/vr/ - Retro Games

I'll start with DOS games using the OPL2. You probably think this chip sucks because you've heard so many shitty Adlib soundtracks. Let's hear what some Koreans can do with it:

Ys II Special - Adventurer's Anthem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JshegUuAFE

It's from a Korean DOS port of Ys II. Full soundtrack available here:
http://zonx.egloos.com/5753483

Includes an awesome version of Stay With My Forever.

How about American DOS games? You've probably heard Tyrian's soundtrack (Rock Garden is a classic), but did you know there were other games using the same Loudness music engine?

Fuzzy's World of Miniature Space Golf - Big Dipper:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUlEAv7lGMU

More Loudness engine tunes in .lds format:
http://chiptunes.back2roots.org/adlib/Loudness.zip

Wacky Wheels has some great tunes that go beyond the generic MIDI conversions of the time.

Wacky Wheels - Dream (Main Theme):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfzg2vuqia0

The OPL3 version of Descent 1's soundtrack will always be the true version to me.

Descent - Main Theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5k98FX4HJQ

So let's hear some more great FM music. I know there's some PC88/PC98 nerds here. Show us what those systems could do. Or any less well known FM synthesis would be appreciated (MSX FM synth addons?).

>>1329148
The rising pitch thing at 0:28 where it goes ooOOOOO is one of my favorite 'midi sounds'.

GALAXY FORCE
http://youtu.be/tnCEMAnkXrw

>>1329176
Great YM2151 FM sound, and lots of samples there too from the SegaPCM. If you want to hear what part is played by the YM2151 and what by the SegaPCM, you can change the volume of each chip individually in MAME from the slider controls menu.

Here's another YM2151 classic:
Battle Garegga - Underwater Rampart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYbINBnYeFA

(notably similar to Underground Resistance - Jupiter Jazz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu-0fHfzsMs )

More Korean OPL2 goodness:
Illusion Blaze - Track 8:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62OUWr0R3y0

Full soundtrack recording, presumable from the same Korean guy who gave us the Ys II Special recording:
http://zonx.egloos.com/5754430

Yuzo Koshiro did some composition for PC88. If you liked his work on the Streets of Rage series you'll probably like this:

Misty Blue - Hold Me Tonight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFXiAh7cGnY

MT-33
SC-55

>>1329145
DID SOMEONE SAY THUNDER FORCE 4?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnLAC5AJPuM

>>1329551
You mean MT-32?

Not FM but LA synthesis is welcome in this thread too. Post examples that show it at its best please.

>>1329564
Yes, somebody did, in the OP. At least this isn't yet another TF4 repost, because it's a (non-FM) cover version I haven't heard before.

>>1329573
Police Quest 2 theme
Skip to 2:05 for the MT-32
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZXVqrSo7AA

Also pretty much anything by Sierra

>>1329532
I liked his SoR music, but this is downright awful, to be honest.

>>1329578
It's good but it's more "80s pop" feel than distinctively videogame music.

>>1329576
>I haven't heard before

OBVIOUSLY I'M NOT POSTING IT ENOUGH, THEN!

>>1329579
Misty Blue - Theme Of Enix Quest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhNM5ycqJyY
Also feels very SoRish.

brian eno plz go

>>1329638
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcC-Epy-kBo
DX7 fuck yeah!

>>1329652
Whoa, a whole hour of NOTHING.

>>1329659
A whole hour of god tier ambient synth programming. If you don't like FM sounds why are even in this thread?

http://4ch.mooo.com/fdos/opl2.flac

=
100% genuine YM3812 output

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA0pZ5WtUgk

YM2608 a best.
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm15205876
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS89iXC3CwI

Aww yeh

>>1329638
>>1329659

>>1330446
Best version of Vampire Killer I've heard.

>>1330460
http://gimic.jp/index.php?Getting%20Started%20with%20GIMIC
Looks cool, but these chips are 100% digital so there's no reason we can't have perfect bit-for-bit accurate emulation. Most already have excellent emulators.

>>1329532
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_qwUS8Uqjg

>>1331295
Kind of off-topic for this thread, but yes, I like this song and I have danced to it many times with the DDR version.

The Scheme, because Koshiro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51iID4__4JQ

Some great stuff in this thread

>>1332508
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGwASZn0ZKA&fmt=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytSxZnZ_A_8&fmt=18

>>1331193
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdfKDVAUJwM

i'am interested, where can i buy this glorious piece of hardware?

>>1332595
japan

I've been listening a lot to Burning Force's stage 1 BGM. Really great stuff; it's some of Namco's finest:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGk5evfBkzU

>>1332623
Good music. YM2151 + Namco C140.

As much as I love FM synthesis, I'll admit it's weak at percussion, so FM + PCM percussion is a great combination.

Any more arcade YM2151 tracks would be appreciated. I'm sure there's lots more great music out there I haven't heard yet.

>>1329152
Holy crap! I had 'wacky wheels' on our pc when i was a lad. I had completely forgotten about until now.

>>1332623
>the picture used for the video

How incredibly...Freudian.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2S9QShLk00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DScgg7HQ6A

Some less well known Mega Drive/Sega 32X music I haven't seen posted before.

Yuu Yuu Hakusho - Makyou Touitsusen - Mountain Peak BGM:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcbwi2SVi4g

Dangerous Seed - Ending:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LxWvfvh9uQ

Cosmic Carnage - Character Select:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdO7mFv2he0

Puyo Puyo Tsuu - Opening Theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJpMyLbAzHo

Thunder Blade had some serious jazz going on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWV4iYGrRrs

Too bad it will never ever get the home console port it deserves.

>>1334116
FM basslines will never get old.

http://www.synthmania.com/Yamaha%20DX7/Audio/INT/INT15%20BASS%20%20%20%201.mp3

So much 80s pop used this style.

>>1329145
>Genesis music kicks ass
Keith?

Yamaha wasn't the ONLY company that made FM synth chips, you know...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvha_2hAzq0

>>1334256
Did you post the wrong link? Amiga 500 Paula chip is 4 channel PCM. There's a lot of great music for it, and it belongs in another thread.

>>1334256
>Amiga
>FM
I don't think that's how it works, /vr/iend.

>>1334270
>>1334275
Fuck, yeah, you're right. Remembered that 5 minutes after I posted it.

Does the Atari ST count as FM synth? I can't find a clear answer. Here's a song, anyway (albiet in terrible quality) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OJIcDWaE3U

>>1334317
The AY/YM is not an FM synth either, but it is a fucking godly PSG.

>>1334317
Your example is PSG audio like NES/Gameboy/ZX Spectrum +3/etc. However the ST was famous for having a MIDI interface so it was often used with external hardware synths in music production.

>>1334331
Well, then, my knowledge of different types of sound chips is lacking...could you do your best to catch an ignorant lover of VGM up to speed?

>>1334348
Three main techniques.

FM: Made by using one (or more) waveform to rapidly adjust the frequency of another waveform.
PSG: Simple "chip" waveforms (typically sine, square, sawtooth, triangle, noise), optionally with subtractive synthesis filtering like with the C64 SID.
PCM: Playback of samples.

And you can combine more than one technique, eg. lots of tracks in this thread use PCM for drums. Roland's LA synthesis is a hybrid of PSG+PCM.

>>1334348
It's not that hard to get a hang of really, The three main types of chips older consoleS used are PSG, FM Synth, and PCM.

PSGs usually only have base waveforms available (Square/variable pulse, trianlgle/sine, sawtooth, noise) although there are some exceptions, like the Atari POKEY's variable pulse (made by linking two channels together) and bass waveforms, and the AY-3-8910/YM2149F's volume envelope-generated waveform. (So, NES, Gameboy, Atari ST, C64, Spectrum, etc)

FM synths have a distinctive sound, made by taking one waveform (usually a square or sine) and modulating it with another. (YM2612, YM2608, YM2413)

And PCM is just that. Playing back PCM samples, (PAULA, SPC700)

>>1334378
>And you can combine more than one technique
And sometimes you can combine all three: http://youtu.be/GA8aAH3fti0?t=1m38s

This uses the NES 2A03 (PSG with a 1-bit PCM channel) and the Konami VRC7 (a stripped down Yamaha 2413)

>>1334378
>>1334389
Thanks, anons. I appreciate your friendliness, I've been on /v/ too long.

