This is How to Make Retro Game Music | Nintendo 8 Bit Video Game Music Tutorial FL Studio NES VST

[@ScreechHouse]

What was your favorite retro NES game? Let me hear it. 👇 To get the FL Studio Beginner's Guide, click here: 👉 amazon.com/dp/B07D8JM9W9 To get The Ultimate Melody Guide, click here: 👉 amazon.com/dp/B07F889F5Q

[@Osamailyas]

It's amazing how such a small plugin can make it such convenient to convert music to 8-bit sounds

[@horsemensportsnetwork7203]

A bit late here but this helped me immensely. I was having trouble getting the NES plug in to work with other DAWs, then I saw you used FL Studio. It was a bit pricey, but I took the plunge. It has a great workflow. Glad I bought it.

[@ScreechHouse]

Glad it worked. Enjoy being an FL Studio producer!

[@Just_a_Lad]

Your end result is great, I like the Donkey kong part the most.

[@ScreechHouse]

Thanks!

[@RedLyner]

I feel Like a Kid again when I saw those Nintendo gameplays with that Tune! Awesome😍🙌

[@ScreechHouse]

Never lose the kind inside of you.

[@RedLyner]

@@ScreechHouse Thank You for that🙌😁

[@ScreechHouse]

@@RedLyner You're welcome!

[@preludethealbum]

you are a kid. that part of you will always be with you because you were it in the past

[@RandomDude1487]

Okay, but what’s the name of the first background song

[@ScreechHouse]

It doesn't have a name. I made it.

[@ExplorerAUDIO]

Hallo, I have a question. The new Game Prison City has a very cool soundtrack, that reminds me of the NES. But the sounds are sounding very guitarish and rock like. With Chipsounds or Super Audio Card, I was not able to create such sounds. I wonder how to get a guitar like sound out of the nes. I thinks it's impossible without a Saw wave, but some NES games had a guitar feel to it. Maybe you kow how to create them? Thanks for your time. i need this dirty sound, and I'm sure you can get it, with just the possibilities the NES had on board.

[@ScreechHouse]

Hey, the NES VST just tries to emulate the sound of the NES. So I don't know if you can emulate exactly everything from back in the day. However, you can always send the NES VST to the mixer and apply extra effects, such as a distortion. Try selecting a square or triangle wave and distort it quite a bit. That already should make it sound pretty raw.

[@ExplorerAUDIO]

@@ScreechHouse thank you for the answer. I'll try out. But did they have distortion for the NES back in the day? kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWi2iH6qnbyrg7ssi=wiy3z_ULpl18R-gR Here is an example of the Prison City Soundtrack. It's a new game. And I think it's sounding very like the NES, but I'm not capable to generate such sounds in the slightest. At least not when I'm using only NES waveforms. (Pulse and Rectangle) my question is: is it possible to use the given Waveforms to create such sounds with only using capabilities of the NES or does this soundtrack use more modern method or maybe waves from other chips. Because I'm pretty sure that I've heard such Soundtracks Back in the day, but I'm not sure if it was a different console. Because the style and art of the game is very inspired by the NES. For me it is important if the soundtrack is NES authentic. What do you think? Thanks again for your answer.

[@ScreechHouse]

The NES VST is just one tool you can use to recreate Nintendo type music. There are probably many other plugins that have a retro game type feeling to them. I would try a few to see if those work for you. Alternatively, try using a bitcrusher and downsample some of the waveforms. That may create a retro effect as well. Lastly, check out this new FL Studio chiptune video about Flex: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYSwmYmKZtqrpbs Hope that helps.

[@ExplorerAUDIO]

@@ScreechHouse thanks a lot. Have a nice week.

[@ScreechHouse]

Cheers!

[@UniqueStatus27]

Very nice! You explained it so simply! Thank you 😊

[@ScreechHouse]

You're very welcome!

[@InverseOfficial]

Great final result, although the chords would be ”illegal” on the real nes since it can only play two notes at once on a single instrument

[@ScreechHouse]

Thanks! I actually didn't know that.

[@orirori8294]

@@ScreechHouse its beacuse the nintendo nes supported up to 8bit of memory per frame. So music that is actuallt just an integer that indicates soundwave lentgh is 4bits so thats why just kidding i just made that up

[@ScreechHouse]

@@orirori8294 We all dream sometimes. :-)

[@noodletribunal9793]

we play by our own rules >: )

[@noodletribunal9793]

@@ScreechHouse yea! in order to circumvent that, they would use lightning fast arpeggios in place of a solid chord, which ended up creating a unique sound. look up mckids stage 2 for an example of this

[@supercoolhandle1]

i am having trouble writing the chords. it only plays the highest note.

