COMPLETE Soundfont/MIDI Pack for Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga! by Excalibur624 at 8:40 PM EST on March 9, 2019
Hello all. I'd like to present a complete (and fixed) Soundfont/DLS & MIDI pack for Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. All instruments were extracted using a hacked variant of GBA Music Studio.
Props to Infomaniac95 for motivating me to finally finish this.
There's already a thread about a high quality ML:SS soundtrack, but I wanted to post a seperate thread since this is pretty much the completed product.
IMPORTANT NOTE!: The MIDIS and SOUNDFONT included in the Dropbox link are NOT the same ones that Infomaniac gave. The PSG patch number and sound channels were modified, so that they now work in General MIDI 1 players (such as VirtualMidiSynth). So the soundfont from Infomaniac's pack won't fully work with the midis from my pack, and vice versa.
Yeah I realized that. I thought everything imported in, probably some error I had no clue about. Here it should be fixed: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/v007g1byu9jxa0r/AAC54TN2CdLVHYdaiy_PTpcEa?dl=0
Also the Credits theme doesn't rip right for whatever reason. I'll do something about that and the loops.
It seems that there's an issue with one of the instruments (as can be heard in Menu Screen (Unused Version), Oho Oasis, and Stardust Fields) where it's replaced with a weird squeak.
Glad to see some people getting some use from this stuff.
Seeing as the game itself uses the Roland Sound Canvas SC-88pro as its main synth, I wonder if anyone can make an "uncompressed" set of songs from this game.
There is the Sound Canvas VA VST from Roland Cloud for anyone who wishes to experiment with it.
My biggest pet peve is that the soundfont is not organized, and has no drumkit, which is what I was hoping for ever since I tried to get making this back into shape, although, the midis are okay and everything, but with the soundfont like it is, I can't tell what anything is, it mostly sounds like sound effects, and the only drums I can find are individual ones and timpanis, It is impossible for me to use something like this as I am still a beginner with using and mixing stuff with FL studio
I could try to name the soundfont samples when I'm bored one day. Most of them are compressed to the point of not really being usuble for a song, though.
by Excalibur624 at 4:39 PM EST on November 18, 2019
Alright, update I've started working on V1.1 of the collection Changes include: -Fixed volume for some of the MIDIs -Added correct looping
soundfont by Zetto Kuzuuya at 2:56 PM EST on December 12, 2019
how is the progress going?
MLSS Collection V2.0 : A Comeback by Excalibur624 at 10:21 PM EDT on July 31, 2020
Alright guys, I'm back!
I'm so sorry for the literal year long delay. Life hasn't been kind and there's been some lost motivation in the project.
Good news is that i've begun working on the MLSS Midis + SF2 project again!! I felt so bad for leaving you guys in the dust and decided to give things another shot.
So far I've begun to work on fixes for the following things for Version 2.0:
- Fixing missing PSG channels in some MIDIS (Beanbean Castle, Cackletta's Theme, etc.) - Fixing volume mixing for the MIDIS to be game accurate, using GSF rips as a base - Working on a more accurate PSG (that isn't just some single sample from an NES VST lul) - Adding looping to the MIDIS - Fixing wrong panning on stuff
I WILL promise to follow up on things in the near future. I've already got about 12 out of 48 songs fixed up!
I have Rhythm Tengoku's GBA MIDIs, but not the soundfont. The GBA and arcade versions use sound drivers and engines of their own (I know that the Arcade and GBA versions have the SFX and music as PCM audio, though).
Yeah, classes just started for the semester where I am, but luckily I still have some spare time
by Zettokage1337 at 2:19 PM EDT on September 8, 2020
How is progress going so far? any major updates?
by Excalibur624 at 10:03 PM EDT on September 16, 2020
Gotten around 70% of the tracks done. Pretty alright progress. I'll start up again sometime this week
by Excalibur624 at 10:35 PM EDT on September 18, 2020
News for next update to the soundfont/MIDI pack:
Going to be adding more PSG squares/pulses besides the 50% one. They're also going to be sampled better for accuracy reasons.
So far I've found MLSS uses 50%, 25%, and 12.5% pulses.
I'll also be reassigning banks for some songs to use the correct type of PSG (Star 'Stache Smash to use a 25% instead of 50%, for example)
Those will be added next update and are a larger priority of mine.
