How Oldschool Sound/Music worked

[@antoniusmetal]

Yes, practically every NES game used the same sounds, but that's when the creativity of musicians came into play. For instance, the soundtracks of the Zelda, Ninja Gaiden and Casltevania games are amazing and very different from each other.

[@danmackintosh6325]

Not quite so creative when they just synthesized rock & metal tunes though lol (Not that I'm complaining. I mean it's quite a buzz to get onto the airship in Mario 3 and find yourself fighting Koopas to Diamond Head :D )

[@kingkrispy5289]

But then japan was like: Smh we need sawtooth *shoves a sound chip in famicom cart* America:what about us Japan:fuck you lol

[@BalancedSpirit79]

The dweeb Weeb sawtooth could actually be used on the PCM channel

[@DeskoDev]

@Metagalactic Llama Uh, Castlevania wasn't done by Tim Follin at all, hell, none of the three were. It doesn't even compare to any of his NES stuff. EDIT: CV1's soundtrack was done by Kinuyo Yamashita and Satoe Terashima, CV2 was Terashima, Kenichi Matsubara and Kouji Murata and CV3 was Hidenori Maezawa, Jun Funahashi, Yukie Morimoto and Yoshinori Sasaki. None of those many names are Tim Follin.

[@TetsuDeinonychus]

@@danmackintosh6325 Or they both were inspired by Gustav Holst's "Mars, Bringer of War".

[@turkeysamwich00]

Tim Follin pushed the NES's soundchip beyond its limits by doing tricks like using the triangle wave bass channel to emulate a kick drum sound, and having the main square wave riff play quieter and a split second delayed in the second square wave channel to emulate reverb. If you look at an oscilloscope of any of the games he composed for (Silver Surfer, Pictionary, etc.) you can see it in action. It's super cool

[@lordevyl8317]

That's true, but by the time Follin started doing stuff on the NES, he was already an established musician on systems such as the C64, Amstrad, and ZX Spectrum. A better example to use would have been Kinuyo "James Banana" Yamashita, who did the awesome music for the first NES Castlevania game

[@zPamboli]

Who could have told that Pictionary of all games, would hace such a slapping main theme on the title screen.

[@Grim_Grim_PR]

@@zPamboli or plok the boss theme beach theme and creepy craig sound majestic

[@bernardli9514]

Alright so all the music in this video. 0:20 - Avoid the Noid, IBM PC and Apple 2 0:43 - also Avoid the Noid 1:00 - Swinth Demo 1 (stationary ark) 1:09 - Space Quest III - Pirates of Pestulon. Cannot identify OS. 1:13 - Super Mario Bros 2, NES 2:18 - Super Mario Bros 2, NES 2:57 - Super Mario Bros 3, NES 3:36 - MULE, Comodore 64. 4:04 - Commando, Comodore 64. 5:21 - Ultima 6, IBM PC version. 6:06 - 8 bit guy, Casio sk-1 6:29 - Blood Money, Comodore Amiga. 6:42 - Guitar Slinger (Modtracker Song by jogeir liljedahl), Comodore Amiga

[@Galahadfairlight]

6:29 is the intro to Blood Money by Psygnosis

[@bernardli9514]

@@Galahadfairlight thanks for that! Man maybe next time this should be in the subtitles or something.

[@chrissiefoxchristina5361]

Thanks for the list! All this music is great!

[@boiii3productions945]

1:09 - Space Quest III - Pirates of Pestulon is MS DOS

[@cyberx1254]

Thanx!!

[@jonavarque347]

When I wrote for the SNES I used a sample playback system that used samples I generated. NO FM audio at all.

[@billyline3558]

I'm working for a SMW hack on the SNES

[@rowboat10]

@@billyline3558 really?

[@blidrob]

Sweet. Can you provide any links for your work? Thanks!

[@wayahedia9989]

@@blidrob It was 25 years ago and they're all toast by now! The Mask from THQ might be somewhere!

[@wayahedia9989]

@@rowboat10 most assuredly!

[@silversheep4605]

So that explains why one voice stops when a sound effect play on the nes, because there’s not enough voices for it so it cuts one off and replaces it with the other.

[@k80theshade]

Yup. This is also indirectly what was responsible for several well-known bugs...like the flag bug and the firework bug. People tried for. decades. to understand why the 8-bit proc could not do an entire screen wipe (these were still fast, so they looked like fast pulses to the player)at EXACTLY the same time as it was playing an audio effect.

[@itsjustcami1633]

Yea I noticed that in SMB and SMB2

[@lemmesmash]

yeah i noticed that too back then. i think it was Contra. when you burst your machine gun, the drums cuts off then goes back in as soon as you let go of the button.

[@speggiman]

@@lemmesmash Same in Altered Beast I think

[@Bandicoot803]

0:56 - It must have taken the programmers quite some time to design this epic laugh!

[@techpro1464]

Its pretty funny

[@icedchqi]

Bandicoot803 yep it’s pretty cool

[@sheilaolfieway1885]

easier than you might think...

