Originally composed for the project "Slime Jammers" as part of the GBJam 9.

Unfortunately, a minimum playable prototype wasn't finished in time so it was never submitted for the game jam but I decided that I'd release the tracks anyway so things don't go to waste!

Slime Jammers was going to be a racing game made in Unity in a similar vein to that of the "Top Ride" mode in Kirby Air Ride for the Nintendo GameCube.

First time that I've tried to make music for a racing/party game but I thought it turned out well, if not a bit eclectic and "out there" - what I was going for though!

Composed with love using FamiTracker and utilising the FDS expansion chip for that beefy bass.

Thanks to the rest of the team for giving things a go anyway!

Game jam entries: https://itch.io/jam/gbjam-9/entries
Album art by jinx: https://twitter.com/vrisking

Title

The original soundtrack to "Wingless Workload or her majesty dies", created by furieuxfrangins.

Game link: https://furieuxfrangins.itch.io/wingless-workload-or-her-majesty-dies
Max's Twitter: https://twitter.com/FurieuxFrangins
Max's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc0Bi3T2YnL3vGaYwD5x6dw 

This game was an entry into the VimJam2, running from 10th-20th September 2021 and I had a lot of fun participating and creating some music for someone else's project!

Made lovingly with FamiTracker, akin to the GameBoy music style.

Game description:

"Created for the VimJam2 in 10 days, Wingless Workload or her majesty dies is a fun take on the single-screen arcade platformers of the 80s.

In a gameboy-esque aesthetic, play as Zippy the loyal wingless bee trying to keep her dying Queen Beeatrice alive as long as possible!

Explore 4 uniquely themed levels to find the flowers keeping your Queen alive, each accompanied by a wonderful music track composed by Jonpon for the project."

Sombre Woods (alternate)

Originally composed for a project as part of the MechJam II.

Unfortunately, a minimum playable prototype wasn't finished in time so it was never submitted for the game jam but I decided that I'd finish writing what I'd started and release the two tracks anyway so things don't go to waste!

The game was going to be a 2D game where the player sits inside the cockpit of a mech and controls each leg independently. Able to utilise steam-based weapons and others like a chaingun and rocket launcher, the player navigates the level in the style of the older "Wolfenstein" games.

I tried to give the tracks a grungy, atmospheric vibe and calling in some deep and steampunk-esque instruments to fit the brief and I thought they turned okay! I didn't have much reference material to go by in the end so it ended up being more of a free-form job!

Composed with love using FamiTracker and utilising the Namco 163 expansion chip for those custom waveforms.

Thanks to the rest of the team for giving things a go anyway!

Game jam entries: https://itch.io/jam/mechjam2/entries

Altmos

Chiptune rendition of the credits theme from Shatter, written for the OST Composing Jam: PASTIME I.

https://itch.io/jam/ost-composing-jam-pastime-1

Shatter - Homelands (Credits Theme) #OSTCompJam

The champion battle theme from Pokemon R/B/Y, redone in Famitracker with a VRC7 swing.

Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow - Champion Battle - Famitracker VRC7

Revisiting SunVox again for another original track, I wanted to tackle something a little more atmospheric. I landed on something which I'd envisage to exist in a Cyberpunk (ish) world with people living in accommodation built into a mountain range, with vast sweeping walkways. Similar to a mine with multiple entrances, if you will.

Also, I brought in some simple drum loops I'd created from LMMS for the second half of the track to aid the lower, grungy synths in setting up that atmosphere. Thinking about it, the imagery is like the beginning of Final Fantasy VI. I won't spoil it but the colour palette and environment detail cement that feeling.

Guderan Mountains

Pokemon X/Y Wild Battle Theme - Famitracker 8-bit

It's been a rough three months but I'm finally back with another track. I've been wanting to revisit the Street Fighter universe once again after covering Ken's theme from Street Fighter II: The World Warrior so came back at it with another of Ken's tracks, along with Alex!

...the banger that is -JAZZY NYC '99- from their stage.

An iconic theme from the fighting game community - as soon as I hear the track start, all I can hear is a member of the crowd shouting "LET'S GO JUSTIN", that being Justin Wong vs. Daigo Umehara playing Chun-Li and Ken respectively. 

A moment culminating in an incredible full parry from Daigo against Chun-Li's super. Unforgettable.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my rendition of the theme, putting a different and ever so slightly slower spin on a classic. All the best.

