We are talking about the original ZX Spectrum here (one of our favourite retro computers) or the slightly upgraded Spectrum plus. We are not including the Spectrum 128, the plus 2 or the plus 3 as they were blessed with the decent three channel AY sound chip.

Both machines (the Spectrum and the Spectrum plus) were blessed with a paltry 'single channel beeper' to generate sounds and music. The beeper was installed by Sinclair to keep the production costs of the machine down - which really did help to make the ZX Spectrum a very affordable machine for many back in the day.

Because of this single channel beeper owners of other machines (who more often than not had a decent sound chip) would laugh and point at the Spectrum's 'poor' sound.

Well, clever developers managed to push the beeper way beyond it's capabilities and the good old Speccy actually managed to create some decent music.

Here are just a few example of what could be done....

Hyperactive was a free game - given away on the front cover of Sinclair User.

It's a sort of defender type arcade game which was developed by Spectrum programming legend Joffa Smith. For a free game it's not bad - and it was developed over a matter of days.

Keith Tinmans pumping menu tune is excellent - and probably one of the best Spectrum theme tune's ever created

Fahrenheit 3000 was a flick screen platform game (a tough one to complete I might add) from Perfection Software and is up there with the best of the platform genre.

The menu music was the famous Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor - and it doesn't sound too bad at all! Tim Williams and Chris Jones did a great job with this game.

Cobra was a very humourous side scrolling (with some of the best scrolling you would see on a ZX Spectrum) platform game which featured superb 2-channel music. Drum beats overlayed by the tune was miraculous on the single channel beeper.

It was quite revolutionary back then!

Technician Ted was one of the greatest flick screen platform games to grace the ZX Spectrum. It was polished, playable, addictive and technically impressive - not to mention difficult!

Hewson managed to implement a nice version of The Blue Danube walz with vibrato and slide. Not bad at all and 'easy on the ears'.

Another one from Hewson - the classic scrolling shoot em up.

Hewson treated us to another polished and addictive game that was slick and professional. The title music for this took the 'synthesizer' style of music that was popular in many Spectrum games. Catchy.

Ping Pong was a good conversion of the Konami arcade game by Imagine Software. It's probably the only table tennis simulation that was released on the Spectrum.

More 2 channel wizardry from Martin Galway and Jof made the games menu screen far more interesting. Note the ending!

 Chronos was a good budget game released for the ZX Spectrum in 1987 by masters of the budget genre, Mastertronic.

Not only did the game feature decent scrolling arcade action (just what we want from our Spectrum Games) it had some of the most interesting title music to ever grace the machine.

The music to Chronos has an almost 'techno' quality to it - and really stretched the limitations of that humble beeper to the max!