The Unsung Hero of Video Game Music Production

[@SoundFontGuy]

The song at 1:42 is actually The Day of Night - sorry for the mistake there! What topic should I do next?

[@matthewlawton9241]

So, are these sound fonts copyrighted? Like, if I downloaded the MMX sound font, am I allowed to use it to make original music and sell it?

[@matthewlawton9241]

Oh, and for suggestion, if you haven't done it, maybe do a series on famitracker? It would be super cool if you occasionally did videos on how to replicate the soundfonts of old NES games with really iconic music, like Megaman 2. Could be an ongoing series if you enjoy doing it and the fans are into it.

[@SoundFontGuy]

@@matthewlawton9241 That's kind of the million dollar question. There is no official answer, but I can give you some perspective. Toby Fox is the most high profile case. He used soundfonts from Nintendo games, and we all know Nintendo is extremely protective of their IPs. But rather than cease and desist, or sue him, they hired him. The other side is the origin of the samples. Most of those sounds came from 80s synths, romplers, and sample CDs. Technically, they would own the rights to original samples. However, the argument could be made that since these samples are compressed and modified, that they are transformative and the rights belong to the game developer - as a game asset. It's very complicated and nobody really had one correct answer. One thing to consider is that TONS of people have been making music with game soundfonts for 15+ years and the only thing noteworthy that's happened is that one guy got a job with Nintendo as a result.

[@CatFish107]

I just want to thank you for not having this space squatted by some company. If I finish the video without seeing you mention a sponsor, I'll be back for another coment.

[@CatFish107]

Oh hey, looks like you only just started the patteon arc. Still have quality without reselling attention! Keep it up, and please don't feel entitled to cram advertising in your content. Some of us pay extra to not see ads, and video makers throwing it in before upload grinds my gears. Thanks for NOT doing that.

[@Iskalim707]

it's always fun when you explore old sample CDs and recognize samples from 90's games, that also you can hear in soundfonts

[@floor_baba]

I'm the person who made the earthbound soundfont and helped with the og yoshi's island one. (fka sleepytimejesse) cool video : ) I hope there is more widespread interest and support for the file format in the future. the recent wave of sound-alike albums I think are doing a cool thing getting more people interested

[@SoundFontGuy]

What an honor, a hero of the community!

[@Sedyon]

You are my hero, and Toby Fox's hero of course

[@Purplesky-ky5jo]

Great video. Even today with tons of big sample libraries and VSTs, having a soundfont that just works playing single notes without any special settings can be all you need.

[@SoundFontGuy]

They can be so lightweight and accessible, even extremely outdated PC's can handle them.

[@tune_m]

Now the MIDI format itself is also interesting: "Turn on middle C with velocity 100". "Turn on middle E with velocity 80". "Wait 500ms". "Turn off the currently playing middle C". Even though the messages are primitive like that, it has passed the test of time. Combined with ADSR envelopes in synthesizers and some routing, you can create and play (almost) any sound :)

[@SoundFontGuy]

It really has a simple beauty to it, doesn't it?

[@jmp01a24]

Programming MIDI is not for the faint hearted. I have a 400 page manual on how to program and use MIDI. Sure you can have a 'normal' relationship to midi, by just learning the basics but if you really want to know how to become an expert at midi, you can dive deep into that rabbit hole.

[@girhen]

@@jmp01a24 Thank God for Guitar Pro and Power Tab.

[@ribenasquash]

@@jmp01a24 how do you program midi? Are you writing software?

[@jmp01a24]

@@ribenasquash I'm a programmer yes. Got many .pdf books on midi. Several hundred pages long each.

[@SEGAGoldenJuly]

Korg / Roland : the two major companies which brought you 90% of gaming OSTs in the 90s.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Yes indeed. I am a bit of a Roland fanboy specifically because of the use of their romplers in video game music!

[@this.is.shashwat]

Can’t forget about E-Mu

[@ChrisRichmond]

Not just gaming...