Street Fighter III 3rd Strike - Alex & Ken Stage -JAZZY NYC '99- (FamiTracker, 2a03)

I've had this one on my list for a while as I've been a bit afraid to tackle something like this. Originally, I had it down as a cover in FamiTracker using the N163 chip but due to my recent pickup of a new DAW in LMMS, I decided to give it another shot.

I didn't realise that I would love the Tekken 7 OST, given that a lot of the tracks are Drum n' Bass related but the Jungle Outpost and Arctic Snowfall themes really go hard. They get you so hyped and in the zone, in my case ready to get completely destroyed by the AI due to my incompetence. Yoshimitsu isn't quite what he used to be...

Ruminations aside, this is my first time trying this sort of genre. I think it turned out alright but there are still a lot of intricacies that I had no idea about that I still need to brush up on. The bass and snare drums are surprisingly difficult to get an adequate sound on.

Tekken 7 - Jungle Outpost Round 1 (Equator Line 1st, LMMS)

So the reason that this song was stuck in my head recently was because I happened to stumble across the "Bouncing Seals" video again and proceeded to replay it numerous times. This song was already a banger and those seals just enhanced it even more.

I always get this one confused with the boss music but it is in fact the power-up music when Kirby's inhales a Mint Leaf in the English localisation and a roasted sweet potato in the original Japanese version! I think it was supposed to be Kirby's actually burping but this changed to fresh minty breath for the west. Does our breath really smell that bad?

As usual, I decided to add a few individual touches to the track, evolving it ever further as things build up until I landed on the baseline theme to finish things off. I had a lot of fun with this one and I hope you enjoy.

Kirby's Dream Land - Mint Breath / Roasted Sweet Potato Shooting (LMMS)

So, I've happily fallen into the VTuber rabbit hole these past couple of months and mostly just watching a few clips here and there, as well as stream vods when I can, although I don't have a huge amount of time for them these days.

What the people at Hololive have done is huge and it has actually introduced me to a lot of Japanese music artists, including Tatsuro Yamashita and subsequently Akina Nakamori - I really love the 80s vibe that is completely different from electronic music here in the UK in the 80s, at least in my opinion.

I can't get enough of the music and karaoke streams and have been completely captivated by Houshou Marine's stream from late last year, particularly her duet with Tokoyami Towa singing DESIRE. I genuinely can't stop listening to it - the contrast between their two voices is sublime.

Anyway, I just had to do a remake of it as best I could, using the Marine x Towa duet version as a reference. I hope that the lead instruments for the two voices have some contrast and fit the overall vibe of the song as well as I think they do. This track has got some amazing chord progressions and structure and feel overall that I completely love. I do hope I can do something else again soon.

Akina Nakamori - DESIRE (Jōnetsu), Marine x Towa ver.

I popped into a stream the other day and was immediately hit with a bout of nostalgia as I realised that the soundtrack from Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition (Stairway to the Destined Duel) was playing! I played away countless hours spamming duels against Mokuba and Trusdale (not sure that was a translation error as it was Yugi's grandpa). Easy free packs unless he whipped out the Cyber Stein & Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon combo. I never actually progressed that far into the story but might eventually have to give it a playthrough if I can find a fun stall / mill deck.

I love this theme as it's so upbeat and bouncy - it really hits that friendly duel vibe, even though we were just there to smash faces. Compared to other GameBoy Advance soundtracks, this one doesn't use that many channels but the sound design is on point throughout. The main and battle phases are always hype, especially when the defending monster flips over. Because of that, it actually translates really well into a classic 4-channel track while being able to utilise the pulse channels for multiple sections.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition - Duel Theme 1 (FamiTracker, 8-bit)

As a continuation on from my previous duel theme from the incredibly nostalgic Gameboy Advance game Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition (Stairway to the Destined Duel), I decided to attempt to bring the second main duel theme a bit more up-to-date with an electronic re-imagining! Not modern by any stretch of the imagination but I think it still very much retains the spirit of the original. This theme plays for a few of the other main characters from the series, including Mai Valentine.

Combined a few synths as well as some (hopefully) cleaner drum samples to make those chords really stand out. I made a few adjustments to those to give my own spin on those progressions and buildup / release of tension towards the end. 

Still using the stock instruments and samples that come along with the LMMS DAW but bringing what I can to the experience and hope to eventually play around with the ZynAddSubFX plugin very soon!

Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition - Duel Theme 2 (LMMS)

Man, I have so many great memories playing Super Smash Bros. with some old childhood friends and even some alone just playing versus three level 9 opponents as Captain Falcon, Ganondorf or Kirby. Cheesing people with a Falcon Punch is always hilarious. And Kirby is just cute as always, as well as deadly.

