How to: Authentic NES Chiptune Music in Vital - Synthesis Sound Design Tutorial

Рет қаралды 6,207

Күн бұрын

Download these presets, wavetables, and LFO's in my 8-Bit Mega Pack for Vital: ericbowman.gumroad.com/l/8bit...
Hear demos of all 100 presets here: • 8-Bit Mega Pack Demos ...
One caveat about the track I made for the demo. I'm using Vital's portamento which is technically not authentic, as it is a "smooth" transition between notes. This would likely only be noticeable for big leaps like the lead right before Giga Guy's dance. However, the presets in my pack that use pitch modulation are authentic since the modulation is remapped to use maximum 16 steps.
Also, regarding the triangle presets I demonstrate in the "double duty" section-I'm using an envelope to control volume, but that wasn't technically possible on the NES. There are 9 presets like this in my pack and I've marked them with the (cheat) label. For most of them I include an authentic alternative. In presets where using a macro would make the preset inauthentic, I added warnings in the preset description. Some folks are really passionate about authenticity and I want to accommodate them :-)
While some of the presets I use in my track aren't 100% authentic, the techniques I suggest are.
Download Vital for free at vital.audio/#getvital
00:00 Intro
00:10 Giga Guy's Cameo
00:29 Preview
00:52 Trackers
03:05 Single-cycle Wavetables
04:51 8-bit sound
07:04 Hex modulations
08:49 DIY delay/reverb
10:29 Arpeggios
12:10 Trills/PWM
13:20 Way radical double-duty
14:40 Noise/Percussion

Пікірлер: 30

@thallsinestro7537 8 ай бұрын

People on Reddit really are sticky salty people. Yes chip tune purists use original hardware and not soft synths, but also keep in mind people like sabrepulse, chipzel, and a ton of the OGs in the scene use a daw to add synths and fx.

@EricBowman 8 ай бұрын

Thanks, I learned a lot about the (Reddit) chiptune community from this project 😅 I think folks give way too much importance to original hardware. What's the goal? Is it to make music/sounds? Then if it sounds the same, who cares?

@omarjimenezromero3463 12 күн бұрын

@@EricBowman if you analize the sound original software does vs the emulated or more "new" ways to do it, you will find a lot of diferences, sure they are notable, but there is no problem using new ways, specially with this new era of lack of compatibility in software and hardware, so it is good to have the newer to have best chances to find spare parts if something brokes, but also the original hardware is the one who is going to give you the best sound about the era, the same happens with old synths, pianos and some string instruments like the violin and others.

@mangc_hing 9 ай бұрын

I always wait for your tutorials, they are awesome ❤

@adrithewraith4479 9 ай бұрын

The Noise/Percussion chiptune sound was exactly what I looking for, big thanks.

@janesta580 8 ай бұрын

Amazing! Right as you were describing the swing macro, I thought "it would be sick if there was a release/gate control" and then you introduced it immediately :)

@cicessk4960 9 ай бұрын

imma just say it, YOU ARE A GENIUS

@NanjNol 9 күн бұрын

Nice study with great explanations!

@7eventh7ense 9 ай бұрын

thank you eric. really appreciate your deep knowledge and attention to detail. Learn so much every time i watch one your vids

@thedrunkmonkshow 3 ай бұрын

My gosh, you are a Vital wizard! I accidentally discovered the NES pulses just feeling my way around but I just couldn't get the triangle bass to match the original. Your method of importing a single cycle overcomes that obstacle ideally. I didn't realize Magical 8-Bit's VST was a bit off with it's triangle bass but I would say it's the most convincing out the other NES VSTs out there that I've experimented with...that is until I just heard yours so you're the new king of that hill. I too have a love/hate relationship with trackers because while it can give you the most authentic sound next to using real hardware it does drain some of the fun punching in a bunch of numbers. Then even after you get all the notes down it's pretty much a requirement to learn the various side parameters otherwise it's just not going to have that flare and pizzazz of late model NES songs and sound more like early era Famicom/NES material. Thanks for doing this! 😇

