more music

Both original tracks and covers made in an 8-bit style.
Almost all of these were made with FamiTracker. Note that the earlier ones were made with FT2 but that I've moved over to the extension 0cc since. Once or twice I've tried it with OMPT as well.

Kind of selective about which .ftm's or .0cc's I'd want to share but feel free to ask.

All Chiptunes

Arranges of other people's work. Names should always be available in the description (and/or title) so it's easier to look up the original.

Arranges

Something different. Crazy samples made with BFXR. Also used SFXR and FamiTracker.

I Can't Express My Rage

Belated Happy New Year! This year I have resolved to start doing something about all my WIPs. At the moment there are a 50-something projects (counting both originals and arrangements) scattered across music folders that I have resolved to either scrap or finish by the end of the year. And so I thought it would be fitting to start with an arrangement of this pretty song written by Birger Sjöberg in 1922.

Throughout the years it has been covered a number of times - even in English in 1980 (under the name "When First I Ever Saw You") - but as far as I know nobody had tried it in 8-bit yet. I'm not quite used to the S5B module yet and felt the volume was a bit finicky, but hope you enjoy whether this is the first time you've heard this melody or not!

CREATED USING: FamiTracker 0cc, modules listed in the title. No DPCM samples used.

[FamiTracker Arrange] Den första gång... [20A3+MMC+S5B]

Admittedly this has nothing to do with Easter, but I wanted to publish this before the end of my holidays. I also noticed that all of my tracks combined have almost 10k listens now; a 3rd of them are on a track that I've hidden due to a lack of polish, but still, that's encouraging. Thank you for showing interest!

The in-game title of Stage 4 from Lotus Land Story always intrigued me. "夢幻 ~ Dream of Frail Girl" doesn't seem to fit in context; none of the characters featured in the stage nor the mansion's owner seem frail. The title may just have been chosen because it sounds cool... But sometime in 2016 I tried to make an arrange of the stage theme based on the mood of that title. This is a redone version of that arrange that I hope not only sounds more polished, but more hopeful. Don't think I uploaded the original take anywhere so here's a link if you want to compare: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6auokrd4c0keae1/Frail%20Girl%202016.mp3?dl=0

As for the cover art... I tried something different with the lining/shading! It's probably not noticable unless you look in the GIMP file itself, though. (Also, I'll try to abstain from using this kind of perspective in cover art again until I have more experience with it lol)

SOFTWARE USED:
- REAPER (personal license)
- Sampletank 3 (instruments)
- Ozone 8 Elements (light mastering)

Early 2022

[Arrange] Alice Maestra

Very, very long overdue but I finally decided to give Bambootracker a try. I'm glad that there are so many demo instruments included! Otherwise this wouldn't have been possible.

Also wanted to try doing an 8-bit arrange of this track in FamiTracker but it just wouldn't sound right. Maybe it was just easier to go from soft to intense with the amount of sounds available on the PC-98?

Went back and forth on deciding what to tag the arrange as besides the composer's names, though... A lot of people associate this song with a certain Visual Novel but considering that 1. the song was written for a completely different thing and released as royalty-free general music years earlier 2. I specifically used the original MIDI as reference material and not the game's rendition(s) of it... It just didn't feel right in the end.

Anyhow... While I don't have a lot of ideas for original 16-bit music ATM I'm looking forward to messing around more with this! (Not that I'll be abandoning 8-bit)

[Bambootracker arrange] Theme of Owner

Just some more messing around with the program. I also wanted to see how far I could get without using a single major chord. Clearly the answer was "not that far", but I think this would fit a scene that doesn't answer a lot of questions.

Lessons learned:
- The 0A command is pretty finicky in this tracker. Volumes increase or decrease VERY quickly, which will take some time to get used to. (I'll avoid using them in SSG channels for now.)
- Apparently when you're trying to customise the perma-URL in SoundCloud capital letters trigger an error message? Honestly surprised I haven't ran into the error before in about 5 years of using the site.

SOFTWARE USED: BambooTracker v0.5.0, using papiezak's FM instruments that were included in the program's directory. Patch "Piano" has been slightly modified.

[Bambootracker Original] Intermission

(Original track by RAITO)

Happy Halloween! Started working on this arrangement a LONG time ago, yet I still had no idea what to make for the cover art. So you get a cropped and partially brightened version of this steam card: https://steamcommunity.com/market/listings/753/555580-Mari%20and%20Litty
(Speaking of which, I wonder why Mari's art is intact but they decided to fade out Litty's legs.)

To be honest I'm still wondering if the arrange needs better transitions between parts. It also feels like I couldn't figure out some volume issues in the SoundCanvas VST... For example, the velocities should be pretty consistent in the drum channel yet the actual sound level seems to jumps around a bit throughout the song. Didn't use any external EQ effects so not sure what caused that. Oh well, enjoy~

SOFTWARE USED:
- REAPER (personal license)
- Roland Sound CANVAS

[Arrange] A Manor For Real (Sound Canvas)

This is one of my first experiments with the amazing Famitracker, a sound tracker made for creating NES/Famicom music.
Very useful and funny to create Videogames music but also for reinterpret every genre of music.

I've been loving Queen since my childhood, and I totally go crazy for Brian May's overlapping guitar style. "Procession" is one of the most amazing album intros ever. So this is my "chiptune tribute" to one of the greatest bands in the multiverse.