There are so many great tracks from this GameCube classic, Brinstar and Mother included but the transitions in this track are what make it one of my favourites. Bringing in that choir section halfway through and then knocking everyone for six with the slightly off-beat piano triplets I want to say, although I'm not entirely sure of the correct terminology. Like when you play a chord but the individual notes are staggered across the bars.

I tried my best to match the synths and samples where I could. I think the lead sections throughout the track were actually quite authentic but the percussion samples were a bit lackluster here. Mostly down to my own incompetence and lack of knowledge but also that LMMS isn't really the program to be combining and creating now percussion sounds with its limited instruction set. In the future, I'd like to create my own samples again like I have done in the past, extract those into something like Audacity for manipulation and then a final import into LMMS for mixing.

Super Smash Bros. Melee - Hyrule Temple [The Legend of Zelda] (LMMS)

This track has an incredible amount of nuance in it with many different moods, swings and melodies but somehow, it all ends up coming together coherently. That is truly a testament to the compositional power of the musicians working on the Pokemon franchise.

Due to this, it ended up being incredibly difficult to transcribe and bring it back down to earth with only four channels and while I think that I overused some custom arpeggios a little, I think it came out okay.

This is actually my first "demake" from generation V I believe, that being the Pokemon Black 2 / White 2 and original Black / White versions. Colress only appears in the second installations but man, this is a quintessential theme that somehow wraps up what the scientists at Team Plasma were all about!

Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 - Battle! Colress (FamiTracker 2a03, 8-bit)

I absolutely adore what they did with the Johto Rival theme from the Pokémon Johto Journeys anime and I wanted to do something similar here for the Kanto rival! While there is no special battle music in the generation 1 video games, I did my best to think about what could have been created for them.

It was an inspiring move to actually turn the "Rival Appears!" track from Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal into a battle theme for the anime and it lends itself so well to it. The strings, the trumpets, the guitars. There is something about the sound from the anime versions that were composed - truly amazing.

Replacing the usual strings and trumpets with some synths and more percussive elements, I tried to blend what happens throughout the game where you fight your rival at many different points. Professor Oak's lab, Pokemon Tower, before the Pokemon league. When will he finally admit defeat?

Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow - Rival Appears! (Battle theme adaptation)

I've been wanting to do another track from the Pokemon anime and while it took my a while to get going, I finally finished one of my favourite songs from all of the films. Going to Latios! Sometimes also known as The Rescue for Latios.

It just so happens to come from the fifth Pokémon movie - The Guardians of Alto Mare Latias and Latios / The Guardian Gods of the Water Capital Latias and Latios (Mizu no Miyako no Mamorigami Latias to Latios / 水の都の護神 ラティアスとラティオス). I don't actually remember watching the movie at all but I am sure that I have at some point.

My main focus for this one was to work on my mixing as the panning and sound levels haven't really been up to scratch. I thought that the overall instrumentation fits the vibe well and instead of attempting to "force" a realistic brass sound, I went for something more akin to a square or sawtooth wave instead, which I think blended well.

LMMS tends to do those sweeping synth strings incredibly well and I hope to utilise more of that in the future. I'll have to see whether I can watch this movie again.

Time for a quick break over the weekend but normal service will resume from Monday, albeit with a new project going forward (hopefully).

Latios no Moto he!
ラティオスの元へ!
Going to Latios!

Pokémon Anime Sound Collection - Going to Latios! (ラティオスの元へ!, LMMS)

I actually finished this track after losing a bunch of progress in my current playthrough of Phantasy Star IV. It's a brutal game (as were most in that era) and I was very careless with not using my Land Rover when I should have. Missing the comfort of the cabin, I was destroyed mercilessly by a giant sand worm which managed to cause an earthquake of such magnitude that it also caused me to just exit the game.

In most cases, I would probably just drop the game altogether but I have been enjoying the story arcs so much that I will pass this one off as not saving frequently enough and being a little careless when it comes to later in the evening. Luckily, the music is so good on the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis that even though there are frequent random battles at every corner, I never get tired of them (at the moment).

What probably helps this is the fact that there are numerous ways to battle, or so it seems. Starting on your own to feet, you eventually transition to vehicular transport, both of which have their own unique theme. Topping that off with and incredible boss theme and I can't wait to get stuck back in.