[@tobyjarvais1758]

the sound it made a couple seconds prior to that when the Noid trampled the dominos guy had me laughing for some reason

[@KrotowX]

I believe that "laughing" sequence itself became available in public domain a while ago. Through time met this sound in various completely different hardware - toys, door bells etc. Basically in any hardware capable to play square impulse batches.

[@jonathanjensen189]

6:31 "HIT IT!" "yeah!" smh...

[@kelloginc1]

xD

[@bagasdwika]

🤣

[@bobbywright6062]

Jonathan Jensen it was like crack for an 8 year old me.

[@NunoLava]

what's the song/game? i actually really like it

[@NunoLava]

according to comments it's kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZrQpmmCpdOqo7M

[@Gtchy1230]

Seriously one of the coolest videos I've ever seen and really fascinating info! Well done 8-Bit Guy!

[@EnergeticSpark63]

hey

[@Jaunty_Jeff]

@@EnergeticSpark63 hey

[@alphaomega8373]

You alive Gtchy?

[@MrUltimatemaniac100]

I love old console music. It’s very nostalgic for me but it also has a very mystical and Haunting feel to it 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@nintendies]

Was watching this on my phone when at 2:30 "The first 2 can only produce square waves, that sound like this:" (Gets phone call) Me(for a split second) - oh that doesn't sound that bad, oh wait...

[@billyline3558]

😂

[@jayextarys8616]

Hahahahaaha 😂

[@joychapman9228]

FUNNN GUINCIDENE

[@LGR]

Excellent video!

[@Clone2572]

Hey there LGR c:

[@MiaKiesman]

+Lazy Game Reviews Oh, hey Clint! How are you?!

[@tuaamtheadventurer4252]

+Lazy Game Reviews You watch 8 - bit guy?

[@SteveM000100]

+7mario6 It's advertising, sensible youtuber

[@zaneroote5798]

+Lazy Game Reviews Huh? How come you're here in this video comment system?

[@NecrosVideos]

Your videos are always top tier. I’ll never stop loving retro tech!

[@wildbilltexas]

I'm glad you included a song by Rob Hubbard (Commando). He was a master at programming the C=64's SID chip. Also props for showing us the awesome Casio SK-1 and Yamaha PSS-470.

[@losalfajoresok]

+wildbilltexas As soon as he mentioned the SID chip I was saying "please use Commando, please use Commando" :D

[@wildbilltexas]

+Lord Alfajor I used to hook up my C=64's sound output to my stereo. I still remember being so blown away by the opening theme when I first played it.

[@losalfajoresok]

+wildbilltexas I had a tape recorder that I used to put in front of the TV to record the songs while my dog was barking as a background noise. Good old days.

[@spaceman221]

+wildbilltexas holy crap...you're here too?

[@Linkfinite]

+spaceman221 hundreds of us

[@bobsaggat]

2:47 I know some people who can only produce noise

[@vextechnet5865]

Jon Deal 😂😂😂

[@thejay8963]

Trump?

[@ThomasFarquhar2]

Jon Deal like you

[@louiei.1552]

Every black girl in class

[@FinalBaton]

+Jon Deal Ok that was good

[@KimHarderFog]

I was floored when you recreated the Ultima song on the keyboard. Great stuff!

[@malachimusclerat]

yo that commando music fuckin bangs

[@malachimusclerat]

also so does that commodore amiga game

[@angelanajeralc99]

space dude is total bull shit

[@retrovhsmanvaultfromthe70s97]

Marcos Moutta in the 1940s there where no video games

[@ElevatingEurope]

RETRO VHS MAN VAULT FROM THE 70S 80S AND 90S No shit Sherlock

[@Mudamir]

fullmetalwindbreaker search for instant remedý commando there are 2 remixes of that song

[@FinalBaton]

That C64 Commando track is SICK!!! Holy... I didn't know much about the C64 soundchip and now I'M pretty impressed This video also reaffirmed my preference for game console music : FM synth > Samples. By a wide margin

[@tassadar1977]

+FinalBaton you will enter a realm of SID awesomeness soon enough. Have a look at the MIDIBOX Sid project for some inspiration

[@KuraIthys]

Ah, but a sample based system can imitate FM synth. All you need are appropriate samples. I will admit though FM synths have some interesting qualities to their sound. But... It varies considerably from chip to chip as to what it sounds like - Not always good...

[@mariosskl8347]

+KuraIthys no emulator can 100% accurately replicate a true synthesizer.

[@Roxor128]

+Marios Sklavenitis Not quite true. If the synthesiser's characteristic sound relies on analogue components, then yes, you can't fully emulate it. If it's all-digital, then a full emulation is possible, though it will likely involve lots of bit-shifting black magic to pull it off.

[@kixxalot]

This video doesn't dig very deep, it doesn't explain the differences between FM and subtractive synthesis. The synthesis method of the C64 was not FM, it was a subtractive analog synth.

[@sfneurosurgeon]

Very educational and a trip down memory lane! I learned how to program with the Commodore 64. Commando was one of my favorite game themes!