Now that I know, have some real FM as a treat, some of the hardest tunes to ever rock out of a Genesis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu0KY7C9sgE))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9eerCA5TOI

If you want to get pedantic (which I do) This is still technically a Yamaha chip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0mbnixOvlA

None of you though the NES was left out of the FM family did you?
This is objectively the best song in the game

>>1334389
The thing that makes FM so distinctive is that it can very easily make inharmonic sounds. Harmonic sounds (eg. undistorted string instruments) are made from one "fundamental" frequency and higher "partials" or "overtones" that are integer multiples of the fundamental. If you play guitar you're probably familiar with this. All the classic PSG chip waveforms are harmonic. This is useless for things like bells/chimes and distorted leads. The partials in FM synthesis don't have to be integer multiples of the fundamental. It's what gives it that "edge" that's lacking in purely harmonic sounds.

You can obviously get inharmonic sounds with with PCM, because PCM can reproduce anything, but you're severely limited by how much sample memory you have. This is a big problem if you want timbres that gradually change over time. You can use an additional subtractive synthesis stage like the MT-32 does for varying timbres, but it doesn't give you the flexibility you get with FM.

PCM however is ideally suited to drums because they have extremely complex timbres that can't be easily reproduced with FM, and they are short enough that they don't eat up all your memory.

I just found this on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnjvjoapMuY

More FM tracks need chipstyle arpeggios. It's a shame so few Japanese composers used them.

>>1334494
I only agree that PCM is suited to drums to an extent. I'd much rather have crunchy FM percussion than a really low-bitrate PCM sampled drum (aka every drum sound on the SNES outside of DKC)

this thread

>>1334565
what is PCM ?

Pulse-Code Modulation
Pornographic Chip Music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FktF1CE4MOg

>>1334486
The NES/Famicom is not part of the FM Family. If you really wanted to, you could create a custom processor that made music similar to the NES, using digitzed samples. The NES does nothing other than power the device.

>>1334426
I always Famitracker songs with anything besides the 2A03 to be the "chiptune" equivalent of wankerific guitar solos glam rock bands were so fond of. Not actually used for anything besides showing off. Besides, European NES composers blow the fuck out of expanded audio, using only 4 sound channels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pil4P93zST8

Jeroen Tel is a master.

>>1334879
is that the wave channel in he GB?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKHEiRuaa-s

>>1334927
>The NES/Famicom is not part of the FM Family.
It technically is. Even though the VRC7 is an expansion chip, it's still controlled and used by the 2A03, and part of the "main" circuit of the Famicom. That's like saying extra RAM you've bought isn't really part of your computer. People consider the Master System to be an FM capable computer because it is. The NES/Famicom is as well.

You have your opinions about expansion chips and I have mine. I respect them.

>>1334941
No, that's a 4-channel Amiga module.

>>1335001
i was talking about pcm

hey guys.

>>1335103
hey sexy

>>1335103
>6581
>not the 8580

enjoy your electronic fart noises

>>1335103
unf

>>1335085
Not technically, although it is perfectly capable of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itKNQhZWHqw

Sure is /a/ in here.
please stay

>>1335163
i am from /jp/

>>1335001
>You have your opinions about expansion chips and I have mine. I respect them.

How does it feel to hide your incompetence with flashy, 20 custom wavefrom Namco-106 expansion or reproducing Mega Drive songs with the VRC7?

>>1335154
That reminds me, the lead in that song. For some reason, it reminds me of something the Atari 2600 could do, a buzzing type sound. What kind of sound channels did the 2600 use?

I like that Z80 thingy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SqH00XhaPQ

Valis games have amazing music. Especially considering how mediocre they actually are.

>>1335203
I hate the VRC7 with a passion never use it, and I only really use the Namco-163 or reproducing gameboy music. When I use ither expansion chips for anything else it's either for added realism , necessity, or for fun. Also, because my musical taste calls for it. It's kind of hard to get what you have in your head down on three tonal channels, and when I DO want to cripplingly limit myself I pick up my gameboy and start in LSDj.

>How does it feel to hide your incompetence with flashy, 20 custom wavefrom Namco-106 .
It feels pretty impossible, seeing as that particular chip doesn't exist. The Namco163 however has only 128 bytes worth of samples for you to use across 8 channels, so unless you want to use unbearably short samples that's kind of stupid. I have no idea how it renders me incompetent, seeing as you in particular seem to have nothing to show for it.

>>1335221
>you have to make music to critique music!

No, I just think it's kinda gay to use cartridge hardware, which were rarely used to begin with, when the stock 2A03 can do things just fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsglr87uloA

To this day, I still think that's one of the most impressive NES songs ever programmed.

any good Japanese uses for the YM3812?

A nice obscure MD game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB0r7MVfB0g

>>1335225
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIOI1ppYhv4

>>1335225
>you have to make music to critique music!
Never said that. I simply said that I have no idea how using expansions makes me incompetent. I use expansion chips because I, for one, like them and have the ability to make this archaic hardware produce interesting sounds using them.

>when the stock 2A03 can do things just fine
It absolutely can, although there are many things that can me done MUCH better with an expansion chip. Chibi-tech's voice emulation on the VRC6 compared to her 2A03 work comes to mind, also, good luck with C64, PAULA, and POKEY emulation with the stock channels.

>>1335232
>Chibi-tech's voice emulation

Wait what? You mean someone came up with speech synthesis software using the VRC6? I googled "Chibi-tech voice emulation" and I came across dubstep?

Jesus fucking Christ. 24 years old still living at home and I can't fucking do ANYTHING. Of course I'm not going to kill myself, but it'd be hard to sleep at night knowing there are people out there far more talented than I. Never liked the idea, probably stems from my mother always saying "oh, you think those Albanians are better"?

>>1335247
I laugh ever single time I listen to this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_8LIkYi2bo

Here are the lyrics: http://pastebin.com/Amh4Mkqu

>>1335251
Not hearing it. You had my hopes up, I thought someone managed to replicate speech with something besides samples. Thought that does seem a bit "wanky", trying to 'replicate speech'. Question is, FamiTracker is (obviously) not meant for anything more than a novelty, so if you want to make NES music to work in an NES game, you HAVE to write it in assembly. Is it even possible to create something like this with nothing more than hexadecimal?

>>1335268
The music for the Super Bat puncher demo, the Battle Kid games, a blip festival invitation ROM, and quite a few other games I can't remember were all written in Famitracker, as you can actually export 2A03 songs as asm.

A more involved way of writing would be to use MML. the music in Kira Kira Star Night was written that way, and the source files for some of the songs are freely available.

>>1335275
Are you serious? This whole time I thought Famitracker songs were completely a novelty, as it chews up too much space and RAM to actually be useful.

MML I can see, as that was created solely to aid with music development, though many NES composers stuck with hand written assembly, and it sometimes shows.

>>1335279
I am indeed serious. I just remembered the MOON8 ROM as well, which is a full conversion of Dark Side of the Moon, was also done entirely in FT.

This thread has been irredeemably derailed

>>1335284
I actually own a copy of MOON8.

>>1335289
I have it on the Powerpak
I have never wanted to suck so much dick

>>1335290
Ew, no. Get lost.

>>1335305
Oh well, at least I still have a working FDS.

>>1335103
>>1334494
C64 SID can generate inharmonic sounds because it has ring modulation support.

Also noise is obviously inharmonic, I forgot to mention that.

Dont forget the neo geo, it had a YM2610. I know most later neo geo games where almost pure ADPCM but the earlier games used more Fm synth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g26bqxNkQ5Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YO0HFppCXk

bump

ageru

So what are my options for doing FM music?

