Untitled Chiptune Suite
November 16, 2024 5:08 PM
This is a short (just over 2 minutes) chiptune piece with three distinct moods and melodies arranged into four segments played on a Sega Master System. It's got a nice bop when required, and the melancholy section was a little bit inspired by the theme to Metroid II.
The Sega Master System can be to work with, and this was, in part, an exercise in getting a handle on one of the odd oscillator modes.
posted by The Great Big Mulp (6 comments total)
The Sega Master System can be to work with, and this was, in part, an exercise in getting a handle on one of the odd oscillator modes.
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One of my favorite Master System osts is the Quartet soundtrack. The songs themselves are from the Quartet arcade cabinet, but the Master System renditions of them are just fantastic. They're all bangers, but my favorites among them are the songs for level 2 (that b-section has really stuck with me since childhood -- it's part of the reason I own a Master System today) and level 4 (for the audacity of including the breakdown and drum solo).
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:18 AM on November 18, 2024
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:18 AM on November 18, 2024
Won me over as it went on. Not sure if if would work as a level song. Not sure if now is the time to throw out an unofficial mefimu challenge, but it would be fun to do some chiptune covers. Obv, I'd do "then she begins," or "A very tiny house."
posted by es_de_bah at 10:30 PM on November 21, 2024 [1 favorite]
posted by es_de_bah at 10:30 PM on November 21, 2024 [1 favorite]
I don't think it'd work as level music -- I mostly had three different 4 to 8 bar phrases I didn't know how to develop further, so I just stuck them together. Individually, I think each of the themes sounds like music for:
Theme 1, 4: an rpg town*
Theme 2: a mythical backstory
Theme 3: some kind of upgrade shop/menu
* I feel like most of the songs I've been working on the Master System sound like rpg town music
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:30 AM on November 22, 2024 [1 favorite]
Theme 1, 4: an rpg town*
Theme 2: a mythical backstory
Theme 3: some kind of upgrade shop/menu
* I feel like most of the songs I've been working on the Master System sound like rpg town music
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:30 AM on November 22, 2024 [1 favorite]
I love this. I really like the the subtle swing it has, especially. Can you tell us more about the tools you used to make it? Am I right in understanding that it wasn't just a VST plugin, but actually made on a sega system?
posted by umbú at 11:48 AM on December 5, 2024
posted by umbú at 11:48 AM on December 5, 2024
Absolutely! There are basically two parts to the setup: a MIDI converter and the homebrew software running on the Sega Master System. The MIDI converter takes MIDI data and converts it to signals that it sends over the 2nd player input which the homebrew software can read to send instructions to the sound card on the Master System.
The MIDI converter runs on an Arduino and was built following little-scale's design here: http://little-scale.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-build-sega-master-system-midi.html. I am not one who tinkers with electronics at all, but the build is straightforward enough that I didn't have any trouble getting it together. I believe many of the links to resources on little-scale's site have rotted -- this github link contains both the instructions to load onto the Arduino and the homebrew software to run on the Sega Master system: https://github.com/catskull/SMSM. The homebrew software can be loaded onto an SD card to run from a flash cart, like this one: https://krikzz.com/our-products/cartridges/smsx7.html (I was able to get one from ebay for not so many dollars).
This is something I've wanted to do for a long time -- I've always loved the sound of the Sega Master System. I came across the little-scale build in 2016 but I both found it intimidating and didn't have a Master System at the time. The setup is definitely a little janky and the documentation is limited, but it's just lovely to be able to do this at all.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 5:02 PM on December 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
The MIDI converter runs on an Arduino and was built following little-scale's design here: http://little-scale.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-to-build-sega-master-system-midi.html. I am not one who tinkers with electronics at all, but the build is straightforward enough that I didn't have any trouble getting it together. I believe many of the links to resources on little-scale's site have rotted -- this github link contains both the instructions to load onto the Arduino and the homebrew software to run on the Sega Master system: https://github.com/catskull/SMSM. The homebrew software can be loaded onto an SD card to run from a flash cart, like this one: https://krikzz.com/our-products/cartridges/smsx7.html (I was able to get one from ebay for not so many dollars).
This is something I've wanted to do for a long time -- I've always loved the sound of the Sega Master System. I came across the little-scale build in 2016 but I both found it intimidating and didn't have a Master System at the time. The setup is definitely a little janky and the documentation is limited, but it's just lovely to be able to do this at all.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 5:02 PM on December 13, 2024 [1 favorite]
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posted by ignignokt at 8:18 AM on November 18, 2024 [1 favorite]