Retro Game Audio

A discussion on some new(ish) discoveries with the VRC7, and a few corrections as well. Show notes/links: https://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9141 https://www.routledge.com/Music-in-the-Role-Playing-Game-Heroes--Harmonies-1st-Edition/Gibbons-Reale/p/book/9780815369042

Welcome to the first "mini episode" of Retro Game Audio. Steve and Patrick explore some odd instances of triangle "Pitch 0" appearing in the Castlevania 1 soundtrack.

We're back with another Halloween playlist of spooky VGM. Here is the link to the music-only version of this episode, which includes a download option: https://soundcloud.com/retrogameaudio/halloween-mix-iv-music-only/s-bCwbD Apano Sin (Amiga) Der Langrisser (SFC) Alien Target (Amiga) Etrian Odyssey III (DS) Dungeon Explorer (PCE) Adventure of Tokyo Disney Sea (GBA) Tempest 1200 (Amiga) Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (PS2) Battle Heat (PC-FX) Mortal Kombat II (Sega Genesis) Necronom (Amiga) Fantasm Soldier Valis II (PC-98) Rings of Medusa (Atari ST) Muppet Monster Adventure (PS1) Mystic Formula (PCE) Banjo-Kazooie (N64) Sabre Team (Amiga) Wild Arms (PS1) E.V.O.: Search for Eden (SNES) Lunar: The Silver Star (Sega CD) Alien III (Amiga) Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (PS2) Beyond Shadowgate (PCE) Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES) Neutopia II (PCE) Wild Arms XF (PSP) Efera & Jiliora (PCE) Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (SNES) Psychosis (PCE) Diablo II (PC) Special thanks to Alex Menchi, who is our source for the Amiga tunes.

Patrick and Steve are joined once again by Kevin Burke to discuss the Castlevania Bloodlines soundtrack. Sampled from a modded Sega Genesis to achieve a crisp, bright sound, we do a complete listen-through as we also explore some of the technical aspects of its creation. Show notes 1:35 - Kevin's vgm audio sources on original hardware project 6:22 - Bloodlines' history and context 9:10 - Konami's history with hardware and sound design, leading to the Genesis 15:53 - Contra Hard Corps discussion 18:27 - Bloodlines listen-through and discussion 28:10 - Why the sound mod makes the soundtrack sound better 39:41 - Demonstration of algorithm 4, polyphony in a single "monophonic" patch 45:03 - All FM instruments demonstration 51:35 - The "x" shaped envelopes used to create a gnarly instrument 54:06 - Michiru Yamane overview 1:01:57 - More game discussion and Portrait of Ruin tangent 1:06:28 - Demonstration of noise/hiss from the sound mod 1:22:20 - Bloodlines' music in later CV titles 1:25:48 - What Else Is Going On? 1:36:20 - Name that Game 1:37:16 - Song of the Week

We're back! Kicking off season 3 with an in depth analysis of the sound design in the long-lost SimCity NES game. Patrick and Steve also talk about MAGFest. For more history on this version of SimCity, visit https://gamehistory.org/simcity/ LuigiBlood's mashup of NES and SNES Metropolis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpSTa1X4xMw

We return with our 3rd annual Halloween playlist of spooky video game music! Lots of obscure and great tunes. Also, an announcement about the upcoming 3rd season of Retro Game Audio. You can listen to & download the music-only version of this episode here: https://soundcloud.com/retrogameaudio/halloween-mix-iii-music-only/s-uw4U2 Tracklist: Agony (Amiga) Devil Crush (PCE) Armalyte (C64) Lunar 2: Eternal Blue (Sega CD) Assassin (Amiga) Suikoden 2 (PS1) Ghost Battle (Atari ST) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) Aquaventura (Amiga) Mario Kart (N64) The Hobbit (C64) Final Fantasy XI (PS2) Astaroth (Amiga) ActRaiser (SNES) Dragon's Kingdom (Amiga) Star Ocean III (PS2) Alien Syndrome (C64) Akumajō Dracula (Sharp X68000) Dune (Amiga) Super Mario RPG (SNES) Battle Squadron (Amiga) Logical (Atari ST) Extase (Amiga) 38万キロの虚空 (X68k) Ghouls 'n Ghosts (Amiga) Leavin' Teramis (Atari ST) Superfrog (Amiga) SD Snatcher (MSX2) Zombi (Atari ST) Bubsy (SNES) Once again thanks to Alex Menchi for providing the source rips for most of the Amiga music.