TFM music maker seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth.
Deflemask is okay but clunky.
Adlib tracker is pretty cool I guess.
VOPM vst is great, but of course you are moving beyond the limits of the hardware with it.

Can anyone gimme the rundown on MML? Anything else I should check out?

>>1339854
I'm almost considering buying a CZ-1000
I guess a lot of people will say that there's no point to buying hardware digital synths in this day and age, but I have a pretty soft spot for musical equipment

>>1339994

I've owned a TX81Z at one point, as well as a FB01.

There's no real software equivalent for the synths. The TX81Z was just this insane bass machine that could make the most tight, punchy bass sounds via its extra waveforms. The thing was a bitch to program, since there were something like 90 parameters per patch that you edited with 6 face buttons. Still one of the things I regret selling most. I wish there was a software equivalent. If you can find a DX11, it's a TX81Z with keys and a much better interface, so snap it up.

The FB01 is a piece of shit, just ignore it if you see one.

As for the CZ1000, its a phase distortion synth. It's got a nice biting digital sound, but its definitely not FM. I recommend messing around with the Kassiopeia 2.0 vst synth to understand the flavor of the sounds it makes.

Are there sites where I could learn more about soundchips? I've been interested for a long time, but know nothing about them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsS41sxaAZ0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNJMCZvzM2E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AeN37b_WAc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ2ufjpgh5o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06uyN7q4DLg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xobf8NNgrDI

>>1339854
Here's a decent Free Software DX7 softsynth:
http://dssi.sourceforge.net/hexter.html

I sometimes listen to MIDI files using it.

>>1339854
You can still find the early releases of TFM if you look hard enough.

There's the YM2151 simulator iPad app:
http://www.detune.co.jp/iym2151.html

Then there's the Yamaha CX5M. It's old, unintuitive, and expensive nowadays. Plus All the software you'll need for it is rare and expensive. I believe the first run of them had YM2151 chips so they're the real deal if you want hardware that will give you that arcade YM2151 sound.

I just finished coding a primitive monophonic Sega Genesis YM2612 sequencer. I was ecstatic when I flashed it to my old Tototek flash cart and got it to work on real hardware (Genesis Model 1). Granted it's a work in progress as it's monophonic, VERY simple/limited, the instrument parameters have to be input in hex (see pic related), you can't correct something you input incorrectly, and the 1-tile letters/numbers are all but unreadable on an actual TV. I programmed in a monophonic rendition of the main part of NBA on NBC theme with it though. Hell yeah music out of a Sega Genesis! It did not work at all on the Nomad unfortunetly.

>>1340472

Thats fucking awesome!

Putting the stuff in hex is not a big deal once you understand how the registers in the YM2612 need to be poked to make beautiful sounds. It took me a long while to get used to it, but half of that was wrapping my head around more advanced FM synthesis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cP_tUpVnVg

>>1340518
Thank You!

I'll have to do an "easy mode" version with decimal numbers soon. Putting it in hex was way simpler. I just re-used a piece of code for 0-F instead of writing some for 0-7, some for 0-15, some for 0-31, etc. Plus it made putting the piano patch test program from the Sega Doc easy.

this thread is fucking awesome!
The YM3812 chip is very confusing to me....

i wish there was more visual interpretations on how it worked....

I have this chip

>>1341484

Its not so bad when you realize that all yamaha FM chips follow more or less the same design pattern. OPL2 isn't too different from anything else they've put out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk72RMv9d0s

>>1341598
hmm interesting

>>1335225
Anon...
http://youtu.be/z754_a_aAHA

This thread needs more Shinobi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LG1gieSYwA

The sound chip in the saturn probably would have been amazing for FM but I don't know of any games that used it for that.

>>1344240
the YM3812 makes some sick sounds

but many people misuse it...

>>1334927
>stereo nes

Disgusting, I feel like someone swapped up my headphones for a gaming headset.

>>1329584

Holy shit are you me?

MOTHERFUCKING HIGH FIVE FOR THE BEST FM SOUNDTRACK EVER
I've just found /vr/ after leaving this site for nearly a year. The first thing I find is an all-out FM thread.

I guess I'll be coming back often again.

Here, I know the OP said "no Genesis", but these are just to good to not share:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQJY5U6tKm8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN9-rrfOdRM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz1hirELo00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBS1A9eajh4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH14v4JM-K8

Also this (X68K):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLpd8GJlxhE&feature=player_detailpage#t=2787

It sounds so sweet and space...y. I love it, and I bet you will, too. It doesn't get much more obscure than that.

Talk about that, does anyone know where I can get .mdx files and how to play them? I would love to have X68000 music in it's-closest-to-natural format. The more, the better. Pretty please?

>>1344365
the NES is NOT stereo!

I'm a music producer in my spare time, and this thread caught my interest. I'd just like to run down the list real quick and tell you why FM is madness/wonderful/will drive you mad

Types of synthesis
>Subtractive
Waveforms are subtracted from the entire picture to create sounds

>Additive
Waveforms are layered to create sounds

>FM
Fucking MAGIC

Learning FM synthesis makes you a legitimate god in the eyes of the producer scene, you can literally make almost any sound you can imagine with it. The emulated chip is still found today in tons of music, and the FM8 soft synth is actually how Skrillex got his massive dirty basses (not Massive, as some think).

In conclusion: Yahama, juicing the musical world since inception.

>>1344378
Exactly. So why do fuckheads put stereo filters on top of it?

If I wanted NES/Famicom music to sound like shit I can manage that on my end and tune it precisely to the flavor of shit I like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lXhq66CFS4

>>1344387
^^;

the YM3812 is not stereo

>>1335225
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsglr87uloA

Oh, this song! Listen to this and shit bricks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmt2mgmrSUw

Every day I get to love Konami a little bit more. I wish it were more than a coincidence.

This is the best thread I've seen in forever. Keep it going guys!

>>1344390
Neither is your brain, apparently.

Both hemispheres need to work in tandem or otherwise you're unable to comprehend simple things like you've demonstrated.

>>1344398
....

>>1344394
I agree

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocrGYXcXOss

>>1344398
Stop giving sparky attention.

>>1344376

Anyone?
Come on, let me in the X68000 music universe guys!

>>1344389
Great track, but that upload is compressed to shit. Sounds like modern loudness war mastering. Original is much better.

>>1344381
>Waveforms are subtracted from the entire picture to create sounds
The real value of subtractive synthesis is when you use resonant filters to increase frequencies near the cutoff. FM can't sound like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKbLI8EufNo
(intended for mixing so intro is slow, skip ahead for those sweet TB-303 filter sweeps)

>>1344381
wanna make music for my DOS game?

>>1344376
(Star Cruiser X68K)
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLpd8GJlxhE&feature=player_detailpage#t=2787

Great music, nice contrast to all the heavier tracks. Posts like that are why I love this thread. Never would have found it on my own.

>>1344432
Also interested in X68K music emulation here.

>>1340472

I wanted to ask, what are you using for programming the genesis?

I want to get started in messing with the thing, but I have no idea what assembler/etc to use.

>>1344486

Well, thank you anon!
Do check the five links in that post, too.

I can't comprehend why they went all out and gave Blue Almanac not only a translation but a physical release, but nobody ever ever ever gave Star Cruiser a shot.

Full 3D environments? First person? Mega Drive synth at it's highest capabilities? OH FUCK YOU, TAKE ALL MY MONEY!

Ah, yes, Star Cruiser got an MD version. Check out the same track in it. It's even better - blew my mind the first time I listened to it. It's entrancing, even, like someone else said: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df05c0kYryE

I urge EVERYONE to listen to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OnTQszT3Bc

also wondering how we went this whole thread without bringing up FM Sound Module Maniax.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5GCwnaEmVo

>>1344496
I just write the code in notepad and save as a .asm file. I assemble the .asm file with the ASM68k assembler from Sonic Retro. I'm running the resulting .bin file in Regen as you can see so I can see register and memory values while I play/test.

