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Chapter 6: NES Music

So this chapter is the reason I started this blog. I recently learned quite a bit about how music was made for the NES, the first video game console I ever owned. I will start by referring to a few youtube videos that are my favorite on the subject.

Explanation of Sound Channels and his Tumblr

How to Set Up the DS-10 For NES Style Music


Those two videos are enough to get you started, but let's go over a few things. First of all, DSN does not have the capability to use samples, or recorded sounds, so a perfect recreation of the Super Mario Bros. 3 soundtrack is not possible, but you can get pretty close. The sample that I most fondly remember was the bongos used in the first world. Even back then, I knew that song sounded different and way more advanced than most NES music. Maybe I'll write a chapter where we get really close to a bongo sound...maybe.

Two Tracks will have pulse waves, one will have the triangle wave, and the noise channel should use VCO2 noise to more accurately represent how the noise sounded on NES. You can make a fifth track for creating what would be in the sample channel, if you can make something that sounds like what you want. 

How about the Quick Man theme from Mega Man 2, with metallic noise? Well, sorry to disappoint, but I haven't quite found out how to do that one. I've tried setting VCO1 as noise then patching VCO2 output to CUTOFF, then adjusting VCO2 pitch and the cutoff in the Filter section. Tried again with VCO2 patched to VCA. There are some interesting sounds you can make with this, adjusting the VCO2 PITCH and VCF CUTOFF/PEAK on the SYNTH page. I may be going the wrong way about it. Just like Mega Man games, I won't give up, even if it takes me 20 years to actually beat it.

In the second video it's pretty obvious that the patch panel on the DS-10 looks messy compared to what we have in DSN. The good news is, what that video is showing is Pulse Width Modulation, which we already have available in VCO1. Super easy. Remember, the pulse widths in DSN range from 50% to 0%, so the middle position would be 25% and between left and middle is 12.5%. You'll just have to eyeball it since we don't have a way to see exact values here, something I hope gets changed in the next DS synth from these fine folks.

The NES only had 5 sound channels, and these channels were used for both music and sound effects. Some games left one of the pulse channels always available for sounds, meaning the music did not use that channel at all. Some games used the noise channel for sound effects, too. Really, there were many ways different composers decided to use the NES hardware. Those two Youtube channels I linked above have some really great info on the subject.

Now about speed. A lot of NES music uses some quick pitch changes and simulated chords with fast arpeggios. An arpeggio is basically a sequence of notes, usually playing through a chord or scale. You can get really speedy in DSN by going to MAIN, then SET and changing your BPM for the pattern. Remember, it will change the BPM for the entire pattern, so your other Tracks for the pattern will need to have their notes spaced out and take up several steps to match your desired BPM. If you want a note to play continuously through several steps, after clicking on the Track of a pattern, go to GT for gate and make sure it is legato, meaning it will not retrigger the attack of the envelope. Set legato for your fast arpeggio as well. Going really high on your BPM may create some weird artifacts, like a thumping noise, if you change the PN, panning, to anything but center. Just something I noticed. Max for BPM is 360, max for steps is 64. Recreating some of the more complex NES tracks would take some real work, and i'm not sure you'd get 100% the same results.

I was also informed by YouTuber GXSCCHATER on how to make the three note  arpeggios into 6 note arpeggios by patching an MG square wave to the VCO PITCH IN. This makes some good arps at just 240 BPM. I'll post some screenshots in an NES Part II chapter.

You can automate PW Mod by setting up your kaoss 3 pad with VCO1 PW on the X axis by going to SYNTH then KAOSS, select 3, then click the words on the bottom left of the screen. Select kaoss x, then the parameter. I set kaoss y to OFF for this patch. Head back to SYNTH, then SEQ, go to KX and change the value as desired for each step. This is a good way to get exactly the PW you want without trying to be super careful with the PW knob. There are 16 values to choose from, so the top would be 0%, bottom row is 50%, you could use 8 or 9 to get close to 25%, and 4 down works good for 12.5%. Again, this gets us close to sounding like the NES, but not exactly the same. Have fun tinkering!

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1 comment:

  1. I am always searching online for articles that can help me. There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in Features also. Keep working, great job! free music to download

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