I just received this information from Nicholas Rezmerski -- thanks for the info, Nicholas!
For those of you who'd like to remix old video game music or use OPL2 instruments to write your own music, YouTube user "theycallmebruceful" (I think he's bsutherland on github.io) "wrapped the OPL2 emulation code from DOSBox (hardware/dbopl.c) in a VST instrument. Almost all the available parameters are programmable. Each instance of the plugin emulates a complete chip."
He goes on to say that he loaded MIDI note data ripped from the game [Syndicate] into Renoise, and loaded an instance of the VST for each instrument. Instrument parameters were programmed as closely as possible to the originals by running the game in DOSBox and capturing the register writes to the OPL device. He's named the VST JuceOPLVSTi.
Here's the YouTube demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI7U5XxTSW0
And here's the VST (32 bit): http://bsutherland.github.io/JuceOPLVSTi/
When I have some spare time, I'm going to check this out. I'll be interested in what any of you have to say about it after you try it out.
Nicholas said he has been listening to Doom midi files using this plugin.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Artistic Creations That Die
Computer game music is among the creations that die. They die because some corporation owns them and doesn't see the financial benefit to keeping them alive -- listened to.
That's where the remixers fill the void. Probably few of them have paid for a mechanical license to record and distribute the songs -- but they definitely do a huge service to society by keeping the songs alive.
A man named Bob May created "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer." He created a Christmas poem for his daughter. He worked as a copywriter -- that is a person who writes copy (usually for advertising) -- for Montgomery Ward, the WalMart of the day. He recited the poem at a company Christmas party and his bosses at Montgomery Ward wanted to print it for distribution to customers. They paid a nominal fee to purchase the rights. By 1946, the book had been distributed to the tune of at least six million copies.
Bob May decided that he wanted the rights back. He explained to the CEO of Montgomery Ward that he had composed the poem for his daughter after she lost her mother to cancer in 1938. Believe it or not, the the CEO returned all rights back to Bob May.
As interesting as this is, fate would have it that Bob May had a brother-in-law named Johnny Marks, who wrote songs. Johnny composed "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" based upon Bob May's poem. He shopped it to several notable singers, including Gene Autry, who was already a singing cowboy movie legend. Autry was like the other singers -- he wanted nothing to do with the song. But, Mrs. Autry heard it and demanded that Gene record it. The rest is history. His recording was released in 1949. It was an unbelievable success, and has sold more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas."
Do you think that there's a CEO today who would do the same as Montgomery Ward's did?
Only in our wildest dreams!
Remixers -- keep on keeping on!
PS I researched the story of Rudolph back in the 90's when I was writing a Christmas song of my own (finalized with my wife's lyrical assistance and singing in 2008 -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St_FctDTKc8). I searched everywhere for a copy of Bob May's poem. Finally I ordered the book. I was sorely disappointed in the poem. I didn't think it was that great -- but it was a great story. This proved to me that Johnny Marks was a great songwriter. He took the poem and told the same story in a little over three minutes of music. He wrote some other memorable Christmas songs. You can read more about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Marks
That's where the remixers fill the void. Probably few of them have paid for a mechanical license to record and distribute the songs -- but they definitely do a huge service to society by keeping the songs alive.
A man named Bob May created "Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer." He created a Christmas poem for his daughter. He worked as a copywriter -- that is a person who writes copy (usually for advertising) -- for Montgomery Ward, the WalMart of the day. He recited the poem at a company Christmas party and his bosses at Montgomery Ward wanted to print it for distribution to customers. They paid a nominal fee to purchase the rights. By 1946, the book had been distributed to the tune of at least six million copies.
Bob May decided that he wanted the rights back. He explained to the CEO of Montgomery Ward that he had composed the poem for his daughter after she lost her mother to cancer in 1938. Believe it or not, the the CEO returned all rights back to Bob May.
As interesting as this is, fate would have it that Bob May had a brother-in-law named Johnny Marks, who wrote songs. Johnny composed "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" based upon Bob May's poem. He shopped it to several notable singers, including Gene Autry, who was already a singing cowboy movie legend. Autry was like the other singers -- he wanted nothing to do with the song. But, Mrs. Autry heard it and demanded that Gene record it. The rest is history. His recording was released in 1949. It was an unbelievable success, and has sold more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas."
Do you think that there's a CEO today who would do the same as Montgomery Ward's did?
Only in our wildest dreams!
Remixers -- keep on keeping on!
