biff_larken Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Ok, I don't know how many people here are fans of classic 8-bit Nintendo music (Of course, I'm also referring to Commodore stuff as well, I just never had one of those when I was young). After reading about what makes up the original Nintendo Entertainment System's soundchip, I set out to recreate the 'instruments' I've heard in classic games (they used to do a LOT of stuff with those 4 or 5 channels to get the sound they wanted). Anyway, I took the ES1 (a few instances of it, actually) and created my own '8 bit' presets (that I'd be willing to share, if anyone's interested), added some tape-delay, and voila! http://www.tindeck.com/audio/image/b/iwdm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayenex Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 DUDE I LOVE IT! especially that second lead that comes in with the vibrato! I would love to get your presets, and if you have any good articles or sites you can steer me towards in getting that 8 bit sound, that would be awesome. I heard about this plugin called Magical 8 bit plug but it didn't work for Logic. (check out the demo song on their page) anyone know of any other plug-ins (preferably free) that would produce that really old-school 8 bit sound. or if you have any tips, please chime in. Evan PS. I still want to form a Nintendo Cover band as a side project. today, this bass play and I worked on Metroid and Contra. no joke. [/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff_larken Posted December 14, 2007 Author Share Posted December 14, 2007 Yeah, after being fed up with all of these plugins either being VST only or not working (*ahem* magical 8 bit), I decided that the ES1 was good enough for me. I'm on my way to school, but I'll post some presets later tonight. Until then, in short, the NES only had a few channels to work with (one flaw with the song I posted is that I have too much polyphony, compared to the original). They had: 1 triangle wave (bass) 2 Square Waves (varying wavelengths) 1 Noise wave (for the drums and whatnot) Also, use of simple delay was in the mix. No reverb, though. A good plugin to get some people started would be reFX's QuadraSID. It's designed to mimic the C64's SID chip exactly. Check it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterboy Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 I dig that tune. It definitely has that Nintendo, Sega type of feel to it. Nice idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erfmufn Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 love it, thats awesome man.. i got sudden visions of screenloaders and cheat / crack screens with waves of text rolling by in garish colors i too would like to hear about the process if thats cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c.swift Posted December 17, 2007 Share Posted December 17, 2007 I'll be honest i didn't even read your post i just click the link to listen to it and i was like this sounds like a Nintendo Zelda track or something like that. Then i read your post! Kinda funny to me But it sounds great good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erfmufn Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 I see what you mean with the different waves. I've setup 4 tracks the way you've described but will wait to see how you've set them to get that authentic sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff_larken Posted December 19, 2007 Author Share Posted December 19, 2007 Ok, sorry for the delay, but I'm back on track now... I'm at work, so I can't post any actual files, but I'll try to do so later tonight (I'll update this post) To begin you will need: - 4 instances of the ES1 (separate instruments, not just copied tracks) - A simple tape delay, without flutter, sent to a bus or something (really, whatever you feel like) - A basic filter, on the noise track (may get into this later) The NES soundchip was able to play 4 simultaneous voices. Those were a triangle wave (bass), noise (for percussion/explosive sounds) and 2 square waves (of various pulsewidths). I usually set up the tracks as my first is my triangle, 2 and 3 are square/pulse waves, and the 4th is the noise. Make sure that these are all set to 1 voice, as too much polyphony doesn't equate true NES quality sounds. I know I've broken this rule with the song I posted, but I suppose I wasn't going for authenticity. EDIT: OH! Also, turn your Analog % to 1%. Not 2, not 0, but 1%. For some reason, going to 0% adds a little clip noise to the triangle wave, at least sometimes, when going between 2 notes. /Edit. A good way to get that 'Zelda 2' synth sound is, on one of your pulse wave channels, make the pulse thin (move the curved slider closer to the right, but not all the way). Now, take your LFO (bottom left) and turn it to 'square'. Take the slider just to the right of that, and make it span from the bottom to maybe about a few millimeters up (i.e.