Strife's Musical Shenanigans

[Strife]

So I found a Megadrive soundfont recently that lets me compose using Megadrive/Genesis styled instruments. While it isn't a direct emulation of the console's hardware, it still makes for some pretty sweet Sonic-styled tunage.

I've been playing around with it lately, and I figured, why not post some of my stuff here? Nothing to lose, I suppose. x)

http://cyberfreak.webs.com/electricity_gen.mp3

This song was in a platform game I made a while ago called Jade Phoenix, but I figured that it would sound pretty neat with the Megadrive soundfont. It's a little dated compared to my more recent works, but I'm rather fond of the melody.

http://cyberfreak.webs.com/sd61_gen.mp3

I composed this one more recently. It doesn't have a name, as I'm not sure what kind of theme it would fit. Pirate cove? Airport? City? Harbor?

Playing with the soundfont gave me enough inspiration to tack on a decent ending before the song loops. I might tweak the drums a little bit. (And for some reason, the sound quality on this one deteriorated a little bit when I compiled it. Hmm...)

I shall post more in due time. :3

[Caleb]

Those are some cool "tunes" you have there. You have great talent in song development.

[Strife]

Thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbo_fpVG8v4

Speed Highway At Dawn from the first Sonic Adventure game... with Mega Man X instruments. xD Somebody on YouTube made a request for this remix, so I figured, why not?

[LarkSS]

I thought the two megadrive songs you posted were pretty good, but felt somewhat lacking at the same time. I usually have a friend of mine help me out when I feel that way about one of my tunes, but I decided to mess sd61_gen myself to see if I couldn't fill the lingering emptiness. I normalized the audio levels too since your render was somewhat quiet.

http://larkss.thisisourcorner.net/mymusic/mixes/ElectroStation.mp3

A bit unfaithful to the genesis hardware as I applied a dynamic filter to the track I added, but I think it still sounds believable.

[Strife]

Wow! =D I'm always fascinated by the difference a single instrument can make. Sometimes my attempts to add instruments make the song feel "muffled," which is why I couldn't think of anything to add in this case. xD;

I'll have to see if I can integrate it into the MIDI file. :3 Thanks Lark!

Edit: http://cyberfreak.webs.com/sd61_gen_v2.mp3

[LarkSS]

I'm guessing you panned the melodies hard left and right so that the addition could be easily hearable so I won't comment about how it hurts my eyes ears when listening with headphones. In any case, I like the slight remix you did to the tune. ;>

May I ask what software you're using to make this? Your renders are coming out rather quiet and if it's because you're trying to keep the audio within a safe range, a limiter/mastering vst will allow you to boost the volume without distorting anything.

[Ristar]

Yeah, I use Classic Master Limiter.

Xcita is nice too.

[Strife]

I did the panning in order to make it sound less "stuffy," if you know what I mean. xD; But if it does more harm than good, then it's an easy fix.

As for software, I start by composing a MIDI version, then I use SynthFont to plug the soundfonts in, and then I use Audacity for final touchups. Is there a feature in Audacity that will let me increase volume without distortion? I don't see a Master Limiter feature... Hard Limiter maybe?

[Ristar]

Normalise should work.

Also: don't use panning to make things sound less full. if it doesn't sound good in mono then you need to figure out the problems there.

Maybe sort out some EQ on each of the tracks? If it's sounding "stuffy" maybe you have too many mids going on.

[Strife]

I've tried normalization and equalization before, but without any beneficial results. Do you know of a good way to configure them, or should I just play around with the settings until I figure out what works and what doesn't?

[LarkSS]

If Audacity supports VSTs, you could get the limiter Ristar mentioned:

http://www.brothersoft.com/classic-master-limiter-133887.html

Or select one from a collection of other freeware limiters:

http://www.wavosaur.com/vst/limiter-plugins.php

The point of these is for when normalization doesn't get the volume you want, you can apply a limiter which will automatically keep peak levels within a safe range while allowing you to boost quieter segments. I can't really recommend the one I use as it comes bundled with FLStudio.

[Strife]

Hey, it works! =D Thanks.

Third shot:

http://cyberfreak.webs.com/sd61_gen_v3.mp3

[LarkSS]

Much better. I'm getting used to the panning you used too, though I think I liked it more when the melody that starts around 0:27 would shift the lead synth to the right before going back to the left at 0:55; adds more variety when you decide to keep the main melody away from the center.

[Scarletdark]

Third shot:

http://cyberfreak.webs.com/sd61_gen_v3.mp3

Dude this sounds great! It could totally pass as a genesis chiptune.

What soundfont are you using?

[Strife]

Ah, that's a good point Lark. ^^ I'll see what I can do about taking focus off the left side a bit.

Scarlet - Thanks. =D I use the Ultimate Megadrive Soundfont, which mimics the Genesis instruments pretty darn closely.