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Extracting the Sonic CD past sequenced music by 8bit_coder at 12:09 AM EDT on October 30, 2020

So here's an issue that has plagued me for YEARS now:

I've always noticed how the past music in the Sonic CD game was sequenced(specifically on the Ricoh RF5C164 audio chip that was included in the Sega CD addon that the game took advantage of), and I've always wondered if it's possible to extract the music from it. Thing is, I've tried EVERYTHING I know from over the years, and none of them have worked to provide some sort of midi/soundfont combo or a MOD/XM/IT file that I can actually mess around with, extract samples from, and see the notes.

I've already tried vgmtrans, but that didn't work:
It just shows some incomplete samples.

I know that the past music uses:

1. Samples(since they are extractable)
2. Sequenced music(since the music is contained in a .vgm format).

If anyone has any way of turning either the .vgm files or the game rom into midi/soundfont combo(like what vgmtrans does) or MOD/XM/IT, I would be greatly appreciative.

VGM files: Download
Game ISO: Google it since I can't give a link to that

by kode54 at 4:53 AM EST on November 3, 2020

The VGM set will be a pain, since the player swaps sample chunks in and out of memory constantly, streaming each individual sample in a double buffer fashion.

by 8bit_coder at 12:57 PM EST on November 4, 2020

I'll give a zip file with the original system files that contain the music and samples

edited 1:04 PM EST November 4, 2020

by 8bit_coder at 1:02 PM EST on November 4, 2020

Alright, here are the original system files, containing both the sequenced music and the samples used in each song: Download

by JFD62780 at 10:35 PM EST on November 4, 2020

whoa.

Now you got me expecting a library of 8-channel IT files. o.o

by 8bit_coder at 3:03 PM EST on November 5, 2020

That's my hope with this. By the way, I managed to extract all the samples from the system files I linked before. Each folder has each system files' extracted output, including music data, instrument data, and sequence data(I don't know how to use the instrument and sequence data though). Also, not all the samples in each folder are used. Some of them are voice lines and can be safely discarded. I really hope that this extracted data is useful to people. Now all to do is to figure out how the instrument and sequence data works.

by 8bit_coder at 3:08 PM EST on November 5, 2020

Hopefully, with the VGM files as reference or by using the sample data and sequence data that was extracted, these tracks can be reconstructed into something usable like 8-channel IT files or midi+soundfont combos.

by dj4uk6cjm at 6:16 PM EST on November 5, 2020

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the japanese rom the only one that uses sequenced music? The american version of the game doesn't from what I've been told and there was a thread here a while back discussing this very subject, might already be a rip floating around here or somewhere on the internet too by ValleyBell I think for Sonic CD JP.


Edit: Nevermind, found it. Here ya go https://www.mediafire.com/file/o7ezxuyt3t3svkl/Sonic_CD_Past_Tracks_smps2mid.7z/file.

edited 6:27 PM EST November 5, 2020

by JFD62780 at 6:22 PM EST on November 5, 2020

...I played the US version, and the main thing I liked about the Past tunes was that they were sequenced - it gives me a break from the ho-hum 'rewritten' US Exclusive soundtrack done as an excuse to legitimize a certain studio IIRC. :/

So yes, the sequenced tracks are universal.

by kode54 at 9:13 PM EST on November 5, 2020

Except for in the PC versions of the game from back in the day. Those had the sequenced tracks, but provided them as loop and fade Redbook tracks slapped onto the end of the existing track set.

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