0?-?? Strike! (ZXS) Driver. Arranger?
1987-0?-?? Rasterscan (C64)
1987-0?-?? Rasterscan (CPC)
198?-??-?? Strike! (DOS) Driver? Arranger?
1987-0?-?? Motos (ZXS) Arranged Motos (ARC).
1987-08-?? Pi r Squared (C64)
1987-09-?? Bismarck (C64) Unconfirmed. Driver by Julie Dunn. Arranged Lili Marleen.
1987-0?-?? Motos (C64) Arranged Motos (ARC).
1987-0?-?? Pi r Squared (ZXS)
1987-0?-?? Feud (AMI) Composed by David Whittaker.
1987-??-?? Bosconian 87 (ZXS)
1987-??-?? 180 (A8)
Composed by David Whittaker.
1987-??-?? 180 (MSX) Driver. Arranger? Composed by David Whittaker.
1987-??-?? Motos (CPC) Arranged Motos (ARC).
1987-11-?? Inspector Gadget: Binary Design (C64) Arranged Inspector Gadget Theme.
1987-1?-?? Gryzor (ZXS) Drivers. Arranger? Arranged Contra (ARC).
1987-??-?? Ultimate Combat Mission (ZXS) Drivers. Arranger? Composer?
1987-1?-?? Lawn Tennis (C64)
1987-1?-?? OutRun (C64)
Arranged OutRun (ARC).
1987-12-?? Andy Capp (C64) Arranged New World Symphony.
1987-1?-?? Combat School (ZXS) 128K version. Arranged Combat School (ARC) and others.
1987-12-?? Bosconian 87 (C64)
1987-12-1? Out of This World (C64)
1987-1?-?? Combat School (CPC) Arranged Combat School (ARC) and others.
1987-1?-?? OutRun (ZXS)
Arranged OutRun (ARC).
1987-12-?? Garfield in Big, Fat, Hairy Deal (C64) Sound effects.
1987-1?-?? Plum Duff (ZXS)
1987-1?-?? Andy Capp (ZXS) Drivers. Arranger? Arranged New World Symphony.
1987-??-?? Bosconian 87 (CPC)
198?-??-?? Feud (A8) Composed by David Whittaker.
198?-??-?? Out of This World (CPC)
198?-??-?? Rasterscan (MSX) Driver. Arranger?
198?-??-?? Space Ranger (ARC) Title song driver. Arranger? Composer?
198?-??-?? Strike! (AST)
198?-??-?? Strike! (CPC) Driver. Arranger?
198?-??-?? World Darts (ARC) Main. Composed by David Whittaker.
1988-??-?? Gryzor (C64) a.k.a. Contra (C64) Arranged Contra (ARC). Released in autumn 1987 with different arranger.
198?-??-?? Gryzor (CPC) Arranged Contra (ARC).
198?-??-?? OutRun (CPC) Driver. Arranger? Arranged OutRun (ARC).
198?-??-?? Madballs (ZXS) Drivers. Arranger? Composer?
198?-??-?? Out of This World (ZXS)
198?-??-?? Madballs (CPC) Driver. Arranger? Composer?
1988-0?-?? Andy Capp (CPC) Driver. Arranger? Arranged New World Symphony.
1988-02-?? Rockford (C64) Composer?
1988-03-?? Ikari Warriors PAL (C64) Main. Arranged Ikari Warriors (ARC).
1988-0?-?? Mega Apocalypse (ZXS) Arranged Mega Apocalypse (C64).
1988-0?-?? Ramparts (ZXS)
Arranged Ramparts (CPC).
1988-0?-?? Lawn Tennis (CPC)
1988-03-2? Pac-Land (C64) Arranged Pac-Land (ARC).
1988-0?-?? Rastan (ZXS) Drivers. Arranger? Arranged Rastan (ARC).
1988-0?-?? Rockford (AST) Composer?
1988-0?-?? Rockford (DOS) Composer? Arranged by Nick Scarim.
1988-0?-?? Rockford (A8) Driver. Arranger? Composer?
1988-0?-?? Rockford (ZXS) Driver. Arranger? Composer?
1988-0?-?? Super Trolley (ZXS)
Drivers. Arranger? Composer?
1988-0?-?? Mega Apocalypse (CPC) Arranged Mega Apocalypse (C64).
1988-0?-?? Lazer Tag (C64)
1988-0?-?? Buggy Boy (AST) a.k.a. Speed Buggy (AST) Arranged Buggy Boy (ARC).
1988-0?-?? OutRun (AST) US version. Arranged OutRun (ARC).
1988-0?-?? Revenge of the Mutant Camels II (AST) Arranged Peruvian Traditional.
1988-0?-?? Vixen (ZXS)
1988-0?-?? Ikari Warriors (AST) Arranged Ikari Warriors (ARC).
1988-0?-?? Starquake (AST) Driver. Arranger? Composer?
1988-05-?? Vixen (C64) a.k.a. She-Fox (C64)
1988-05-?? Rockford (AMI) Composer?
1988-05-2? Super Trolley (C64)
Driver. Arranger? Composer?
1988-0?-?? Vixen (AST) a.k.a. She-Fox (AST)
1988-0?-?? Lazer Tag (CPC) Driver. Arranger?
1988-0?-?? Platoon (DOS) Arranged Platoon (C64) (or David Whittaker's arrangements?).
1988-0?-?? Vixen (CPC)
1988-0?-?? Ninja Scooter Simulator (C64)
1988-0?-?? Ikari Warriors (AMI) Arranged Ikari Warriors (ARC).
1988-0?-?? World Darts (AMI)
Composed by David Whittaker.
1988-0?-?? Side Arms (AST) Driver. Arranger? Arranged Side Arms (ARC).
1988-0?-?? Vixen (DOS)
1988-0?-?? World Darts (AST)
Composed by David Whittaker.
