Remastered / Uncompressed VGM by MetalKnick at 1:21 AM EST on February 3, 2016
I recently bought the Roland SOUND Canvas VA thing and I'm quite interested in remaking old video game music (pref ones that used the Roland SC-88 Pro).
I guess this could be used as a sharing thread of sorts and maybe a request thread if I feel like it.
Sonic CD Past tracks in Tracker Format by JFD62780 at 10:34 PM EST on February 3, 2016
hmm... I suppose the fact that the SegaCD's PCM chip wasn't quite as powerful as the SNES's SPU (No interpolating, resulting in aliased audio; no codec so the audio's forced to remain uncompressed, all in 64kbytes of RAM...) caused me to wonder how good the Past themes in Sonic CD COULD sound.
So my question is: CAN it be converted to a tracker format, such as MOD, S3M, XM, IT, etc...?
I always thought the past themes were streamed. Listening to it now I can tell they aren't. I'm curious about that now. I'd LOVE to hear those themes in HQ. Especially Quartz Quadrant.
I bet people at Sonic Retro already have it figured out lol.
Anyway, I'm having some trouble with figuring out how to record with the SOUND Canvas VA thing.
Uh... Not everything I said is on youtube in it's entirety unless I can't search worth a shit
There are videos of the SC-88 doing DOS game music but not enough of the SC-88pro...
If you're on Windows 7 and above you can just record the audio directly as it goes through the WSAPI. There's quite a few programs that do this but I wouldn't know where to look for them since I'm not a windows user anymore.
by birdmanager6 at 8:59 AM EST on February 5, 2016
I actually have considered remaking the Sonic CD music in XM format using OpenMPT. Yes, it has been figured out...there is a MIDI converter for every Sonic game called SMPS2MID, even this one. With another converter called Snatcher PCM2WAV, and some manual work with Audacity (there also was a perfect rip on Sonic Retro, but the link is broken :(), I managed to extract and split each sample, and looping shouldn't be a problem, although it certainly won't be perfect. So, yes, I'll be willing to do it. Having played the game for the first time recently (the Europe version, to be exact), I was very surprised at how amazing quality the past music was, and it sounded almost as CD-quality as the rest of the music. The only thing that gave it away was the low-quality humming sample in Stardust Speedway. So in restored quality, the songs should sound even better...
by birdmanager6 at 9:05 AM EST on February 5, 2016
And I also have been considering remaking some of Manfred Liznser's GBA soundtracks as well, either by ear or by using another version of the game's soundtrack as a basis.
I recreated the songs by ear in .MID then rendered them using FLStudios 8 with custom soundfonts and effects.
Noticed the V1 in the title? Well, since I put up those songs, I've made enhancements to them to make it sound more close to the originals (plus 2 more songs) but I haven't upload them because I lost control of my YT account and I don't know where else to put them for people to listen.
Also, having the sequences of the game in .MID would help me a lot in continuing to HD the songs. Just saying.
Here's a remaster of Aerofighters Assault I did using Sound Canvas VA. Since this game uses a SC-88Pro I thought it'd be simple, and so it was. Enjoy for anyone who's played this old game. There's a few untagged because I do not remember where they are played.
I was wondering if it could've been SC-55 but I wasn't sure, in any event I'll probably try remastering another game lol I've got diddy kong racing on my mind.
My bad. It does use a SC-88. It also has different percussion ordering and some different instruments. I took a shot at it but it sounds completely different because the game uses different instrument splits.
Yeah I tried remaking the choco mountain theme but the harmonica sounds different in SC-88/SC-55 than used in the game (well I guess its a harmonica instrument idk for sure) and the purcussion is hard to mimic especially in mixcraft, I have to separate them from one track to multiple tracks and I still can't figure out the correct instruments lol I got the cowbell part down, some banjos and that's it. :/
I think we need a list of oldschool nintendo games, N64, GBA and DS era that used full SC-88 or SC-55 instruments. That'll give us some ideas of what to we can remaster.