Song's tempo by LoganH0wlett at 5:50 PM EDT on September 30, 2020
Just a quick thing I noticed about 2 of the tracks that were extracted.
Bowser's Castle
The beginning of it, the first 14 notes to be precise, are supposed to have a slower tempo than the rest of the song. The extracted midi have these notes in the intro lasting about 5 seconds when in-game its 9 seconds, so a tempo change should be added.
Credit rolls
Besides the tempo being slower than in-game, something that I saw when messing with it(not this version, one from another thread about a MLSS soundfont being made) is that part of the whistle's notes' delay is because of a few long and out of range notes(too high for the midi player I use to play them, making them have no sound), making it another thing to check into.
by Excalibur624 at 11:33 AM EDT on October 26, 2020
The Bowser Castle tempo changes work for me, perhaps its your player?
Yeah reading your issues about Credits Roll, it seems both of these issues are due to your MIDI player.
by LoganH0wlett at 3:44 PM EDT on October 27, 2020
Weird... I do use the Falcosoft one and I have midis with tempo change that works fine.
Tho the issue with the credits theme was the same I had with Gwarhar Lagoon theme on that other thead I mentioned, but in this version you made, only those 2 were still troublesome...
progress? by Zettokage1337 at 5:31 PM EST on December 14, 2020
how is progress currently on this big thing? its been a long road so far
Time sure flies fast... Cebola's Rhythm Tengoku Python script can export the sounds as raw 8-bit PCM, and he used FFMPEG and bash to batch convert them into .wavs.
If you're also wanting to make a soundfont and MIDI Pack for Rhythm Tengoku, you're going to need Cebola's script, VGMTrans and the game ROM, and also have Python and FFMPEG installed, then you'd progress on it as you would do for Superstar Saga.
by LoganH0wlett at 3:53 PM EST on December 8, 2021
Hopefully not.
I myself am planning on renaming the presets from the updated sf2 file while there isnt any updates from who was working on it. Also I may even do a few changes at it too, like setting se sound effects on a different sound bank and copy the drumsets to the actual drumset banks too.
I was working on making a hq soundfont by replacing the instrument samples with higher quality recordings, but I want to wait until whenever the project is finished to finalize it I wanted to keep things sounding close enough while comparing with the gsfs, here is a wip mix of the popple battle. drums have not been done yet
https://voca.ro/13Nk0JPdsuUK
edit: have a Hoohoo village, this one sounds closer
https://voca.ro/1eUqs8a1prDY
edited 6:11 AM EST December 10, 2021
by LoganH0wlett at 9:53 AM EST on December 10, 2021
Oohh these sound great! The brass on Popple's theme a bit too much like an accordeon tho.
Right now I'm figuring out the unused samples from the updated soundfont of this thread, most are sound effects and voice clips(boy the bros have a lot of them) and setting them as instruments and presets.
There are some drumset like samples tho, but setting up drumsets is the only thing I dont know how to do, tho its just a few of them.
by ThatOneNote at 11:36 AM EST on December 10, 2021
You are right. It has too much high end, I'll make sure to fix that.
for unused samples I ended up manually renaming all the samples and removing them
getting the instrument balancing has been a nightmare. Making one song sound right compared to the gsf messes up another one.
Might be best to manually edit each midi until each track sounds right.
edited 11:38 AM EST December 10, 2021
by LoganH0wlett at 3:40 PM EST on December 10, 2021
So far the only midi that has given me problems is the end credits one cus the channel where the whistle is had its notes messed up, but it was from another thread and I've lost the midis and soundfont from that thread. Also some unused tracks were nice too.
But yeah, I'm keeping the SFX on a different bank just to ease up on the remixing part.
Oh! And besides the original fixed midi, maybe remake them with the insruments one on each channel, so it may help with the remixing a little as what I use to remix doesnt let me use 2 different soundfonts for the same channel if theress a intrument change on that channel.
edited 3:41 PM EST December 10, 2021
by ThatOneNote at 8:44 AM EST on December 11, 2021
Anyone know the instrument used for preset 11? It's a synth like sound used in the boss battle theme. It's the only preset that I cannot find the source of
by LoganH0wlett at 6:02 AM EST on December 12, 2021
That one... On the other thread I mentioned it was another sample, more like how it goes in the game, named brass hit, which kinda makes sense, tho this thread's it sounds a bit like a not so strong steel drum mixed with a saw wave, but it could also still be a short brass.
