Cyberpunk I Found

Mentapharm

Assembly Opcode March submission for Tiny Music Jam #2 hosted by Aurora595 for Itch.IO September 2025

"Assembly Opcode March" x86 opcodes (like how MOV=1011 binary as high/low) for a simple loop, played as binary tones. 

As the basis of my tune i used the x86 assembly code for a simple infinite loop. It performs a futile operation: adding 1 to the EAX register and then immediately subtracting 1, resulting in no net change, before jumping back to repeat indefinitely. Basically it's performative of computer science concepts like wasted cycles, undecidability in halting, or inefficient code in low-level programming history (nodding to early assembly optimization challenges). Decoding the binary tone sequence back to hex opcodes reveals a "pointless eternal march," symbolizing programs that run forever without progress.

loop:

    add eax, 1      ; 83 C0 01  (add 1 to EAX)

    sub eax, 1      ; 83 E8 01  (subtract 1 from EAX)

    jmp loop        ; EB F8     (short jump back to 'loop' label; disp8 = -8)

This is a decent assortment of opcodes: 83 (modR/M for ADD/SUB with immediate)

C0 (modR/M byte for ADD to EAX)

01 (immediate value 1)

E8 (modR/M byte for SUB from EAX)

EB (opcode for short JMP)

F8 (displacement for JMP, -8 in two's complement)

These cover common categories: arithmetic (ADD, SUB), control flow (JMP), and operand encoding (modR/M, immediates). 

The full machine code in hex is: 83 C0 01 83 E8 01 EB F8.

Detailed Melody Notation

Notes are listed in order, grouped by byte for readability (8 tones per group). 

Each tone is a 16th note. Played monophonically on the synth with Step-Recording.
I say that liberally, they -were- 16th notes before compression to 20seconds

Byte 1 (83 hex = 10000011): G4, C4, C4, C4, C4, C4, G4, G4

Byte 2 (C0 hex = 11000000): G4, G4, C4, C4, C4, C4, C4, C4

Byte 3 (01 hex = 00000001): C4, C4, C4, C4, C4, C4, C4, G4

Byte 4 (83 hex = 10000011): G4, C4, C4, C4, C4, C4, G4, G4

Byte 5 (E8 hex = 11101000): G4, G4, G4, C4, G4, C4, C4, C4

Byte 6 (01 hex = 00000001): C4, C4, C4, C4, C4, C4, C4, G4

Byte 7 (EB hex = 11101011): G4, G4, G4, C4, G4, C4, G4, G4

Byte 8 (F8 hex = 11111000): G4, G4, G4, G4, G4, C4, C4, C4

For Pass 2, I replaced C4 with C5 (523 Hz) and G4 with G5 (784 Hz) throughout the same sequence.

Assembly OpCodes March (60sec)

A therapeutic journey into a mix of jazz, classical, and a blend of types of electronica.  And a wry, gradual observation that promotion tends to only go as far as you push it.  At least I make my fellow musicians laugh a little.

Cyberpunk I Found

Doug Stoothoff