Zahlen, bitte! 8-Bit-Boléro played with C64, Amiga, and NES
The orchestral piece Boléro has been interpreted countless times. A particularly nerdy new recording using instruments from the C64, Amiga, and NES was created.
(Image: heise medien)
Maurice Ravel's Boléro is considered one of the most famous and beloved orchestral pieces in the world. Since its premiere on November 22, 1928, it has been interpreted countless times. Not only have great conductors like Herbert von Karajan, Daniel Barenboim, and Seiji Ozawa recorded it, but Boléro has also been widely referenced in pop culture – from Frank Zappa to Deep Purple.
The Swedish musician Linus Ă…kesson recently created a particularly nerdy 8-bit chiptune version. It's not just a SID piece, but much more orchestral.
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DIY Orchestra
He not only recorded the 14:31 minute Boléro interpretation himself using all 8-bit/16-bit instruments but also developed them: In addition to various, sometimes quirky, Commodore 64 modifications, an Amiga 600 and Nintendo's NES are also used, along with self-built synthesizers. But who comes up with such crazy ideas?
In an interview with a Norwegian gaming portal, Ă…kesson, born in Sweden in 1981, revealed that his fascination for music and technology combined early on. Born into a musical family, he learned to play the piano at the age of six and the drums shortly thereafter.
Around the same time, the first home computer entered the house: a Commodore Amiga 1000. Young Linus enjoyed playing, but he had the problem that his friends around him owned the newer Amiga 500, which had already been upgraded with one megabyte of memory, while his 1000 with its meager 512 kilobytes of memory could only play some popular Amiga games.
Learned to compose with music software
As an alternative, he used the Aegis Sonix music program that came with the 1000. Even when he later got an Amiga 1200, which solved all his memory problems, his path was already set: he was more interested in music software and programming than in gaming.
(Image:Â CC BY-SA 2.5, Christian Taube)
On the Amiga, he learned about mod trackers and how to create songs. Through demo parties, he became aware of the Commodore 64 scene and fell in love with the chip sound. In addition to his passion for music, he was also drawn to programming. As a maker, he also created some eccentricities.
His YouTube channel has nearly 50,000 subscribers since 2006, and his 107 videos full of nerd stuff have been viewed over 9 million times in total. In 2022, his website with more information was launched. In his videos, he not only presents his quirky maker hardware but also explains, for example, the functionality of modules using a re-enacted Amiga mod.
On December 19, 2025, just under three years before Boléro's centenary, Åkesson released his “8-Bit Boléro (The World's Most Ambitious Chiptune?)”. The question whether it is the most ambitious chiptune seems justified.
Almost 10 Hours of Video Recordings
In the accompanying text of the video, he mentions some figures regarding its realization: In a total recording time of 9 hours and 42 minutes, with a total of 52 mix channels, 13 different ties and bow ties were worn. A total of 9 different maker instruments and an automaton were used. The podium on which he performed the piece was also supported by two C64 boxes.
As if that weren't enough nerd porn, the instruments are also a category of their own: The “Qweremin” (a portmanteau of Qwerty and Theremin), built from a black C64, the C=TAR (Commodore 64 and Guitar).
In addition, there is the Qwertuoso (played on the C64), the Paulimba (Paula and Kalimba) based on an Amiga 600, the Tenor Commodordion, a mix of C64 and accordion, the Family Bass, based on a Nintendo NES, as well as the NES Timpani, a floppy drive sound machine, a C64 with a 1541 or 1541-II drive, the Chipophone, a synthesizer organ for 8-bit sounds.
The video not only shows how he records the individual instruments but also how the hardware generates the sound. The result is a rather short interpretation of Ravel's piece at 14:31 minutes, which usually lasts up to 17 minutes. According to his statements, he needed about half a year for the realization of his crazy idea.
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Composer Seemed Unconvinced by the Original
The French composer Ravel himself was somewhat detached from the success of his piece, which he had once written for the ballet dancer Ida Rubinstein. It is reported that he once said to his colleague Arthur Honegger about his work: “My masterpiece? Boléro, of course. It's a shame, though, that it contains no music at all.”
To this day, Boléro is considered one of the most frequently performed orchestral pieces. An 8-bit rendition almost happened in 1986: Kōji Kondō, who composed the music for the NES classic “The Legend of Zelda,” used Boléro in the title music until Nintendo noticed shortly before the final ROM was completed that the copyright for the piece had not yet expired. Kondō recomposed the piece overnight. Certain influences of Ravel's piece can still be heard.
This also fits into the origin of the original: Ravel had originally planned to adapt some pieces from Isaac Albéniz's piano work Ibéria, but realized they were protected. Although the rights holder Arbós waived exclusive access when he learned of Ravel's intentions, Ravel had already begun composing Boléro, which now received its orchestral 8-bit adaptation almost a century later.
(mawi)