[@Levi_The_One_The_Only]

Korg also gave us the banger DS-10/DS-12 synthesizer and M01/M01D "portable music station" for the DS systems which are still amazing to use even today.

[@ropeburn6684]

It's downright criminal not to mention Yamaha in this context.

[@MajinBlueTheFutureMade]

Now THIS is a explanation I like to see! It's lightweight, convenient and *versatile* Thank you for explaining what a soundfont is! I hope you make more of such videos!

[@Uhfgood]

Weren't soundfonts like later? We had tone generators, we had modules which came from the amiga which are basically like a form of sheet music (called tracks, with sections called patterns), we had fm synthesis, and then later wavetable and waveguide, I understood sounds cares with wavetable synthesis actually used recorded samples and they called them sound fonts, to be sort of synonymous with text fonts. Midi goes back to the early 80's before we used "sound fonts" as a thing.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Soundfonts were indeed much later.

[@Kuroze]

I've been using soundfonts throughout my 2 years of making music as a hobby They're fun to play around with, Some soundfonts have some really unique sounds that no VSTs have and it excites me when i found them

[@SoundFontGuy]

They really can be super unique! I've made a few of my own!

[@Neo-Midgar]

This video is excellent, well done. Concise, yet very informative. I'm going to use this as a reference video in the future when people ask me how the soundfont cover process works

[@SoundFontGuy]

Legend! Thanks very much!

[@thepolticalone961]

That's a pop quiz i failed.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Hahaha it's okay man, you showed up. That counts for something.

[@sithlordmikeyp]

I guessed MMX. correct but not the other two

[@snailcheeseyt]

I only guessed mario but just barely 😭

[@simonhilling]

I got none too. 😄

[@gcolombelli]

As someone who never owned a SNES or a PSX, I also failed this one. 😂

[@costelinha1867]

I mean you know Toby Fox knows what soundfonts fit each situation when he uses a KIRBY SOUNDFONT FROR THE OMEGA FLOWEY FINALE FIGHT THEME! Which really fits, because Kirby is a cute looking game that tends to escalate into full eldritch horror fights towards the end.

[@midi_feline]

Even on a video like this, there's still gonna be silly comments. No, he did not use "a Kirby soundfont" in that song, or in the whole soundtrack at all

[@iwontbeforgotten]

@@midi_feline also "a kirby soundfont" there are 39 mainline kirby games

[@RealityRogue]

'I love spreading misinformation online 🤭'

[@mathiasderidder3441]

Wrong, he used Sytrus, 3xosc, Harmless, Matt Montag’s NES VST, Magical8bitplug, The Amen Break, THfont and SGM soundfont on "Your Best Nightmare"

[@Cubicflow]

"Kirby is a cute looking game that tends to es-" WE KNOW

[@blast_processing6577]

.psf (and presumably .psf2, although I haven't actually looked into it) _isn't_ the PlayStation's music format, it's a container format used by the emulation community to ease stand-alone playback. The PlayStation used .seq files -- which were distinct from the N64's .seq files -- and .vag files, for notation and samples respectively. Multiple .seq files could be packaged in a .sep file and multiple .vag files could be packaged in either a .vh or .vb file as well. And while the N64's .seq format was basically the same as MIDI, the PlayStation's .seq format contains a few additions, including settings for an instrument's (ADSR) envelope.

[@SoundFontGuy]

You're absolutely right, and the reason that I chose to feature those formats as opposed to the format within the systems themselves is because I wanted the video to be approachable. Essentially, I figured that enthusiasts would be more familiar with these formats, and newcomers would be able to search for them and access them easily. I would like to dive deeper into the topic of those formats though!

[@ghstnte]

lmao, .vag files…

[@alfredoespere2582]

4:00 Zophar's Domain. man that nostalgia hit...

[@DJPastaYaY]

Really good video on soundfonts!

