The Germans from Welle: Erdball are big fans of retro computers, especially the Commodore 64. And in many of their CDs, DVDs, and vinyl records, they’ve hidden programs. In Tanzmusik Für Roboter, there are several, but I’ll start with the CD.
Instead of reposting all the previous articles every time, I’ll just link to the dedicated page—it explains what I’m doing with vinyl records and lists all the pages that include the programs, explanations, etc.
For the first one, the CD, it was fairly quick. I encoded the 10th track (Computerklang), which contains a few seconds of code at the end. I first split the stereo track into two (there’s unwanted audio on the right channel), then extracted everything after a bit of amplification. After a few failed attempts using the program I usually rely on, I just tried one setting (Inverted waveform) and the program was extracted successfully on the first try. The program doesn’t do much, given the track’s short length (just over 15 seconds): it simply displays a thank-you message.
You can see the pseudo-glitch on the lower track
You need to tick one setting
The program
The DVD
So far, it’s resisting me. First, the code is in the menu’s audio, which caused some trouble when trying to extract it: tools like Handbrake don’t allow you to rip menus. Second, it doesn’t work at all with my tools for converting the data. In theory, the program is the same one that came on a cassette with the Deluxe version of the album, so I might fall back on that someday.
The third program
There’s actually a third program, but it’s in the pre-gap (which requires more effort to recover) and it’s not for the Commodore 64 but for the Omnibot 2000 from Tommy, which I don’t own. I’ll probably give it a try one day if I find the robot.