Patrick and Steve discuss the Sunsoft 5B famicom sound expansion and the sound design of Mr. Gimmick. This episode includes some previously-unknown information about Gimmick!, and also a complete listen-through of the soundtrack sampled from original hardware. Show notes: 0:00:43 - introduction & general gameplay discussion 0:13:49 - the 5B sound expansion 0:26:07 - the gimmick ps1 soundtrack 0:28:10 - imatrackman's "buzzer" cover 0:32:24 - the history of Gimmick! and Masashi Kageyama 0:38:09 - the PAL soundtrack (Mr. Gimmick!) 0:42:26 - the cancelled US port 0:44:19 - soundtrack listen-through and analysis 1:28:07 - sunsoft bass 1:38:27 - the origin of strange memories of death 1:42:36 - "so what's up?" / comments 1:50:43 - name that game 1:53:06 - song of the "week"

Patrick and Steve are joined by Jeffrey Roberts to discuss the optimal set-ups for recording chiptunes and video game music from hardware. We review the audio outputs, recommended mods, audio formats, and flashcarts/ devices for a variety of consoles. 12:43 - NES 23:00 - Sound Expansion on the NES 31:02 - Top Loader NES 32:29 - Nintendo Famicom 38:02 - Game Boy & Game Boy Color 50:36 - Super Game Boy 55:04 - Super Nintendo 1:07:29 - Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive 1:19:40 - Sega Nomad 1:23:22 - Sega Master System 1:30:12 - Sega Game Gear 1:35:29 - TurboGrafx / PCE 1:41:29 - Atari Lynx 1:43:44 - Neo Geo AES Follow Jeff's band Marshall Art on twitter: https://twitter.com/MarshallArtBand Cover photo credit: https://www.instagram.com/lippemfg/

Patrick and Steve are joined by ImaTrackMan to discuss the MSX standard and its audio. After a bit of history discussion, we take a look at its PSG audio, followed by the following expansions and updates: SFG, MSX-AUDIO, SCC, OPLL / MSX-MUSIC, PCM / MIDI, and Moonsound. We include some pretty great music selections and hope you enjoy!

It's that time of year again! We've compiled another playlist of spooky video game music for your listening pleasure. Most tracks picked by Patrick and Steve, with a couple guest selections (see soundcloud comments for more info). Special thanks to Alex Menchi for providing the rips of most of the Amiga selections found in this episode. You can find a lot of Amiga music on his youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/alexmenchi Last year's Halloween episode can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/retrogameaudio/episode-14-halloween-mix-music-only/s-kYCYf Tracklist: 0:00 Alien Breed (Amiga) 4:40 Tactics Ogre (SNES) 6:46 Robocop 3D (Amiga) 8:10 QuackShot (Sega Genesis) 9:10 Apidya (Amiga) 11:41 Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA) 13:58 Darxide (Sega 32x) 16:53 Addams Family: Pugsly's Scavenger Hunt (SNES) 18:47 Weird Dreams (Amiga) 21:51 Xak: The Art of Visual Stage (X68000) 24:32 Lotus II (Amiga) 25:39 Earthworm Jim (Sega CD) 29:36 Pinball Fantasies (Amiga) 30:56 Brave Fencer Musashi (PS1) 33:56 Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) 37:17 Dark Seal (Arcade) 40:05 Unreal (Amiga) 43:02 Dragon Slayer:The Legend of Heroes (X68000) 45:27 Clocktower (SNES) 47:05 Final Fantasy IV (SNES) 48:07 SWIV (Amiga) 51:47 Pokemon FireRed (GBA) 54:20 Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MSX2) 55:53 Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES) 57:46 Shadow of the Beast (Amiga) 1:01:38 Phantasy Star IV (Sega Genesis) 1:06:24 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (NES) 1:07:23 Xenogears (PS1) 1:11:10 Hero Quest (AtariST) 1:14:34 Rusty (PC98)

Patrick and Steve are joined by Oliver to discuss Capcom's Famicom and NES music. We do a pretty deep dive into some of the strange nuances and quirks of their sound engines, as well as observe how their sound progressed over time. We also share at least one song from every FC/ NES title of theirs, in chronological order of release.

Patrick and Steve embark on an introspective journey for the 22nd episode of Retro Game Audio. We share the game music that was most nostalgic to us, and also discuss how we got into the modern chipmusic scene and how the podcast was created.

Patrick and Steve are joined by Andy Reitano, the creator of Super Russian Roulette, to discuss high quality sample playback on the NES.

For our 20th episode (and longest episode yet!), Patrick and Steve discuss the audio of the SNES. We worked hard to research and demystify the lesser-known audio features of the system! https://www.patreon.com/RetroGameAudio

Patrick and Steve talk about Konami's VRC7 sound expansion and the Lagrange Point soundtrack. We also talk a bit about the OPL line of Yamaha chips that the VRC7 descended from.

Patrick and Steve talk about the Sharp X68K, a powerful Japanese home computer that debuted in 1987. It featured audio similar to the Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive, but with some differences of course.

