Attempt to improve Descent's MIDI music
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:14 am
I've been listening to Descent's music since I played the game in 1996 and I doubt I'll ever get bored of it. I have the stereo AdLib recordings (OPL3) that I've done my self, and now I can also hear the proper General MIDI score via my Roland CM-300 (sounds identical to a Sound Canvas 55).
However, I wanted to take things a bit further.
Some months ago I bought a Roland D-110, which is an LA (Linear Arithmetic) multi-timbral sound module. These aren't general MIDI compatible due to the lack of parts and tones. Good news is, I was able to find the General MIDI patch for it, and began to play some GM MIDIs on it. First up had to be Descent - and I was quite surprised at the results.
Only a few of them would play correctly due to the lack of parts (Roland D-110 has 8 sustained parts and 1 rhythm). So, me being a lunatic regarding LA hardware, I bought another Roland D-110 and connected them together. Now I have 15 sustained parts and 1 rhythm (or 14 sustained parts and 2 rhythm, depending on how I set them up).
The result? More MIDIs play correctly. Some sound odd and some completely off as these weren't designed for General MIDI (they were released in 1988).
Now, with both of them at my disposal, I have been attempting to get the Descent MIDIs to play off of them. Some I've had to tweak (removing duplicate notes, changing channel volumes etc) but some of these sound fantastic.
Here's the ones I've currently recorded, but some haven't had any tweaks yet. I'm open to suggestions, however I don't have any decent software - so if anyone else wishes to play with the MIDIs then let me record the output, I'm more than happy to do that
All recordings are Ogg Vorbis, and you may hear a slight hum - one of my audio cables seems to catch inteference quite badly, and I'm still trying to resolve the issue
Here's the current ones I've tweaked:
Menu(still needs work)
Level 1
Level 5
Level 7
Level 10 (still needs work)
Level 13
Ones I haven't tweaked (original MIDIs):
Level 2
Level 11
Level 12
As stated, if anyone has suggestions or wishes to help you're more than welcome
However, I wanted to take things a bit further.
Some months ago I bought a Roland D-110, which is an LA (Linear Arithmetic) multi-timbral sound module. These aren't general MIDI compatible due to the lack of parts and tones. Good news is, I was able to find the General MIDI patch for it, and began to play some GM MIDIs on it. First up had to be Descent - and I was quite surprised at the results.
Only a few of them would play correctly due to the lack of parts (Roland D-110 has 8 sustained parts and 1 rhythm). So, me being a lunatic regarding LA hardware, I bought another Roland D-110 and connected them together. Now I have 15 sustained parts and 1 rhythm (or 14 sustained parts and 2 rhythm, depending on how I set them up).
The result? More MIDIs play correctly. Some sound odd and some completely off as these weren't designed for General MIDI (they were released in 1988).
Now, with both of them at my disposal, I have been attempting to get the Descent MIDIs to play off of them. Some I've had to tweak (removing duplicate notes, changing channel volumes etc) but some of these sound fantastic.
Here's the ones I've currently recorded, but some haven't had any tweaks yet. I'm open to suggestions, however I don't have any decent software - so if anyone else wishes to play with the MIDIs then let me record the output, I'm more than happy to do that
All recordings are Ogg Vorbis, and you may hear a slight hum - one of my audio cables seems to catch inteference quite badly, and I'm still trying to resolve the issue
Here's the current ones I've tweaked:
Menu(still needs work)
Level 1
Level 5
Level 7
Level 10 (still needs work)
Level 13
Ones I haven't tweaked (original MIDIs):
Level 2
Level 11
Level 12
As stated, if anyone has suggestions or wishes to help you're more than welcome
sweet!