PS I researched the story of Rudolph back in the 90's when I was writing a Christmas song of my own (finalized with my wife's lyrical assistance and singing in 2008 -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St_FctDTKc8). I searched everywhere for a copy of Bob May's poem. Finally I ordered the book. I was sorely disappointed in the poem. I didn't think it was that great -- but it was a great story. This proved to me that Johnny Marks was a great songwriter. He took the poem and told the same story in a little over three minutes of music. He wrote some other memorable Christmas songs. You can read more about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Marks
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Working on Wrack
For more than a year, I've been working on the game called "Wrack." It was originally titled "Last Bastion." The alpha version of the game was sold with a promise that the purchaser would get the full game when it's done.
The team working on the game has basically consisted of three people. A programmer/game designer/producer, an artist and me (for sfx and music). I've completed a lot of effects for the game with many more to go. The music is coming along, but I like seeing the artwork for a level before I write something for it.
Anyway, the first episode of the game is soon to be released in beta on SteamPowered.com. What's cool about that for game music composers is that Steam has started offering albums of game music. These are albums that are just like apps in one regard: they can have tracks added/edited at any time, and the purchasers of the album can update their albums to the latest version without additional costs. I think this is something that will become commonplace in the not too distant future.
Imagine releasing an album of your music and promising your new recordings released in the next year or so will be included in the cost of the album. What a way to keep fans happy and to keep in touch with them!
I'll let you know how this experience works out.
Right now the game is available in alpha form at WrackGame.com.
UPDATE: I have heard that Valve (SteamPowered.com) may be changing their policy and may no longer be allowing games to sell their soundtracks on the side. I'll see if I can find something in writing to that effect.
The team working on the game has basically consisted of three people. A programmer/game designer/producer, an artist and me (for sfx and music). I've completed a lot of effects for the game with many more to go. The music is coming along, but I like seeing the artwork for a level before I write something for it.
Anyway, the first episode of the game is soon to be released in beta on SteamPowered.com. What's cool about that for game music composers is that Steam has started offering albums of game music. These are albums that are just like apps in one regard: they can have tracks added/edited at any time, and the purchasers of the album can update their albums to the latest version without additional costs. I think this is something that will become commonplace in the not too distant future.
Imagine releasing an album of your music and promising your new recordings released in the next year or so will be included in the cost of the album. What a way to keep fans happy and to keep in touch with them!
I'll let you know how this experience works out.
Right now the game is available in alpha form at WrackGame.com.
UPDATE: I have heard that Valve (SteamPowered.com) may be changing their policy and may no longer be allowing games to sell their soundtracks on the side. I'll see if I can find something in writing to that effect.
DistroKid.com Part 13
To summarize the DistroKid experience, it got the "music from Major Stryker" album on iTunes within a few hours of my uploading it to DistroKid.com. Spotify came through in a few days. Google Play and Amazon took 2-3 months. So I say the jury is still out. I will be uploading another album before long, and I'll post my experience here. DistroKid has only been around for a few months itself and it's a one man operation.
My question has been answered in the DistroKid FAQ about uploading one song from an album and wanting to upload other songs from the same album to go with it later). You delete the "album" of the one song and re-upload that song along with the rest of the cuts on the album.
My question has been answered in the DistroKid FAQ about uploading one song from an album and wanting to upload other songs from the same album to go with it later). You delete the "album" of the one song and re-upload that song along with the rest of the cuts on the album.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Kontakt, Lots of Patches and Not Enough RAM
When I put my computer together, I installed 8 gig of RAM. Sometimes it isn't enough. With Kontakt, there's something you can do to help reduce the memory required for an instrument.
I read this on a website and cannot find the website to give the author credit. I'm sure it's common knowledge for those who read manuals :-) I pass it on for what it's worth.
Load any instrument you want to use. After everything loads, look under the name of the instrument and you'll see Output, Voice, Max and Purge. Purge is a dropdown menu. Below voice is the Memory size of the instrument.
Now click the down arrow to the right of Purge and select "purge all samples."
Look at the memory size now.
Now play one note. The memory size will increase, reflecting the size of the sample the note uses. You can see whenever you play a note that requires another sample. You may also see different samples at different velocities on the same note.
How is this going to help reduce memory usage for a lot of instruments?
Look at the menu bar at the top of Kontakt. Toward the right is Purge. This purge will affect all loaded instruments.
The idea is that as you add instruments to a song, you can use purge and let your playback cause Kontakt to load only the note samples necessary for that song. If you write a part that only uses a few notes, why have unused note samples in memory?
