Midi & Game Music

Can any of you knowledgable people help me out.. I’m looking for game music that either could be played originally in midi format or that had that kind of midi sound to it, I’m thinking classic 90s midi sounds i guess.

Stuff like this from Super Turrican 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucxY-gCb4jg Even though it’s a SNES ost the piano is very midi preset sounding to me.

Or this from Sim City 2000 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T1_tDTRw0w I actually have a ‘general midi’ version of this track but can’t see it on youtube. The version i posted is the SB Pro 2 version, which sounds pretty cool anyway.

Or if anyone has a good general information on midi in game music, that would also be very interesting.

I’ll just add. I’m not really looking for game music that’s been converted to midi by fans, although if it’s exceptionally good I’d be more than willing to give it a listen.

thanks.

This is a tough question to answer because there is no "MIDI sound," per se. MIDI is a way to send information between devices, and what it contains are the characteristics of the input�not the actual audio. For instance, if you played middle C for 3 seconds on a MIDI controller, it doesn’t matter if you started with a guitar sound. The MIDI didn’t record the sound. It takes the 3-second middle C to your computer, and your computer’s hardware will play that input back as a 3 second guitar note if you like, or a 3 second dial tone, or a 3 second trumpet blast. The quality of the playback sound is also dependent on the hardware. A state-of-the-art sound card could give you a believable, crunchy guitar note. A discount sound card from the same era could give you a patently artificial tone. Both would be MIDI. As an example, here’s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXFYWJ7dbz0) the same MIDI signal from Doom’s E1M1 being played back through different sound cards. The jump from an Ensoniq AudioPCI to a Roland Sound Canvas SC-55mkII is significant.

So I think what you’re hunting after is a specific palette of sounds often used in the 90s. Going by what you linked, I’d suggest you check out Ultima Online (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GlM_6l8eu4&list=PL06D3F9F81754BD2E) and Runescape (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8AKZEY5rls&list=PLOS9LCLHb-n6w8qlQ-rom3DxgS8a5fW7o).

Well, if you are looking for actual MIDI (i.e. game music played ‘live’ over a MIDI interface), I recommend to listen to these two episodes of my podcast:

Game music written for MT-32 and compatible devices. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4g5tnA8p8c)

Music played on Roland’s Sound Canvas series (SC-55 etc.) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVzPG79xWvY)

This is a tough question to answer because there is no "MIDI sound," per se. MIDI is a way to send information between devices, and what it contains are the characteristics of the input—not the actual audio. For instance, if you played middle C for 3 seconds on a MIDI controller, it doesn’t matter if you started with a guitar sound. The MIDI didn’t record the sound. It takes the 3-second middle C to your computer, and your computer’s hardware will play that input back as a 3 second guitar note if you like, or a 3 second dial tone, or a 3 second trumpet blast. The quality of the playback sound is also dependent on the hardware. A state-of-the-art sound card could give you a believable, crunchy guitar note. A discount sound card from the same era could give you a patently artificial tone. Both would be MIDI. As an example, here’s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXFYWJ7dbz0) the same MIDI signal from Doom’s E1M1 being played back through different sound cards. The jump from an Ensoniq AudioPCI to a Roland Sound Canvas SC-55mkII is significant.

Thanks Arthur. Yeah, I should’ve been more specific that i was thinking about midi as a by word for the stereo typical sound format, rather than a communications protocol. I know there’s no specific midi sound per se, but collectively i think they can have a fairly identifiable sound. Midi sounds are going to be relatively uniform across devices because they need to be faithful to whatever track sound they’re assigned to, so there’s always going to be; piano, percussion, organ, guitar, bass, strings etc, and they’re only going to vary in so much. As apposed to a more complicated made to measure synthesis approach. Great example of the difference that are there though. thanks

& thanks for the recommendations. They it definitely have the sound i’m after. Musically they’re little too standard pastoral rpg for what I’m seeking tbh, nice OSTs though.

Well, if you are looking for actual MIDI (i.e. game music played ‘live’ over a MIDI interface), I recommend to listen to these two episodes of my podcast:

Game music written for MT-32 and compatible devices. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4g5tnA8p8c)

Music played on Roland’s Sound Canvas series (SC-55 etc.) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVzPG79xWvY)

Thanks NX. Gave them a listen through. Interesting stuff. Gave me some avenues to explore and plenty of OSTs to track down and check to see if they contain anything closer musically to what is currently scratching that itch – my taste is probably a little more towards the kinda abstract, unusual side of things.