- not a very large amount). To those that don't know, that's the range of the effectiveness of your Mod Wheel. And then just select 'Pitch' from the list to the right of the slider you've just adjusted. Presto! Play, and turn the mod wheel all the way up! Another neat sound is the 'Nintendo blip'. It's like the procedure above, only make the slider span the entire length of the...uhh...span, and put the mod wheel all the way up. Or, just make the slider's limit start and stop all the way at the very top. And only hit staccato notes. You'll hear what I'm talking about. Oh, another important thing to remember (which will be evident when I post some channel strip settings/ES1 presets) is that you want your velocity range to be static. There never was a huge amount of dynamics back in the day, so this helps reflect that. Again, this goes out the window if you want to make these sounds your own. Next post: Megaman toms! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erfmufn Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 heh, biff this is fantastic Thanks heaps I'll give it all a spin later (I too am at work). I actually went to google the 8bit nintendo and logic pro and this thread was the #1 hit.. maybe you should write an article about it or something. Nice research, thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayenex Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 Listen to this demo- when the bass comes in it sounds like it has some kind of "high frequencies" that go along with it. what is that? and how do we get that? http://www.ymck.net/sound/magical8bitPlugSample.mp3 do you think using bit crusher would do the trick? it seems like, although the ES-1 is nice, i don't think it sounds crappy enough? I don't know, still experimenting Love this thread by the way, I'm working on an arrangement of metroid using only es1 this is a lot of fun! plus it'll be cool to get some 8-bit presets for the es-1 or whatever. 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff_larken Posted December 19, 2007 Author Share Posted December 19, 2007 Listen to this demo- when the bass comes in it sounds like it has some kind of "high frequencies" that go along with it. what is that? and how do we get that? http://www.ymck.net/sound/magical8bitPlugSample.mp3 do you think using bit crusher would do the trick? it seems like, although the ES-1 is nice, i don't think it sounds crappy enough? I don't know, still experimenting Love this thread by the way, I'm working on an arrangement of metroid using only es1 this is a lot of fun! plus it'll be cool to get some 8-bit presets for the es-1 or whatever. 8) Actually, it's still the triangle wave, and I have a channel strip setting that makes it sound 'crappier'. True, the ES1 offers more or less clear waveforms that don't sound as vintage as they should. Maybe you could limit the master output to frequencies lower than 22kHz? I'll give it a whirl, and get back to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayenex Posted December 19, 2007 Share Posted December 19, 2007 yeah, let me know what you do, I'm really interested to see what you do with these channel strips. are you adding any other effects to the tracks (aside from delay or reverb) that would affect the sound of the ES-1 Evan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayenex Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 Ok here we go: fiddled around with the Metroid theme, these are 4 tracks of mono ES-1 my version: http://www.fizzgigonline.com/mp3/metroid.1.mp3 and, here's the original: http://www.fizzgigonline.com/mp3/metroid.mp3 like I said, there's something in the original, some kind of grainy, crappy goodness that I can't figure out how to get. it sounds like digital overtones or something. I'd like to know more info on how this sound was generated for these songs, and what exactly the composers had to deal with or work with for getting these sounds. are there any good web sites or articles that anyone knows about? thanks, Evan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterboy Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 Kewl effort. I dig it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostnuts Posted December 22, 2007 Share Posted December 22, 2007 Have any of you tried Chip 32? After failing to get Magical 8 Bit to work I stumbled upon this http://www.kvraudio.com/get/229.html It basically lets you draw your own 8-bit waves and comes with a bunch of presets for square, saw, and triangle. Also with regard to "drums" (noise) try downloading this pack http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/packsViewSingle.php?id=1992 and throwing them into the ESX 24. Lastly if you're into chiptunes I'd recomend checking out Dong and his albums Get Square and Gone Square http://www.yarhalla.jpn.org/yarhalla/16d/index_e.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkgross Posted December 22, 2007 Share Posted December 22, 2007 dude..that's great. very fun indeed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruiner Posted December 27, 2007 Share Posted December 27, 2007 Use bitcrusher, only up the sampling rate from 8-bit, 16-bit... then automate bitcrusher to downsample gradually or in a rhythm. Just gotta be creative with it... hehe... You can get it to sound pretty nasty... Default bitcrusher just makes it sound like an old record Peace! