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View topic - MIDI Controled SMS Synth Engine??

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Jon Z.
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MIDI Controled SMS Synth Engine??
Post Posted: Tue May 07, 2002 5:19 am
hello,

first of all, i gotta say that you guys are amazing! i can't tell you how wonderful this creation is and how much i appreciate it! this is the most wonderful thing i've come across on the net in years.!.!.!

i've always wanted to find a way to have access to the synth engine in the master system or genesis. i'd like to find a way to control those sounds using a MIDI sequencer.

does anyone know of a way to do this? is there some software that i could use to assign the different sounds to different MIDI channels and have as much control over the sounds as the original game creators had?

thanks again, and please keep up the good work!

- jon z.

 
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Post Posted: Wed May 08, 2002 2:18 pm
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> i've always wanted to find a way to have access to the synth engine in the master system or genesis. i'd like to find a way to control those sounds using a MIDI sequencer.

> does anyone know of a way to do this? is there some software that i could use to assign the different sounds to different MIDI channels and have as much control over the sounds as the original game creators had?

On the SMS there's PSG music and FM.

PSG music is VERY simple. You can set a channel's frequency and volume. To apply stuff like volume envelopes, vibrato, etc. you have to code it yourself. Many sound engines have this, but it's not really extractable. You might try MOD2PSG fro the S8-dev section which can convert MOD files to source code, but it's not a no-brainer to make this into an actual game.

FM gives you 15 instruments and 5 percussion sounds. This is relatively simple, the chip handles everything in a very MIDI-like manner. MIDI to YM2413 is probably possible, for someone with the necessary knowledge of both.

The Genesis (Mega Drive) has a YM2612, which is a more flexible and therefore more complex chip. Every instrument has to be defined by the coder, which is not easy. If the required instruments can be defined reasonably then YM2612 would also be possible.

To have as much control as the original game creators you really need an expert to code the sound engine to expose all the features you want, and you will have to write the music in a format proprietary to the engine. This is not a simple task.

Maxim
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