My perception of the situation is that prior to about 1997 many of them would be totally amazed that what they were creating would be seen as enduring art, maybe being gobsmacked that these geeks paid out in real money to put some plinky plonky stuff on kiddie games, but hey, at least it's not grinding out radio jingles.

"Doesn't matter, got paid" -- most of those composers, probably

Besides, various kinds of "conversion losses" when porting from one platform to the other were the norm back then. Graphical downgrades, cut gameplay... this also happening to the music wasn't too surprising. You would've known that going in.

I recall reading something about how a composer for early Sierra games (Ken Allen or Mark Seibert maybe? William Goldstein) only worked for them because they could use the MT-32 since it allowed for better sounding compositions. Not sure if they were overly concerned with how many people who hear that music, so much as just being able to create it.

edited:

It was actually William Goldstein I was thinking of, the composer for King's Quest IV:

A former Motown producer, a Grammy-nominated composer for a number of films, and an Emmy-nominated former musical director for the television series Fame, Goldstein also nurtured an interest in electronic music, having worked on several albums of same. He found the idea of writing music for a computer game immediately intriguing. He and Ken agreed that what they wanted for King’s Quest IV was not merely a few themes to loop in the background but a full-fledged musical score, arguably the first such ever to be written for a computer game. As Goldstein explained it to Ken, “the purpose of a score is to evoke emotion, not to be hummed. Sometimes the score consists only of some chord being held and slowly becoming louder in order to create a feeling of tenseness. In creating a score, the instrument(s) it is composed for can be as important as the score itself.”

And therein lay the rub. When Ken demonstrated for him the primitive bleeps and bloops an IBM clone’s speaker was capable of playing, Goldstein pronounced writing a score for that blunt instrument to be equivalent to trying to shoot flies with a shotgun. But then he had an idea. Thanks to his work in other forms of electronic music, Goldstein enjoyed a relationship with the Roland Corporation, a longstanding Japanese maker of synthesizers. Just recently, Roland had released a gadget called the MT-32, a nine-channel synthesizer that plugged into an ordinary IBM-compatible computer. Maybe, Goldstein mused, he could write his score for the MT-32.

https://www.filfre.net/2016/08/sierra-gets-creative/

To be fair, a Sound Blaster with an OPML2 or OPML3 still sounded great and was miles ahead of the PC speaker sound that I had as a kid. Despite being a bit below the midi devices, they still had a lot to work with, at least as far as video games music goes. While an artist may disagree with me, part of the charm of DOS gaming is the variety of sound devices. I like having the option of listening to the higher end midi soundtracks, as well as the more "videogamey" devices like CMS or Tandy sound. Adlib music is nice if I want something in between.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-04-24, 20:43:

I recall reading something about how a composer for early Sierra games (Ken Allen or Mark Seibert maybe?) only worked for them because they could use the MT-32 since it allowed for better sounding compositions. Not sure if they were overly concerned with how many people who hear that music, so much as just being able to create it.

It's been awhile since I read an old review in a computer games magazine like Computer Gaming World, but I'd assume that many reviewers had access to higher end sound devices. It probably would have been worth putting in the extra work if it meant you could leave a better impression on the reviewer.

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-04-24, 20:53:

While an artist may disagree with me, part of the charm of DOS gaming is the variety of sound devices.

What's fascinating to me is that this is the period in computer music history when audio devices were actually synthesizing the music directly. That music playback sounded different on different devices is a direct consequence of not having prerecorded music tracks.

It also lasted for a relative brief period and we'll likely never have anything like that again when it comes to computer game music.

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-04-24, 20:57:

It's been awhile since I read an old review in a computer games magazine like Computer Gaming World, but I'd assume that many reviewers had access to higher end sound devices. It probably would have been worth putting in the extra work if it meant you could leave a better impression on the reviewer.

CGW always did include higher end MIDI devices with their recommended or "ultimate" gaming builds.

Thinking back to that time, I never invested in computer audio growing up until 3D audio came out. Of course, this was a pre-internet time so marketing of audio devices was a lot more difficult since you couldn't hear what you were getting.

Knowing what I know now, I would have probably spent more money on General MIDI devices or an MT-32 a lot sooner.

It was a given back then that a huge range of audio devices were being used in the PC market, from PC speaker through to high end MIDI modules, and composers would be targeting a range of them for compatibility. FM chips in sound cards, far from being simply an inferior vehicle for MIDI compositions, were unique synthesizers in their own right which required a completely different process to program. Those who mastered it defined the sound of gaming in that era.

Some titles built their compositions around one device, then did quick & dirty conversions to others. But some put an equal amount of care into all the options.

And the "best" supported device was not always the best. There are some games with MT-32 support that are just better on a Sound Blaster. Conversely, something like Dune which was famously composed for the Adlib Gold, is my favourite MT-32 soundtrack of all, a conversion which was a near afterthought.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-04-24, 20:59:

What's fascinating to me is that this is the period in computer music history when audio devices were actually synthesizing the music directly.

Absolutely. Indeed quite amazing when you think about it. But soon after came the CD-ROM drives and recorded music tracks...

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-04-24, 20:59:

What's fascinating to me is that this is the period in computer music history when audio devices were actually synthesizing the music directly. That music playback sounded different on different devices is a direct consequence of not having prerecorded music tracks.

It also lasted for a relative brief period and we'll likely never have anything like that again when it comes to computer game music.

This is why I'll never tire of firing up the old machines. Having the sound actually synthesized live, no matter the device, is just wonderful and never gets old.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-04-24, 20:43:

I recall reading something about how a composer for early Sierra games (Ken Allen or Mark Seibert maybe?) only worked for them because they could use the MT-32 since it allowed for better sounding compositions. Not sure if they were overly concerned with how many people who hear that music, so much as just being able to create it.