@cureabees9440 2 ай бұрын

AAAAA THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! 🤩🤩This is AWESOME!! I find it so difficult to find information online about recreating NES sounds using modern synths; most of the info out there focuses on trackers. But this is exactly what I was looking for!! And it's super detailed and helpfully demonstrated!! Thank you so much good sir!! I can't believe this video only has 4K views. 😊😊

@cureabees9440 2 ай бұрын

Jesus christ i would give this video 1 million likes if i could FUCKNG THANK YOUU!!!! ❤

@alexkokorin7980 9 ай бұрын

This is amazing! really like your works\tutorials, thanks!

@SamuelHaak 3 ай бұрын

Just bought your preset pack and I'm excited to give it a try :)

@the_benja_men 8 ай бұрын

way radical, man!

@gabyinmiami 9 ай бұрын

Great video! missed your uploads!

@igorgolop 8 ай бұрын

It's insane! Adding to my presets straight away 😊

@wayneg6682 9 ай бұрын

Great tutorial Eric, thanks so much

@HeinrichYoshio 4 ай бұрын

super slick 👏

@studiosynthsoundsb.v.383 8 ай бұрын

I just knew you had some love for Chiptune! Another cool idea : Make Vital do Sega Genesis both synthengines. 😁 Btw, grabbing this now! 🔝🎶

@EricBowman 8 ай бұрын

I love Sega Genesis music too! That's a lot harder to do in Vital because the fm feedback on that chip is very distinct. I really like the Inphonik YM2612 though. You can even drag in .vgm files and use the presets from your favorite games! I learned a lot about fm doing that.

@thedrunkmonkshow 3 ай бұрын

Just saw this comment and was going to add if you want to dive right into the FM Genesis sound without having to commit to buying Inphonik or FMDrive there's an excellent freebee VST called OPNPlug. While it's not as user friendly as the others and you can't import VGM instruments it comes with hundreds of presets to get you going. Aside from that if you know the basics of FM synthesis, algorithms and feedback loops then you'll build up that Genesis twangy guitar sound in no time. There's no DAC for samples but you can get around that by inserting Inphonik's free PCM2612 Decimator onto a separate audio track of drums for example on your DAW. 😀

@maplefoxx6285 9 ай бұрын

Can i use your presets in future games i make? these sound great and i will get your ear candy pack too if that is ok with you

@EricBowman 9 ай бұрын

Of course-sounds made with the presets are royalty-free.

@johannessens6018 8 ай бұрын

nice nice nice

@drewburke6371 9 ай бұрын

Please tell me it's not just me, but does the wavetable editor in Vital just not seem to want to work with you sometimes?

@nekurobaito 3 ай бұрын

Very cool but I heard there were no amp control on triangle wave channel, only on pwm.

@EricBowman 3 ай бұрын

True! I adjusted the presets in my pack and labeled the triangle presets with amp mods as (cheat) and the ones without as (authentic)

@nekurobaito 3 ай бұрын

@@EricBowmanyou did an amazing job. Gonna get this pack someday even tho I don't use Vital (not present on iOS where I play music).

@coronaphone710 9 ай бұрын

Great video thanks i'm planning to make some chiptune sounds. You helped a lot with the classic instruments sounds, but it needs a lot of tweaking for the instruments i'm trying to make. Btw Could you please stay out of my computer, I know you all have some excuses for national or personal security reasons. We know the Matrix is real and everybody I come into contact with will be....contacted. And the pitch....you know the dude you think is responsible for stuff in my private life for screwing up "The Matrix" 😂 That is not true at all. He did exactly what he was supposed to do from the people around him. And now everything is gone what should've been. You already played with fire and I was just a vessel for your politics. But You lose your friend, family, nation....everything. My future lawyer and me will work things out but first my privacy back. You are frying and screwing up my electronics.