1988-0?-?? Overlander (AST)
1988-0?-?? Vixen (AMI) a.k.a. She-Fox (AMI)
1988-??-?? Fernandez Must Die (ZXS) Driver. Arranger? Arranged Fernandez Must Die (C64).
1988-??-?? Savage (ZXS)
1988-??-?? 1943 (CPC) Driver. Arranger? Arranged 1943 (ARC).
1988-1?-?? Turbo Boat Simulator (C64) Unconfirmed. Driver by Rob Hubbard and Giulio Zicchi.
1988-11-?? OutRun (AMI) Arranged OutRun (ARC).
1988-??-?? Savage (CPC)
1988-??-?? Revenge of the Mutant Camels II (AMI) Arranged Peruvian Traditional.
1988-??-?? Hellfire (AST)
1988-??-?? Rastan (CPC) Driver. Arranger? Arranged Rastan (ARC).
1988-??-?? 1943 (AST) Driver. Arranger? Arranged 1943 (ARC).
1988-??-?? Flying Shark (AST) Arranged Sky Shark (ARC).
1988-??-?? Hellfire (AMI)
1988-??-?? Rockford (CPC) Driver. Arranger? Composer?
1988-12-?? Tiger Road (C64) Unconfirmed. Driver by David Whittaker.
1988-??-?? Thunder Blade (AMI) Arranged Thunder Blade (ARC) (and others?).
Unreleased Chainsaw Warrior (AST)
1988-??-?? Fernandez Must Die (CPC) Driver. Arranger? Arranged Fernandez Must Die (C64).
1988-??-?? OutRun (MSX) Driver. Arranger? Arranged OutRun (ARC).
1988-??-?? Super Trolley (CPC)
Driver. Arranger? Composer?
1989-??-?? Side Arms (AMI) Arranged Side Arms (ARC).
198?-??-?? Hopper Copper (CPC) Driver. Arranger? Composer?
1989-0?-?? Space Harrier (AMI) Arranged Space Harrier (ARC) (and others?).
Partly unreleased Dreadnought (C64)
1989-0?-?? Pac-Land (ZXS) Pac-Land (C64) driver by Unknown.
1989-0?-?? Pac-Land (CPC) Pac-Land (C64) driver by Unknown.
1989-0?-?? Pac-Land (MSX) Pac-Land (C64) driver by Unknown.
1989-0?-?? Pac-Land (AMI) Arranged Pac-Land (ARC).
1989-0?-?? Supertrux (ZXS)
1989-0?-?? ThunderBlade (C64) US version. Driver. Arranger? Arranged Thunder Blade (ARC).
1989-0?-?? Supertrux (CPC)
1989-0?-?? Supertrux (C64)
Unreleased Roller Thrasher (NES) Sound or game programmer?
1989-0?-?? Savage (AST)
1989-0?-?? Street Cred Football (C64)
1989-0?-?? Savage (DOS)
1989-??-?? 1943: The Battle of Midway (AMI) Arranged 1943 (ARC).
1989-??-?? Eye of Horus (DOS) Composed by David Whittaker?
1989-1?-?? Ballistix (C64)
1989-??-?? World Darts (DOS)
Driver? Arranger? Composed by David Whittaker.
1989-12-?? Operation Neptune (C64) Driver. Composed by Charles Callet.
1989-??-?? After Burner NTSC (AMI) Arranged After Burner II (ARC).
1990-0?-?? Heavy Metal (ZXS)
19??-??-?? Tiger Road (DOS) PC Speaker driver. PCjr driver? Arranger? Composer?
1990-0?-?? Heavy Metal (CPC)
1990-0?-?? Netherworld (DOS) Arranged Netherworld (CPC) or (ZXS).
1990-0?-?? Raster Runner (ZXS) Bosconian 87 (CPC) without permission?
1990-0?-?? Raster Runner (CPC) Bosconian 87 (CPC) without permission?
1990-0?-?? Resolution 101 (AMI) a.k.a. HoverForce (AMI)
1990-0?-?? Time Soldier (AST) Arranged Time Soldiers (ARC) (and others?).
1990-0?-?? Heavy Metal (AMI)
1990-0?-?? Resolution 101 (AST) Released on 1990-05-10 without audio.
1990-0?-?? ThunderStrike (DOS) Arranged Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and others.
1990-0?-?? ThunderStrike (AST) Arranged Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and others.
1990-0?-?? Harley-Davidson: The Road to Sturgis (AMI) Main.
1990-0?-?? Heavy Metal (AST)
1990-0?-?? Harley-Davidson: The Road to Sturgis (AST) Driver. Arranger? Composer?
1990-0?-?? ThunderStrike (AMI) Arranged Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and others.
1990-??-?? Turbo OutRun (DOS) Arranged Turbo OutRun (ARC) (and others?) with Brian Rice.
199?-??-?? Star Dragon (ZXS) Driver without permission?
1991-0?-?? HoverForce (DOS) Released in 1990 with sound effects only as Resolution 101 (DOS).
1991-0?-?? F29 Retaliator (DOS)

Picture Gallery

  • Found on Abandonware France.

  • PC Zone Issue 27, dated June 1995.

  • Facebook profile.

  • At Fake Castle circa 2009; Facebook.

  • Facebook profile.

Links

Retrieved from "https://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=Jason_Brooke&oldid=167708"