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vm1971 Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Ok, I don't know how many people here are fans of classic 8-bit Nintendo music (Of course, I'm also referring to Commodore stuff as well, I just never had one of those when I was young). After reading about what makes up the original Nintendo Entertainment System's soundchip, I set out to recreate the 'instruments' I've heard in classic games (they used to do a LOT of stuff with those 4 or 5 channels to get the sound they wanted). Anyway, I took the ES1 (a few instances of it, actually) and created my own '8 bit' presets (that I'd be willing to share, if anyone's interested), added some tape-delay, and voila! http://www.tindeck.com/audio/image/b/iwdm HI dude! i know im late on this, but its wonderful! very cool! i love those odd sounds, period. its fun to throw them in once in a while with abrasive organic stuff. like Marshall stack geetars and then this friggin bleep bloop drum box cuts in! LOVE IT! VInce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnutting Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Another late-comer to this thread... I love what you've done with the ES1! However, those of you having trouble with Magical8bit: What's the trouble? I just downloaded the Intel version, installed it in ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components, restarted Logic, and there it shows up under AU Instruments, and works perfectly for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeAMP Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Love the classic sounds, but the style is to good for them. I played the old Atari (1040) games and thier songs were sh&%@ (Sorry if the original song programmers read this) Good thread though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtonic Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 fiddled around with the Metroid theme, Sounds awesome. Would you please go over to this thread and guess which level from Metroid the sheet music is? It'd be funny if we all did a remix project like they have over on Ocremix.org, except it's the SAME EXACT arrangements, but with the ES1. Have any of you tried Chip 32? I have. Pretty fun to play with. I did the Beetlejuice NES game's first level in it. BeetleJuice - Level 1 I remember having a tape recorder and holding it up to the TV when I was a kid to record the music to that game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff_larken Posted January 19, 2008 Author Share Posted January 19, 2008 Ok, here are (some) of the fabled 8-bit CST files I have. If anyone can improve on them (which I'm sure you can) please, post an update! LP7.2.3-8bitcst.zip The rest of them. Bitcrushed.cst The CST for the Bus channel with the bitcrusher on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff_larken Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 Would I be able to get this post moved to the channel strip settings section? I just got Logic Studio, so I'll be adding more '8-bit' channel strip settings as time goes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vm1971 Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Ok, here are (some) of the fabled 8-bit CST files I have. If anyone can improve on them (which I'm sure you can) please, post an update! u rock V 8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff_larken Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 Thanks, I try! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leahbasskitten Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 thanks a bunch! i just spent a few hours nintendo-ing some of my previous stuff. this is fun!!! i have a feeling i'm about ot be sidetracked with these... all well! leah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biff_larken Posted February 20, 2008 Author Share Posted February 20, 2008 You're welcome Leah. I know I said I'd be posting more stuff, but I've been bogged down doing some audio post work for a short film, but I'm almost done!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noperator Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Props! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enertron Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 hello, I'm using GarageBand 4 + a plethora of extras, 1st and 3rd party, but this site was the closest thing to what I was googling First I wanted to say that is some awesome NES style music/production, biff I am having some difficulty getting magical 8 bit to sound as good as those examples Can you or anyone please recommend some settings to try for both the square and triangle wave shapes? such as BendRange Release SusLevel Decay Attack You can check out my techno thusfar at myspace.com/enertron if u'd like Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimmdude Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Ha that sounds sick. At first when it started playing erfmufn's avatar was rockin with the music and it tripped me out. I'm gonna have to give those a try, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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