[@hayabusa5306]

Was the song as fast as it is in the video? Cuz I can’t find it like it is in this video. Amazing song! (Commando)

[@gmdrandom6287]

@@hayabusa5306 try to find the ntsc version

[@TechDeals]

Hey, I learned something! I had a Sound Blaster in my 386DX/25 way back in 1991ish (might have been after that, don't recall anymore). I knew it played games that only supported Adlib, now I know why! The voice thing was cool, very nice video...

[@RRSYSinfo]

+Tech Deals I totally miss my Creative Sound Blaster Live card, with real time DSP, proper loved that sound card, but sadly for me, it was only suitable for pre windows XP 32bit

[@killyouwithfire]

Tech Deals :o tech deals!! I love your channel

[@xXxmlg_vacxXx]

Tech Deals i

[@hartwigbaars248]

I DON'T LEARN!!!! xD

[@jonathanmartin7252]

Tech Deals I did also. I think Doom for the NES actually first came out in 1991. Makes sense,because of the instruments used in both the 90s,and in that particular game.

[@obsoletegeek]

Some behind the scenes info: We had to make some major adjustments to the set and David's camera setup to get everything in frame. I'm a freakishly tall dude!

[@The8BitGuy]

+The Obsolete Geek Indeed. If we do another video together, we should be sitting down somewhere. Or I should stand on a box.

[@whisper2053]

+The 8-Bit Guy He IS a bit freakishly large, yes? :P

[@samuelstinson3274]

Dave “Too Tall for the Screen” Guest.

[@mojoblues66]

So either Dave is just 150cm or this guy is 240cm

[@lozD83]

Dave "Guest 8-Bit Speeker"

[@Adrians_Ideas]

I don't know what everyone is talking about, but 4:08 has a rocking tune to it.

[@Ray.Norrish]

You missed out on something special

[@Adrians_Ideas]

Ray Norrish i guess...

[@windows7458]

Yep! This makes me wish I was around in the 80's...

[@Peccath]

Commando!

[@pixelatedcroissant34]

i agree but when they put sound three its the best in my opinion

[@SrArtoo]

4:22 Incredible, no one ever has explained it so clear and simple. Great !

[@rodneydaub3812]

I was visiting my "share ware" store once, which oddly enough was in the local mall. I found a program for IBM pc that split the stock beep into three voices. It played "Fur Elise" and many other tunes using the three voices. It's was still the the basic "beep beep" sound, but three voice of it... it really was super cool.. mainly because I could not afford a sound card at the time, all my money had gone to my EGA card I had a flight sim once that somehow made white noise out of a PC speaker that was used a the jet engine sound effect. Very cool You know your intro gets stuck in my head 8-bit guy!

[@miasuke]

I would love to see a dedicated video like this for the Sega Master System...

[@rydoggo]

It worked like the NES except it's all either square waves or noise, also had no pcm channel iirc. The sound chip was also featured in some Tandy computers.

[@RaysGamingChannel2003]

@@rydoggo yep that's correct

[@shockwave6698]

Sega Sucks

[@supersonic9236]

@@shockwave6698 shut up

[@WellBeSerious12]

@@shockwave6698 Writing that while knowing SEGA's hardware was better than Nintendo's at every comparable generation. Nintendo/Master System to GameCube/Dreamcast.

[@princeplotena]

Here lies The IBook Guy 2012-2015 Name will be missed

[@kattenelvis1778]

Not really, 8 bit guy is better

[@FinlandCrafted]

+katten elvis Nah...

[@DanelonNicolas]

+Prince Plotena real death is oblivion

[@fordesponja]

It would be nice if someday you talk about the Mega Drive/Genesis sound and its somehow frankestein approach to sound between old and new and how a good composer could do marvelous scores while other just did absolute disasters.

[@zackiechan2601]

6:07 Ow, I could feel that dead inside smile.

[@vittoman4392]

He is like "Oh God, what am I doing?!?!?"

[@gravityhamster8805]

Literally went to the comment section just to see if someone mentioned this part. XD

[@remcovandenengel6496]

Its more like a "nailed it" smile

[@doctorx0079]

3:07 That isn't quite a fair statement. Some developers like Sunsoft, Konami and Capcom tried to get more creative with it. Like using different samples on channel 5 and playing melody on channels 4 and 3. But it was pretty tricky.

[@uncannyx]

Sunsoft especially, Batman, Fester's Quest, etc.. they loved that PCM channel

[@Me-zo8yc]

3:41 SID chip victorious! That tune is so catchy

[@enviousshade1770]

Exactlyy

[@MarkeyJester]

There's one aspect that you guys seemed to have missed, regarding the FM synthesizer (I'm wondering if you've confused it with PSG controllers...). For example, many Yamaha chips didn't have just a single pattern wave for a single channel. Each channel would have had multiple "operators" that played different wave patterns, and those patterns would feed into each other within a single channel, and that channel would output a complex waveform that doesn't fit the criteria of a simple square, trianle, sawtooth, etc... The Mega Drive/Genesis' YM2612 for example had four operators per channel, where each operator outputs a sinewave, the sinewaves are fed into each other, and the channel itself outputs an extremely complex waveform, if controlled correctly, known existing instruments such as a piano could be made. Cool video though, I did learn a small deal about the more primitive PSG sounds, your presentation is fantastic too! It gets the message across very well.