After that rather large tangent, I was caught off guard by how incredible the music in the dungeons and structures are. I've listened to the OST countless times but actually experiencing them in-game gives a whole new layer of enjoyment and understanding. The bass in this track in particular is so grungy and satisfying that I just can't get enough of it.

You may also notice that for once, I've actually used some DPCM samples and guess what? It actually makes it sound so much better! When will I ever learn eh....

Phantasy Star IV - Organic Beat (FamiTracker VRC7)

I have good memories of my first Mortal Kombat games that I owned - Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance being the first and Deception being the second. I had actually played Mortal Kombat 3 many times before on a friend's Super Nintendo and enjoyed it immensely, Cyrax being my go-to character for that throw spam against the AI.

Bo Rai Cho was my favourite character from Deadly Alliance though. The drunken fist technique and throwing up all over the floor to make your opponent slip on the ground was always hilarious. The fatality of bouncing up and down on your opponent with your belly as they explode being equally hilarious to me during my teenage years.

I always used to play a lot with my brother-in-law who taught me a lot about trying to lose gracefully during a competitive setting as I was a terrible loser - an awful specimen of rage! I've since calmed down a little but I can still be fiercely competitive, stubborn and driven, to my detriment on most occasions. He always used to play Scorpion and Sub-Zero, either freezing me in place or GET OVER HERE and pulling me in with Scorpion's spear.

The Mortal Kombat games were always immensely savage and I've always loved them for that. I currently own Mortal Kombat X actually but have never given it the chance as fighting games can require an immense amount of practice but maybe one day I'll revisit it (or maybe Deadly Alliance and Deception instead....)

Anyway, back to the track after all that waffle. I hope I can do a lot more research and compositions when it comes to an acutely industrial, discordant and ultimately "crunchy" sound when it comes to tracks like these. Much like the game itself, this track is grungy, dark and technical. I think it gets a little bit of flak for this but I really do love the beat. I do hope that I did the game a little bit of justice recreating this theme, with sampled drums and all.

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance - Character Select (FamiTracker 8-bit)

Track 04 out of 06 is "The Atlas", the original chiptune version that was created for the project and what the first track, "Through the Eye of an Atlas", is based on.

"Cyber Moon Rising" is a six-track album based on some original video game music ideas for a 2D platformer in a cyberpunk-esque environment. The classic stereotypical things that you would expect based on current thoughts on what the 22nd century could look like - neon signs, a deep dark blue/purple hue to the streets and a lot of open-market locations.

Original sounds and music composed by Jon Herbst.
Composed using FamiTracker, the Dn-FamiTracker fork developed by the D.P.C.M. team.

Cyber Moon Rising

The Atlas (chiptune ver.)

04 The Atlas (chiptune ver.)

Track 03 out of 06 is "One in the Chambers", home to the underground racing scene that takes place amongst the abandoned but thankfully clean sewer network. These expansive tunnel systems are the perfect place for petrolheads to flex their muscles and drown in the true essence of competitive racing. Even though street car technology has advanced rapidly over the last 100 years, these members have managed to keep their old motors under wraps out of sight and beautifully maintained so that they can still enjoy the wail of pumping pistons and anything from four-cylinder engines upwards. There is nothing quite like the sound of a real engine sound echoing through the miles and miles of almost straight systems, broken up by perfectly adjacent junctions.

This is one of the very few things that connects man to that primal adrenaline rush of having control of speed and competition. No dirty tactics here - members are carefully vetted but attract many additional spectators that share that love for speed and pure engine noise.

"Cyber Moon Rising" is a six-track album based on some original video game music ideas for a 2D platformer in a cyberpunk-esque environment. The classic stereotypical things that you would expect based on current thoughts on what the 22nd century could look like - neon signs, a deep dark blue/purple hue to the streets and a lot of open-market locations.

Original sounds and music composed by Jon Herbst.
Composed using SunVox, developed by Alexander Zolotov.
Additional drum samples sourced from the LMMS stock sample library.

One in the Chambers

03 One in the Chambers

Track 02 out of 06 is "House of the Bazaar", one of the open market sections of the lower city, home to sellers of narcotics, weapons and other contraband items. What you see is what you get - anything goes and it doesn't matter how the items were obtained in the first place. Almost a "legal" black market if you will. Payments being taken by scanning your digital identification, to be put straight away on your historical track record. However, even though the "authorities" know what you have been purchasing, they know deep down that these sellers maintain the increasingly fragile balance of this newly devolved society.