Here's my attempt at the Main Theme. Percussion hand to be hand remapped (part of it) and the FX/crystal sound was a substitute because I'm not sure where that instrument comes from. The Slap Bass and one of the Organs do not have the correct instrument splits (the game uses a very small amount as appose to the real SC-88). Aside from those, everything is correct.
In short, this would be a tricky game to get 100% correct.
Damn good remake you made there punk! Sounds better than anything I could do and I noticed the Sound Canvas (at least the VST portion) doesn't have that many crystal-like samples in it which saddens me because a lot of good games use that celeste/fantasia like instrument in songs, though it has a lot of ethnic sounds/purcussions.
I might try remaking something from Majora's Mask, plenty of ethnic stuff in that game. I'm tempted to do something with the Bomberman Hero and Kirby 64 midis though too.
Here is a Pokemon Stadium 2 battle song remaster. Decided to do this as I forgot the Pokemon games on the N64 use a SC-88. If anyone has all the midi's and soundbanks to either Pokemon Stadium games, I'll continue doing this. I'm not completely familiar with PS2. I'd like to do PS1 but I cannot get the midi's extracted from the game.
Thanks. Unfortunately, I'd take a bit too much effort to get 100% correct. There seems to be a few instruments as well that I cannot find on a SC-88. The composer may have taken various instrument splits and re-arranged them. That was evident in the example above. I can get close, but not close enough for my perfectionism when it comes to a remaster of a song.
Amazingly superb remake of Koopa Troopa Beach punk! I think that epiano (or whatever that main instrument is) is missing something from the original but it sounds great, its funny I tried to remake that song with modern instruments before I got the Sound Canvas VST months ago and it was difficult, still haven't finished it even but I have the project saved if I remember correctly all I had trouble with was an instrument and getting some percussion to sound alike lol makes me want to attempt at working on it again.
Yeah unfortunately I cannot find the correct E piano on the SC-88. It's a one shot sample in the game so it may take a really low instrument split and simply use that. Here is the sample in question. I guess for the missing instruments, I'll try and find the closest possible for now. Like in the select screen music I can't find the right bass it uses either. I think I used a conceivable replacement though. A shame really. If I do go through with this remaster, would anyone be happy with a 90-95% accurate remaster? Here's a couple more Koopa Troopa's to listen and see what one sounds closest: Koopa Troopa Beach (Old Uprite) Koopa Troopa Beach (Piano 1) And here is Moo Moo Farm. Except 2 instruments, everything should be the same.
Koopa Troopa Beach (Piano 1) sounds good honestly but I like the very first one you posted yesterday out of both todays versions. That Moo Moo Farms remaster sounds extremely faithful to the original astonishingly! Its just missing a few whistles here and there at some points of the song but that's it! Other than that its perfect :) definitely looking forward to more remastered music you have for MK64 in the future.
The synth bass in the Mario Kart select screen isn't very close to the original. The original has a sort of "resonance" sound in the mid of the bass. But you mentioned not going through the effort with the splits, so I can deal.
Also, you missed a sustain note at the end of the first lick in Moo Moo Meadows.
Yeah, the select screen base is another instrument I cannot find on the SC-88. It may indeed take a really low/high split of something on a SC-88, hence why I cannot recognize it.
Moo Moo Farm has a different, longer release time on the whistles. Hopefully a easy fix later done the road. At least, I think that's what you're referring to.
Yeah you're right. I had the wrong patch number down. It also had some notes stuck together not playing properly. Fixed the whistles as well. Should be 100% now.
Moo Moo Farm New.flac Also a test of Bowser's Castle. Can't seem to find 2 drums. 1 is playing over the bass drum and the other starts about 6 bars in. The one 6 bars in seems pitched down from its original key in the game. The main bass/synth is missing its lower string/bass. Can't seem to find the correct version. It could be layered with another instrument as well. I'll leave this song for now and come back to it later.
I just cross checked them to make sure, and they are correct. You're probably thinking of the one playing in the left speaker. It has a small instrument split range from the lower section of the keyboard. This split in the game has a tad bit more bass than the one on a SC-88 because it has full range on a SC-88.