[@cope9489]

Well, there are also the SMS channels. Those were explained in the video though. (3 square waves and 1 noise channel)

[@toubatsu]

Markey Jester say that again but in human

[@croysk]

You’re entirely correct. They conflate PSG and FM, and completely ignore operators (or any filtering) and only briefly mention pulse generation and envelopes.

[@MoonDeLaAxel]

I actually love using a tracker to make music. It's quite fun, honestly.

[@harmonicresonanceproject]

Nice to see the genesis of the 8 bit guy here! 2021, and 2015 feels like a million light years away.

[@mrtonytechnics]

As a music producer, I love watching these videos. Sometimes I wish they were longer, great job!

[@FrankJavCee]

I want all that LOFI equipment! Great + Accurate video! :D

[@myonnewilloughby6309]

big fan of your channel man

[@Rami2145]

+FrankJavCee You get around man I see you on the tumlr all the time and it's surreal just seeing you pop up on a random vid.

[@Panda-rl4pc]

And the "Hit It" from Rob Base

[@scott7305]

7:01 dang, that mod sounds good!

[@Mnnvint]

Guitar Slinger, by Jogeir Liljedahl. So good they included it on the disk that came with the Gravis Ultrasound card for the PC :D

[@urmo345]

Yeah, good choice: legendary Guitar Slinger

[@benwemyss9790]

I just posted the name .... glad someone else remembers it!! It had two parts. Both were awesome !!

[@DoormanDudeMinecraftOfficial]

You're videos are just amazing. Also I liked the name iBook guy better

[@jordanjamison97]

+Doormandude I would have never found him from the name Ibook guy I found this channel from his oldschool videos.

[@Exigentable]

+Doormandude I thought it was a bad name. this name is much better.

[@DoormanDudeMinecraftOfficial]

Exigentable I thaught it was more unique. If you found his videos, it wasn't from searching his name, it was from seeing his videos in your feed and finding it because you where actually interested. The name 8-bit guy just seems to fall into a more generic catagory of youtube. Nothing bad, I just thaught the old name was better.

[@iaxx23]

+Doormandude your*

[@jordanjamison97]

iAxX He knows his mistake. We know his mistake. No one cares.

[@BlueArpeggio.PoDoDan]

6:42 I don't know....I...just suddenly felt something nostalgic inside of my heart. It feels like it's trying to tell me stories from long time ago I have forgot

[@yonezawa2810]

5:39 *Man, I could listen to you playing that over and over all day, so deep*

[@auyerrafael3944]

I really liked the new name! Makes a lot more sense now!

[@LeeDaniel001]

Personally I found him with the iBook guy... I probably would've never found him now...

[@auyerrafael3944]

+Daniel Lee Well, I found him not searching for apple stuff, but searching for a random tech topic that I can't recall. So for me, it wouldn't change a thing. And it is probably still possible to find him with the old name...

[@LeeDaniel001]

True, if you search up iBook guy, you get his channel. But still, I wouldn't have guessed this was his channel.

[@Stoned_Pony]

+Auyer Rafael This is the first vid I've ever seen of this guy. If he's been in my recommended vids before, I would have just ignored it because I block out anything to do with crApple.

[@mehftv]

He exploded in popularity

[@LivingWithTheGuzmans]

Great info

[@diofan57]

Bruh 3 year old verified comment with no replies.. wow

[@husamismael8926]

@@diofan57 look at their channel. they do "rock paper scissors but loser removes one article of clothing" type shit. I'd rather be unverified my whole life than be that. also wtf they doing on a video about retro tech lol

[@diofan57]

@@husamismael8926 oh dang, thanks for telling me

[@goamateurzero622]

This is even in 2021 still one of my favorite videos of all time!

[@fargeeks]

I like that sampling song that comes in at 7:00 I would love to hear an extended version

[@Horny_Fruit_Flies]

Jogeir Liljedahl - Guitar Slinger

[@ekwah5821]

prospectus That song brought on instant nostalgia feels for me. Thought it was so cool as a teenager. Glad someone remembered what it's called!

[@Horny_Fruit_Flies]

Bill Hawke Glad I could help :)

[@StormcloudLive]

It sounds like something from Dizzy on the megadrive... or what I remember Dizzy sounding like lol, I'm sure that is much worse now if I was to go back to it.

[@letterfella]

I'd hoped someone else had already asked about that!

[@MelvinG24]

AM I the only one who is in love of this :D 5:36

[@valenfraux]

Melvin Antonio Guerrero Morán I love it!

[@neehgurg2111]

Melvin Antonio Guerrero Morán yes it's shit

[@sulfuricacid951]

G Maeruf lolwut

[@kylarokorbor528]

Melvin Antonio Guerrero Morán no,I also think it's cool. These old school sound cards may have been used in the Atari platforms that hit store shelves before the NES. or the Famicom. Both Atari,and Nintendo, including their Japanese versions were classics.

[@sovuchkin5093]

no, your not the only, some people like it as well as me

[@calska140]

Thank you so much. This has been, for me, one of those questions that has been taking up space in the back of my mind for years. But the material was always too daunting or too simplistic. You do a great job of explaining exactly what i wanted to know.

