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Why there are like "1 000 000" PSG musicians and only like "100" FM musicians?
Why there was like "1 000 000" MOD musicians in 90s and today there are like "100" (modern DAWs killed the whole mod tracker scene)???
FM: Where is the problem? Hardware? Software? Knowledge?
What is simply the best in your opinion FM/PSG or DAC?
Last edited by Matej (Nov 3, 2013 9:50 pm)
What is simply the best in your opinion FM/PSG or DAC?
Combination of both 
depending on what you want to achieve or the limitation you want to apply to stimulate your creativity...
Yep I loved arcade systems so probably all FM+PSG+DAC... But just want to know other opinions...
I suppose people used module trackers to compose computer music in the 90s because those were the normal computer music composing programs back then.
For PSG, it is a cross between ease of use and the rise of LSDJ.
For FM, see the author's notes here: http://www.sdcompo.com/voting.php?e=878 - FM is difficult. Many of the things we think of as "good FM synthesis" are either not FM or done with presets, there are very few people who are really and truly good at it.
For module tracking, the people who did not move on to DAWs or other kinds of music moved on to "newer" trackers, like Buzz, Renoise, Psycle, MPT... Songs made there are indistinguishable from similar projects in Ableton, Cubase, Protools, when done well.
The biggest reason for the difference in numbers is life, really.
FM is a really abstract thing. If you notice... most Genesis game soundtracks are not that good. Don't get me wrong there are some fucking amazing indispensable banger soundtracks but lets face it: when the Mega Drive came out there was a history of people using PSG type chips before the Mega Drive... so, you couldn't just be like "here... use the complete opposite type of synthesizer," and think you'll get amazing results. Also, Sega had to adapt their amazing arcade soundtracks to fit this dinky underpowered chip. FM, while the predominant medium for arcade machines didn't get the same treatment when shrunk down to the play at home market. The way I look at it... It's now our responsibility to make that chip sing. There is a whole lot of potential for new FM music and it's not that hard to get started with the tools out there. There certainly was no synthesizer boot camp youtube channel back in the 90's
i think lsdj is popular becuse its portable and cheap and has big community and a distinctive sound and is not too hard to learn
fm you need a big old computer and you hav eto learn some shitty text mode interface and then it just sounds like 80s power ballads but worse
dont even get me started on MOD music
Why there are like "1 000 000" PSG musicians and only like "100" FM musicians?
It's hard to make (good) fm music, and the most popular video game sounds from the old days were PSG. Well, it's also that the old fm hardware is hard to work with. I think people like using hardware around here.
Why there was like "1 000 000" MOD musicians in 90s and today there are like "100" (modern DAWs killed the whole mod tracker scene)???
That's an easy one. People were eagar to take advantage of sampling technology because it was new. And now it's just really inconvenient to use trackers if you don't love them.
FM: Where is the problem? Hardware? Software? Knowledge?
What is simply the best in your opinion FM/PSG or DAC?
FM is hard if you can't use many pre existing patches, and the sound is a little cheesy. I love it though. It's mostly a knowledge thing, because you can emulate those sounds easily on modern PCs.
Last edited by breakphase (Nov 4, 2013 2:30 pm)
FM is hard if you can't use many pre existing patches, and the sound is a little cheesy. I love it though. It's mostly a knowledge thing, because you can emulate those sounds easily on modern PCs.
Doogie Howser pianos, sonic dings, and horns...
There are other tricks, like stacking sounds for richness and improved "motion," but if you have access to subtractive synth methods they become annoying.
breakphase wrote:FM is hard if you can't use many pre existing patches, and the sound is a little cheesy. I love it though. It's mostly a knowledge thing, because you can emulate those sounds easily on modern PCs.
Doogie Howser pianos, sonic dings, and horns...
There are other tricks, like stacking sounds for richness and improved "motion," but if you have access to subtractive synth methods they become annoying.
Yeah I think static fm sounds are the cheesy ones. If you modulate the modulator 
even with a simple envelope you can get some sweet timbres. FM8 is a really good softsynth, and it goes way beyond trumpets and bass plucks. It's still challenging to program, but it comes with really good examples.
when the Mega Drive came out there was a history of people using PSG type chips before the Mega Drive...
By the time the Mega Drive was released FM was pretty well established on the japanese home computer market (MSX with expansions, X68000, PC-8801, PC-9801, Master System etc). I don't think that a low overall quality could be the result of some sort of particular lack of experience at the time. There has just always been a lot of sucky game music 
Also, I hear a lot of people saying that FM is hard (not just from breakphase, so the following is not directed at him in particular), which I think is unfair. FM has a history of cumbersome and clunky interfaces, but in tools where everything is properly exposed in good user interfaces (that lend themselves to the type of experimentation you typically couldn't do with yamaha synthesizers), I don't think it's a lot messier or less immediate than subtractive synthesis. I'm not sure what exactly is so hard about it, but I can agree that it gets a bit cumbersome when you have to deal with a lot of operators.
i think that the FM died with the dos-win98, most of the people that made music for the opl, don't do music any more, and like sandneil says you need a big old dos computer to get started, it is much easier for a newcomer to get a gameboy..
i love the sound of FM, and i think that you can do very much with very little, and i don't think it sound any cheesy, but many melody have the same type of sounds, but i see it more of that many use the same program, and maybe those program where limited in adding software function, and last many the user did not have the skill to do proper sounds.
When I will make FM Music Tracking Guide (Book PDF) will you be more attracted to FM?
Will it helps?
I'm sure it will help people who actually like the sound. 
[
Yeah I think static fm sounds are the cheesy ones. If you modulate the modulator
Yeah I co-sign that, FM is often dismiss because of static presets or lack of knowledge.
It is for sure one of the best synthesis method if you want to program a bit.
Modulation is the key, changing ratio, envelopes, pitch etc between operators, velocity assign, expression etc... all this while playing and it is a new world of moving tones opening up. An oscilloscope (hard or soft) is handy at first because you will see what modulation do to the waveform...
The sound can't go pretty crazy and creative, melodic or percussive and you can design any drums or sound.
I think that the old days of FM mainly emphasis what I call "Soft FM" DX piano sounds etc...not to crazy for the masses...
Nowadays people are more inclined to listen to crazy digital sound than before.
When I was working on the FMDrive VST I have found that the potential of the YM2612 FM chip was huge and rarely used to its full effect.
SSG looping envelopes are capable of FM ring modulation and the built in CSM mode is a speech synthesis system that found its final power in the FS1R unit, the most powerful YAMAHA FM synth to this day.
All these techniques are side usage of FM synthesis built around this simple fact.
FM is adding side bands overtones from a pure or almost pure tone while subtractive synthesis is the opposite.
A lots of people are re discovering FM simply because they are using new tools now to look at it with another point of view
Last edited by Aly James (Nov 5, 2013 11:18 pm)
In fact you can do CHIPTUNES like on C64 SID or GAMEBOY, NES on OPL2/3...
YMF soundchip is capable of playing crazy sounds too...
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=8447
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=8448
Same with SEGA. There was lot of good TFM modules with classic chipmusic sound.
/latter VGMMM songs/
I think ATARI POKEY (8 channels - stereo upgrade) is also higly underrated soundchip...
Last edited by Matej (Nov 6, 2013 12:26 am)