[@ScreechHouse]

When that happens, the first thing to check is the "polyphony" setting on your synthesizer. Make sure it's set to "poly" and not "mono". Mono only allows for 1 voice at a given time. Poly allows for multiple voices at the same time.

[@Dnn324]

O-oh, it's great!!!!

[@chicago_beats]

Cool ill try it out tonight

[@RealAkioKami]

Hey, I don't understand the step of passing the file to the VST Plugins, apparently, because it doesn't appear to me yet, what do I do?

[@ScreechHouse]

Just add or instal the NES file in the VST folder in Windows. FL Studio recognizes this as a plugins folder. After that, scan for new plugins in FL studio. The NES will show up. Then just bookmark/star it, so it will become part of the list of plugins that you can use.

[@mackenroll6914]

Thanks man! Dropped a sub!

[@ScreechHouse]

Welcome onboard!

[@strandedinmotion7268]

Hey man, first of all, I really love your content, especially since you've started doing voiced tutorials your videos have been extremely helpful and fun to go through. But this one feels just a bit too basic and maybe you could have toned down the promotion of your channel a little bit, since it's literally like half the video. I get it that you're trying to reach broader audience and you definitely deserve it since you are basically one of the best people making FL studio tutorials on KZbin. In my opinion, if you want to reach wider audience you could maybe make tutorials on some other genres? But still make them just as detailed and in depth as always. I would honestly love to see you do a tutorial on maybe like Drum and Bass or Dubstep? Those two are still really popular and I think it could draw people in.

[@ScreechHouse]

Thanks for the constructive feedback. Appreciate that. Some videos are more experimental and to reach people on different levels. So, I can definitely imagine that they're not always perfect in line with what you expect from my older ones. I will try to make a mixture of more general topics and more in depth tutorials. So, many people can find something they're looking for. You also give a good suggestion about doing different genres on my channel. I'm definitely thinking about that. However, I'm not a Dubstep or Drum and Bass producer. So, I tend to shy away from topics I'm not as experienced in. I feel I'm not the right man to teach people about that. Unless I want to make a fool out of myself. :-) What I CAN do though is focusing on sticking points and maybe I can help with that. So, feel free to share your biggest sticking point right now. Maybe I can point you in a good direction.

[@strandedinmotion7268]

@@ScreechHouse I see. It's definitely a great idea to expand your repertoire and try out new things and you're definitely right that sometimes simpler tutorials could draw more people in. So yeah, I'm stoked for what's coming next! I myself still prefer the detailed videos where you explain both the technical side of sound design and music production as well as the concepts behind it. As far as different genres are concerned, I personally like basically any subgenre of EDM (in the sense of electronic dance music in general, not just what's usually called EDM aka the bigroom house). So I will definitely be interested even if you make another video on for example psytrance or house. If there's something I still kinda struggle with it's just putting all the parts of the track together to finally make it sound right, especially in the buildups and drops and alongside that I am not very good at mastering. So maybe show what effects you use before a qlimax in a track, what automation you use, how you master the lead layers and the kicks etc. ?

[@ScreechHouse]

@@strandedinmotion7268 Those are all great suggestions. I'll write everything down, but I can't make any promises. When I have something valuable to share, you will definitely see a video coming up here. One thing I'd like to say. Making tracks is the cumulative result of all the little choices we make. So, broad topics, like which automations to use or which effects to use, don't have real answers to them. It boils down to our own creativity and what we prefer to hear. Nonetheless, there's a lot of material you can already watch to see some of my methods. And of course, more coming up in the future.

[@strandedinmotion7268]

@@ScreechHouse I feel you. I really appreciate it when creators actually interact with their audience and respond to comments. :) I understand what you mean and I definitely do improve just by trying out different things and experimenting but my mix often ends up sounding a bit muddy even after all the tweaks. But that's just a thing of practice. As they say practice makes perfect! I certainly haven't seen all of your videos but I definitely went through a fair share of them so I'll be looking forward to new uploads! Keep up the great work! Edit: Grammar XD

[@ScreechHouse]

@@strandedinmotion7268 My pleasure! Though, it will keep getting harder to respond to everyone individually as we grow. Absolutely. It's about practice and experience. Of course, with a conscious intent to understand the underlying principles. Maybe this video will already help you on your way to a less muddy mix. Just follow this link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWOQeJungqtjkLc However, mixing in general is a broad topic and that's why I initially released the Hardstyle Mixing & Mastering course. Maybe I'll update it in the future to make it more suitable for my audience (including speech, better segmentation, etc.). Anyways, thanks for being here and stay tuned for more videos coming soon.