[@Sedyon]

You're stalking me, I swear

[@ireallydidntwanttomakeanac575]

Fantastic video, you've done wonderfully with the editing! I will say, I only got one out of the three. That piano on the first soundfont, you know exactly where it comes from, no matter what track.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Haha the pop quiz was a little tricky I admit. Thanks so much for the kind words, I really appreciate it!

[@m128jg]

I easily recognized MMX; I played that game so much that I dreamt about it. I thought SMW was Sonic 3, and FFVII sounded like SMW2: Yoshi's Island. I didn't know Undertale used soundfonts and have yet to play it. What I really want to know is how to make dynamic, real-time music in Godot with soundfonts.

[@SoundFontGuy]

I would love to see that. I'm just learning Godot myself so if you figure that out, let me know!

[@ToffeeBun]

Really good video, and thanks so much for the shoutout! :D

[@SoundFontGuy]

Hey thanks so much!

[@els1f]

3:14 that well made me laugh too hard lol

[@Matthewsavant]

Oh man this brings me back. When I first started getting into making music around 2002 I started in Fruity loops and used to collect soundfonts like crazy. 20 years later and I'm in Ableton and make my own sample libraries. But sound fonts were such a fun way to have a lot of samples laid out across the keyboard especially before I really knew what I was doing in terms of sound design

[@KennyVert]

One of the best KZbin videos I’ve seen in a while. You’re really good at this! Very informative. Thank you!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Lu9_ST]

It has been said by the composers that a few music from the original LEGO Island game had been made with soundfonts - likely *THE* soundfont sf2 format, too. So that's pretty cool and one very early example of it!

[@SoundFontGuy]

I didn't know that, that's awesome! Thanks for sharing!

[@TheManInCommand]

Soundfonts were also big in Fruit Loops aka Fl Studio production. I still have a lot of high quality soundfont files of synths on my hard drive.

[@mmmmmmmmmmm10]

I used fruity loops in late 90s early 2000s around when the name change happened, there were a lot of free soundfonts of decent quality. Kids couldn't afford the expensive sample packs.

[@Old_Man_Jay]

For the pop quiz, I got the Mega Man X one correct! Any real retro gamer could identify Capcoms sound fonts from a mile away! It’s just so very distinct sounding!

[@soaringrosa]

thank you soundfont guy I love your commentary on soundfonts being widely accessible to literally anyone in todays world of music production because I’ve noticed a lot of my favorite artists use soundfonts in their music (Lucy bedroque and twikipedia are great artist examples, I love the way they use soundfonts to create music that is new and uniquely their style but also create a sense of nostalgia in their music through soundfonts)

[@MxchiefMxker]

Yoooo you have the mischief makers soundfont! That one is instant nostalgia for me and so funky haha

[@SoundFontGuy]

Heck yeah, I extracted/compiled it myself! You should make some music with it!

[@hawthornrabbit]

Love the effort in the editing, especially on the "Guess the game" section! This is really useful :)

[@kr1stphr]

this video was very interesting and i love the editing lol keep it up!!!

[@dee7352]

Your channel is rly cool! I enjoyed the earlier videos, and didn’t expect the entertaining video essay. Keep it up!

[@EdgyNumber1]

I had a Creative Soundblaster Audigy card ages back. Soundfonts were used in the same way a synth would use them, multiple samples at different octaves or even by semitone, looped and all packaged in the sf2 format. A piano soundfont may have numerous samples at different keys to prevent stretching at low tones or squashing at high pitch for example.

[@AppaBoy]

I appreciate the section at 4:35, I see people refer to every sound in games as a soundfont when old games didn’t use soundfont format

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thank you. Yeah it's important to make the distinction. I didn't clarify nearly as much as I would have liked to, but I am glad to be able to offer some perspective. Thanks for the comment!

[@jlewwis1995]

It's particularly obnoxious when people say it when talking about genesis or nes games, those consoles didn't even use soundfonts, the sounds are synthesized in real time (unless your playing a sample back on the sample channel which is very rare...)

