sorry to necro post - what is the current state of this conversion?

This is interesting...

Just saying.

The VGM format is simply a list of raw register writes to the soundchip, so, it is TRIVIAL to write a .VGM -> .GBS tool. DefleMask, for example, does just that internally.

I don't know if there are converters out there, the Game Boy support in the VGM format is quite new, but it is definitely possible and really easy to do.

Is this possible? I don't know much about the vgm format, but can't seem to find any (quick) info online on converting... Any tools you know of that do this?

You could get a .vgm file by playing the track on LSDJ on this modified MESS emulator.
After that, you can mute/unmute channels playing back the vgm or convert the .vgm to .gbs.

yeah, the thing with LSDJ song files is that they only store data for LSDJ, rather than actual commands for the gameboy to play the music, meaning that it isn't possible to have a blanket converter, and it has to be a case by case thing

i think

GBS files are commonly mistaken for being a sound format file, when they are much more. A GBS file is essentially a GameBoy ROM image of the sound system *code* and data for various games, and GBS players are essentially emulators without screens.

Converting an LSDJ track into a .GBS would be possible if someone took LSDJ replayer code and set it up in such a manner as to work with the sound emulator. This may or may not be workable, depending on how LSDJ plays tracks and handles the GB hardware while playing. It might be possible to make a generic .GBS LSDJ stub player that you can append LSDJ save tracks onto.

iirc someone (probs nitro2k01) said that there is a way of doing it, but it's really really long-winded

I have a friend asking me if LSDJ songs can be translated in to gameboy sound files (GBS)

He wants to be able to analyze songs in a non technical musical way via channel separation etc.