Enjoy! ^^

Procession (Queen COVER on FAMITRACKER)

(Original track by RAITO)

Been working on this on and off since before the pandemic. Still ended up doing some last minute changes before uploading it now.

This time it's Herbert's stage theme from Legend of Dark Witch 2! Basically, she's a robot who also works as a researcher in her own right; you first get to fight her while she's out in an oddly spacious cave doing field work.
The original song has a very chill vibe; however I thought that the first section also could sound a lot more tense with the right instrumentation. Perhaps even like an intro theme for a spinoff where she's the main character. If only...

This time I commissioned Marcus/m_artstuff to take care of the cover art. He has uploaded the art here if you want to leave a like on it:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CroRgIMvHgk/
https://twitter.com/m_artstuff/status/1652373551780098049

P.S. It's not canon that she sleeps/recharges in a pod, I just liked the idea :v

[Arrange] TAKE A WALK (Famitracker 0cc, 2A03 + VRC6 + FDS + N163-4)

--6 channels were used only, no percussion mode.--

I like this song solely because it is in an odd time signature; 10/8 is pretty strange but it does sound hella good.

Despite this being able to run on almost any YM2413, I made this using the Famicom's VRC7 chip, which is a trimmed-down YM2413, which itself is a cost-reduced YM3812. Crazy, huh.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! Shoutouts to @YobaHere for helping with some chords.

DOWNLOAD .FTM: http://forums.famitracker.com/download/file.php?id=4164
DOWNLOAD .NSF: http://forums.famitracker.com/download/file.php?id=4165

Undertale - Here We Are (FM Synth Remix)

Entered into Weeklybeats for week 3, as well as Battle of the Bits: Winter Chip XI, ranking 150th/256. Nothing too crazy, just a simple, lonesome piece inspired by gray, gloomy weather.

Famitracker VRC6 expansion, no DPCM.

Blank Stare Through The Window

Yes, it's officially one year since I resumed sharing original works. Thought I would celebrate by remaking the very first song I put up on this site. Was pretty happy with the original so it's mostly a touch-up. ("Wait, why is the album art handdrawn when it's chiptune?" Don't ask.)

Also announced a few future plans in a linked pastebin for the occasion, but the link went out. Just to give context behind a comment.

Made in FamiTracker 0cc, using the modules N163 (4 channels) and FDS.

Early 2018

[FamiTracker Original] The Dying City (anniversary remake)

Just a quick and dirty cover from last Sunday. Should I ever have to delete this upload for whatever reason, it will still be available in the tumblr archive: https://cmaid.tumblr.com/post/172316629335/

Always liked the LoDW 2 soundtrack more than the first game's; it's more varied in terms of style. Icke's stage theme still has the smattering of... I don't know how to describe it, but quite a few tracks from the series' first two games sound like they were originally chiptunes, then someone decided making a cover meant slapping synths all over it. Hence why I went with a straight demake rather than my usual approach when making covers.

Too bad Icke's colour scheme looks ugly when you try injecting it into FamiTracker. (Maybe next time I should try making album art instead, it's been a while since I drew properly...)

Made in FamiTracker 0cc, modules listed in the title. No DPCM samples used.

[FamiTracker Arrange]: Differential - Infinitesimal (2A03 + VRC6 + 4-N163 + FDS)

Alright, important things first: a few days ago, I reached 1k views/listens on this account. Feels crazy, to say the least. Going from 10 views in March last year to more than 20 times as many this month, when there's even a week left... Incredibly humbling. Can't thank you all enough.

... Makes me a bit sad I didn't have anything special prepared for the occasion. Have just been in a Puyo music mood recently (even though I haven't actually played the games in months) and thought I'd make an arrange of this song. Even though it's the theme song of a character who hasn't shown up in years, I think it would fit really well as a general battle BGM considering how frenetic Puyo tends to be on that level.

Should probably note that while I'm not too keen on how this album art turned out, it would probably be a good idea to keep at it for future uploads. Adds a bit of interest to the screenshot, doesn't it?

Anyways, here's the archive link: https://cmaid.tumblr.com/post/173168143980/

Made in FamiTracker 0cc, modules listed in the title. Converted DPCM samples from SampleTank (snare sound) and GeneralUserGS (Orchestra Hits).

ORIGINAL BY: Hideki Abe

[FamiTracker Arrange] Doesn't Matter Who It Is (20A3+VRC6+N163-2+FDS)

Made for the SiIvagunner Youtube channel over about four hours.

Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town - Mega Man Style [Famitracker 2A03]

A quick little track from two weeks ago. Had been in a rut and wanted to see if trying out FamiTracker again would help me get anything finished. While this one is a little bit short - hence why I won't put it up on Bandcamp until the end of the year - it came out pretty good!

Postponed uploading it because I wanted to see if I could think of any album art. ... In the end, I couldn't.

Made in FamiTracker 0cc, modules listed in the title. No DPCM samples used.

Wrong

[FamiTracker Original] Wrong (20A3 + VRC6 + MMC5)

Composer/arranger, choir singer, piano player. Expect everything from chiptune to orchestral pieces. "Buy" links are always pay what you want!

Avatar credit: https://twitter.com/VolcanicFires 
Old backup (includes deleted tracks): http://cmaid.tumblr.com

[FamiTracker Arrange] Doesn't Matter Who It Is (20A3+VRC6+N163-2+FDS)

SeaMaid