[@SoundFontGuy]

@@jlewwis1995 I'm with you on that one, drives me nuts. I'd love to do a video diving further into the topic to clear that up. What do you think?

[@tune_m]

I believe this phenomenon is called 'genericization' of the soundfont name

[@j_c_93]

This is one of my biggest pet peeves

[@RetroRanter]

Just popping in to watch the few minutes I missed during the live..man, your editing, presentation and way of bringing information is so SO well done! Keep it up. 😂💜

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thank you bro! I appreciate it!

[@RetroGamingMusicCom]

Thanks for a great video! Makes me wanna dive into soundfonts more!

[@WyattW_]

0:06 SFG GOT SIIVAGUNNER’D LOL

[@tigranendinyan5166]

omg why only 80 views? what a great video i didnt know anything about soundfonts but now im inspired to get into that ! thx !

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thanks for watching!

[@bLiNdEDM]

Awesome vid! I actually played with some soundfonts from Chrono Trigger and wrote a few tunes. Now I use the plogue plugin and just open SPCs directly

[@SoundFontGuy]

Chipsynth SFC? That is by far the BEST plugin for SNES music. No contest.

[@bLiNdEDM]

@@SoundFontGuy its truly amazing!! BTW I Just got recommended your vids by youtube and I'm hooked. Will be supporting going forward! Great stuff

[@SoundFontGuy]

@@bLiNdEDM thanks very much!! Glad to have you here!

[@Thatkidwithacamera00]

Man, if this doesn’t earn a sub on top of your soundfont works, idk what will. This was awesome!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thank you! 😊

[@nickpater]

Incredible vid, so glad the algorithm suggested it! Will def be sticking around to explore your channel

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thanks for watching! I hope to exceed expectations

[@falchionofeternity433]

Just the channel I needed! I've currently been doing music remixes with different video game soundfonts.

[@ApCommunityRock]

that was nice thx man !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@SoundFontGuy]

You're very welcome!

[@inzyster]

Blows my mind zophar’s domain is still around. I first bumped into it in the late 90s when I was dabbling in making MIDI music myself. I used Anvil Studio and Guitar Pro and some Yamaha software synthesizer I can’t remember the name of. Good times.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Oh Lord it takes me back

[@Zylenxx]

The most beautiful part of soundfonts and midi is that both can be indefinetly detailed if you want to ignore midi and soundfont file sizes. From my personal dabbling i can definetly say that when you push the boundaries of midi (albeit this meaning you have to use nonstandard software to play such midis), you can rival things the AMIGA 500 could do, in terms of quality. Sure, you have predefined instrument types. But noone said soundfonts are meant to be played only in one way :^)

[@thepotatocannon]

Man i love Roland SC-88 and Roland SC-55 Gotta be my favorite genders

[@SoundFontGuy]

Don't forget JV-1080!

[@thepotatocannon]

@@SoundFontGuy tried getting my hands on it. Couldn't :( (yet >:))

[@SoundFontGuy]

@@thepotatocannon The plugin is $130 USD which is kinda steep!

[@smart_bar]

perfect video perfect explanation

[@8083music]

The Chrono trigger sound font is my absolute favorite, it’s so nostalgic for me

[@starerik]

I’m glad you clarified that real games don’t use the actual format soundfont, but the formats you mentioned are not correct either. SPC, PSF etc custom fan-made formats to easily play the music on a PC. Should’ve probably just said that the games use their own equivalents to the MIDI and soundfont structure and left it at that to avoid further confusion.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Hey thanks for your comment, I've responded to similar comments already so I am going to give you an abridged response: I totally understand how I could have caused some confusion there. My aim was to show formats that the layman/game music fan may have familiarity with, to keep the topic approachable for those who aren't deep into this stuff. I plan to clarify and course correct in the next video.