Pokemon by icecream at 10:17 PM EDT on April 5, 2016
Not that I intend to do it or ask anyone to do it, but how feasible would it be to recreate Pokemon Diamond and Pearl's soundtrack in SCVA? IIRC all of the instruments were sampled from a Roland SC-88; however, I was not able to find the synth bass or the saw wave instruments in SCVA.
If you paste a link here to the original midi's and soundbanks, I could take a look at that music. If there isn't any soundbanks, preferably a gamerip of some sort will do.
I'm only doing games I am interested in. I cannot find Pokemon Diamond and Pearl in that list. And, I don't really feel like searching for it. If its properly presented to me as stated in my last post, I'll take a look.
"Maybe that's because... D/P IS NOT GBA!!!" "how is this relevant? I'm just curious." It isn't relevant.
And to punk, if you have no interest, I'm not going to force it on you. Oh no, I wasn't meaning that specifically to you. Sorry. I will still take a look if you have proper links and I'll let you know if its easy enough for me to do or not.
Ah I see. Sorry if I misinterpreted, I wasn't in the greatest mood when I made that message...
Anyway, here's a link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8vxtfzhgppnnzrh/DP.rar?dl=0 I didn't put that many songs because I didn't think it was necessary to put all of them in.
I separated them by sound bank, since for some reason the game has specific sound banks to the type of music.
Not exactly related to the thread, but I thought I'd do a small test arrangement of Army Men Sarge's Heroes Main Theme using SCVA. This was done using a WIP version of N64miditool version 2.
Here's a few Diamond remastered songs. Thankfully, it seems rather easy to do (interestingly enough, it uses GM patch ordering! Very nice). I'll do some from this game off and on. Would you mind uploading a full midi/dls set for this game? Let me know if there is anything off at all. There is a bass drum, techno-ish drum and a really low quality drum thing in the battle bank that I am unsure about. I think I got the low quality drum thing correct though.
@Kurausukun Thanks for the link, I do know about it already though.
The route music sounds amazing, but the timpani in the trainer battle theme sounds a bit....off. IDK, it seems like it's on the wrong key. Also the hihats seem to be a little quiet. Aside from that, amazing job on it!
Unfortunately yes I do mind uploading a full set of MIDIs as AFAIK there is no way to batch extract the sequences from an SDAT. I will definitely put up more sequences but there's no realistic way to extract all of them without doing them all individually by hand.
EDIT: Alright then, here you go. I just did as many as I cared to do. Also I might have some tracks in the wrong directories so yeah.
I fixed the Trainer Battle theme. Should be in the link above still. Manually had to correct the pitch of the timpani. As a test to see if its the correct pitch or not, I had both playing to see if it was identical or not, and it seems fine now. Hihat's are a bit louder now as well.
Here's a few more MK64 tests. Unfortunately, I cannot find the synth-like pizzicato in Toad's Turnpike. I believe I used a good substitute though. Also in Toad's Turnpike, the correct slap bass is labeled (Split Slap Bass) just like it is in game. In DK's Jungle Parkway, the Marimba-like instrument in game uses one instrument split from its SC-88 counterpart. I used a full range. I think it still sounds fine, though. Other then those, should be all correct.
Did a Pokemon Stadium remaster as a test. Support will be added for this game when N64miditoolV2 comes in it's final stages of release. Was a bit puzzled as it didn't use the standard EAD format. Turns out it uses this other format we figured out, thankfully.
Nice, I wasn't aware of a new version of N64MidiTool coming out. Any chance it will it support Glover 64 and Megaman Legends? Well MML is not that important since we can rip the psf version now but G64 is a high priority I'd think.
Also I'm working on remastering tracks from Bomberman Hero lol I've made the attempt several times before actually but I've hit the same road block that's held me back in the past, the strings. I tried to replicate them in the Sound Canvas VST but I still can't find the perfect sound for them.