However, I tested a thing here and its most likely a more compressed version of the synth hit from ML BIS last boss theme(BANK LAST_BOSS, preset 81(when ripped with VGMTrans)) and it sounded just as nice, if not better. So maybe it is that sample, but more compressed due to being in a GBA game. Just a hunch I have.
edited 6:11 AM EST December 12, 2021
project by Zettokage1337 at 11:40 AM EST on February 16, 2022
glad to see after all this time, so much work is still being put into this project
by LoganH0wlett at 4:02 PM EST on February 19, 2022
Well, yeah. With it done it opens such a wide range of possible remixes with it, tho the drumset is a bit different from normal soundfonts if compared sample placement.
Also, in my distraction with other stuff I've paused work on the sample using(putting the unnused ones to use in its own presets) to work on a Sonic GBA soundfont for a bit, but I'm not stopping completely, just felt the need of finding a few instruments I've seen before to the Sonic one.
And I do check on here from time to time for any updates.
almost every instrument sample has been replaced current progress is towards mixing the samples better and more accurate looping points here's another demo https://voca.ro/1fhjUunBO5mp
Just two things, the volumes of the mixing may need some minding, as the guitar is a bit too loud and the drums and bass are barely heard; and the flute may need some more smoothening(fade-in ish) on the start of the sample to sound more natural as some times it sounds like the flute have just been unmuted(or maybe its just the midi making it sound like that) and maybe a bit of reverb.
Chucklehuck Woods and Boss battle https://vocaroo.com/16Ran1DhESDA https://voca.ro/11LWq7nIQzt7 Mixing for the boss theme is still WIP but I believe Chucklehuckwoods is final Have also been thinking of making a Youtube to upload these to, but you know how it is with music and ninty on there
Some more tracks with the hd sampled soundfont, editing the instrument volume per track to match the gsfs better since I believe something from the midi pack isn't being replicated correctly (note velocity?) Standard Battle: https://voca.ro/1mzMzUQhGZyX Cackletta Battle: https://voca.ro/1bomYvh6Mhll Popple Battle V2: https://voca.ro/1lsC3z6mDgmK
1 - the second brass(the one I believe was the octave one) still feels a little too accordeon-like; both brass sections of the main melody are too low in volume while the ones supposed to be lower as support get all the focus; and lastly the song has loop points on the wrong part, as the longer bass notes are supposed to be only at the start, I believe the extra part of the midi with the main melody is already a hint to where the loop point should be.
2 - the only issue I have with that recording of Cackletta's battle theme are the quick notes at the start of the accordion's melody, apparently it have a rise so the sound doesn't catch up fast enough, baking the fast notes fell chopped before making sound.
3 - maybe turn the sound of the clapping up a little as it is what kinda pumps up the rhythm of the melody, and the brass doesn't have the same feel as the one on the normal battle(which feels strong and like its more than one brass playing), giving a feel like its a string instrument near the end of the long note
This is kinda what i mean for what I've said, recorded these with what I have:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KzsIdb787BSzCtf9ZiF2RfJ1wuXZ-bwD/view?usp=sharing about the battle theme, "Come On!"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1u9YeSL9yNLImmZR2SKCnMtAf_lXOXoLk/view?usp=sharing and Cackletta's boss theme's Accordeon parts
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K02UYyS5H2NwDBIuQWDuGJob36AaKpwb/view?usp=sharing and here for Popple's theme.
These were madewith the midis and soundfont/samples I got from the threads here so the quality is mostly like the games.
Any hiccups or missing parts are the fault of the program I use, and it happens when it lags while recording.
Instruments sounding glitchy by izackefx at 1:56 PM EDT on June 18, 2022
Is there a reason that all samples have a glitched effect towards the end of each note? Do you guys have any trouble with this? I was trying to recreate Teehee Valley but listen to this and you’ll hear that it doesn’t sound right. https://voca.ro/12ByqMuR4NAE
I’m using mixcraft for my mixing suite and I’m using TX16Wx to load the sound font and instruments.
Iirc, there was supposed to be a second pan flute channel or the "bugged out note" is actually supposed to be in lower volume to make an echo effect.
Maybe the program you are using set all the notes the same volume by accident, removing the echo completely? Cuz for the programs I use that doesn't happen to me, yet it still shows a note input happening.