[@joechristo2]

⁠@@SoundFontGuyYou should make it a direct sequel or link it in this video. You wouldn’t want to mislead anyone who doesn’t watch the next one

[@VoidySan]

All I want, is the soundfont for Kings Field IV, man. Like. That's on my hierarchy of needs.

[@SoundFontGuy]

I mean hey, hop on Patreon and I can probably make that happen for you, just sayin 😏

[@VoidySan]

@@SoundFontGuy that's so pookie of you 👹👹👹👹👹😍😍😍😍😍♨️😢👻👹☠️🙂👍🤤🦝🤤🙂🥴👻🔥🐺😘

[@DigiSpaceProductions]

Good video explaining how Soundfonts are/what they do.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thank you. I didn't do a whole deep dive because I wanted it to be approachable. Hopefully it's informative enough for semi-newcomers to the topic.

[@on4word]

Nice explainer

[@tssf]

Is it sad i aced the soundfont quiz? I was thinking of making a video about what's NOT a soundfont. No, sega genesys soundtracks are not a soundfont. I just wrote that before you made the same point in theb video lol Great vid!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thanks! And no it's not sad, be proud! I would love to see that video, I fully support.

[@stgigamovement]

I'm actually responsible for quite a few SF2s out there.

[@SoundFontGuy]

I wondered if this video would reach you!

[@user-AADZ]

What happens later in the based example video chosen at 0:06 will surprise you, I'll say that.

[@olivia7782]

Man I really gotta learn more about digital music production

[@OttoHours]

duuude, i was just recently tryna get myself knowledgeable with the whole thing of "soundfonts" and all that crazy stuff...I'm glad i found this. this was a super good video bro, entertaining and engaging all the way through 🙏 also that pop quiz absolutely beat my ass 💀

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@amesstarline5482]

Sometimes it seems like even general musicians have their own "soundfonts". Like a style or choice of instruments. Which makes me appreciate games more.

[@Sampleraudioevolution]

How to remove the tremolo from the modulation and add volume to the instrument instead of the tremolo

[@henner645]

I hate it when kids these day say "Midi" for sequenzed music...

[@Louis_Miles]

1:59 Do you know the origin of this ambient pad sound? It sounds almost exactly like what was used in Donald Duck Goin Quackers PC version. I'm working on a repair patch for its N64 port, which fixes the music, which was supposed to be a remixed midi arrangement, but contains a corrupted soundbank and messed up midis due to a faulty conversion at the time. Among other things I had to readjust the sample rate of the samples and among them is this ambient pad sound, which seems to have a very specific sample rate. I would be very interested to know exactly what sample rate it has, because my repaired one is only a estimate. Epic video btw!!

[@AdrianDX]

I’ve been a Silva fan for years and I technically failed all of the quiz😂🙈 I’ll give myself half a point for guessing Mario All-Stars on the first one😅

[@SoundFontGuy]

That counts!

[@user-AADZ]

SiIvaGunner mentioned 🗽🔥🔥🔥

[@DaneCotar]

my fondest memories are of Sound Blaster AWE32, which was my first sampler an used custom sound fonts to do it. It also had OPL FM chip, which could be used at the same time from Cakewalk sequencer.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Ahhh it brings me back.

[@futureperfect_wales]

This is exactly how I started in making music. AWE32 with Calewalk

[@SoshuTheGnome]

1:14 toffeebun mentioned!!!!! (great video!!)

[@SoundFontGuy]

💕

[@jorgedejesustejedavaldez5283]

Nice Video! Love it. Do more!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thanks! Will do!

[@memoryterminator]

Aced that pop quiz 😎

[@crtrdg]

Great video 👌🏼😁

[@jbponzi1]

Well presented

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thanks very much 🙏

[@Meteotrance]

Technicly it's a sampler file format made by E-MU for the creative labs soundcard in the mid 90's it made possible to have custom waveform and wavetable for playing MIDI file it was store on the ram memory of the soundblaster live for example, but was not so widely use for console or PC game because they already have module file like XM or IT or other made by Scream tracker or modplug tracker even Epic games have there own module file for music and you dont need a dedicated sound card synth module to use it, the sound card just need to play regular wave or MP3 file to play the module, it was also lighter in size it compresse the midi data and the custom sample in the same file, for soundfont you need a MIDI file player and a SF2 device software or hardware able to store the sample.