Heres an example of the original synth strings from the game https://clyp.it/ay5s5kge, any idea where they come from or possibly have an upgraded sample of it? I think the SCVST has most of the other instruments from the game.
Yes it will support Glover 64 and all the Megaman games. This new format we figured out covers at least the other half of the N64 library. Only things not known yet (maybe one day? Hard to tell as we did some digging but couldn't find anything) is Factory 5 games (Star Wars) and Konami games. Konami/factory 5 like to do their own things.
Ah nice Bomberman Hero. A very unique soundtrack (and very good!). No idea where those come from, but I do have a sample from one of my AKAI CDs I have that is in that game. Grab it here.
Its a raw sample ripped with N64SoundTool and played in a DAW, I'm trying to recreate those strings but nothing I have sounds even close and I know that sample you supplied punk! Its from fatidic lol love that theme and that's good news to hear about the support of the other unknown N64 formats, can't wait until the updates released.
Edit: I checked, SCVST doesn't even have that sample either so I guess the remastered tracks wouldn't sound too good with it afterall.
I don't think that game used any SC-88 samples. Also, I can send you a preliminary set of Glover for you to test if you want. Only known issue at the moment is that sometimes when a channel volume event occurs, it will produce a bunch of clumped together notes for that volume event.
Some more Pokemon Stadium remasters. It'll prove difficult to get this game 100% accurate as a lot of solo instruments use single instrument splits a lot. Like Sushi-Go-Round's Shamisen.
A song I remade/remastered from Magical Starsign using the Sound Canvas VST: Magical Starsign - Space Police Boss Battle. I know the drums aren't really that faithful to the original but they were all I had.
DKC only used a very small amount of SC-55 samples. Not sure where the rest are from. Some I know are from a Korg M1.
Here's some more stuff. Free time is mostly working on another sequence format for N64 midi tool. The bassoon in Snare War has a special slide effect in the game and unfortunately, cannot be converted to midi.
I agree. Though for special effects like, reverb, chorus, delay, slide, tremolo, vibrato, I'd imagine you'd need a new midi host engine of some sort as well to get them all to work correctly. It's a shame. There are a ton of midi controllers that are unsupported now.
I'm going to write a sf2 successor format as well, because I like soundfonts, but they aren't flexible enough for my liking.
See here for a VERY long explanation: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=461147
I'll implement all this within 30 years, by which time we'll have holographic displays and skull-implant headphones, computers have been replaced by smartphone/tablet toys, and sequenced video games will be a distant memory.
SampleScience has released AdLibXRom, which contains the sounds of the AdLib Music Synthesizer Card (utilizing the Yamaha YM3812 sound chip). Perhaps it could be used for VGM remastering?
I just ripped some MIDIs and soundfonts from Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, and I noticed they were General MIDI mapped and use many instruments from the Roland SC-88Pro (except the percussion), so that makes it a lot easier to remaster the soundtrack of that game.
SF2 for Rare's N64 games by derselbst at 2:55 PM EST on February 14, 2017
Not sure if this is the right place. But IMO the best approach to remastered OSTs is pulling the soundbank from a game and creating a soundfont out of it. That way we're able to get the original tunes playing at a higher samplerate at least. This is esp. useful for Rare's N64 games, since they (all?) render at 22050 Hz. So I've created some SF2 soundfonts, you can find them here:
Next step would be to replace the samples of each soundfont with the instrument of the corresponding sampler. Contributors welcome. I own an Emu ProteusFX (from which Grant Kirkhope pulled a couple of samples), but don't know where to grab samples from the Roland JV1080 sampler, which Kirkhope also used.
However, since for SF2 config and samples are not stored separately, this would result in much redundant work, when wanting to do this for BK, BT, DK64, etc... That's why I absolutely agree with nobody1089; we need a successor to SF2 and MIDI. How about discussing things in a different thread, or on some online collaborative editor?