My 2 main sources of info were MarkeyJester's 68k Tutorial and the Big Evil Corporation blog. The downloadable source code examples from the Big Evil Corporation blog are awesome and were a big help to me but the blog itself seems to have a couple confusing misprints and errors. I got the blanks filled in for me by just visiting various webpages and forums like SpritesMind.

>>1344719
like a gangsta

there is a facebook about the opl where people post stuff regulary

>>1344753
not that i know of....

>>1335729

Thank you so much for sharing this. It's excellent!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPwP_CPVwqM


Yeah this is defiantly FM synth

>>1344935

no, its obviously analog.

bass is a filtered saw playing very low octave
the high pitch sounds are analog synth patches as well

>>1344509
Anyone know which synths are used for this?

>>1344943
http://4ch.mooo.com/fdos/opl2.flac

what about this?

>>1344686
Came here just to post this.
Well, I'll just post another song from the same soundtrack.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNvMT4WjaOo

>>1344961

I'm guessing its an OPL2 chip. Really low register, low multiplier and high modulator amount that slowly decreases.

Anyways, you can tell because of the higher-order harmonics that are present in FM synth sounds.

>>1345004
let me check....

>>1334941

I LOVED this. Thank you.

>>1345021
<3

so do i

>>1345004
i think you should teach me.... so i can make some fucking music and SFX for my dos game!

>>1345083

I'll fuck around with Adlib Tracker 2 for a bit and hopefully figure it out enough to do something with it.

I could do a VOPM tutorial right now but I don't know how useful anyone would find it. It maps pretty heavily to the YM2612 though so you'd probably get some mileage.

>>1345103
the ym3812 chip really confuses me

>>1345165

If you could tell me what you're having trouble with, I'll do my best to answer questions in this thread.

>>1345249
there is no visual interpretation of the voices and the channels and the different melody modes and preclusion modes

>>1345287

Okay so your basics... The YM3812 is the OPL2 chip. That means you have 9 channels of two operator FM synthesis. There's also a second mode that sacrifices some of the internal operators for prebuilt drum sounds that you can activate by hitting a specific register (look at the image). I don't know how deep you want to get into things, so I'll throw you a link to the manual if you need to specifically program it.

For the basic structure of a voice, you are setting your envelopes like in any other synth. But for Yamaha FM synths, the higher the value, the faster things happen. So if your attack rate is set to $20 its instant, but if its set to $0 its slowest.

Second is the carrier and modulator levels. $0 is the loudest and higher values make them quieter. Also, the carrier and modulator have their own separate envelopes. There are also registers to set the harmonic ratio of the voices. Another thing that the OPL chip has is four different waveforms.

So it might help to think of a typical voice like this:

total level - attack - decay - sustain - release - waveform

and then that's going into a carrier with the same settings.

There are of course also registers for adding vibrato and some operator feedback but if you're more curious check out the original manual:

http://www.vgmpf.com/Docs/YM3812%20-%20Manual.pdf

>>1345391
>I'll throw you a link to the manual if you need to specifically program it.


i have to program this thing

thank you!

You might find some of these sounds familiar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3rrjQtQe5A

>>1345431

First Digital, FM and MIDI synth at the same time. Good job Yamaha.

Anyway, I have a slight preference for OPN and OPM songs instead of OPL. Most of he time they sound better (it has to do with the 4 operators instead of 2 I think):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiyZbB9uD-w

>>1346145
I've been asking... do you know where could I get .mdx files for Sharp X68k music? And any other old japanese computers, for that matter?

>>1346626

Sorry, I don't know enough about the subject to help you.

>>1344461

FM can do sweeps, it's just clunkier and not as flexible. With a filter you can sweep ANYTHING; with FM you have to specifically design the patch to get a good sweep sound, and even then it doesn't sound exactly the same.

Of course FM is far more flexible than pure subtractive synthesis in general, but there's no reason not to combine the two these days (unless you're making chip music, of course). Putting FM waves through a filter sounds great.

It's not FM synthesis, but the Genesis sound chip can do something else really awesome. Channel 3 has a special mode called "CSM mode" that was designed for speech synthesis. Sega didn't provide good documentation so it was never used in games, but it was actually pretty simple -- it makes it so all the oscillators in channel 3 are reset X times per second, where X is controlled with an internal timer. It basically turns the whole channel into a giant sync oscillator, featuring all four operators and all algorithms.

Sync oscillators are basically the canonical technique for speech synthesis, though there are a number of variations on the technique. If your waveform is a sine with a frequency of Y, and it's being synced to a frequency of X, the spectrum will have a base frequency of X and an energy peak at Y, which is called a formant. With four separate sine waves (algorithm 7 on the 2612) you get up to four formants, and they can all have frequency set independently because this mode gives you a full frequency control for each operator and not just the MULT setting. You can move the formants and the base frequency around, and these types of spectra are great for speech-type sounds.

On top of that, it should still work the same way if you use an FM algorithm and not just separate sine waves -- I imagine you could get some crazy shit from syncing an FM wave, let alone a non-harmonic one.

Here's a youtube video demonstrating the CSM mode (it's a software emulation, but real hardware does the same thing -- it's just that good sound drivers don't exist for it yet).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1OUGzeDQ_w

Found this today and thought I would share it with you guys: http://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=37849

A Korean tracker (or sequencer and instrument maker, I don't know the terminology) from the mid 90's. Apparently used in the Korean demoscene = a lot of cool tunes. Reminds me of Adlib Visual Composer but OPL3 instead of OPL2. Runs in DOSBox.

Here's how it sounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBaB-p1HMpE

>>1347060

Remind me of Adlib tracker I use on my DOS machine:
http://www.adlibtracker.net/

>>1347083
>>1347060
ok this thread is 2 valuable!

>>1339994
i have a DX7 mk1 and mk2. what an amazingly weird board. i have a eurorack modular i use for a semi-notable industrial band, but my go-to is always a DX7.

>>1347457

>>1347060
vogons is a great site for old x86 stuff

>>1347459
yeah dude. synths rule

>>1347475
yeah!

>>1347060
>80386 CPU or newer

FUCK

>>1347479
i kick myself in the ass because a few years ago, this ghetto used music store in chicago had a yahama dx5 and i didnt jump at it. i wish i did!

>>1347494
I WILL KILL YOU!

>>1347498
i have more synths and software than any musician would ever need. itd be fun but oh well

>>1347498
With a Jetta?

>>1347504
YES

>>1347502
hmm i know what you mean.... i want to make music..... with an OPL2 for my DOS GAME

>>1347060
Lots of these tunes clip horribly. I'm not sure if it's a DOSBox bug or misconfiguration or what. In any case they sound much better after reducing Global Volume with F8.

>>1347514
ive worked on video game music before, but mostly like 360 stuff or game trailers. i think having to purposely do something sounding pre-1995 would be fun one day.

>>1347541
it is from 1985 the sounds

>>1347539
?

>>1347546
The sound is too loud so it's trying to go past the maximum value and you get ugly noise.

>>1347548
ahh i will keep that in mind

>>1347541
Can we hear some of your stuff?

>>1347539
>>1347549
Easy fix, comment out line 643 in src/hardware/adlib.cpp:

//mixerChan->SetScale( 2.0 );

No more clipping, problem solved. Maybe something to do with OPL3 being stereo made it twice as loud as it should be?

>>1347590
wait the source code is advalible?!?!

>>1347593
DOSBOX source, not NOTE.EXE

>>1347595
ohh i do not use dosbox for that

only to test software i made and compile stuff i made

>>1347601
Maybe you won't have the clipping on real hardware.

>>1347605
>Maybe you won't have the clipping on real hardware.

yeah this machine WORKS

>>1347605
the machine

i am just having difficulty programming the opl2 chip i am going to start school work soon

>>1347614

Nice computer, even if the photo is shitty and blurry (Have you taken it with a phone or what?).

