Tomy
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Finland

http://tomy.bandcamp.com/album/psg-series-2



Here is something unusual, a full album of Master System music. ~90 minutes, everything recorded from hardware.
The Master System soundchip is very limited, 3xSquare (no duty cycles) + 1xNoise. Noise channel has only 3 preset sounds unless you sacrifice a square channel which then opens up the possibility for more controlled noise OR a periodic mode which can be used as bass. Doesn't sound too bad... not until the fact that this chip is devoid of bass. With NTSC the lowest possible tone is 109hz. yikes

The advanced noise modes go lower, but they are tricky to use and cutoff another channel. Here I've tried my best to create music using most of the combinations. There's the classic sound most games used, periodic basslines, multi-channel drums, phasing and lots of channel juggling.

Last edited by Tomy (Jun 12, 2016 1:30 pm)

Jazzmarazz
Offline
Michigan

Woo~! we need some non-GB music around here. Definately love the limitations of the SN76489!

What may I ask are you using as an interface between yourself ans the PSG? Is this all Master System programming?

irrlichtproject
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Nomad's Land

Yay, some fresh SMS music! Indeed something you don't hear every day. And it sounds great, too.

Tomy
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Finland

Thank you! smile

Jazzmarazz, I use a tracker called "VGM Music Maker" to create the .vgm files. Then I'll play & record them with a flash cart. I wish I had more free time and the needed talent, Master System programming would be so cool.

Brother Android
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TX

Nice. It's always cool to see someone doing something with the SMS. The way you use it, it has kind of a dreamy sound.

A lot of these songs are quite nice. Very much in the vein of classic video game material, but a bit weirder and messier, which is mostly a good thing. Most of them could stand to be less repetitive though.

Last edited by Brother Android (Aug 12, 2014 4:07 pm)

TylerBarnes
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Dallas, Texas

Thats cool! How are you getting that thin duty cycle sounding bass in the first couple?

Tomy
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Finland

Thanks again! Classic video game music is my inspiration and what I want to do. Emphasis on a memorable melody. Though I guess I have a distinct style which very often strikes as weird for others. I just can't help it, but I try not to overdo it too much. Even track 17 "Sanovat Minua Oudoksi" translates to "They Call Me Strange". Haha. Oh, and I think that part of the repetition is because I let these play 2 loops. But really, happy to hear some criticism too.

TylerBarnes, if you mean the sound of the bassline like in the first 3 tracks then it is using the "periodic mode" of the noise channel. When in that mode the noise channel will read the frequency/notes of the third tone channel and use it as the driving signal. But as the periodic mode is much lower in frequency than the normal square, you will need to raise the tone channel irritatingly high to get a nice sounding bass. The trick is then to silence the third tone channel so that only the noise channel bass plays. Basically it creates that sound at the expense of another channel.

breakphase
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Earth

Like it. Nice effects. I like the snare in the middle of bad ghosts.

TylerBarnes
Offline
Dallas, Texas

Oh! I see now. Thanks!

I think I figured it out. In xpmck I just have to throw in a "@1" on my D channel (noise), raise the C channels octave, silence its volume. Duplicate the note data, and make every note on the D channel play "g".

Too bad we can't get the octaves to go higher. Melodies would sound really cool with this mode.

Also on Bad Ghosts how do you accomplish those drums? they seem to be playing while the bass is also playing. They also just sound really good and punchy!

Last edited by TylerBarnes (Aug 12, 2014 9:42 pm)

Tomy
Offline
Finland
breakphase wrote:

Like it. Nice effects. I like the snare in the middle of bad ghosts.

Yeah, that track uses 3-channel drums. big_smile It's probably the hardest hitting snare I've managed/heard from the SN.


TylerBarnes, yes that sounds right! It was a little bit hard to explain. Nice to hear that you're working with SMS music! I was hoping that it could be used for melodies too.. but not really. It seems to go out of tune or something if too high. I've only used it as not strictly a bass in R-18 and Glazed Eyes (from PSG Series 1). I use it as a (rhythm)guitar in those tracks, but it sounds like a bass anyway, hah.

Ok, Bad Ghosts.. you know that the noise channel has the periodic mode and also the white noise mode? The bassdrum uses the white noise mode + square tone. Both sounds are pitched down rather quickly. The square of course stops at 108hz (PAL), but the white noise goes lower than that. Snaredrum is basic noise + tone + another tone. They do cutoff the bassline, but I just resume back to it as quick as possible to not make it so noticeable. I'm super happy to hear that because drums are almost impossible to make nice and punchy on SMS.

Imaginary
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Whateverville, California

This is is excellent. Phantasy Star and Outrun are coming back to me, haha. I'm inspired to make some music with VGM maker now. Thank you Tomy!

Jredd
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Extremely impressive sir. I'm going to share this with others, and listen to more of it myself when I the chance smile.