Pizza Tower ~ Pizza Deluxe (YM2151 + PCM Arrangement)

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An arcade-styled cover of Pizza Deluxe, the menu theme of Pizza Tower.
A few notes about the arrangement:
I was first made aware of Pizza Tower through John Tay's cover of "It's Pizza Time!" a few years ago. I listened to pieces from the rest of the soundtrack, was moderately impressed, and made a mental note to check it out whenever it released. Fast forward nearly three years last month when the full game released, and I am having a blast! It has a distinctively, unapologetically messy and exaggerated art style that is so much fun, fast-paced and satisfying gameplay challenges, and (most importantly) plenty of great music. If you enjoy FM music from a childhood of Sonic titles, do yourself a favor and give Pizza Tower a try.
The funky menu music is a fun tune that seemed ideal for the YM2151, what with the extended organ chords and huge amount of samples (I loaded 37 in total!). It was satisfying to tease chords apart by ear and find perfect matching samples. Due to the arcade's lack of the SN76489 chip, I had to record some parts in a YM2612 module and include them as samples in the YM2151 module! You can see these popping up occasionally in the SP 4 channel.
Another fun sample is the cuíca, a Brazilian friction drum I had vaguely heard before in games like Baldi's Basics that use the MS wavetable synth pack bundled with Windows machines. It definitely helps to mentally shift Pizza Tower closer to the early 2000's where its inspirations were released. This one pops up in channels SP 4 and 5.
If you are a fan of covers like this, feel free to check out my previous works! I like a variety of games, so there is a decent selection.
If you have any suggestions or tips about the composition please let me know, I'm looking to improve!
.wav: drive.google.c...
.vgm: drive.google.c...
.dmf: drive.google.c...
Vocal SFX used: drive.google.c...

[@POSTELVIS]

Excellent work! I'm loving the bass sounds!!

[@FickleFilms]

Thanks so much, that means a lot! And thank you for making such a fun song to cover! Bass (especially FM bass) is one of my favorite instruments to work with!

[@mikespaghetti]

no way! it’s really him!!!

[@Rex_The_Mouse]

I can totally picture this sitting in a pizza hut arcade

[@mechasonicshiny]

I want to see that

[@BrianFan7650]

​@@mechasonicshiny same!

[@madhatter8508]

My pizza hut always had Neo Geo cabinets

[@deatsbybre7162]

This game should be an arcade cabinet in every pizza place

[@solarflare9078]

Toejam and Earl FM bass - v -

[@jimbobsclayworld2439]

Was about to say the exact same thing!

[@lilwyvern4]

Oh man, nothing beats the sweet beats of an old 90s Yamaha synth. Awesome remix.

[@KlazGuy]

Pizza-Pizza Time! *WWAAHOOOO!*

[@itzjwhite6228]

Woof woof

[@reyhanpanci]

damn this is great!

[@LightDeveloperRU]

Very accurate!

[@FickleFilms]

Thanks! I strive to include as much of the source material as the hardware and my abilities can handle!

[@LightDeveloperRU]

​@@FickleFilms You did it very well, man! I wish you huge luck! Please continue making Pizza Tower's covers :))

[@Giacashi]

It's wonderful!

[@danpinthethecond]

pizza

[@FickleFilms]

🍕

[@mechasonicshiny]

Azzip

[@BrianFan7650]

pizza

[@blueelectric05]

Pizza

[@AltKaxREAL]

Pi-Pizza

[@santinoxd5586]

Pizza tower for the sega saturn

[@MediaRavenEditor2024]

R&B song.

[@monke283]

0:01 - 0:04 Darkness

[@vectormanthedestroyer32x]

Imma make a pizza tower arcade cabinet (with permission of the owner of course)

[@Butterscotch_96]

You can make one for yourself as long as you don’t sell it

[@SOJITZL]

WA HOO

[@sanicsanic6890]

OH MY GOD THAT BASS SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE THE BASS FROM SONIC 1/2

[@solarflare9078]

It’s actually from Toejam and Earl. Not everything FM has to be Sonic

[@sanicsanic6890]

@@solarflare9078 i know but I haven’t played T&E and as I’m a sonic fan that’s the first thing that came to mind

[@MohammadAlliHasan]

Toejam and Earl bass and Sonic 1/2 bass are slightly similar

[@AmpedGaming404]

Pie

[@andzejjakosci7182]

From where did you get the voice samples?

[@FickleFilms]

I used a free AI vocal isolating site called AudioStrip, and just fed in the original song. I experimented with adjusting the EQ afterwards in Audacity but ultimately ended up going with the direct output.

[@andzejjakosci7182]

@@FickleFilms Very cool, can you make please a version with Jazz Jackrabbit soundfont? I wonder how it would sound.

[@FickleFilms]

As much as I agree that would sound great, the two instrument file types aren't directly compatible so the process would be different than a simple swap of the instruments. Using the JJ soundfont would require finding or creating a MIDI sequence for Pizza Deluxe and applying the soundfont over that, something I haven't done before and don't really plan to do since I feel it reduces my role to an assembler rather than a creator. With my skill set the best I could do is try to make FM-compatible instruments that approximate Jazz Jackrabbit's, but to a discerning ear it wouldn't be the same. I've got a bit of Jazz Jackrabbit related content on my channel and a partially completed module of Stonar collecting dust on my hard drive, but I don't have any plans to be working with soundfonts right now.

[@andzejjakosci7182]

@@FickleFilms Well, It's a pity that deflemask can't export midi, because I want to try to create a version with this soundfont in OpenMPT myself :/

[@FickleFilms]

So long as you're okay crediting the work of another, there is an "Applemunch Studios" who has uploaded a midi file of the song.

[@sanicsanic6890]

I THOUGHT that bass sounded familiar…

[@blue_bass7889]

could you upload the vocal sfx used in the song?

[@FickleFilms]

Sure thing, I've added another link in the description. I don't have the original sources, so the samples aren't completely isolated but they were the best I could manage.

[@blue_bass7889]

@@FickleFilms aw thank you some much man!

[@jimsmarma2890]

The file doesn't work for me.

[@FickleFilms]

Could you clarify which file is causing problems and what the problem is?

[@jimsmarma2890]

@@FickleFilms .vgm and .dmf it says it broke

[@BrianFan7650]

pizza

[@citrusreality64]

Didnt expect you here lo

[@Levi_The_One_The_Only]

pizza

[@FickleFilms]

🍕

[@danpinthethecond]

pizza

[@mechasonicshiny]

Pi-pizza

[@BrianFan7650]

pi-pi-pizza

[@mightywaranvil2912]

peet-peetzer