>>1348279
yes i do not have a respectable camera except......

I actually have a Panasonic SDR-H100

..... but i use GNU/LINUX

>>1348282

>but i use GNU/LINUX

That's what you get for not using BSD

>>1346626

Aren't mdx files only for the x68000? I don't think the PC8801/9801 and the MSX have MMDSP.

Anyway, posting some OPN tunes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5isSRA0L20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zashylSPuJg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSEgJUUUjfs

I don't think this has been posted already. More Misty Blue:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJLf1ZxC1SQ

>>1347571
sure. there's a chronicles of riddick trailer floating around somewhere we did, or just get into the industrial scene.

>>1347571
cyanotic.com

http://nrtdrv.sakura.ne.jp/arc/hvr/
Here's a utility you can use in conjunction with hoot to rip FM patch settings from games and convert them to various formats usable by software synths like VOPM.

>>1349212

Noice! I'm checking it right now.

Bump for the best thread in a long time. Also quoting this because it didn't get enough attention:

>>1347013

>>1347013

Is it also possible to do so on other OPN chips, like the ones in the PC-8801FA and PC-9801? If yes, it would explain why the voices at the beginning of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6m1U9DBJ48
are so neat.

Also, Galaxy Force on Megadrive.

>>1351490
No, I believe this feature was actually unique to the 2612 -- and I know for a fact the 2151 can't do it. I guess Yamaha just liked to put extra features into their new chip designs when they could. Those voices probably use some other method, although it's possible they're still generated using the FM chip with a more additive-based technique. Watch the video to hear what it sounds like, it's pretty different from the voices in Silpheed.

>>1351490

This is kinda random, but way back in the goddamn day I had Thexder for the Apple IIGS. It was a great game for its time, and happened to be published by Sierra in the US.

Anyways, it came with a manual that also had some advertisements for other games, and Silpheed was in there of course. The advertisement made a huge deal out of the fact that every level had its own unique music. It's just kinda amusing now that it was such a shocking thing back in the day.

>>1351509

I see. It's still pretty neat to be fair. I'll try to check how it's made in Silpheed then, because I love these voices.

Also, I forgot to post Galaxy Force:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_W2bljPBk8

>>1351514

Too bad the PC version of Silpheed doesn't sound that good with the OPL (it still sound right, but not as synthy as the PC-88 version).

>>1351519

Silpheed might use the same method as the original SAM speech synthesizer for Commodore 64. I don't know exactly what it's doing but I don't think it even uses the filter; it seems more like it's just using the three oscillators additively to create the formants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm4ZCGgzeeU

>>1351514

Play James Pond II and trust me, you will really learn how much it sucks when levels don't have unique music. That game could've been so good otherwise.

>>1351541

Yup it sounds pretty close. Thanks, you just gave me a little project to make me practice my Assembly skills (trying to port SAM to the Megadrive might be cool right?).

>>1351565
That would be cool as fuck. I think SAM takes advantage of the variable pulse-width pulse waves on C64, but FM synth can generate a much wider variety of waves and can probably do a lot better.

I imagine the hardest part would be learning how to vary the parameters over time in just the right way so that it actually sounds like speech. I noticed SAM seems to take advantage of varying the base pitch of the sound so that you actually hear the formant as a formant (ie, a coherent peak in the energy spectrum independent of the waveform) and not just a static waveform.

>>1351565
That would be cool as fuck. I think SAM takes advantage of the variable pulse-width pulse waves on C64, but FM synth can generate a much wider variety of waves and can probably do a lot better.

I imagine the hardest part would be learning how to vary the parameters over time in just the right way so that it actually sounds like speech. I noticed SAM seems to take advantage of varying the base pitch of the sound so that you can actually hear the formant as a formant (ie, a coherent peak in the energy spectrum independent of the waveform) and not just a static waveform.

>>1351595

That's it, I'm copying the info you just delivered on the thread and I'll disassemble SAM on a C64 emulator right away. This could be fun.

>>1351614
Sweet, let me know what you find. I'm curious how it actually works.

Theoretically, the Genesis could have the CSM voice and a SAM-style voice sing a duet. It'd still leave you a free FM channel or two, the PSG, and the DAC for accompaniment.

>>1351627

>Don't Ask software

>>1351627

Pretty good surprise when I disassembled the PRG file of SAM: I don't know why, but there are some comments present in the disassembled listing. Must be the disassembler that added them itself.

>>1344376
>>1344432
>>1344486
Audio Overload supports .mdx files (plus a bunch of others).

This torrent has a crapload of PC98 and X68 software, including music:
magnet:?xt=urn:btih:D5DCCA89B37F78AAE2676A4FA2E2A504A4BDF897&dn=NEC%20PC-98%20%26%20Sharp%20X68000

http://www.nyaa.se/?page=view&tid=320480

>>1334562
ahaha that's a chiptune cover of this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMdjJ3w9iM

>>1335251
The rapping just past the 3 minute mark is lol.

The Yamaha YM2149 (General Instrument AY-3-8910) is where it's at... Pic Related - Atari ST used one

>>1353264
woops tried to post a gif

So from a programming standpoint, what is typically required to drive one of these FM chips? I've been writing Genesis code for a while but haven't got around to any Z80/sound-driver stuff.

This thread's not dead yet? Awesome!
Posting a classic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_Tam9lv1KQ

>>1353241
I really do love that song. It's impressive and hilarious.
>>1353264
>The Yamaha YM2149 (General Instrument AY-3-8910) is where it's at...
You know it.
not FM

>>1339854
VGM my dear friend

>>1353270
Speaking of Atari ST. I'm using a FB-01 specific sound editor for it, which I'm running in the emulator STEEM, just to view various FB-01 patch banks I downloaded. These patches look very YM2151 compatible to me and some of the ones with minimal LFO parameters set look to be YM2612 compatible as well. I got the editor from here:
http://www.home.zonnet.nl/m.tarenskeen/yseditor.htm

>>1353429
>not FM
Technically neither is anything else made by Yamaha.

>>1353656
Don't be pedantic.

>>1353656
All this music is really Phase Modulation synthesis

Are there any chips with true FM, besides the modulator in the RP2C33 in the Famicom Disk System?

>>1354571
I would've guessed the FDS sound channel was phase modulation as well. It's really the most practical way to do FM -- frequency mod by a given waveform is equivalent to phase mod by the integral of that waveform.

I don't want this thread to end

>>1353656

wat?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcPhpPvGdDA

Wait till 1:22

>>1355359

Thanks anon! This piece of music is simply beautiful!

>>1355191
As >>1354571 points out, Yamaha's "FM" synthesis is actually Phase Modulation, not Frequency Modulation, and they just changed the name when they patented it, probably because people were already familiar with the term FM due to its use in radio broadcasting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7CKJjXAJlw

The skit featuring noted analog synth enthusiast Marc Doty is hilarious

>>1353547

AFAIK the YM2151 and the FB-01 are almost identical. According to wiki:

Compared to the YM2151, it has the same exact pinout, and the same exact features. It has some minor differences in the way the undocumented registers 0x00 thru 0x07 work (0x01 being the documented test register). Due to the way that the FB-01 and IBM MFC hardware use those undocumented registers of the YM2164 chip, a YM2151 placed instead of it will not operate correctly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xmBBlmn-KI

Please
Don't let this thread die
Keep posting youtube links (FM Synth only)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEpJPrXiiYA

My link is "very slightly related"

ageru

I always thought Genesis music sucked, could never enjoy it like SNES music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eodloWzNxdg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qpqcQR1oTM

>>1357545

Some people love the aliased samples of the Snes, while some prefer the metallic Megadrive synth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPPGH1HwLGA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R3jugSGlI0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9g316-h2uE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTDlKHfPmBk

>>1357545
YOU suck.

bumping. you guys heard of blitz lunar? since you guys like vg music, check his stuff out. crazy vg composer. he's got a bandcamp page

>>1359113
I like the song dusthillguy wrote about him, "Golden Dave Harris."