[@dorianlee4747]

Love the C64 title cards!

[@CommodoreFan64]

+Dorian Lee Same, brought back some great memories for me. :-) C64 FOREVER!!!

[@revolcane]

I remember when when I played Ikari Warriors 2 on the NES for the first time and I heard "C'mon let's fight". Blew my mind then :P.

[@joeygonzalez883]

Oh danm Its DPCM

[@ReySilverskin]

I don't know why, but that Ultima VI theme makes me feel something I can only identify as nostalgia - nostalgia for something that I have literally never experienced. It's so simple and yet there's a hauntingly indescribable beauty to it. My most sincere praise to whomever composed that piece.

[@TheXelaNet]

I could listen to that 3-voice music all day - how did you get such clean samples/separate the tracks?

[@Jehezukiel]

nowadays, every game music files are now able to be emulated into semi-MIDI+soundfonts packages. known as xSF (PSF - for PS1 , NSF - for NES) and these MIDI files contain "commands" used to each samples or channels, and can be muted or soloed respectively... sorry for my progressive english..

[@Jehezukiel]

***** i kinda use "emulated" to explaiin that explanation... Thanks a lot! More things i learned about VGM Sequences

[@Roxfox]

If the C64 sound is your thing, check out the High Voltage SID Collection. It's an archive of practically all music ever produced using that sound chip, and the necessary players or plugins required to listen to them. Best part about emulated music is that it's all just tiny chip data, so you can stumble upon a brilliant tune that plays for a good seven minutes without looping (like Cybernoid 2 by Jeroen Tel!), and it's just a couple of kilobytes big. Most if not all SID players also allow you to sneak in and change the volume of the individual channels on the fly, so you can really dig in and enjoy a particular synth or figure out a complicated arpeggio. If you're interested but don't know where to start listening, I'll quickly list off a couple of my dozens of favorite artists: Jeroen Tel, Rob Hubbard (of Commando fame, as seen in this video), Martin Galway, Ben Daglish, and... shall we say, Thomas "DRAX" Mogensen.

[@deathbuncentral2310]

TheXelaNet you need to get sidwiz and download separate raw sound files

[@retrovhsmanvaultfromthe70s97]

Roxfox in the 1940s or 1950s there where no video games of those years

[@SimCityEA1989]

3:40 to 3:50 beast tune I ever heard XD

[@bandombeviews6035]

Beast tune?

[@SimCityEA1989]

Best sound XP

[@drasco61084]

It is a pretty beast tune lol

[@thebananaman1895]

i know .it is from the game M.U.L.E

[@TheRedCap]

back when ea was actually good.

[@rruhland]

So one thing that’s always interested me is how they made things sound so different on certain games on the NES. Like, to me, Zelda II and Punch-Out have the same “flavor” of sound which was quite different from Mario for example. How did they get such different sound from just the square and triangle waves?

[@odysseyguyperson]

Eventually, programmers figure out how to better utilize the sound chips. Nothing from SMB sounds like Startropics since by 1990 they’d already optimized the sound chip. And also, different music will sound like different things!

[@thingyee1118]

Love the new name. The_8_Bit_Guy++;

[@finnabon]

Me to, I don't know why everybody doesn't like it.

[@MadmanEpic]

I think it kinda lacks the ring to it.

[@torturetests]

I miss the iBook guy

[@lordmmx1303]

+thingyee1118 maybe in future he will change it to The_Windows_Guy

[@thingyee1118]

lmao. haha :P

[@55lumens]

Your videos are so in-depth and informative! Awesome job!

[@daniela_dundel]

in depth? u r kidding, i c... u cant b serious wrting this

[@danmackintosh6325]

Oh cool, I just witnessed the birth of The 8-Bit Guy as a channel! And of course I enjoy Rob's videos also!

[@nitrogen76]

These videogame tunes gave me a nostalgia-gasm. The SK-1 was my first synth keyboard, too. Double nostalgia-gasm.

[@thejay8963]

4:29 this clip sounds like It could be its own music!!

[@sthdk7725]

+AstroMoo2 Minecrafter AGREEEEEEEEE

[@sockman42]

true!

[@jezd2223]

ikr,it sound awesome

[@SuperWeedPower]

My Jam, make me a 1hour vid with that sweet line

[@NESherv]

That's exactly what I thought when I first heard it on its own! Super awesome track that I immediately started moving to. The other tracks on top of it just sounded too noisy and distorted.

[@johnchainsman]

Love the Blood Money clip. Amiga forever! And Octalyzer that supported 8 voices.

[@curiousottman]

This by far is my favourite video from the 8 bit guy. Well done. Great content. Very informative.

[@marcsm2008]

Amazing video, very informative and entertaining. And the part where you reproduced the Ultima 6 intro theme on your keyboard gave me shivers! ^^

[@JoelWassermansurfer]

Super Stoked on this video. I am teaching my Tech Production class about music, and I feel like this video is a neat way to present information with a quick modern history lesson. I also love the fact that many of the video games I grew up on are featured in this...😀

[@Reliken]

This is amazing; could you make a follow-up video explaining the similar differences between the SNES and Genesis?