Sierra was actually selling MT-32 devices at one point. Kind of an early Nvidia style "The way it's meant to be played" deal.

So their composers could be sure that at least some folks would hear the music as they had intended it.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2024-04-25, 03:13:

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-04-24, 20:43:

I recall reading something about how a composer for early Sierra games (Ken Allen or Mark Seibert maybe?) only worked for them because they could use the MT-32 since it allowed for better sounding compositions. Not sure if they were overly concerned with how many people who hear that music, so much as just being able to create it.

Sierra was actually selling MT-32 devices at one point. Kind of an early Nvidia style "The way it's meant to be played" deal.

So their composers could be sure that at least some folks would hear the music as they had intended it.

Yeah, I was just looking this up.

It was apparently William Goldstein who acquired the MT-32 for composing the soundtrack to King's Quest IV which in turn led to Sierra supporting (and then selling) the MT-32.

I think that AdLib (OPL2/3) was fine, as well. But there's a catch. It needs music especially being composed for it.
Otherwise, it's just a capable soundchip hidden behind a very limiting interface.
Like the IMFC/Yamaha FB-01.
And that's the culprit, really. To what I read online, especially US composers were used to use MIDI all way down.
In places like Japan or Europe, composers were used to use trackers to create chip tunes (PSG, FM).
That's because of many of them having a home computer background, probably.
(Japan made arcade cabs, too, being full of sound chips.)
Another reasons was lack of documentation (in English). The US composers didn't understand the hardware (consoles) and went with the sample code, thus, which may included a basic MIDI engine.
Speaking under correction, though. The music composition of the YM2612 (Sega Genesis) may give an idea about how things were. The chip is a bit similar to the OPL3.

First time I really noticed game music was when Out Run hit the arcades and we were treated to the stylings of Hiroshi Kawaguchi

I've often wondered what kind of magic you could create with an all out balls to the wall modern MIDI synth. I mean for example could you create a device that could capture the sound quality of Eddie Van Halen's guitar , the output through different amplifiers , and the ability to simulate certain guitar techniques properly in order to directly recreate it in live playback (or modify it how you want)? Could it be close to indistinguishable?

Shagittarius wrote on 2024-04-25, 15:26:

I've often wondered what kind of magic you could create with an all out balls to the wall modern MIDI synth. I mean for example could you create a device that could capture the sound quality of Eddie Van Halen's guitar , the output through different amplifiers , and the ability to simulate certain guitar techniques properly in order to directly recreate it in live playback (or modify it how you want)? Could it be close to indistinguishable?

Modern software sample libraries are the closest you can get to the real thing. Trying to create an organic sounding track takes a deep understanding of sample libraries and a lot of meticulous MIDI programming.

With modern hardware ROMplers, those typically contain samples from hundreds of instruments. They aren't really designed for playback of any specific instrument.

Stringed instruments like guitars are also quite difficult to mimic even via sample libraries since there are so many playing techniques and ways to generate sound. Percussive instruments tend to be more easy to replicate from a sampling perspective.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-04-25, 15:37:

Modern software sample libraries are the closest you can get to the real thing. Trying to create an organic sounding track takes […]
Show full quote

Shagittarius wrote on 2024-04-25, 15:26:

I've often wondered what kind of magic you could create with an all out balls to the wall modern MIDI synth. I mean for example could you create a device that could capture the sound quality of Eddie Van Halen's guitar , the output through different amplifiers , and the ability to simulate certain guitar techniques properly in order to directly recreate it in live playback (or modify it how you want)? Could it be close to indistinguishable?

Modern software sample libraries are the closest you can get to the real thing. Trying to create an organic sounding track takes a deep understanding of sample libraries and a lot of meticulous MIDI programming.

With modern hardware ROMplers, those typically contain samples from hundreds of instruments. They aren't really designed for playback of any specific instrument.

Stringed instruments like guitars are also quite difficult to mimic even via sample libraries since there are so many playing techniques and ways to generate sound. Percussive instruments tend to be more easy to replicate from a sampling perspective.

VSTi drums have been really good for awhile now. It's fairly easy to emulate a human drummer by shifting the hits so they don't precisely land on the beat and by playing certain hits a bit louder or quieter.

Shagittarius wrote on 2024-04-25, 15:26:

I've often wondered what kind of magic you could create with an all out balls to the wall modern MIDI synth. I mean for example could you create a device that could capture the sound quality of Eddie Van Halen's guitar , the output through different amplifiers , and the ability to simulate certain guitar techniques properly in order to directly recreate it in live playback (or modify it how you want)? Could it be close to indistinguishable?

Guitar would be pretty tricky, as most plugins use pre-recorded samples. I don't think it would be infeasible, but it might work better if the user community creates presets that are specific to each game. I also wouldn't rule anything out given the pace that AI is improving.

Aside from rock or metal, some soundtracks would sound incredible on high end synthesizers. Here's a couple of examples of Metroid songs remade on analog synths:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr0CNm6E9IA

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6fceLfjB4s

Running a game's midi files wouldn't sound as good because the Metroid ones were remakes, but I think you could end up with good results, especially if you had a few presets to work with.

I've also wondered if anyone has tried making a new ISA sound card with synthesizers that weren't available back in the day. A lot of projects replicate the classic sound cards from the past, but it could be interesting to make something entirely new. You could include a bunch of synthesizers if you went with a software approach that used something like a Raspberry Pi Pico.

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-04-25, 16:12:

VSTi drums have been really good for awhile now. It's fairly easy to emulate a human drummer by shifting the hits so they don't precisely land on the beat and by playing certain hits a bit louder or quieter.

Yup, and round robin sampling helps a lot to, with multiple samples for the same relative velocity.