I subscribed & will endeavour to work my way through the rest of your videos. Please check out my channel if you have the time https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXi9toeV-SEUnJMJg-SDw_A

Can you give me an example for "abstract and unusual music"? Are you looking for something like this (https://youtu.be/EBgoJj091z8?t=553)?

Yeah, that would definitely fit the bill musically. Great track.

It’s hard for me to put into words.. I guess, unusual as in stuff that shies away or askews the standard game music tropes. The Ultima Online OST that arthurgolden recommend for example, sonically is exactly the kind of 90s midi sound I’m after, but musically it’s mostly fairly standard medieval themed rpg music. There are hundreds of OSTs that use similar musical tropes, but occasionally you get one that breaks out a little and goes somewhere unique, like Koji Kondo’s Zelda work. That’s what I mean by "unusual" I guess. Something that goes beyond just recreating a genre sound with a computer game sound pallet and creates something unique that could only have ever come from game music, or possibly some avant-garde electronic musician.

That might sound kinda lofty, but it’s an ideal to reach for rather than a first hurdle, if you know what I mean.

Here’s a mixtape i made of some minimalist, abstract, ambient chiptunes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuRropE0YN8 Some of it is somewhat standard game music, whilst other parts are pure John Cage, or just out there in a world of their own. That probably explains "abstract" better than I could.

TRACKLIST:
Sega sound Beta / Unused Sega sound
Universe – On the Planet Surface
Bonks Adventure – 16
Dragon Slayer 2 – 01
Marble Madness – 14
KO Seiki Beast Sanjuushi – PVCD4011_22
Wave Master – BRAIN WASH (STAGE 4-1)
Wave Master – BRAIN VOICE (STAGE 4-2)
Streets of Rage – Tunnelway
Mahjong Touhaiden – Dancing Princess
Ecco The Dolphin – Medusa Bay
Alshark – BGM #12
Nobunaga no Yabou – Bushou Fuuunroku – Elegance (Opening)
Lode Runner: Ushinawareta Meikyuu – BGM #01
Secret of Mana – Ceremony
Chrono Cross – Cave Ambience
Akira – T01
King Breeder – 03
Mahjong Touhaiden – Mister Diviner
Do-Re-Mi Fantasy – Underwater Tranquility
Do-Re-Mi Fantasy – Freezing Ice Plains
The Dome – MSC001
Soft de Hard na Monogatari – THE DOME
Aquanaut no Kyujitsu – SYSTEM.SP 23
J.B. Harold Murder Club – 06
Ranger X – Mission Objective
Eric The Viking – Peace In The Harbour
Equinox – Sonia’s Fortress
Sol Bianca – 30
Mother 2 – The Power
Axelay – The Moment of Rest
Chrono Cross – Fragments of Dreams

The track above is by St�phane Picq and if you haven’y heard of him, then you are in for a treat. Pretty much all of his stuff is very experimental and unlike anything you’d normally hear in a video game of that era. I had an entire episode of my podcast dedicated to his music. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d56DbB78y3M) Picq’s early soundtracks on Amiga and PC are probably the closest to that ‘MIDI sound’, I recommend listening to Dune, Kult, Extase, KGB, and Dune. His later music is mostly streamed audio, although the style is still largely the same.

Picq is a great suggestion. His Dune & Atlantis works are definitely favourites of mine.

His amiga music is amazing and definitely fits truly unique. His PC work is maybe a little too polished for what I’m looking for though. IMHO it doesn’t have that slightly cheesy midi preset sound to it, it’s moved away from game music and could happily exist as movie, tv or just publicly released music. Obviously that’s not a criticism, it’s just not what I’m searching for right now..

Here’s another example I’ve stumbled upon from the PS1 game Romance ha Ken no Kagayaki II – Gin no Niji wo Sagashite

https://www.zophar.net/music/playstation-psf/romance-ha-ken-no-kagayaki-ii-gin-no-niji-wo-sagashite It’s track ADPACK.DAT_08_00