[@kchannel_of]

Hello, I have a question. Which folder should I download the plugin to? My FL studio 20 download on disk D > software. Sorry for bad English

[@ScreechHouse]

Put the plugin in one of the folders FL Studio recognizes. I show the folders in the video.

[@kchannel_of]

​@@ScreechHouseТНАNK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

[@nexustheninja1927]

So I have the free version of FL studio and I put the NES into my Vst folder and when I get into the more plugin thing it wont load? Any fixes? EDIT: I did extract it

[@ScreechHouse]

Maybe because you have a free version of FL Studio. You can check the restrictions of the free FL Studio version to see if it blocks VST plugins.

[@noob-killer]

How do i know where my VST plugin folder is?

[@ScreechHouse]

When you click "Options" > "Manage plugins" in the FL Studio menu, you will get a new window where you can see all the "Plugin search paths". Depending on the type of plugin, the installers may suggest different folders. For example, if you install a 32-bit plugin, the installation folder might be different from a 64-bit plugin. From a historical perspective, I believe this is the traditional path: C:\Program Files (x86)\VstPlugins

[@smileyiop]

where is the folder that you put the nes vst into

[@ScreechHouse]

Choose this location for the 32-bits VST: C:\Program Files (x86)\VstPlugins Choose this location for the 64-bits VST: C:\Program Files\Vstplugins

[@Cheemssmth]

@@ScreechHouse can you help i cant find vst plugins on my file

[@ScreechHouse]

@@Cheemssmth Of course. What do you mean with VST plugins on your file?

[@spamtongspamton2948]

HOW CAN I [Put] THE FILE INTO [FL Studio] CAUSE IM HAVING A [Hard] TIME TRYING TO PUTTING IT IN

[@ScreechHouse]

Here's how to do that exactly: screechhouse.com/install-vst-plugins-fl-studio-install-vst-plugins-fl-studio-add-vst-fl-studio-vst Short story: just copy the NES-VST.dll into this folder in Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\VstPlugins Then open FL Studio, select "Options" in the menu and click on “Manage plugins”. In the new window, click "Find plugins" and when the scan is done, bookmark the NES plugin from the list of effects on the right. All you have to do now is open the NES plugin in your project like you open any other instrument.

[@honeysuckle_00]

how do i o pen the file?? it just keeps saying that its a system file and i have to use an app to open it why cant there just be a website

[@ScreechHouse]

All you have to do is put the NES file into a folder FL Studio automatically recognizes. Just copy the file into this folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\VstPlugins When you've done that, open FL Studio, click "Options" in the menu, and select "Manage plugins". Just perform a quick scan by clicking "Find plugins". The NES VST will then appear in the list. Make sure to select the star in front of the name. This way it shows up when you want to use a plugin on the Channel Rack.

[@InvyVOD]

@@ScreechHouse What do I do if that folder doesn't exist? Do I make that folder myself?

[@ScreechHouse]

I guess you could, or else just drop it in one of the other folders FL Studio automatically recognizes

[@InvyVOD]

@@ScreechHouse It works if you make the new folder, thank you!

[@ScreechHouse]

Good to hear 👍

[@vandeplasromeo6694]

Hello, is it possible to directly upload a piano partition to hear what it would sounds like ? Thanks !

[@ScreechHouse]

I don't understand exactly, what do you mean?

[@vandeplasromeo6694]

@@ScreechHouse sorry I chosed the wrong word because I am french. I want to see for a short movie how would sounds a score in 8 bit, it would be the seventh symphony of Beethoven. Would I have to play it on the software or could I upload the score on it ?

[@ScreechHouse]

No problem. You can use the Piano Roll for any instrument you like and import a score file or midi file. Therefore, you need to have the score or midi file of the melody you wish to use first. If you have a score or midi file, open the Piano Roll in FL Studio, select the Piano Roll options (little triangle in the top left corner), then click "File" and select "Open score..." or "Import MIDI file..." All you have to do is select the file on your hard drive and the score/midi information will be loaded onto the Piano Roll. Hope that helps.

[@vandeplasromeo6694]

@@ScreechHouse It does ! Thanks you a lot !

