Category Archives: PRODUCTION & TUTORIALS

PRODUCTION & TUTORIALS, VIDEOS

Tutorial: Emulating the SNES Sound In Your Favorite DAWS

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The SNES definitely has its share of memorable tunes.
The SNES definitely has its share of memorable tunes.

The SNES definitely has a lot of memorable tunes. Amazing compositions in games like Legend of Zelda,  Secret of Mana, Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger and many others have left 16-bit tunes running through our heads for years. This is where video game music started to take a turn toward the epic orchestral sounds we’re so used to today. However, you might have noticed that a lot more people are making NES, Genesis and Gameboy chiptunes and not SNES tunes. Why?

Well, the overall quality of SNES music isn’t really that great. It’s all samples. Many people will say it’s hardly any better than your standard MIDI. It is true that it doesn’t have as much character as 8-bit synths. However, there is some charm to be found in these degraded 16-bit samples of strings, flutes and guitars. I mean, the amazing, lush songs on some of the SNES’ RPGs just couldnt happen on the NES or Gameboy. I really love the snappy compressed drums in Secret of Mana too. Today, we’ll look at how to get these samples loaded up in your DAWs and also emulate the SNES’ classic reverb with a basic tape delay controller.

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CHIPTUNE, MUSIC, PRODUCTION & TUTORIALS

Tutorial: Recreating the Megaman II’s Quick Man Song With Plogue Chipsounds

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Chipsounds Audio Unit
Chipsounds Audio Unit

Plogue Chipsounds is one of the most comprehensive and powerful sound modules for creating classic game console chip sounds. However, if it’s interface might not be the most obvious and intuitive when you first start to use it.

Why would you want to use an Audio Unit/VST instead of the actual hardware or a tracker? Well, for adding some quick chip sounds to an existing song or remixing a classic song, it’s super useful to have everything happening in MIDI. You can speed things up, transpose them and make changes without having to spend time outside of your main DAWS. Whenever I want some Nintendo triangle bass, I go straight to chipsounds!

The Quick man track is one of the most amazing classic NES songs ever. It’s just buzzing with electrical goodness and really makes the intense Quickman level even more amazing. In just a few minutes, you can create a pretty accurate sound in Chipsounds.


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CHIPTUNE, MUSIC, PRODUCTION & TUTORIALS

Tutorial: Pick Apart a Gameboy Song with an Emulator / Recreate in LSDJ: Metroid II Return of Samus

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It's not the perfect sequel to the original, but it's a solid and atmospheric game that continued the traditions of Metroid.
It’s not the perfect sequel to the original, but it’s a solid and atmospheric game that continued the traditions of Metroid.

The Metroid series is known for its awesome music. I think I fell in love with NES music after hearing the Brinstar theme for the first time. I’ve also never been so terrified as the first time I entered a Chozo Room area and heard that creepy, alien noise start playing. It only got better as time went on; Super Metroid and Metroid Prime are two of the most amazing game soundtracks ever.

Metroid II: Return of Samus, for the most part, does not measure up to the rest of the series. However, it does have an AWESOME song in the first area. Surface of  SR388 is one of the most uplifting and exciting songs I’ve ever hard on the Gameboy.

I decided I’d try my hand at building it in LSDJ just to get a handle on how it was composed. This video will walk you though it if you’d like to give it a shot. You’ll learn a lot of core concepts of LSDJ in the process. This video isn’t meant to be a full blown tutorial but it will help you look at the composing element of creating music with the Gameboy.

Sadly, the rest of Metroid II has pretty irritating music. I get that they wanted to make erie alien noises but most of it is just annoying screeches and random bits of music that just get annoying. Even with its faults, though, this is one of the best Gameboy games out there. I think it feels more alien and claustrophobic than the other Metroid titles due to the limited palette and graphics on the Gameboy.

BeatScribeFaceBeatscribe is a full time indie composer, musician and writer. By day he creates soundtracks for various mobile gaming companies, by night creates megaman-inspired chiptunes, in the afternoons he drinks tea.  Check out his latest releases, tutorials and retro ruminations at www.beatscribe.com.
GAMING, PRODUCTION & TUTORIALS, RETRO GAMES, ROM HACKS

How Mario Paint Inspired a Little Kid

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Mario Paint was sort of a suite of creative programs for the SNES.
Mario Paint was sort of a suite of creative programs for the SNES.

People get introduced into the world of video game design, music and art in different ways. But I’ve been surprised to discover how many people got into it the same way I did; through a little Super Nintendo cart called Mario Paint, released back in 1992. This was my first introduction into the world of tracker programs for making synthesized music as well as learning how the pixel artwork of early video game systems was created.

 

It turns out, I’m not alone. Lots of well-known flash animators – including the Chapman brothers of Homestar Runner fame – got their start making little derpy animations in Mario Paint. The program features a pixel-level editor, tiling system, basic animation functions and most importantly, a tracker-like song creation program that let you put together a basic piece of music using provided samples. It came with a mouse, which was just a weird thing to have with a console game at that time. Continue Reading…

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