Patrick and Steve are joined by Kevin Burke to discuss Konami's Famicom and NES music. We analyze various sound design techniques and explore their catalog in chronological order of release. Follow Kevin on twitter- https://twitter.com/kr_burke

In Episode 16 of Retro Game Audio, we take a look at "Lost" NES Music. We discuss five different categories of hidden, altered, and unreleased music.

Patrick and Steve return to discuss the audio of the Sega Genesis console (better known as the Sega Mega Drive worldwide).

We're back! Breaking an unplanned hiatus with a mix of spooky VGM, just in time for Halloween. Season 2 of Retro Game Audio to commence soon. If you'd like to download a copy of this Halloween mix without the introduction, a file of just the music can be found here: https://soundcloud.com/retrogameaudio/episode-14-halloween-mix-music-only/s-kYCYf

We're back to discuss the N163, Namco's MMC chip that offered up to 8 channels of wavetable synthesis as sound expansion for the Nintendo Famicom. Imgur album of N163 instrument data: http://namco163.imgur.com/ Special thanks to ImATrackMan and Naruko for providing various resources for this episode!

A week late due to illness (thank you for your patience!), we're finally here to discuss the evolution of SunSoft audio. From humble beginnings making simplistic arcade and early Famicom audio, to amazing, top-tier video game soundtracks.

We are joined by Paul Weinstein to discuss the audio of the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. Special thanks to Alberto González for the feedback and anecdotes, and the additional audio supplies and information from HUNRetroGeek and Herbert Weixelbaum.

In our tenth episode, we discuss the VRC6 chip's expansion audio. It added three extra channels of sound, and was used in the original version of Castlevania III (Akumajou Densetsu), as well as Mouryo Senki Madara and Esper Dream 2.

We are joined by Gary Butterfield to discuss the soundtrack to Maniac Mansion for the NES. This episode also features a special guest interview with David Warhol, the veteran video game producer and sound programmer for Maniac Mansion! Gary's podcasts can be found here: http://duckfeed.tv/

Having recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, the Famicom Disk System was a peripheral device for the Nintendo Famicom that it allowed it to play games on floppy disk. With it, came an additional channel of sound. We take an up close look at how music was arranged for it, how the sound channel works, and share the FDS music we find most interesting. Here's the instrument data I compiled from 12 different FDS soundtracks, for easy browsing and making visual comparisons: http://famicomdisksystem.imgur.com/

In this episode we briefly discuss some of Motoi Sakuraba's work, and celebrate a lesser-known soundtrack. Included is the entirety of Zan Gear's soundtrack for the Sega Game Gear. Quoted interview with Motoi Sakuraba: http://shmuplations.com/motoisakuraba/ The review we reference: http://www.vgmonline.net/reviews/don/zankagerouera.shtml

In this episode we take an up close look at the history of video game music composer Alberto González, how he made his music, and of course demonstrate a variety of his excellent music. Steve and I are joined by an old friend of mine, Audi Sørlie. Alberto's Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/joemcalby the older interviews mentioned in this episode will be re-linked here soon!

This episode is all about the Sega Master System, Sega's 8-bit predecessor to the Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive. Show notes: https://segaretro.org/ (a lot of our history notes come from here!) http://www.smspower.org/Development/SN76489 (more details about SMS PSG audio) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt9lGeAz1z1lxJtSlWhX30w )(Adrian Gauna uploads hardware recordings of Sega music, it's the source of some of our audio) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0CAA9FE7A2C6D20F (My upload of the MSX Final Fantasy soundtrack)

My co-host Steve makes music under the name Ap0c: https://ap0c.bandcamp.com/ https://soundcloud.com/ap0c Interview with Thomas Detert, Gordian Tomb composer: http://www.remix64.com/interviews/interview-thomas-detert.html MP3 rips from SID soundchips/ hardware: http://se2a1.bigbox.info/soasc/index.php?av=0&sb=SOASC&ss=gordian&did=0&#did1

In episode three we give a detailed overview of the NES' sound capabilities. Enduring some technical difficulties with the recording process, thank you for your patience!

We discuss Konami's Wai Wai World soundtracks, which include a variety of covers/ rearrangements of other Konami tunes. Show notes: Info on Wai Wai World: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/waiwaiworld/waiwaiworld.htm Thanks to VengefulChip for providing a rip of the Castlevania Amiga soundtrack: http://vengefulchip.tk/castlevania-amiga/ Neil's quote regarding vibrato/ sound engine weirdness: http://dutycyclegenerator.com/

Patrick and Steve take a close look at the soundtrack to Magician, an NES game released in 1990. Developed by Eurocom and scored by Neil Baldwin. Show note links: http://dutycyclegenerator.com/ http://nes-audio.com/ List of longest known nes tunes- http://i.imgur.com/fcPgE3b.png