If I'm having trouble getting a sequence to play smoothly, rather than freeze a track where I cannot edit it, I use purge. I play the sequence through once to make sure the samples it uses are ready to play. When I play the sequence from then on, it usually plays without any glitches.
Hope this helps someone. It helped me :-)
I read this on a website and cannot find the website to give the author credit. I'm sure it's common knowledge for those who read manuals :-) I pass it on for what it's worth.
Load any instrument you want to use. After everything loads, look under the name of the instrument and you'll see Output, Voice, Max and Purge. Purge is a dropdown menu. Below voice is the Memory size of the instrument.
Now click the down arrow to the right of Purge and select "purge all samples."
Look at the memory size now.
Now play one note. The memory size will increase, reflecting the size of the sample the note uses. You can see whenever you play a note that requires another sample. You may also see different samples at different velocities on the same note.
How is this going to help reduce memory usage for a lot of instruments?
Look at the menu bar at the top of Kontakt. Toward the right is Purge. This purge will affect all loaded instruments.
The idea is that as you add instruments to a song, you can use purge and let your playback cause Kontakt to load only the note samples necessary for that song. If you write a part that only uses a few notes, why have unused note samples in memory?
If I'm having trouble getting a sequence to play smoothly, rather than freeze a track where I cannot edit it, I use purge. I play the sequence through once to make sure the samples it uses are ready to play. When I play the sequence from then on, it usually plays without any glitches.
Hope this helps someone. It helped me :-)
DistroKid.com Part 12
I checked Amazon today and it looks like "music from Major Stryker" finally made it "on the shelves." Amazon is undercutting iTunes pricing ($9.99) and selling it for $7.99. They sell the individual songs at 89 cents.
If Amazon is going to truly give iTunes a run for the money, they're going to have to get the music into their store more quickly. Of course they do that for the artists who stand to sell a lot of product.
If Amazon is going to truly give iTunes a run for the money, they're going to have to get the music into their store more quickly. Of course they do that for the artists who stand to sell a lot of product.
Friday, September 13, 2013
DistroKid.com Part 11
I just checked Amazon and Google Play for the "music from Major Stryker" album, and it doesn't appear on Amazon yet, but it does on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Bobby_Prince_music_from_Major_Stryker?id=Bxq7ksh4u62cfrfpt4uccrp533m
On the iTunes release, I received an automated email from DistroKid when the album was live on iTunes. I did not receive a similar automated email about Google Play. Don't know what's up with that, and I don't know when Google Play added the album.
So, I'm still giving DistroKid.com a chance to get everything together.
And I forgot to say that there's a new link on DistroKid.com that allows you to "Delete album from Stores." I'm not gonna click the link to test it yet. But, I'm going to guess that the single I first submitted ("In Hiding" from Duke Nukem 3D) can be deleted and then resubmitted with the other DN3D songs. That was something I was wondering about many posts back.
As with the "days of old" in record/CD sales, the cost of the albums and singles is set by each store. iTunes has the Stryker album at $9.99. Google Play is at $9.49. Both stores sell singles at $.99.
Google Play has longer track previews than iTunes. Some of the tracks played longer than others. I don't know what their algorithm is for that.
These are some exciting times for independent artists. Once again, I highly recommend that if you have a successful album, you should put some of your income into hiring a great publicist. Such a person/organization can keep you in the public eye and get you noticed by even more potential fans.
On the iTunes release, I received an automated email from DistroKid when the album was live on iTunes. I did not receive a similar automated email about Google Play. Don't know what's up with that, and I don't know when Google Play added the album.
So, I'm still giving DistroKid.com a chance to get everything together.
And I forgot to say that there's a new link on DistroKid.com that allows you to "Delete album from Stores." I'm not gonna click the link to test it yet. But, I'm going to guess that the single I first submitted ("In Hiding" from Duke Nukem 3D) can be deleted and then resubmitted with the other DN3D songs. That was something I was wondering about many posts back.
As with the "days of old" in record/CD sales, the cost of the albums and singles is set by each store. iTunes has the Stryker album at $9.99. Google Play is at $9.49. Both stores sell singles at $.99.
Google Play has longer track previews than iTunes. Some of the tracks played longer than others. I don't know what their algorithm is for that.
These are some exciting times for independent artists. Once again, I highly recommend that if you have a successful album, you should put some of your income into hiring a great publicist. Such a person/organization can keep you in the public eye and get you noticed by even more potential fans.
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