I think I found out about his stuff through Spritesmind or chipmusic.org, in any case I've been liking his stuff

http://soundcloud.com/jredd

Who else here use his megadrive as a jukebox, with the stereo output connected to you stereo/amp/whatever and a game in the soundtest menu?

>>1360038
I do that with my Famicom. I don't have any FM machines or Lagrange Point.

>>1354571
Phase Modulation is just an implementation of FM
the resulting timbres are identical

>>1340250
woah, I never knew hexter had a patch editor?

>>1340239
>germany course

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDdPz_itl-0

battle garegga's music is so fucking good

>>1362001

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-hML-I5RV0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgS9-H8N-Lg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzh4QyRrIWI

>>1366095
Great music, and lots more on his channel.

I like this Castlevania track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpTBYaHvu8c

>>1366818

Yup, I'm tying to learn how to play synth keyboard with his videos as training song. I'm currently working with his Dragon Quest Medley on MT-32 (Mostly because it's the only MIDI expander we have in common).

>>1366095
>>1366818

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jW8v-7VUUI

Not FM but holy fuck soooo good

thank you for pointing out this channel

>>1362001
Manabu Namiki is a god that is why.

>>1366939

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX43g5lxz24

>>1329564

It's like I'm watching Bill and Ted all over again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0lGwOLOgRE&list=SPBBBFDA44FEF09947

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmp9yqhsjqg

Eat DX7 music.

I like all the music posted in this thread, but how do I start understanding stuff about soundchips? I feel so lost at all these names being waved around.

I just found out that the C64 had the possibility to use an FM synth with the sound expander:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR5RcXSlKNU

>>1371174
FM synthesis is the most complicated synthesis technique in common use, so I recommend starting with subtractive synthesis.

Download a modular synthesizer, and learn about VCOs, VCAs, VCFs and envelope generators.

Alsa Modular Synth is fun (Linux only, there are probably similar things for Windows):
http://alsamodular.sourceforge.net/

>>1371221
See also this series of articles (start from the bottom of the list):
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/allsynthsecrets.htm

most of the tracks in this thread aren't really doing it for me, but I think that's the way FM goes (high floor, high ceiling in terms of difficulty)
the number one reason FM was used was its expressive power at its price point (even sampling today has its problems)
it wasn't made for your "taking drugs to make music to take drugs to" kinda guys, but rather "plays the fuck outta keyboards but doesn't into sound design" (with some exceptions like eno) people.
even decent sound designers didn't know what the fuck to do with it, and it mainly shined through performing artists using premade patches, not studio chumps making electronic/dance music.
video games typically lack that "performance" aspect of music (no swing, quantized, non humanized, fairly inexpressive) partially due to technical reasons, and even professional sound designers in the recording business had a hard time with FM
to ask for great sound design and composition from a video game developer in the 80s and 90s was a pretty tall order, especially with FM
http://youtu.be/xIn-n2ebENo

>>1371221
if you're slightly more technical PD is goat for learning synthesis
I find the interface is shit though, and the focus on being a generic graphical programming language makes it slightly less suitable for straight up synth creation
For instance, polyphony isn't as simple as it would seem, especially to non programmers

>>1371162
>I like all the music posted in this thread, but how do I start understanding stuff about soundchips? I feel so lost at all these names being waved around.
Find music you like, figure out what chip it uses, look that chip up, read the documentation, find a music-making tool for it learn it, make music. By actually getting to know and use the chip, you learn more about it than people who merely listen, and as a side bonus, you learn about the computers that use them.

Repeat the process with different chips you may come to like until you're satisfied with your knowledge about them.

>>1371737
That mechanical sound is part of the appeal for me, same as with PSG music. But as you say Brian Eno did some impressive work getting more human/traditional sounds. Pic is a Jellinghaus DX Programmer he used. All those knobs are for setting up a single DX7 patch. Changing just one can drastically alter the sound. You can see why FM has such a reputation for difficulty.

>>1340472
So I just finished an update to this if anyone's interested. Changed all the tiles of letters and numbers to a totally different and readable font. Also changed blue fonts to light grey fonts for better readability. Now monophonic and up to 6 channel polyphony for 2,3,4,5,or 6 note chords. More of a Yamaha DX style instrument parameter interface.

Here I am testing a PSG style bass patch while playing the totally FM bassline from Piece of My Love by Guy.

>>1371808
That thing looks fucking awexome.

>>1371221
which is why it is a huge bitch to program the fucking YM3812 chip!

it is very complex!

>>1371808
yeah, I understand the mechanical aspect; its the reason I like detroit techno and chiptunes, but judging the music on its own and disregarding the video games altogether I don't think much of these tracks (still pretty good though)
I have a TX81Z, which is pretty much a 4-op DX7. Programming it through the panel is a bitch and I can only get organ sounds out of it.

>>1372034

How is the TX81z as a MIDI expander? Is it worth getting for video games or is better to use it purely for composing purposes? Just asking to see which position I'll give it in my "expander to buy" list.

>>1372306

TX81Z only has 8 voice polyphony, as said before, it's also a bitch to program.

If you can find one, get a DX11 instead, it's basically a TX81Z with a keyboard and a much better interface for programming it.

Bumpin' with some cool FM tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gm6D4iFzo8

I REALLY need to get a hand on a PC-8801/9801. I'm already trying to see which models are worth getting (the one that don't come with an external tape drive for example, I don't search a bigger ZX Spectrum).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=busiDuS94qY

>>1357582
Can't really compose the same way for both systems if you want the best results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAmr0H550pU

>>1379950
really nice to see that keyboard

>>1380495

Yup, useful when you want to learn how to play the songs.

Also, Revolter on PC-8801mkIISR:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp_pL8SgMuY

>>1373294
what do you think, dx7 vs dx11? any other good yamaha keyboards to keep an out for?

>>1381903
Not that guy but...

If you need multitimbre for performance, then the DX11 is a no brainer. If you just want to fool around, learn FM, and/or multitrack record the DX7 will suffice.

The FS1R I believe only comes in a rack, but if you have a controller keyboard that won't matter. One of Yamaha's best FM synths, but it's rather difficult to program.

Not a Yamaha, but the early Casio CZ series use essentially the same implementation of FM, they just do the math differently to get around Yamaha's patents. They can usually be found cheaper (sometimes a LOT cheaper) than a DX7 if you're lucky, and have more complex envelopes.

ageru

>>1382078

Thanks for the info on the Casio CZ, I'll see How to get one.

>>1334827

> Dat ass
> Dat skirt
> mfw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdzfOXkZrY0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDQb8E1XrWg

>>1386205
Sexy as fuck, but not FM

>>1386248

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDc1-AUvwOQ

>>1382078
>>1385139
VZ is even closer to DX7 sounds, since it uses FM synthesis alongside Phase Distortion.

Here's a /vr/ related example of the flagship model of the VZ series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhBpK-qB4qQ

>>1386251
Much better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1FVdUTSlF4
Cough.

>>1386259

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDaddL0xiH4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BBpJzLeiWI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yELMBHs6oZk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQPGtzmStq4

>>1389242

I can't stop listening to this tune.

>>1391084
Really good mix of FM and samples. Makes me think Amiga tracker music would be much better with FM basslines. And I can't be the only one prefers FM bass to real bass guitars.

>>1389242
I AM THE BLACK KNIGHT
There`s a good remake of the table for Future Pinball.

>>1391419

Some of the "official" Amiga samples are taken from a DX7 patch or two.

>>1391614

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyJt2Y_FsJg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brDmdvUMUvQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj6Qe-BZ7fc

>>1347013
Holy shit this is amazing

THIS! https://soundcloud.com/alyjameslab/sets/fmdrive-vsti
http://www.alyjameslab.com
The FMDrive VST (Genesis sound chip accurate emu) It supports ALL YM2612 FM chip parameters via MIDI automation and also all the obscure modes (SSG envelopes,CSM..) it can import/export .tfi sound presets dump from emulators and even control the console directly (seems to need a special hardware) create composition can also be turned into vgm to play on hardware... Yuzo Koshiro had been using it recently! (saw it on tweeter) There is also a PSG sound chip emulation :)

>>1394505
Huh....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaGenJ5GXxE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMjR7KIBcuA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DIWP35VABY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btdzkm6oFSs

Raiden is so good that even if i suck at it, I can't stop playing it.