[@davecuzztech]

Have you used Chipsynth SFC, Super Audio Cart, SF6 Library and Magical Box 2.0 ?

[@SoundFontGuy]

Chipsynth SFC is my personal favorite of the bunch. Super Audio Cart is way overpriced in my opinion for sounds that anyone can make very easily. The reason soundfonts are still so popular is because you can get close to that retro sound without having to break the bank. I'm not familiar with Magical Box 2.0. SF6 Library is cool, but again, you can get those sounds for free. What sets Chipsynth SFC apart from all these others is that it actually emulates the sound chip of the SNES. So any samples you load into it are played back with that same unique texture that the S-SMP had. (That might also be true of Super Audio Cart, but why pay the price to find out?) It can even play .SPC files right in the app/plugin. Heck, if you wanted to, you could just dump the samples from your favorite soundfonts, load them into Chipsynth, and you'd have a beautiful SNES musical instrument library on your hands. Chipsynth is the superior product in my humble opinion.

[@davecuzztech]

@@SoundFontGuy and you are right! i bought them all, but i just use Super Audio Cart for drums, but great drums can even made easy with chipsynth! i was just too noob haha i wasted my money

[@NukeOTron]

You've explained sequenced music pretty succinctly. I guess I could ask about the copyright elephant in the room, but I won't. Now, the real trick is getting Game Maker to use sequenced music (without recording it as .ogg or MP3s) again. Before Studio, it supported standard Midis. I'm pretty sure somebody's got a plugin for that sort of thing somewhere, much less making it capable of using sound fonts.

[@SoundFontGuy]

The copyright rabbit hole goes downward infinitely on this topic. That could be its own video!

[@girhen]

Not gonna lie, was thinking the Soundfonts pop quiz was: 1. Wave Race 2. Yoshi's Story 3. F-Zero. Admittedly, any particular soundfont could be re-used in part or whole on various games, or even just sound damn similar. No different than how many bands have similar guitar tones within the same (or even different) genres. Still, it is a little crazy that I screwed up what console some of those were from - the SNES's soundchip was absolutely stellar in its day, whereas the N64 just went through the processor with room for better results, but I'm guessing less help in making good results easy.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Yeah definitely don't beat yourself up, I think the application of the soundfonts could have been better on my part. Next time around, I'll use them more strategically.

[@girhen]

@@SoundFontGuy I'm certainly not. Your usage is fine - just lots of interpretation. There are bound to be people who got it.

[@tharii314]

RIP musical artifacts. I found it was not responding the last time I tried to update my soundfont on there some weeks ago.

[@SoundFontGuy]

It's really hit or miss. Some days it's up and connection is fast, other days it's just totally absent from the internet.

[@user-wv5gv3dw5u]

DAMN What a great video.

[@SoundFontGuy]

What a great comment!

[@Anamonator]

I use soundfonts from other games in my music to give it that distinctive feel

[@chestertonic]

I always considered midi and soundfonts as a pc based thing. Stemming from the Soundblaster and other early sound cards. Those formats you mentioned are not native formats for those systems (even though there are programs that allow you to play those files on those systems).

[@SoundFontGuy]

Yeah, you're absolutely right. To clarify, I wanted this to be as approachable as possible because the nature of sequenced music and soundbanks across various platforms is quite the rabbit hole. I mentioned those formats because they are the most likely to be recognized by enthusiasts who aren't necessarily "savvy" so to speak. In a future video, I intend to dive a bit deeper and offer some clearer context and detail on the subject. MIDI and soundfonts are absolutely a PC based thing, you're right on the money with that too. I touched on that a bit in the video - that is - people generally use those terms to refer to all sequenced music and sound libraries. They've sort of become catch-all terms. Great comment, thanks for watching!

