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Chiptune.app

chiptune.app

41–50 of 186 posts

Re: Chiptune.app

#41

Am I blind or are there no SID modules? C64 is like 90% of tracked music that I'm listening to. :(

In the scene people always set SIDs and tracker chiptunes apart, because of how technically different the two are. There's an enormous technical complexity of having to emulate not just the SID chip (which still isn't 100% understood) but also the 6510 CPU and even some of the C64's CIA timers to accurately replay SIDs, whereas almost all sample-based tracker music from the Amiga and PC need none of that effort. Repl…

Meanwhile, there's GoatTracker (tracker for SID music).

Re: Chiptune.app

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd guess the hard work is done by the WebAssembly blob. There are open libraries written in C and C++ for the rendering of just about any audio format into a sample buffer. For General MIDI playback you could use e.g. the TiMidity++ or FluidSynth libraries, which use instrument data from SoundFont files.

The settings offer a variety of playback options, including FluidSynth—with a choice of SoundFonts—or direct Web MIDI. This is wild. Anyone who’s more into this space than I am have any editorial comments on the various SoundFont options? …listening to Space Quest III…

The Roland SC-55/SCC-1 one would probably be an authentic sounding choice for GM/GS game soundtracks after the early 90s, since a lot of the soundtracks were actually composed with it. Doom (and its sequel), Duke Nukem 3D, Descent, the Warcraft games (though the WC2 composer(s?) used an SC-88 as well) just off the top of my head.

Or Masquerade 55, if you want higher fidelity but with SC-55 replacement in mind.

Space Quest III predates General MIDI altogether. I assume that the original soundtrack was composed for the Roland MT-32 and that the ones you are listening to have been remade into GM by fans, or maybe it was added in a later version. It would be nice if this player contained an MT-32 emulator since so many Sierra (and other) game soundtracks were composed for it specifically. Such a thing already exists: https://github.com/munt/munt

Re: Chiptune.app

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the scene people always set SIDs and tracker chiptunes apart, because of how technically different the two are. There's an enormous technical complexity of having to emulate not just the SID chip (which still isn't 100% understood) but also the 6510 CPU and even some of the C64's CIA timers to accurately replay SIDs, whereas almost all sample-based tracker music from the Amiga and PC need none of that effort. Repl…

Meanwhile, there's GoatTracker (tracker for SID music).

And SID Factory and a couple of others.

Re: Chiptune.app

#44
post #9

The fact that the songs play instantly when you click makes me sad for literally all modern software.

Not sure I follow. I just tried with Spotify on my phone and desktop (oooh Electron spooky) and any song plays instantly.

I actually find that Spotify is super buggy. If I switch devices it doesn't work (I have to select the new device at least five times), when I go underground with my phone it's super slow to realise that I've lost connection, and I usually have to restart the app for it to continue playing music.

Re: Chiptune.app

#45

Am I blind or are there no SID modules? C64 is like 90% of tracked music that I'm listening to. :(

In the scene people always set SIDs and tracker chiptunes apart, because of how technically different the two are. There's an enormous technical complexity of having to emulate not just the SID chip (which still isn't 100% understood) but also the 6510 CPU and even some of the C64's CIA timers to accurately replay SIDs, whereas almost all sample-based tracker music from the Amiga and PC need none of that effort. Repl…

> also the 6510 CPU and even some of the C64's CIA timers

yes, but also the VIC timers and the PLA. So basically you need all of the c64 chips emulated, at least in part :)

I wrote a simple SID player for fun and I feel like it's 20% shy of being a full c64 emulator, all it needs is video output and keyboard/joystick input.

Re: Chiptune.app

#46
post #7

Man, VGMusic.com was my Spotify in the 90's :) I don't know much about the MIDI format, but there was one song [1] that I used to love listening to on Windows 9x. I guess the file took advantage of some 9x quirk, because the orchestration is completely busted in modern Windows and macOS. I'm so happy because this site plays it just the way I remember it! [1]: https://chiptune.app/?play=vgmusic.com%20MIDI%2Fconsole%2F…

Try the settings in the player, it has loads of soundfonts to try, they all sound very different. If it's a midi file, it all depends on what sound card or installed soundfont you had at that time.

Re: Chiptune.app

#48
post #9

The fact that the songs play instantly when you click makes me sad for literally all modern software.

Not sure I follow. I just tried with Spotify on my phone and desktop (oooh Electron spooky) and any song plays instantly.

I think the point is that "all modern software" has all kinds of delays and buffering before playing, in contrast to this site where the audio just plays instantly and reliably.

Re: Chiptune.app

#49

Am I blind or are there no SID modules? C64 is like 90% of tracked music that I'm listening to. :(

To be fair, nobody called c64 music "chip music", it was just "music/tunes" because c64 music is really just code so in a way all of it was chip music (excepting some digi tunes).

The term chip music was coined on amigas and newer computers to differentiate it from regular sample based music.

Re: Chiptune.app

#50
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure I follow. I just tried with Spotify on my phone and desktop (oooh Electron spooky) and any song plays instantly.

I actually find that Spotify is super buggy. If I switch devices it doesn't work (I have to select the new device at least five times), when I go underground with my phone it's super slow to realise that I've lost connection, and I usually have to restart the app for it to continue playing music.

For me switching playback device is quick and reliable if the device is a PC or phone. Whenever I try to select a connected Google speaker... it takes like 3-5 tries. I've found it is more reliable to use voice commands to get the speaker to play Spotify then I can use a phone/PC to select the song/playlist/podcast/etc. but it's kind of frustrating it just doesn't work well to begin with.
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