I hope this thread is still alive, I love it! Thanks to the guy who posted a link to the iPad app, going to download it sometime this week

Knuckles Chaotix - Seascape

http://youtu.be/ecZVLO7MsRI

Monster World IV - Try the trial (This one has an amazing soundtrack)

http://youtu.be/KzBwTQZeczQ

>>1355691
Sweet Jeeeeesus, that's CURAHZEEE!
I loved it.

>>1360038

I do. Blasting FM tracks on the weekends feels so damn good. Neighbors got to be getting sick of the synth sound, lol.

>>1366095
OH MAN. I've got a workmate named Hector. I'm going to show him that. Also hey, that sounds great.

>>1368406
Doesn't get much more obscure than that. Same, pretty cool. Nice bass sound.

>>1371737
Maybe it'd change your views on FM, maybe it won't, but do listen to these three. I tried to pick the most expressive tunes that I've heard come out of the Genesis in it's entire lifespan. And to make them more interesting to watch, as these ain't just music. There's commentaries and images here and there.

Part 1 and 2 are good, but more game-y. These "break the moulds".

First, all heavy metal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQJY5U6tKm8

Second, in order: jazz fusion - tropical beat - orchestra - jamiroquai like funk - (ultra) hardcore electronica:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz1hirELo00

Third: pop-style music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH14v4JM-K8


Also, please


ARCHIVE THIS THREAD

>>1396989
CRAZY!

>>1397037
i am!

>>1397037
>Neighbors got to be getting sick of the synth sound, lol.

Your neighbors have shit taste.

>>1397037

Is your workmate a starship too?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwio-5SW8W8

I remembered recently that when Capcom released Hyper Street Fighter II in the early 2000s, the home version had multiple selectable soundtracks including the original FM-based CPS1 soundtrack as heard in the pre-Super versions of SF2. And to fill that soundtrack out they actually went back and did FM versions of the songs that were added in Super SF2 onward, like the New Challengers' themes and such. They even went so far as to do an FM version of the Super SF2 arrangement of the end credits tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRy6LuMxs40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6b-ZtUpGs0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rRiUE1UFfo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLLHwV75tso
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8pxAFUJtCY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7E5PSRlTdc

>>1400062

Didn't knew this, and they're pretty good actually. Thanks for the info anon.

>>1400062

Didn't they already made them for the x68000 version of Super Street Fighter II? Because it seems they did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngJV21_weAY

>>1400076
Huh, what do you know. Guess that's my lack of knowledge in the realm of retro home computers showing. PCM drums seem different but the FM part sure sounds the same. I wonder about Akuma's theme though, because he wasn't in Super; he didn't get introduced until Super Turbo.

Speaking of the x68000, I've heard that's what Capcom actually developed the CPS1 and CPS2 games on.

>>1400090

Yep, I think Akuma's theme is truly original.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZhQHXTxToM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtAib0ANqzA

>>1400751

Smash TV is love.

Just a question, what happened to Williams? I know they stopped to make pinball machines, but what are they doing now?

>>1401859
Williams (under the name WMS Industries Inc.) produces video slot machines predominantly for the U.S market.

>>1402332

Oh, I see. Are there any chance for them to get back into the pinball machine market? It seems that they're coming back.

>>1402332

Oh, I see. Are there any chance for them to get back into the pinball machine market? It seems that this kind of machines are becoming more and more popular again.

>>1395991
fun fact: raiden is pretty much a tribute to toaplan's games as heard here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXJNFqREeMc

>>1402432
No. The likelihood of Williams returning to the pinball market is an impossibility for a number of reasons;

1. Williams has been out of the pinball market for well over a decade. When they stopped producing pinball machines they took 80+ percent of the pinball market with them. It hasn't recovered since.

2. Upon shutdown of the pinball division, WMS cleaned house, ridding themselves of nearly everything pinball related. Establishing a new pinball division would be a costly endeavor.

3. The same people designing pinball games in the '80s and 90's are the same people designing today's games for other manufacturers (Stern, Jersey Jack). There just isn't any new talent to fill the ranks and the seasoned vets will be dead or retired soon.

4. Pinball machines are expensive to produce, and profit margins for their sale tend to be slim. Costs have only gone up for their manufacture. The production numbers are mostly driven by demand from regional distributors and operators, yet the buyer demographic has shifted (to an extent) to home collectors. How many people are going to spend 5-10K for a new pinball machine? Not fucking many. In comparison to what WMS makes with video slots, a product that can be built cheaply and in great number and has a built in demand cycle for new machines and content, pinball would be nothing but a led anchor for the company like it was in the late 90s.

And to keep this thread from derailing on my pinball babbling.
Remember kids, "Say no or DIE"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gl9iy3hgvU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDOP5Xg8XDg

One of my favorite tunes from Jill of the Jungle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxVf-n83oLo

>>1403582

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b9VpnxUkQA

LOOK GUYS! THIS GUY IS BACK WITH EVEN MORE SPRITES AND TILES RIPPED FROM MEGAMAN AND TURRICAN!!!

skrillex made that scary monsters and nice sprites bass with fm

tight stuff

>>1405560
Tutorial on dubstep FM bass:
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxVf-n83oLo

But it has lots of additional non-FM effects added, and it's not /vr/.

>>1405569

You posted the wrong video, but I'd like to talk about some of that stuff anyway. I made a dubsteppy vowel sound in 4-op FM using only sine waves and generally trying to stay within the spec of Megadrive/X68000/etc FM music even though I made it in FM8. Basically, you need a formant or two in the vowel region and you need to be able to move them up and down without too much collateral damage on the rest of the sound (always a hazard with FM). The important thing to realize is that absolute frequency matters a lot for the sound of the overtones, not just relative frequency (ie, which harmonic it is). So a lot of these sounds will only ever sound good in the lower octaves, because that's the only way the formants will ever be in the right part of the frequency space.

Here's how the sound is made. It uses the same principle as a sync oscillator or certain types of filtered waves -- if a big chunk of the waveform is made up of a sine wave at a certain frequency, there's going to be an energy peak at that frequency. So, you start with your carrier wave set to a high harmonic (like 7-15) and you need a way to change the frequency of that wave to move the formant around. It turns out that by modulating it with a sawtooth wave, you lower the frequency of the carrier during the whole time that the sawtooth descends -- it's really phase modulation, remember -- because it progresses through its waveform at a slower rate due to you turning back the phase at a constant rate. Then at the ends of the sawtooth's period, you get some junk as the waveform resets -- which adds energy to other parts of the spectrum, but the formant peak is still very strong.

>>1405747

It's easy to make a sawtooth wave out of two sines in a C-M pair, so this can be done with 4-op Yamaha chips. What's more, you have one operator left, which I like to use as another modulator alongside the sawtooth. Use a nice big ratio to spread the sidebands out, so you get new formants all along the spectrum for a more sophisticated and richer sound -- I'm using 13:10 and it sounds really good. Then, as the sawtooth wave amplitude goes up and down, it goes OUWAOWAOUWAOWA just like magic. I use an LFO for this, though on the Genesis it'd have to be done with manual updates to the TL parameter because the stock LFO is too limited.

You need to tweak it a little to strengthen the parts of the sound you want and clear up some of the junk, but that's the basic idea. The sawtooth wave needs to go up and down within the right range and at a certain speed for it to sound right. I find that if the LFO is too regular, you can hear the high harmonics buzzing in and out and it detracts from it, so a more irregular envelope for the sawtooth wave can be good. Legato playing, where you bend up to each note in a long run rather than retriggering all the time, can really enhance the speech-like sound as well. Lastly, if you're using it over a wide pitch range, you can try adjusting the ratios to suit the pitch you're playing -- a powerful technique for FM.