[@chestertonic]

@@SoundFontGuy Yea, I get where you're coming from. I remember being confused by it all back in the day when first getting into emulation and VGM. Would love to see a video going into further detail.

[@wahyagabriel6167]

Interesting, I think in modern production Soundfonts (minus the specific formatting) are what we call One-Shots

[@SoundFontGuy]

Generally speaking, yeah I think you're right. Some soundfonts are more than one sample, kind of like a Kontaky Library but extremely scaled down.

[@wahyagabriel6167]

@@SoundFontGuy Ahhh, that brings some clarity and makes a lot of sense. Compressed, maybe lower BitDepth, Sample Rate (Mono?) making a really Size optimized Virtual Instrument. Thank you for the Video and your response

[@wahyagabriel6167]

@@SoundFontGuy After watching more rando Vids, it seems SoundFonts are pretty Similar to PCM Synthesis/Samples, with the packaging like a Rompler (rather than my mention of One-Shots)

[@SoundFontGuy]

@@wahyagabriel6167 Yeah, that's accurate. Though in the case of soundfonts ripped from video games, it often tends to mimic very basic wavetable synthesis (though it is capable of much more). So your mention of one-shots is technically right in such cases!

[@TachyBunker]

Not even a mention of SilvaGunner?

[@SoundFontGuy]

They had a little moment near the beginning! It's not a deep dive, just an introduction to the concept!

[@TachyBunker]

@@SoundFontGuy :) just messin' dw I love making soundfonts music. Btw i also do "hq sourcing remakes" where i go try to find the sounds of a game (like on Nintendo DS, Metroid Prime Hunters/First Hunt) and make love to my DAW and some remake comes out without the undersampling.

[@SoundFontGuy]

@@TachyBunker that's cool, I'm on my way to your channel right now

[@TachyBunker]

@@SoundFontGuy :D look for the Tachy Remakes playlist, theres a lot of videos to see thru otherwise lol

[@Michirin9801]

I dabbled with soundfonts a bit, but in the end I graviated more to making my own sounds with emulated synth-based soundchips (mainly GB/C and PC Engine) in trackers, something about having full control over the individual sound channels, and what waveforms come out of them just sat right with me. Unfortunately, because super-specific tracker formats aren't really supported in any engine, and sampling every sound and re-composing it all into MIDIs sounded like a right PITA to me, that did end up bloating up my games' file-sizes by a lot cuz of the soundtracks alone...

[@SoundFontGuy]

I dabbled in trackers myself, though at the end of the day I still prefer a good ol' DAW

[@TwisterTH]

Blessed by KZbin Recommendation with my favourite topic! C’:

[@PCFROMVCS]

Would you ever make a tutorial on how you extract and create soundfonts from games?

[@SoundFontGuy]

I'm planning on it, but I have to be very careful because I don't want to encourage piracy and get in big troubles 😬

[@AcrosArchive]

Thank you for actually addressing the fact that the term "soundfont" has effectively been genericized to refer to any sample library. It's something that the "they're not actually soundfonts" people overlook I think. Quality overview.

[@SoundFontGuy]

It's my pleasure. It's an important distinction to make. I'm okay with the term being used that way as long as people are informed. Thanks for the kind words!

[@ZILtoid1991]

Also soundfonts themselves are kind of a retro format, as their (original) form originate from the yet to be fully emulated Sound Blaster Awe 32 (it's in an incomplete state in 86Box, not yet in DOSBox). I personally prefer the term soundbank or voicebank, especially as my game engine supports a 'roided up FM synth for music and sounds in conjunction with a sample based synthesizer. I really need to finish its own tools, since it has its own custom solutions for many things (e.g. has a custom "MIDI" format that can do scripting, thus adaptive soundtracks).