!!!!! or (!!!!!) as he's called here, has recently done some 'remastered' soundtracks for Bomberman64, Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie and Donkey Kong 64, all of which utilize SubDrag's "N64MidiTool", which can be found on ffshrine. Unfortunately I can't download any of them, since I'm waiting for my account to be activated there, however, I was given his BK remastered OSV rip, and it sounds obviously clearer than the original game versions.
@derselbst You could also rip MIDIs from Rare games and run them through the Roland JV-1080. There's a tool called the N64SoundbankTool by SubDrag that rips both the soundbanks and the MIDIs from the games. You could play the MIDIs with the soundbanks from that tool and change the MIDI program so the file plays correctly on the JV-1080. I could rip some MIDIs of the Banjo-Kazooie soundtrack with that tool if you want.
BTW, I know the banjo sound used in Banjo-Kazooie comes from the Roland JV-1080.
Chrono Trigger uses very low-quality Roland SC-88 samples, so I'm planning on remastering that soundtrack. But unfortunately, I cannot recreate the vibrato and the echo of the SNES sound chip, so I would have to remaster the DS version instead.
Thanks for the hint. This is the thread: http://forums.ffshrine.org/showthread.php?t=119192
However, (!!!!!) only seems to be using samples from the ROM. So pretty much the same approach as mine.
@G-Boy
I solely used SubDrag's tool for ripping the soundbank and midis. Problem is that I dont own a Roland JV-1080 and I couldnt find any soundfont that offer samples for it.
@derselbst Enclave123 owns a Roland JV-1080, perhaps you could ask him?
Demo Trial of Silence by G-Boy at 2:04 PM EST on February 17, 2017
I have a request. Maybe it's too much to ask, but... could somebody who owns the Roland Sound Canvas VA please take this MIDI of Light of Silence from Chrono Trigger and run it through the Roland SC-88 sound map in that VST, and link to it in this thread? That song is one of my favourite VGM of all time, and it would be very, very nice to hear how it sounds on the SC-88.
Xan1242, good stuff. Be careful about transcribing pitches; the worst part for me about listening to video game arrangements/remixes is wrong notes. For example, "Final Fantasy 4 - Zeromus (Sonic 2 -3 Style)." After the pyramid/build to the B section (Intro, A, B, C, whatever, figure it out), there is a sequence of two arpeggiated chords. The top note of the second arpeggio should be an octave interval; it's too low. Actually, it sounds like chord number one is simply repeated. Ouchy.
The pyramid/build could use a drum hit on the last beat, kind of like the cherry on top (Nobuo's version did).
Personal experience tells me it's easy to get a wrong version of the source in your head while transcribing, which is why I don't try it anymore. Lack of patience.
Miscellaneous remix: Castlevania 64 imports. - Imported this music into the game so it has its reverb effects. Contains Death Mountain, Cave, Dark World themes from A Link to the Past as well as Mystic Forest from Tales of Phantasia. Army Men: Sarge's Heroes - Imported this music into the game so it has its reverb effects. Contains the Airship theme from Super Mario Bros and Versus from Star Fox 64. The Airship theme ended up using 28 total polyphony at one point which is pretty high for a N64 game. Jet Force Gemini - Imported this music into the game so it has its reverb effects. Contains Mid Galds from Tales of Phantasia and Pirates' Fortress from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon - Imported this music into the game so it has its reverb effects. Contains Run Faster! from Ganbare Goemon 3 and Boss B from Star Fox 64.
When do you say "neat", does it mean that it's a good remaster? I mean, is there no errors?
I am working on FL Studio and program change events are hard to do there. If you see any octave misplacements or bad cuts on ProgramChange events, tell me.
I will also keep this remaster project up-to-date and keep uploading new ones.
I meant "neat" as in "cool, someone else has done this game". However, I am not familiar with the game's music that much so I can't be much help in determining errors. The song DpCanalaveDay isn't quite right though. A lot of the instruments are wrong such the harp and piano at the start. I don't think the strings and drum kits are quite right either. My advice would be to listen to the midi paired with the in-game soundfont, or listen to the individual samples. My version of that song is named CITY02 D in the link above for comparison sake.