At least food and drink are one of the very few things holding everything together that survives any ongoing change. People can still enjoy some good food and other forms of alcohol together to relax and unwind. Communities are still sociable with one another - that is one thing that can be said.

"Cyber Moon Rising" is a six-track album based on some original video game music ideas for a 2D platformer in a cyberpunk-esque environment. The classic stereotypical things that you would expect based on current thoughts on what the 22nd century could look like - neon signs, a deep dark blue/purple hue to the streets and a lot of open-market locations.

Original sounds and music composed by Jon Herbst.
Composed using SunVox, developed by Alexander Zolotov.
Additional drum samples sourced from the LMMS stock sample library.

House of the Bazaar

02 House of the Bazaar

Track 01 out of 06 is "Through the Eye of an Atlas", a step into a futuristic new world of technology, discordance and deceit. Sure, there have been many good things to come out of this revolution but with the good, there must come evil to maintain the balance and equilibrium of this world. Naturally, it was always going to turn into some form of dystopia but to what degree was always going to be a mystery. As we wander the streets, neon signs at every turn. Dealers, merchants, those who have just finished their working day. Out to finally have some rest and relaxation - a drink alone or some dinner with friends.

Some would say that the humans are regressing once again due to the will for freedom and utter disgust for anything that goes against their beliefs but that does nothing but further plunge their civilisations into deeper levels of anarchy. They finally realise the magnitude of the situation when barely anyone else wants to bring new life into this world for fear of what they would have to deal with even further into the future.

"Cyber Moon Rising" is a six-track album based on some original video game music ideas for a 2D platformer in a cyberpunk-esque environment. The classic stereotypical things that you would expect based on current thoughts on what the 22nd century could look like - neon signs, a deep dark blue/purple hue to the streets and a lot of open-market locations.

Original sounds and music composed by Jon Herbst.
Composed using SunVox, developed by Alexander Zolotov.
Additional drum samples sourced from the LMMS stock sample library.

Through the Eye of an Atlas

01 Through the Eye of an Atlas

"Thanks mister! Wow! You saved our lives!"
"NOOOOOOOO!"

"When I saw the Pikachu status, I kinda went crazy....... so I grabbed it!"
"NOOOOOOOO!"

"Wow! That means that we can run into that Ho-Oh any time! Wow!"
"No."

"Ash, you keep talking like that and I'm going to blush!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Wait - can't we battle first?"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"........."
"NOOOOOOO!"

"My will gives me strength, and now you'll see it first-hand!"
"NOOO!"

Some of my favourite lines from Brandon in the anime, particularly just the parts where he says NOOOOOOOOOO.

I've had this track stuck in my head for a while and after wanting to play through generation 3 again so I can finally take on the Battle Frontier (which I never did unfortunately), I decided to cover the track that is the last battle before you get the Gold Symbol!

I tried to incorporate a mixture of 3/4 and 4/4 rhythms into this track which I've seen other titles do, particularly the Brinstar Depths theme from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and while it was a mixture of success here, I think it generally blends well.

I do enjoy bringing some of these older Pokemon tracks into a more synthesized environment and hope you do too!

Pokemon Emerald - Frontier Brain Battle (LMMS)

After doing the Rocket Silo theme in LMMS a while back, I decided to revisit Super Crate Box to tackle an 8-bit version of the music from the first level of the game - the Construction Yard.

This is the music that I remember the most when I used to play to original game a long time back, mostly because it was the level you played when learning the mechanics the most and what gets you into the mood to get that new high score.

A lovely little arcade score attack shooter that takes place on a single screen and can easily be played on a small window. Maybe that helps when you're trying to hide it from others looking along with games like N+ at college ......

I've been bringing a bit more DPCM to my tracks these days and it definitely does bring more of a boost to some of them. Although by using the Zxx command to combat some sample popping, you do lose a bit of volume from the triangle channel in return so it is always a tradeoff on original hardware due to the limitations!

Super Crate Box - Construction Yard

There is something about fighting game music from the PS1 era that I really do enjoy. I find it far more atmospheric than what we see today but that does not mean that either is worse than the other. Times have changed with the gameplay and the music has evolved along with it.

I think this theme along with King's (which I hope to cover soon using LMMS instead) are two of my favourites from this game, even though I'm a Yoshimitsu main - can't beat that Shark Attack! Those chords in both of them, along with the synths used really are something else.