[@steve_cdh7324]

4:29 can i get a video of just that bass line there please

[@RGAndromeda]

So glad I found your channel. Everything is explained so well and I've already learned pleanty. Looking forward to going through the rest of these videos soon.

[@AndiKravljaca]

I had one of those Casios... Man the hours of monophony I put into that one. Thanks for the memories!!

[@Ugotsta]

I remember that Casio well too, used to love hearing it play Greensleeves.

[@vwestlife]

Thanks for featuring "Guitar Slinger"... one of my favorite MOD songs! :-) One curiosity in early computer sound was Atari's use of a two-track head on their cassette recorder, allowing programs on tape to play pre-recorded voice and music through the computer's audio output while program data was loading from the tape. This allowed a rudimentary form of voice-guided programs, such as learning a foreign language, years before natural-sounding voice synthesis or sampling became practical. Example: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZCrfn2jYs-Vjs0

[@The8BitGuy]

+vwestlife I didn't know that.. Unfortunately, I don't have any Atari stuff other than the 2600. I've always wanted some of the 8-bits, though.

[@Mochibunno]

+vwestlife My absolute favorite MODs are from Elwood, take a listen to "DEADLOCK.XM", "hours.xm", "elw-hom2.xm" or "experience.xm", you can easily find them @ the mod archive

[@SyntheToonz]

+The 8-Bit Guy The Atari 8-bit computers have four voices, with a variety of waveforms, ability to link channels for 16-bit sound, filters, variable clocks. The voices also have a volume-only mode to play digital samples (which requires CPU time.) Its pretty easy to see how Jay Miner evolved that into the 4 voices of DMA-driven sample playback on the Amiga.

[@vwestlife]

Ken Jennings And considering that the Atari 8-bit computer platform was introduced in 1978 and yet was seen as very competitive with the C64 from 1982, it was way ahead of its time.

[@LockeNarshe]

I just want to stop and say that I usually skim these kinds of videos because the hosts presenting them tend to ramble off-topic or tries so hard to make it entertaining that it derives from the video - but this has had me glued to the screen. I came with the intention of watching 1 video and watched upwards of 8 in a row. Fantastic presentation, fun information and extremely digestible; definitely earned a sub from me.

[@SjoerdTheDev]

How about MIDI files aren't these old?

[@The8BitGuy]

+sjoerd dal Not really.. MIDI files are still in use today and they really don't have much to do with the way sound is produced. They just contain the information of what keys are pressed, how hard, etc. But it is up to whatever synthesizer it is played on to determine how the sound is made.

[@SjoerdTheDev]

+The 8-Bit Guy I did not know that. I tought MIDI files where the same because my old keyboard can play them too.

[@GTXDash]

+The 8-Bit Guy I was gonna suggest that you do a video on something like: Whats the difference between Gravis Ultrasound, Soundblaster, Roland LAPC-I/MT-32 and GS Wavetable methods of making music. But then I realised you renamed your channel to The 8-Bit Guy, so...are you only able to do 8-bit related stuff only?

[@8BitKeys]

+Dash My content will not change from what it has been the last 3 years. I just wanted a name that didn't focus on iBooks since that is not something I will feature very often any more. You can only make so many videos about iBooks until you run out of content. I certainly won't be restricting my content to 8-bit stuff.

[@GTXDash]

8-Bit Keys Awesome :)

[@aprev039]

One of the most recognizable uses of the 5th voice PCM for the NES is Bloody Tears from Simon’s Quest. That bass line is 🔥

[@ZacharySalman]

Yamaha's synthesis was so beautiful. I'm a huge fan of the DX7 synthesizer, which can reproduce any sound from those games (most famously the early Sonic games). The actual keyboard is very expensive but there's a free open-source VST version called Dexed that is fantastic.

[@Highrollinhunter]

Same here True Blue by Madonna sounds like it can be in a sonic game on the genesis because the DX7 is just a genesis with keys.

[@anthonyspecf]

@7:15...Amazingly enough, a new game coming out called Ion Fury (previously Ion Maiden) has an amazing Mod Tracker soundtrack. The game is built on a new version of the old Build Engine game engine (used for Duke3D, Shadow Warrior, etc...). It really fits well with the game's style.

[@AlexCBrandon]

You've made the video that's been in my head since 1987. And you're in Texas. I owe you lunch.

[@LTCloud9]

Man, I really enjoy no frills, professional feeling videos like this. Educational and interesting.

[@missingno4191]

How did you guys record the different voices on the game M.U.L.E? Or the different voices on other games. Could his be done using ROMs?

[@The8BitGuy]

+Joe Garza I used an emulator to play the music and thus I could turn on and off specific voices in the emulated sound chip. Then I had to play the song multiple times to get each voice. Then I had to use a different program to get the oscilloscope video, and combine it all together.

[@missingno4191]

Thank you. I checked the current NES emulator I have and it does let me turn off different voices. This will help a lot for sampling so thank you very much. This was extremely helpful!

[@The8BitGuy]

+Joe Garza I also find it useful when I'm trying to learn how to play the music to retro games on a keyboard. If I turn off all of the voices but one, it makes it easier to hear the notes being played by that voice.