>>1405748
shit, yeah

yeah man

fuck that's hard

hell yeah

Anybody know of a good FM synth VST with nice retro sounding presets ? What I want to achieve is the typical PC98 sound like on there.

I've tried VOPM but it's so clunky and hard to understand :/ Any tips on making FM music easily with modern equipment?

>This thread
>No Nichibutsu
For shame.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWL9wnX7c48
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjc6zC7SOmc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1uQG2i5H0I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHotXu9Qv94
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeqtqMdA4N4
http://nicoviewer.net/sm7966672
http://nicoviewer.net/sm7012328

>>1406073
FMDrive is more meant for Genesis FM (And it has a really convoluted, goofy layout) but I really like it.

>>1407584

Thanks for posting anon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV3p2gP-6NI

>>1411680

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S36mad18wXA

This one is MD, but it's an obscure game with an amazing soundtrack.

>>1413041
whoops

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5FpiS7GbQI

>>1413043

Wow! Just learnt about this game, thanks anon!

bump

My two favorite tracks from YU-NO(PC98)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwLeB4OKRxs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQOzNW_99qQ

My three favorite tracks from YU-NO(PC98)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwLeB4OKRxs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQOzNW_99qQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUWV26uXeis

ageru

>>1419463
Well, this is way beyond bump limit. Actually, I don't even know what the bump limit on this board is.

>>1419559
500, so nope

I'm surprised nobody's yet posted Time Trax, the unreleased SMD game with a Tim Follin soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEJqUeiqLU

I know you said no Genesis music, but Combat Cars is awesome and it rarely gets posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63RFBGxg_oo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJzN4NDd7CU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjqyLfvUEOk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pmYj3Iwl3c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPPGH1HwLGA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fbF9PlIWC8

bump

>>1413043

I can't stop listening to this. Thanks anon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwSQbCoFlps

Not FM, but great sound (and at first, I though it was):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-_EOZ8f4JM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM9hH3suOpo

I heard that the PC-Engine used FM synthesis for its music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCv5cHixP_c

Good job, all. This thread has been steadily bumped fot the last month and a half (or around that). Best music thread on /vr/.

>>1430129
It doesn't. It uses wavetables like the Namco163 for the famicom and the Konami SCC for the MSX. The cool thing about it is that it's almost exactly the same chip as the virtual boy.

>>1431034
I will archive the shit out of this thread

Asuka120%(X68k): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWaU261zuw0
Mad Stalker(x68k): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73nyn8kPD1U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5DAG5uWXfQ

>>1432671
Foolz did it for you.

>>1433341
i know

>>1433354
But really, this is the best thread ever.

I've already posted Space Harrier, but this is a Famicom version which I think is amazing and totally FM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DplJ2QPA9H4

>>1433368
It is of good thread!

i want a pci fm synth sound card for ibm pc compatibles!

>>1433373
My friend is a lucky bastard who keeps getting old PCs for free. I keep trying to convince him to get some sort of soundblaster. I'm trying to score a 1.5 for that delicious Gameblaster sound.

>>1433376
i need as many sound cards as possible i am developing a DOS game!

i have a SB 2.01 card

>>1329163
for future reference, that's called a pitch bend.

>>1433085

The mechas on Mad Stalker reming me of a mix between Dragonar and Iczer-1.

Nice tunes by the way.

had an old ST format mag with a demo of turrican on it, and since ST format was published in the UK, i only assume that my *favorite* stage track is a slightly faster, pitch shifted version of stage 1-1 of turrican. i can't find it anywhere, and i might just upload it later when i can be bothered to pull out the ST again, but until then:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SrBGpPHiEQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw8zjuxaa_4

>>1436073

FM synthesis is one of my favorite kind of video game music, along with MIDI and tracker musics. What's great with FM is that compared to those two other kind of music, you don't need an external expander module or daughter board, nor you need quality samples.

Anyway, Zeliard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBOE3RMsYnc

I alway play it with MT-32 music on my DOS computer (a real MT-32, not an emulator), and never actually heard the music in FM mode.

>>1413043
>>1424197
>>1414124

HOLY SHIT! This game has awesome music. Have the OST: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLirSddeMOYZ4PmDoymoNUwdoXoTsSQapR

Bumping with some music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPK4c80ZfI4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b99jQyZiByE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBBtAUx3AEc

page 10 save

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGPAWuDYqpA

>>1407597
>>1394505
Is FMdrive available without "Donating" to this guy?
Just wondering as I'm flat out broke, and would rather sink money into VST's I'll be more likely to use such as M-Tron Pro.

WarCraft: Orcs & Humans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJEEzj-UT5Q

>>1330460
Whoa this track KILLS.

What is this from?

>>1448870
Bosconian

Not retro, but HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvTd9rYXRt0

>>1433405
I have some myself. I kinda used to collect them, but only if I could get them cheap. I still have maybe 30-40 cards spanning 15 years of technology in storage.

Used to love popping in the old ones to test my MIDI collection on them. I would sometimes even bring my cards to my mom's office when she needed my help with something, so that on breaks I could listen to them since her work computer back then still had ISA slots.

>>1433405
You're going to use MIDI right?

That way different cards can interpret the notes with their respective instrument patches. At least I think that's how it works anyway seeing that MIDI is just instructions.

if you have a blog then I'd be glad if you posted it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB69OsY0UUk

I love this game and its music. I almost got a hand on a cabinet a few week ago, too bad it ended up being a bootleg (you'll tell me at least it wasn't a fucking MAME cab in disguise, but paying for a pirate copy isn't cool either).

>>1451892

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnUwhV9uN5g

>>1452486

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0CN-7U074k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDS4EMmETsE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFRAJoV_IFI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t39VR5XHuN8

>>1454367

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfiOD_ctjcQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3EgBk9fiNI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqEij5DmHAs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXmvlqna15c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9YNSDAsjP0

It's weird that Zero Wing's arcade version music is inferior to the Megadrive's music. Anyway, Toaplan did a great job for the megadrive port, it's one of the game I play the most on this system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=busiDuS94qY

I was reading up on the Amiga's Original Chip Set sound chip and read the interesting fact that channels were capable of modulating each other, producing some kind of basic FM capability. I'm no expert on Amiga music (far from it, since I clearly only found out about this a few minutes ago), so I was wondering if anybody might happen to know of any examples of Amiga music that actually used this function? I'd be curious to know what it sounded like, though it sounds like a rather out there use of the chipset considering what it looks like it was designed for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yj0u7bZqZQ

dx7s all up in this bitch

>>1459624
Apparently it can do FM and AM but this would cut the already low amount of channels so I suppose no-one really used it.

Would love to hear some examples if someone can find some though.

>>1460403
>>1459624

Yup, it can do FM, AM, and both at the same time. There's an FM synth tracker, but it seems it uses too many channels to use the amiga hardware for synthesis:
http://amr.abime.net/review_42075

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRT_9dT5guc

>>1334827
>>1386205

>that sudden realization when you figure out why the wall has cum on it stretched out from beneath the skirt

>>1341626
That and the intro tune are my favorites in Ecco.

fuck the CD versions music.

>>1461196

There's a CD version of Ecco? Didn't know this.

I'm curious, are there any DOS games with music that simulate the sound of the Genesis/MD, complete with PCM drums and twangy bass?

>>1464545

I was about to say Zone 66, but I don't know if it really uses FM w/ drum or if it is just full tracker music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JQ-BzfVx5I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_mgvsgnwJQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INJojOgGE38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5WqzLd7caU

>>1468145
>Grounseed OPNA (PC-98) - Staff Roll
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INJojOgGE38

This is really good, thanks.

What are some good tracks to get me started in FM, or games with awesome FM soundtracks? prefferably made with the YM2608