[@ScreechHouse]

Excellent!

[@keithplay]

I was wondering can you use this plugin on mobile?

[@ScreechHouse]

I don't use mobile. You can just try it

[@deckerdonat8529]

the plugin list won't load, it says it's loading but it never would complete. Any idea of how to fix it?

[@ScreechHouse]

That's a though one. I'm afraid I don't have an answer for that. The problem maybe with FL Studio or Windows. Though, maybe you can experiment with the FL Studio Plugin Manager and deselect all plugin search paths. Then, enable them one by one until the problem occurs. This is just an idea though. You kinda have to be creative like this to find the problem sometimes.

[@deckerdonat8529]

@@ScreechHouse I fixed it, i don't exactly know how I did but it had to do with the plugin manager

[@daydreamteam1366]

hey, love the tutorial, i happen to have a big problem xD i'm at the first step, creating my melody, then you say i should try to add more notes at key points to make a bigger impact, but in fl studio, when i add more key at the same time, it only plays the higher one only, not the lower ones, setting a lower one just a bit longer than a higher note will make the music "snap" to the lower note, but still only one at a time, do you have any idea why this could be happening ? not wanna bother you obviously ^^'

[@ScreechHouse]

Good question! This has most likely to do with the settings on your synthesizer. I don't know which synth you're using, but try to look for the polyphony or monophony settings. Thereby, disable monophony and/or set the polyphony to a higher number. Polyphony dictates the amount of voices (or notes) you can play simultaneously. Keep in mind that the names for these function can vary per synthesizer, like "mono", "poly" or what have you.

[@daydreamteam1366]

@@ScreechHouse thanks for the reply, will look into it

[@d4-yeet688]

@@ScreechHouse I have the same problem. I'm using the synth from this vidoe. But even when I higher the number in the polyphony setting it doesn't change

[@ScreechHouse]

@@d4-yeet688 The NES VST doesn't let you pick a number of voices. You can simply use the setting called "Polyphony" and set it to "Poly" instead of "Mono". That should work. If it really doesn't, you can work around by opening multiple NES VSTs. Each NES VST can then play one of the notes in your chords. Hope that helps.

[@radioleta]

I have a problem with the NES VST, does anyone know to to have it use Windows scaling correctly? It looks so tiny that it's very hard for me to read: :(

[@ScreechHouse]

You can change the scaling in FL Studio. Go to "Options" and then "General settings". Almost at the top of the windows that appears you can select the display scaling. For example, try to change the "Main GUI scaling" to 150%. Just play around with the options.

[@KaffeineIsReal]

how do u get all the note letters, im stuck on C

[@ScreechHouse]

What do you mean?

[@KaffeineIsReal]

@@ScreechHouse when you were using the notes and had A D C, so on so forth I tried to look for a way to make them visible but I could only see C0 C1 C2 C3 etc.. until C10

[@ScreechHouse]

Ah, I see what you mean. Here's the solution. Open the Piano Roll and click in the top-left corner (tiny arrow). A menu will open and select "View" > "Key labels" > "All notes". That will shows all the letters on the Piano Roll. Hope that helps.

[@KaffeineIsReal]

@@ScreechHouse thanks!

[@sonicafton3779]

It said that my folder access denied, what do I do

[@ScreechHouse]

Your answer is in another comment.

[@sonicafton3779]

@@ScreechHouse Were

[@tacodoom9434]

I can't find the NES VST. I dragged the file into the VST folder, but FL can't find the plugin for some reason.

[@tacodoom9434]

Nvm, had to press on "Find more plugins" in the plugin manager.

[@ScreechHouse]

All right, perfect!

[@superpotato657]

Thank you I’m planning on making a game called robo gun this might help because I want to give it a retro feel

[@ScreechHouse]

Sounds interesting. Glad to be helpful!

[@herr_snask22411]

6:42 I would be very happy if that was my friends

[@jonathangutierrez257]

amigo existe algun vst gratuito para tocar canciones de 16 bits como super nintendo?

[@ScreechHouse]

I don't speak your language. Try English...

[@jonathangutierrez257]

@@ScreechHouse Hello friend, the video is great, do you know any vst but to get a 16 bit sound like super nintendo? I've been looking for something for hours, I've only seen payment, I'm looking for something free to start

[@ScreechHouse]

Glad you liked my video. I'm not aware of any VST that creates a 16-bits Super Nintendo sound. However, you could start with the NES VST (link is in the description), but if you want more than that, maybe experiment with a bitcrusher. A bitcrusher is usually a simple plugin that down-regulates any sound into a certain bit depth.