[@SoundFontGuy]

That's a great point. There's a creator online called St. Giga who is super knowledgeable about that stuff. Yeah soundbank and voicebank are both great terms. They're universal and not technically tied to anything. I'd love to learn more about your game engine, it sounds fascinating!

[@xXBlueSheepXx]

I can easily recognize the SMW soundfont because of all the rom hacks I've played.

[@imothy]

i remember zophar's domain and downloadin NSF files and playing them in winamp maybe in 1998 or something, good times!

[@SoundFontGuy]

They're still there!

[@Goodwrencher29]

i almost got the first one confused for Super Mario All-Stars

[@SoundFontGuy]

Nobody could possibly blame you for that!

[@RogueBeatsARG]

Wasnt Silent Hill ost made out of Sample CDs? like Distorted Reality and stuff like that?

[@SoundFontGuy]

Yes!

[@wulfman15]

I always laugh a little when I see a video "in the doom soundfont"

[@SoundFontGuy]

Hahahah that's one of my favorite things

[@RinkuSonic41]

4:18 DO YOU HAVE A PROFESSOR LAYTON SOUNDFONT?!

[@SoundFontGuy]

👀

[@VEN0VA]

The Final Fantasy XII soundfont and midis are amazing. FFX and Silent Hill are also great.

[@SoundFontGuy]

The FFXII soundfont is just mindblowing. I know it's PS2 so it makes sense they'd have the bandwidth for it, but it's crazy just how good it is.

[@LidvaKunner]

Thanks Siivagunner’s Liked Videos

[@hissaaa]

4:39 what is the name of that videogame??

[@SoundFontGuy]

Mischief Makers! on Nintendo 64! Also called Yuke Yuke Trouble Makers in Japan!

[@hissaaa]

@@SoundFontGuy tahnkyouu

[@jonathanpinto2109]

informative asl

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thanks, I hope you learned something useful!

[@LinktoSonic]

4:44 Where’s that creepy lady from?

[@SoundFontGuy]

Stock footage from pixabay! Isn't she great?

[@mpennino]

Any recommendations on decent places to find soundfonts?

[@SoundFontGuy]

www.polyphone.io/en/soundfonts

[@Sedyon]

Musical Artifacts

[@jlewwis1995]

Will you make a video on how to acrually make a soundtont?

[@SoundFontGuy]

Yes I will

[@TheIsolatedGamerz]

KZbin kept on shoving me this video. ALas I watched, I enjoyed. :) KZbin being very kind

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thank you very much for watching! I hope KZbin's insistence was worth it haha.

[@Zaccyonline]

I got the second one because I had a ps1 ♥️

[@SoundFontGuy]

Nice!

[@pretzel1313]

Where did you find the Twilight Princess soundfont? That's one of my favorites!

[@SoundFontGuy]

I'll let you in on a secret! The whole TP OST uses a synth called the Roland sound canvas. If you can get that, you have a twilight Princess Soundfont in high quality 😂

[@DaftRebel]

I ha dto subscribe, I don't know why, but I felt like it LOL

[@SoundFontGuy]

Thank you!

[@Zictor]

I guessed the Mega Man X one correctly… that soundtrack is excellent! I would actually love to make some. Subbed anyhow, really interesting!

[@SoundFontGuy]

Awesome, thank you!

[@androognoix1685]

SoundFonts are used even today. PVZ is a good example, people make new music out of that soundfonf

[@MilanTehVillain]

I only got 1 of the 3 soundfonts correct. Super Mario World, I thought was Street Fighter of some sort; the drums sounded tonally similar. & Mega Man X, I thought was Mario Kart 64 due to the lead guitar sound.

[@SoundFontGuy]

Haha, yeah it's tricky. Especially since a lot of these games use samples from the same synths

[@MilanTehVillain]

Final Fantasy VII was easy enough to deduce thanks to that distinct chime (whatever instrument that came from).