moderntimes99 Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 Hi! Here are my two latest creations for the 2600. Both songs are made using Paul Slocum's Music Kit v2.0, but they are fairly different in nature. The first song, which is loosly based on the title theme from the C64 game Druid, uses some of the noisiest of the 2600's sounds ('saw' + 'pitfall' + 'bass') to create a fairly rich sound. druid_chip.mp3 The second song, which is a close rendition of Rob Hubbard's Delta theme (also from the C64), is an attempt to create some multichannel music on the 2600. The melody is played on a combination of 'lead' + 'square' which are used as a single instrument that spans over almost 4 octaves. Further, the channels are time shifted in order to avoid unwanted interference (due to notes not being in tune on the 2600...). This is more or less the same technique as I have used before in my version of the Boulder Dash theme (posted as bd_chip.mp3 to the Boulder Dash thread in this forum). delta_chip.mp3 Now, I would like to hear your comments - which one do you prefer? Best regards, "Moderntimes99" PS. If you'd like to include any of these tunes in your game or demo, then just drop me a note. (I have, though, already given a first chance offer to Marc Oberhäuser to use the Druid tune, so that one might not be "available"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 Those are both impressive! As you said, they're quite different from each other. The first one would make a great title screen theme, or music for an adventure or sci-fi themed game. The second one really has that "videogame music" feel to it, and would work really well for a platformer or a death-from-above shoot 'em up. If I had to pick one, I like listening to the first one better strictly as music, but in the context of a game, either would work great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 The first one sounds great, but I think the percussion is sustained a bit too long. The delta theme is stuck in my head, playing over and over again. It's catchy. Though if I had to change something, I'd scale back the parts where all voices come in at once. The harmony there sounds blippy because I think you are attempting two tones of similar frequency in one voice so you alternate them - Personally I never liked this technique. I think it would sound better if you just picked one or the other, or made one a couple of octaves lower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moderntimes99 Posted September 13, 2005 Author Share Posted September 13, 2005 (edited) The second one really has that "videogame music" feel to it, and would work really well for a platformer or a death-from-above shoot 'em up. 930049[/snapback] One idea would be to add the Delta tune as in-game music to Oystron (if it's technically possible to cram in the scanlines + RAM required by the music player). Haven't thought about it before, but Oystron actually has a kind of "Delta feel" to it... (Or why not a music hack of Gravitar!? That should also work out relatively well.) Regards, "Moderntimes99" Edited September 13, 2005 by moderntimes99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 Great work - these tunes sound really impressive, and very C64-like. I think I also prefer the delta one, as the percussion is a bit too overpowering in the druid one, but they are both very catchy. I don't suppose you would like to do the tune from Prince of Persia as your next project Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdub_bobby Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 I like them both; the delta one better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted September 13, 2005 Share Posted September 13, 2005 Hi there! Interesting. The Druid one is pretty good I also started working on a conversion of the Delta tune a few years ago. It turned out a bit rougher, but closer to the original. Greetings, Manuel delta.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moderntimes99 Posted September 13, 2005 Author Share Posted September 13, 2005 (edited) Hi there! Interesting. The Druid one is pretty good I also started working on a conversion of the Delta tune a few years ago. It turned out a bit rougher, but closer to the original. Greetings, Manuel 930489[/snapback] Nice (and brutally rough !) - this illustrates the two different approaches very well. On the one hand you can make tunes with a fairly rich sound, but then you are either limited to use just a few notes that are in tune or have to accept that some notes are out of tune, which is especially apparent when they are played together. On the other hand you can build up a fairly good scale of lead & square together, but that will sound relatively flat (not dissimilar to an early chiptune on the Atari ST). I won't take side here, I can see benefits with both approaches. The first approach can sound marvellous when a tune is carefully handcrafted. Paul Slocum's masterpiece - Thrust - springs to mind and is an excellent example of this. However, the drawback is that this approach makes it a huge effort to translate a melody. A lot of melodies might even be totally impossible to translate to the 2600 with pleasing results. The second approach, though, is much more straightforward - it's almost like translating music to the YM chip. It can easily incorporate two melody channels (time shifted) and one percussion channel. The results would, however, not represent the state of the art in the same way as the first approach. But, it could potentially lead to a lot more 2600 music being created. (Maybe even in-game music in all new homebrews could be a reality!?). Not an easy choice... Regards, "Moderntimes99" Edited September 14, 2005 by moderntimes99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukotsu9 Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 Druid rocks; it's got attitude. I'll rotate that one into my PC playlist. Delta is more videogame generic, which is to say it'd work well as background music. I get an "Enduro II" feeling, but I'm a racing game fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moderntimes99 Posted October 2, 2005 Author Share Posted October 2, 2005 Druid rocks; it's got attitude. I'll rotate that one into my PC playlist. 939498[/snapback] Glad to hear that you like it - I've actually decided to re-use the instrument setting from Druid in my next song project (work-in-progress, almost 30-40% finished...). The noisy rebellic sound tends to suit the 2600 relatively well - unfortunately it is not as easy to work with as the square + lead... Best regards, "Moderntimes99" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 The first one would make a great title screen theme, or music for an adventure or sci-fi themed game. turned out not to be in an adventure or sci-fi themed game, though it was certainly a good fit for Medieval Mayhem. My mom really liked the tune - over the holidays she decided the winner of each round had to dance to the music while their knight marched across the screen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted January 9, 2007 Share Posted January 9, 2007 is there anybody at atari age here who never heard of druid? great version only i found that the main theme starts a little bit late... first i thought where is the legendary theme? ah...there... impressive work for a 2600 imho... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted January 10, 2007 Share Posted January 10, 2007 Hi, great musics! My first hope was that it was the music of "Druid II", because that one always reminds me of my old days being a member of the C64 group FAIRLIGHT. Maybe someone remembers that old intro with the classic music... I'm always searching for additional music for my new 2600 games... but I'd prefer original and dedicated music instead of conversions of copyrighted tunes. Thanks and keep up the good work, Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHoboInYourRoom Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 Both of them are excellent. Delta is a bit livelier, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moderntimes99 Posted January 16, 2007 Author Share Posted January 16, 2007 (edited) Thanks for the positive comments! Here's a third one that I made when I was up to it. Some of you might remember Silkworm (a minor hit on the Amiga, among other platforms). Also, I'd like to add, this wouldn't have been possible without Paul Slocums excellent Music Kit v2.0. silkworm_chip.mp3 Regards, Moderntimes99 Edited January 16, 2007 by moderntimes99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 Cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 That rocks! Nice job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moderntimes99 Posted January 17, 2007 Author Share Posted January 17, 2007 You mean this song? Myfirstdemoinawhile_proj1.bin Regards, Moderntimes99 Hi, great musics! My first hope was that it was the music of "Druid II", because that one always reminds me of my old days being a member of the C64 group FAIRLIGHT. Maybe someone remembers that old intro with the classic music... I'm always searching for additional music for my new 2600 games... but I'd prefer original and dedicated music instead of conversions of copyrighted tunes. Thanks and keep up the good work, Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted January 17, 2007 Share Posted January 17, 2007 You're really excellent at this. Seems we finally have someone stepping in Pauls shoes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 You mean this song? Myfirstdemoinawhile_proj1.bin Yes. Great memories are connected to that tune... Please let me know if you want to support one of my next game developments (for example: this one) with a tune. Keep up the good work. Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.