Offline
Murcia, Spain

Hi guys

I've today tried to make a kind of cover of the song "The Grid" by Daft Punk (Tron BSO).
Here's the result:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/56714160/The%20Grid.mp3

My problem is that, as you can hear, it's all full of noises, bumps and stuff which make the song disgusting to hear. Other than that, probably my lack of experience on these things helps a bit.
But anyway, could you give me advice on this?

Offline
uhajdafdfdfa

for a start you have encoded it as a 128k mp3 which generally ruins chiptunes

but also, how did you record it?

it sounds nice to me (musically) but i have never heard the original

Offline
Savannah, Georgia

it's the recording format, as ant1 said -- 128k mp3s tend to do that. bandcamp's 128k streaming often includes that 'filthy' sound in its tracks, for instance. you'll have to record and render in a higher quality.

Last edited by Aeros (Dec 15, 2012 11:25 pm)

Offline
Murcia, Spain
ant1 wrote:

for a start you have encoded it as a 128k mp3 which generally ruins chiptunes

but also, how did you record it?

it sounds nice to me (musically) but i have never heard the original

I noticed that, but didn't know it was bad for chiptunes! Thank you. I used Audacity and recorded from my game boy to my PC's soundcard directly (mic input). However, I think it's not a question of the way I recorded it. Those noises were there if I played directly with speakers, fom example.

Offline
Murcia, Spain

Here is the song in 320kbps (I finally figured out how to do it)
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/56714160/The%2 … 320%29.mp3
But those noises are still there...

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NC in the US of America

Huh. That song seems to take a few cues from the Nightrider theme... interesting.

Anuyway, Try to avoid using K commands on the Wave channel if you can. Try using E00, or E01 to fade it out and avoid the loud clicks.

Offline
Murcia, Spain
SketchMan3 wrote:

Huh. That song seems to take a few cues from the Nightrider theme... interesting.

Anuyway, Try to avoid using K commands on the Wave channel if you can. Try using E00, or E01 to fade it out and avoid the loud clicks.

Could be. I just took the song from the Tron BSO as a reference : P

Didn't know that! Thanks! I'll try it out. The other problem is related to the PU2 channel, which causes terrible clicks when the very first notes are being triggered (at ridiculously low envelopes). Any tip on that? It also seems that when it is clearly hearable, the notes are kind of distorted, or at least distort in general. I used the widest duty cycle on the wave option of the pulse instrument, should I try another one?

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Liverpool, UK
DogTag wrote:

I noticed that, but didn't know it was bad for chiptunes! Thank you. I used Audacity and recorded from my game boy to my PC's soundcard directly (mic input). However, I think it's not a question of the way I recorded it. Those noises were there if I played directly with speakers, fom example.

Mic input is awful for recording non-mic stuff - you'd be better using your computer's line-in port (generally the light blue port). If your computer doesn't have this (laptop?) and you have no access to another computer with a better soundcard, then your other option is to buy a USB Soundcard.

Also, if you're serious about recording your music, it might be worth investing in getting someone to pro-sound mod the Game Boy - this creates a new output source, which tends to remove any hisses/bumps an old Game Boy may have gotten over its 23+ years of existence, and for recording it generally is a bit louder, and sounds nicer and cleaner.

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Murcia, Spain

@calmdownkidder I do have an USB interface: M-audio Fast Track, and my GB has a pro sound mod already. The problem with my USB interface is that the only connection I could use for the GB, labeled as "instruments" (which is a guitar jack input) works differently from the mic input, and I can't figure out how to make the Pro Tools software record that input... I'll try today or tomorrow to do so with Audacity, I'll come back with the result.

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Murcia, Spain

I've revised my phrases one by one and I've found a good one example of what's happening.
This is one of the phrases on which that instrument 05 is going from a low envelope to a high one. It sounds like this:


https://dl.dropbox.com/u/56714160/Clicking%20noise.mp3

Notice the terrible "clicking noise". That's exactly what I'm meaning.
Here's another pic of the instrument config, in case it helps:

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matt's mind

would you mind taking the battery cover off your game boy, looking through the squarish hole where that clasp snaps in, and reading the text off the PCB right there?

it'll say DMG-CPU-0x

whats the 'x'?

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Murcia, Spain

@kitsch It says DMG-CPU-08

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matt's mind

^ ok, just wanted to rule out a particular bug for you,

carry on smile

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NC in the US of America

Sounds like cool tap dancing routine. Just sayin'.

I'm going to have to leave this one to the pros. I honestly wouldn't bother about it. btjm. have you tried using an instrument with the envelope set to 33 in the instrument screen, without having to use the CMD column to change your E83 instrument to E33?

Offline
KC
kitsch wrote:

would you mind taking the battery cover off your game boy, looking through the squarish hole where that clasp snaps in, and reading the text off the PCB right there?

it'll say DMG-CPU-0x

whats the 'x'?

so what are you saying Kitsch?

that a certain version of the DMG CPU boards have more clicky noises?

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matt's mind

DMG-CPU-02 boards with a -B revision CPU (i may be wrong, but i think all -02 boards would have a rev. -B CPU, but the attempts to build a 'master list' of that stuff (matched to front PCBs) didn't work out from what i recall)

those have known audio quality issues.  i *think* someone (animalstyle?) might have found a capacitor mod (or a bypass) that solves the issues....  but i really haven't thought about this particular thing in such a while, its wayyyy buried here i think, i could have made this all up in a dream really.

thats just my own operational info i guess...  DMG-CPU-02 boards + -B CPUs aren't so awesome.

found a sort of interesting CPU database website, with -B on it: http://www.cpupages.com/store/index.php?id_item=1425