While I tried to stay faithful to the original in most of this cover, I did put my own personal spin on certain sections as always, where I feel that the track could benefit from some flourishes when it comes to translating it to the VRC7 expansion chip. Some of the default instruments are great but scattering in a few pitch slides for the pulse (square) and triangle channels really is fun to do. I do hope you enjoyed my rendition of this legendary theme for all those 90s fighting game community folks!

Tekken 3 - Nina Williams Theme (FamiTracker, VRC7)

What an incredible stage that King had in Tekken 3. I could have sworn that it was just a giant arena structure hovering way up in the sky where playable characters could wrestle it out against the best of the best. I never really played much of King as I couldn't really get my head around the grapple techniques that he heavily relied on - maybe that's also why I never really gelled with Zangief from the Street Fighter franchise, there are some similarities there.

As well as having an almost ethereal stage, the music is incredibly atmospheric with a mild breakbeat style with a lot of layered percussion to accentuate that. It's actually quite minimal overall but the instrumentation used after that intro section really packs a punch. I've always found it interesting how it goes from those soft opening synths to power chords in a matter of moments but it really does fit the stage so well.

I hope that I could do it a small amount of justice here. I think the soft synth sections were the highlight for me, while I may have been lacking somewhat in the instrumentation for the guitar sections and those little build-ups. I still haven't found a reasonable way to tinker with the fading in and out in LMMS and I haven't even scratched the surface when it comes to creating instruments myself so I have a long way to go there to get more of the sound that I am looking for.

Tekken 3 - King (LMMS)

I'll admit that this one took a lot out of me while trying to process everything during this de-make. There is a surprising amount of complexity and intricacy when it comes to music such as this. 

My main focus was attempting to mix in some form of vocal synthesis within the settings of the square channel I had available while keeping everything coherent throughout. I think that I managed to add enough variety to the lead and melody while increasing the tempo slightly to give a little more of an upbeat and "bouncy" feel to make the move from a fully-produced professional track to a mixed-down 4-channel 8-bit version.

I've probably been on a Hololive binge for the past 18 months and I do enjoy relaxing with a few streams from some of the talents now and again, both from the main branch and Holostars! It's really nice having that mix and languages too - you start to pick up common words and phrases here and there and I do eventually want to being learning Japanese so this is a nice little supplement until then!

hololive IDOL PROJECT - Shiny Smily Story (FamiTracker, 8-bit NES)

A small D&D campaign that I have been watching on Twitch has ended recently and one of the things that I loved about was the fact that the DM would play both old and new RPG battle themes during the fights that allowed me to pick up on some new music that I may have missed over the years. One of those just happened to be the boss battle theme from Lufia II on the SNES.

Wow, what a track. I think my favourite section has to be that first "verse" section after the intro, that also doubles up as the start of the track again after the first loop. The syncopation there with the percussion is what brings me back for more each time. It builds that suspense and urgency, which is then released in the following sections, where the drums go back to a more familiar style that allows the music to flow again.

Having those guitar chords later on really helps this along, as the track briefly steers towards something a little more traditional for Super Nintendo RPGs. Then you're immediately thrown back into the action again. It's a shame that I never got to play this game at all but one day, I hope to be able to listen to this as intended - fighting with the party against a formidable foe!

Hope you enjoy my rendition of this. I particularly focused on trying to fill out the available four channels that I had at my disposal. One trick that works really well is to switch between notes relatively quickly if you're got the same instrument playing two notes in the original. By doing so, you can almost trick your brain into filling out the missing sections, in a similar way to simulating echo in a single channel. It's always fun to play around with that and while sometimes it can be obvious, it's possible to mask it well now and again!

Lufia II - Boss Battle Theme (FamiTracker, 2a03)

The Lab 16 Ruin theme from Chrono Trigger done in 8-bit. Remade in Famitracker using the 2a03 expansion chip.

Chrono Trigger - Lab 16 Ruin - 8bit

8-bit rendition of the entire Shatter soundtrack composed by Jeramiah "Module" Ross in 2009.

Created in FamiTracker with no expansion chips (2a03).

Module's discography: https://module.bandcamp.com/

8 - Bit Shatter Album - #2 Aurora

8 - Bit Shatter Album - #1 Kinetic Harvest

"Ruins" theme from Blue Dragon on the Xbox 360 in FamiTracker, no expansions.

Blue Dragon - Ruins - FamiTracker 2a03

Profile of Jonathan Herbst, a video game music composer from the United Kingdom. Creating original music and covers, specialising in electronic music - particularly Chiptune and FM Synthesis.

Popular tracks by Jonpon