[@femaster9321]

I was wondering if it's possible to get Konami's VRC6 Castlevania sounds from the Famicom.

[@ScreechHouse]

I don't know.

[@francescoakajoker]

Wow this was very informative and straight to the point! But could you please make longest and more detailed 8 bit music tutorials? Would love to see more!! Also, my fav NES games are Super Mario Bros, Punch Out, and the Megaman series!

[@ScreechHouse]

Longer videos take forever to make, so I want to focus on bite-sized topic per video. Is there any specific topic you wish to see?

[@francescoakajoker]

@@ScreechHouse This was a really good explanation for a short video regardless but I'd just love to see more 8 bit video game music tutorials. Perhaps more on the percussion side because understanding rhythms/music theory is hard for me. Like for example, the Super Mario Bros main theme has an off beat swing jazzy rhythmn to it that I can't really understand how to make but it sounds so catchy. That would be a good topic! Thanks

[@ScreechHouse]

I think percussion rhythms come down to creativity and not really the type of music you're trying to create. So, 8-bit music is basically just any genre or any creative piece that is compressed down to an 8 bit sound. All you need are nice scores (loops & melodies) with 8-bit instruments/sounds. That's how I do it. If you're aspiring to get to Super Mario level, it takes time, practice and talent to become better as a producer. Regardless of the genre that is. There's no real quick answer I can give you. So I would say, focus on becoming better as a producer. Learn the essential basics of music theory, sound design and so forth. If you're just starting out, pick up a few copies of my books to get started (click here: amazon.com/author/screechhouse) and have some fun becoming a great musician.

[@francescoakajoker]

@@ScreechHouse Thank you for your response! I'm definitely aspiring to produce at the super mario level. I've been a musician for over 10 years but have never learned music theory so I'll look into it. Btw, your amazon link doesn't work for some reason .

[@ScreechHouse]

No problem! Great to hear you're serious about getting to that level. If the Amazon link doesn't work, use this one: screechhouse.com/books

[@Hexaltra]

it wont work in my daw cause its 32 bit :/ I use Waveform

[@ScreechHouse]

Sure, no problem.

[@LeoKasper426]

You don’t have to download that nes vst. Just open up 3xOsc and select square wave turning the other 2 down

[@ScreechHouse]

You definitely could, but the NES VST is free and specifically designed to replicate that Nintendo sound almost perfectly.

[@imananonymoustrashcan2333]

could you make tutorial on the rest of the song?

[@ScreechHouse]

In this case I choose not to, because I may still want to use it in the future. However, you can find many cool melodies on my channel. Just check out the videos.

[@thorzweegers7616]

Great video! What would be really nice to know, is how this all works legally - like if I create a 'cheap knockoff 8-bit NES sounding' version of a song (even an old one) .... how do I get permission to use it in my game?

[@ScreechHouse]

Very good question. I'm not a lawyer, but my best guess would be: if your melody isn't plagiarized, you can use it in your game. In terms of sounds design, I don't think you really have to worry about that. As long as your final result is somewhat unique. Again, this is NOT legal advice. Just my two cents. Hope it helps.

[@traptown4995]

Screech House

[@skillzmcgee8013]

I have FL studio MOBILE and this doesn't work :(

[@ScreechHouse]

Yeah, the video is made on a desktop. Instead, you can try using the square and noise waveform on any synthesizer for a similar sound.

[@tysonjq]

i can't download it?

[@ScreechHouse]

The NES VST is a free plugin you can download on the website in the description. Unfortunately, it's not my website or my plugin, so you will have to find a way to download it over there.

[@Moritz-dq8ps]

theres a video in your ads

[@msrpmusic303]

STEP ONE: have a DAW COOL THANKS!!!!!

[@ScreechHouse]

Step zero. You're welcome!

[@dzamjan]

It's there for me, but it makes no sound whatsoever.

[@ScreechHouse]

It should work. Maybe something is muted, or check the polyphony settings

[@maxzeltixwchacie2835]

WHAT THE HECK IS D.A.W !?!?!? You don't said, how to download it edit: Never mind, i finally get this nes XDD

[@ScreechHouse]

It's a Digital Audio Workstation. Or simply put: music making software. Good that you've figured it out 👍

[@st.clairwest4067]

Omg. So many ducking ads

[@SpellFire]

?