[@Exypnos]

+The 8-Bit Guy Sounds time consuming. Bad glad you did it anyways, as I've definitely learned a thing or two from this video.

[@missingno4191]

I wonder if there is a way to not have to play the game to record sounds. Like jump sounds or other effects without the music overlapping.

[@TheBoxyBear]

6:08 This is my new ringtone

[@SuperBrictson]

Thank you very much for these videos, I just happened to watched "Meet The Little-Known Soundblaster keyboards" n' I liked the fact that watching this video I already heard about Yamaha chip (YM3812 chip) in the Soundblaster video, so the education in this channel is progressive. Even today, Heretic is still my favorite Ad Lib soundtrack, which it was composed by Kevin Schilder. I'm glad to see the mod tracker here 'cause I've always seen videos in youtube about chip tunes in the mod tracker n' never understand them except that they put musical notes in there but with this video, I'm more than familiar with it. You're like the Angry Video Game Nerd but being his department more focused in the quality of videogames with toilet humor and yours in VGM with a more serious tone. You got yourself a subscriber!!!

[@LSpiro]

6:54: “…designed around the Amiga sound shitter.” I swear I keep hearing this.

[@filenotfound__3871]

4:07 R.I.P SID chip

[@kevincruz290]

Sid chip 2: I’m about to save this man’s whole career.

[@vittoman4392]

4:29

[@filenotfound__3871]

@@vittoman4392 ?

[@vittoman4392]

@@filenotfound__3871 It's cool 😀

[@benwemyss9790]

I'd heard old school musicians were pulling apart old C64's just to get their hands on an original SID chip. I loved the audio on my C64:)

[@LexEllis]

I must have watched that part at 5:38 like 20 times, god that sounds SO good.

[@sandhamwich2199]

5:26 I want that picture on my wall.

[@thesparxeffect9734]

This video just made me appreciate game music much more than I already have.

[@PaulHofreiter]

This is great! Super interesting, knew some of the basics but could have listened to these details all day

[@Rolls-Royce]

THX you for the high-quality information that is hard to find anywhere on this channel.

[@tsuki4737]

is this a roast

[@AmigaX]

@@tsuki4737 I think soo

[@alternatecheems8145]

@@AmigaX yes because he just keeps meandering over shit and is really repetitive and uninformative in his other videos

[@AmigaX]

@@alternatecheems8145 roast!

[@alternatecheems8145]

@@AmigaX yes, roast indeed

[@95ZR580]

I've never played mule before, shoot, ive never even heard of it, but I rocked out hard with that music sample

[@VenomStryker]

Try listening to the music from Skate or Die. Was some good tunes in that title!

[@stampedetrail2003]

Nice playing! I had one of those Casio keyboards you had on your wall in subsequent seasons. By the way I was blown away by the Commodore 64 sound playing Ultima IV.

[@aboyplays7278]

6:31 such a catchy tune it’s so 80s I wonder what game that is

[@dbfuentes]

Blood money published by Psygnosis (Amiga)

[@dusky6176]

Oh It's like sunset riders

[@lianrobintribunal484]

@@dusky6176 what

[@DQ-qs9tg]

北米版NESと違い、日本のファミコンは拡張性からディスクシステムで音源を増やし、ROMカートリッジにFM音源を無理やり搭載したりしてたんですが、一度聞いてみて欲しいものです。

[@VolumetricTerrain-hz7ci]

More information about Vovol: When the sound has high volume voltage, the speaker membrane is stretched like a guitar string, so that the sound becomes more sharper, realistic and noise-free. This can be achieved by using an equalizer with a preamp. First, all frequencies are lowered, to, for example, -12 decibels. Then you raise it up to +12 decibels, with a preamp. This is how I usually experiment, with vovol, because currently there are no tools, or apps, to do this. If you, or any of you reading this, have an equalizer with a preamp, I think you should try it too. And thank you all for reading! :-) Again, great video!

[@stevethepocket]

Hey, I just remembered to ask this... how did eight-bit computers do speech synthesis like the famous "Stay a while... stay FOREVER!" in _Impossible Mission_ or SAM on the Apple II GS? Was it just a matter of someone figuring out a combination of square, sawtooth, and "noise" frequencies that sounds close to speech when they're played in the right order?

[@DoritoMcDew]

Pocket Fluff Productions might of been DCPM.

[@punchingplayerpenguin3291]

Pocket Fluff Productions using an online 8 bit music maker, i synthesized a laugh and some dialogue out of the nes style.

[@da5idnz]

I typed in a little program for the Commodore=64 once that allowed you to put an audio tape into the Datasette and "record' the sample. Basically what it did was just record a sample based on changes in volume. When the computer played back the sampled file it just turned the volume on and off.

[@handwriting8804]

it was just the computer processing a pre-recorded sound .

[@joeygonzalez883]

VitinhoCarneiro Rate It Can Play For PC speaker and C64 And Nes 11khz 8khz 7khz 22khz 33khz 44khz Sounds Silmar?