Yep. Its exactly that. short note after the long notes in a lower volume to simulate an echo.
recorded the melody with a short sample to be able to hear it and it is barely noticeable with looped samples, but the saw hit i used made it clear. https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Jdm_afyKn4lshfOPjXlO2juM52o_HKf/view?usp=sharing
Staff Roll Theme by LoganH0wlett at 4:44 PM EDT on June 20, 2022
Since im procrastinating on fixing the unused samples in the soundfont sent on this thread, I might as well still do something useful and fix the ending theme midi.
Its either from this one or another thread originally, named "sequence40" on my folder.
The only issues it have are 2 channels muted and the whistle's channel having long very high and low notes in between the actial melody and a slower tempo. I can fix those no problem. Also I might add the cheering from the end too for a final rendering of the song
Better quality OST by LoganH0wlett at 12:38 PM EST on March 9, 2023
I may have found something interesting.
I remembered someone wanting to do a better quality rip of the samples and that some instruments were carried over to the DS titles(direct example: "Departure From The Beanbean Kingdom" being in BIS or PiT).
But the most interesting thing was that on the remake of SS, music tapes can be found with the soundtrack to be playable, and it also have the original versions in higher quality too.
Even if those can't be ripped as midi files, they could still be used as references as how the instruments were supposed to sound like.
So is there a single collection of peoples latest efforts in recreating this games music in MIDI that I can download? It looks like there's a lot of single track changes throughout this topic.
It also looks like the author of the title jumped the gun when saying it's complete, then including a Notes file stating some files don't work or are incorrect.
Actually... Im working on remastering the soundtrack using the previously ripped midis, and separating the channels by instrument, tho the program I'm using dont export the projects to midi as i expected, its some progress on having it done.
Also a thing I've noticed, many tracks have the channels 7 and 8 used by square waves(which the soundfont have the sample way too loud), but even with the track volumes set to 100, the notes themselves are set to quite low that on these remastering projects im doing i have to increase the output volume of these to 2,5db at least, just so everything of the songs are clear and heard.
Current progress on separating all of the soundtrack midi channels by instrument for a proper midi of them is 8 out of 51.
First troublesome midi done is the title screen one, having 3 misplaced notes of the fully drawbar organ channel, which I had to edit to fix that channel's length and note timing.
I've noticed that so far, the common issues with the "corrupted" tracks are mostly misplaced notes, tho I've only seen them on Gwarhar Lagoon's flute part, the whistle on the credits roll theme(which there are a LOT of, making the song last almost 4 times its actual time) and the title screen theme; while the only other issue is Bowser's Castle midi not having the slower tempo at the start and the tempo change, and the credits theme being slower than in-game.
After doing all the songs, I'll export them to midi, try to find a way to add loop points, and then finish the soundfont to go along with them, including the sound effects included on a previous wip on the thread.
Little Update for those who still check on here...
While I'm using LMMS to separate midi channels that have instrument change events, the program shoves all of them into one track and set them for instrument bank 0(aka what's usually pianos on normal soundfonts) when exporting back as midi.
The workaround I've found is using "Aria Maestosa" to separate them into individual tracks, then use Falcosoft's midi player to patch it up once more so it loads the proper instruments once loaded. I'll have a txt file explaining it all along with the final products once im done with it all.
And it actually works! I have "Come On!" and the title screen theme redone as midis but i still gotta find a way to add loop points to them.
edited 5:48 AM EDT April 5, 2024
Hope for the full OST as midis by LoganH0wlett at 5:13 PM EDT on April 9, 2024
Its been only a few days since last update but I just wanna announce I found a way to add loop points to the midi.
Took me some time and trial and error but I did it in one day. On the other since then ive been working on properly fixing the Title Screen theme's panning to be just right along with progressing on a few select songs.
It'll be a while longer till all tracks are finished, but its gonna be worth it.
Also side note, I do have some midis there were being trouble some and managed to find how to fix them. Especially the credits theme which has just a few channels bugged, one of them being the whistle that I recovered from a edit I did some years ago.
And as a previous rip also included unused or used on the demo(that has recently resurfaced), I will be adding them to the full list of midis, right after the ones from the final game. Example being the "Around The Castle" track being a completely different name and song, and it'll be labeled as "Mamelian Plain" on the list.
HOWEVER, I´m still stuck on those songs with effects on volume change and pitch shift, as one of the programs I use don't properly have those set right, so those will be left for last.