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[EasterlyArt]

So I'm sure you've seen this on other sites, and I have no idea if there is something on here for this already, but I would like to start a "What is that synth or instrument" thread for all the synths from other game music that we like but have no idea what they are (but assume someone may have some insight). Such game soundtracks that have synths or instruments that I would like to figure out would include :

 
 

I like to have this thread serve as a place so we can all figure out how to emulate our favorite sounds from game soundtracks for our own use. A lot of the final work I feel comes down to compositional skills, but I don't think it would hurt to help each other out to see if we can make some of these sounds and let everyone know how to do it.

For instance, how to emulate Game Boy sounds, and maybe you don't have a Little Sound DJ cartridge. I looked up tutorials on how to emulate those sounds in Massive. Neat stuff, but there is plenty more bit sounds I like to figure out how to create, and eventually compose better with.

[ZackParrish]

Not a bad idea, but it would really help to know which sounds in particular from those soundtracks you are interested in. Final Fantasy VII for instance... is a custom sample set and not based on a chip. Gameboy games on the other hand are based on a chip that produced pulse and noise signals. Sega Genesis used it's own chip with FM synthesis to generate most of it's sounds(had a few pulse channels as well though). Believe it also had a PCM channel for loading custom made sounds so things like a snare drum could be more to the liking of the person creating the music.

So yeah, be more specific rather than just listing the entire game. If you want to use FF7's instrumentation there are plenty of rips of the sounds of it put into SF2 format, and maybe a kontakt version of it... but don't use it commercially as the sounds are copyrighted and technically speaking it's illegal to rip the audio from a game and use it for anything(even private use but I don't think game companies really care that much...)

[rj]

i'm pretty sure that the examples he gave were, in fact, just loose examples for the purpose of illustrating the thread

unless i misread that

also ftr f-zero gx has a crazy good soundtrack. almost everything there sounds digital synth to me, likely lots of korg triton all over that fucker

[EasterlyArt]

i'm pretty sure that the examples he gave were, in fact, just loose examples for the purpose of illustrating the thread

Exactly. I'll post most specific sounds in due time, but I just wanted to kick things off first.

Thanks for the input so far  ZackParrish.

x has a crazy good soundtrack. almost everything there sounds digital synth to me, likely lots of korg triton all over that fucker

There is a particular synth/guitar sounding thing that I LOVE the heck out of.



The synth does a lot of swells, an it's just soooooooooooooooooooooooo juicy, it's orgasmic to me.

[rj]

that's a 303-alike (i don't think it's an actual 303; the bass isn't quite right); my guess is it's a

[EasterlyArt]

that's a 303-alike (i don't think it's an actual 303; the bass isn't quite right); my guess is it's a

Looks were off to a good start, thanks!

[PythonBlue]

I love this kind of thread, speaking as someone very much into identifying synths used in electronic music. Recently, for instance, I discovered that Mikko Tarmia, frequent composer for Frictional Games, is a Logic user like me. How do I know this? I was perusing through the sounds I have that are built into Logic, and in the process, I discovered two trademark Penumbra sounds in the EXS24 factory library (namely, "Beach Bells" and "Choirpad").

EDIT: Bearing in mind the rules to give sonic examples, this piece from the games is virtually a Choirpad solo.

[rj]

can we please fix the typo in the thread title btw

[Lauchsuppe]

Ok, since we have this thread, I do have a question. Does anyone know where this slick flute sound is from? I suppose it's a chopped snes soundfont or a sample from the ps1/n64 era. But I can't figure out where it's from exactly.

Starting @ 0:12
https://soundcloud.com/shhsecretsongs/kero-kero-bonito-flamingo

[rj]

[Lauchsuppe]

Wow, I guess that was just way too obvious. Thanks!

[rj]

i've never heard of kkb until you posted that but they clearly love sampling mario 64: https://soundcloud.com/kerokerobonito/sick-beat

[medieval]

Speaking of sampling, if you ever stop to wonder where you heard this or that sample before, look here: http://www.whosampled.com/

Figured this was a good resource to post here. I haven't dwelled in it much myself, but my brother has been recommending it to me for a long time now and it's definitely interesting

[Lauchsuppe]

Yeah, whosampled.com sure is amazing! Definitely a way to get lost for a couple of hours .. or days.

[PythonBlue]

Yeah, whosampled.com sure is amazing! Definitely a way to get lost for a couple of hours .. or days.

When it comes to commercial songs sampled from, this is definitely a good resource. However, my reservation, which I'm guessing is also the reservation of the OP, is for sounds that were directly from synthesizers, which are technically not copyrighted songs as such.