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Brunswick, GA USA
SketchMan3 wrote:

Hm, that explains the lack of arps alot of the 8bit video game music.

It's a sound that didn't really happen during console gaming. The games I know with arps in the music are mostly intro screens for Commodore 64 games of the late 80s, though Rob Hubbard got some to appear during simpler gameplay (like Crazy Comets)

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somewhat relevant. this thread made me find some amazing music... check this ost out.

edit: 4got 2 embeb

Last edited by Je Mappelle (Jul 31, 2012 4:07 pm)

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NC in the US of America

ARGh! I KNEW I should have bought that game when I saw it at Wal-Mart all those years ago... sad

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Sweden
SketchMan3 wrote:

Hm, that explains the lack of arps alot of the 8bit video game music.

Not really. Arps are pretty (CPU) cheap. As far as I know, per-tick arpeggios are mostly a European thing for some reason not related to technical limitations.

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NC in the US of America
boomlinde wrote:
SketchMan3 wrote:

Hm, that explains the lack of arps alot of the 8bit video game music.

Not really. Arps are pretty (CPU) cheap. As far as I know, per-tick arpeggios are mostly a European thing for some reason not related to technical limitations.

OIC. I guess they just hadn't thought to use it, then.

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Sweeeeeeden
boomlinde wrote:
SketchMan3 wrote:

Hm, that explains the lack of arps alot of the 8bit video game music.

Not really. Arps are pretty (CPU) cheap. As far as I know, per-tick arpeggios are mostly a European thing for some reason not related to technical limitations.

Theory: Europe is using PAL (50 Hz) and US of A NTSC (Never The Same Color, also 60 Hz). If we go by the theory that most per tick arps are using the VSync as a reference, it may be that European composers found that arps sounded better because of the lower frequency. Lower frequency = more time for each individual note to play, so you can hear better which note it is (without raising the chord an octave).

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Sweden

But arps do sound good in 60 Hz! A preference of 50 Hz arps over 60 Hz ones can't have been that universal, can it? The culture around game development in Japan and Europe was entirely different in the mid-80s (and culture in general (still is)), though, and I think it makes sense for traditions and techniques to have evolved in different directions.

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Chicago IL

Worms Armageddon soundtrack sounds like straight up C64 music

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Brunswick, GA USA
boomlinde wrote:

The culture around game development in Japan and Europe was entirely different in the mid-80s (and culture in general (still is)), though, and I think it makes sense for traditions and techniques to have evolved in different directions.

I considered mentioning this:

Summary is that he expected something more like YMCK.

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Sweeeeeeden

It was just a quick hypothesis I blurted out. Another one for public dissemination: American and Japanese composers were more likely to be musicians with a traditional background who felt that chip arps were not completely kosher. European composers were more likely to have some form of connection to the demo scene and tolerate them better. (Of course, I'm over generalizing a bit here.)

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Brunswick, GA USA
nitro2k01 wrote:

It was just a quick hypothesis I blurted out. Another one for public dissemination: American and Japanese composers were more likely to be musicians with a traditional background who felt that chip arps were not completely kosher. European composers were more likely to have some form of connection to the demo scene and tolerate them better. (Of course, I'm over generalizing a bit here.)

For me, it was simply that I didn't have C64/Amiga gear in the 90s. I was given a synth for my birthday, a drum machine, and a PC, so those were my instruments...

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Sweeeeeeden
chunter wrote:

For me, it was simply that I didn't have C64/Amiga gear in the 90s. I was given a synth for my birthday, a drum machine, and a PC, so those were my instruments...

I think you missed the discussion. This time it wasn't the oh-so-popular "how did you start composing chip" but "why does European game music seem to favor chip arpeggios".

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Brunswick, GA USA

Right...  so, back to the OP, there's a library of something like 20,000 games and I have a hard time of thinking of many that used sound beyond the basic...

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Chicago IL

Bionic Commando: Elite Force has a bunch of vocal samples in it. Just played it and thought of this thread.

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Chicago IL

I just uploaded the Worms Armageddon soundtrack to my retro gaming / OST blog. It uses the WAV channel in a way that makes it sound like a C64
http://latenightswithoutfriends.blogspo … -game.html

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NC in the US of America

Sweet! I'm going to check it out right now big_smile. I've been wanting to try that myself for awhile, actually. Made a VERY feeble attempt at a C64ish wave sound in a cover I did awhile ago...

...very feeble.

Ooh, cool. And you ran it through a DMG, too big_smile awesome!