[@forfluf]

I wish I could understand in detail how my Commode 64 was able to synthesize voice and even text to speech with 3 channels and 4 types of waveforms. It amazes me to this day.

[@bytesabre]

Technically it didn't use the voices to do that. Programmers managed to get the Commodore 6581 SID chip it used for sound to do a simple form of PCM by exploiting a glitch in it. It doesn't work on later commodore machines that used the later 8580/6582a SID chip as they fixed the glitch.

[@forfluf]

+Zofe Stormcaller I think I know what that glitch was, I think there was a way to get a positive constant voltage to the audio out and it utilized the 256 levels of volume control to shape the wave. I'd need someone to confirm that tho. That alone should be an awesome video. I had my C64 do all kinds amazing things. First time I heard "Pump up the volume" was sampled for a C64. I heard a crazy tune called "Pif Pof a Gorbachev" and of course the SAM programs.

[@bytesabre]

+forfluf I can't remember exactly how off the top of my head (I'm at work right now), but I just remember it was something utterly brilliant.

[@ericclark9770]

+forfluf From the WikiPedia article on the SID chip: "Due to imperfect manufacturing technologies of the time and poor separation between the analog and digital parts of the chip, the 6581's output (before the amplifier stage) was always slightly biased from the zero level. By adjusting the amplifier's gain through the main 4-bit volume register, this bias could be modulated as PCM, resulting in a "virtual" fourth channel allowing 4-bit digital sample playback. The glitch was known and used from an early point on, first by Electronic Speech Systems to produce sampled speech in games such as Impossible Mission (1983, Epyx) and Ghostbusters (1984, Activision)."

[@forfluf]

Eric Clark I remember the 4 bit volume control. It sounded pretty good for 4 bit. Thanks for the info.

[@briancherry8088]

I geeked out when I saw the Casio sampling keyboard. It was one of my favorite Christmas gifts ever!!

[@Jigsaw2383]

NOW THIS is an amazing gaming channel

[@PaschanTOPs]

More like technology than gaming channel

[@lordevyl8317]

@@PaschanTOPs Yeah, this is more of a general computer tech channel, not a gaming channel. Unless you're counting David's own games, this channel is more hardware based than software base TBH

[@Danger-ff6rk]

3:39 my fave part omg

[@corkbulb2895]

Great job recreating the Ultima 6 intro theme on a keyboard! My best friend from high school recreated the Final Fantasy 6 (Final Fantasy III in USA) Overworld Theme using just an Electronic Keyboard in his music class. It took a whole night but he did it and played the MP3 record file and got an A+ in his music class! It is just AMAZING how music has evolved in game consoles over the years and how Certain music can be recreated using other music chips in other devices! Great video! Keep it up!

[@Bry10022]

I wonder what happens if the yanny/laurel sound was played on a synthesizer keyboard, what would it sound like?

[@rlevitta]

I like how you frequently use my favorite NES game - Super Mario 2 - as an example. Yes, I know it's a rework of Doki Doki Panic. I don't care. It's still my favorite.

[@jimfowler5930]

Just "discovered" 8-bit Bach, Mozart, et al, on KZbin. As a classical Cellist, I love the sounds produced in 8-bit!! Great video to you both, and thank you for the education (I sorely lacked!).

[@andree1991]

Can you play more ultima 6 music on that keyboard? That was SICK

[@bobbobson4069]

Brilliant video! So professionally produced! You don't have to be nerd to find this interesting!

[@goeuldi]

So basically, computer music 30 years ago was more complex than today's? I mean, if you think about it, a .mp3 file is just one big sample. w00t!

[@SpeedySPCFan]

@Walther Penne Professional artists have never really used MIDI files for their music in the same way consumers did - just like today, the files they used were *highly* customized and practically useless if you didn't have the exact same setup they did. Being pre-recorded doesn't really mean much either unless you're listening to the source file yourself, because the music has to be recorded at some point in order to be in a format that's actually shareable. It was like that even in the era of MIDI being used in a professional setting, the only time where raw MIDI files were actually shareable was during the time when standardized MIDI formats became a big thing (General MIDI, Roland GS, Yamaha XG) and amateur musicians were sharing their tunes on the net. Modern music production actually offers even more potential for varied instruments and sounds given that you can load a whole crap ton of VSTs and get tons of synthesizers right at your fingertips for cheap, it's just that certain sounds and genres sell so they always stick to those; if you want variety then you have to look deep outside of the pop scene. Though, many of the popular MIDI centric synths of the time have fallen out of favor so I don't think you'll see a lot of artists who use a Roland JV-1080 on a regular basis. I'm the only person off the top of my head who's still creating music with old 90s Roland and Yamaha MIDI synths...

[@leoleonvids]

The MP3 compression format is pretty complicated, though... WAV would be a better comparision.

[@scottiebones]

@Walther Penne it's not lame nor lazy, it's using modern techniques that are simply more effective, it's less time/resource consuming and bottom line is working smarter not harder.

[@lainwired3946]

@@scottiebones I mean, it's MP3... it is LAME 😅 but not bad!

[@MucchoSP]

なんと！ 裏ではこんなことが行われていたのですね！

[@Johnny2Feathers]

Yup