Reverb + Chorus on Nintendo 64.

[RPGMaster]

I must say, I'm impressed with the music you've uploaded on youtube. I'd love to see this done for a lot of games, like Deadly Arts. I'll see if I can find any info on reverb and chorus this week.

Originally Posted by L. Spiro

Can you approve my pending reply here?


L. Spiro

Sorry for taking this long to approve. I'll be sure to check more frequently .

[L. Spiro]

Thank you.


Some of the links in my previous reply are no longer valid because I solved one of the issues.

My tool has to modify the MIDI files to redirect some controls (and other things) to what my synthesizer expects.
The MIDI files are using control 77 for the modulo effect, which is typically control 1, so that is one patch my tool makes.

Unfortunately, I missed a simple check and the patcher decided to make the same change to note on/off events.

Note 77 is F3. All of the problems I pointed out in my previous post were a result of changing F3 to C#-2. A simple error that distracted me from the actual progress I was making.

With that fixed, all of my results seem exactly correct except for the approximate reverb and chorus.


I've done much more of the Mario Kart 64 soundtrack now:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCt...XEhnVZw/videos


Already working on Super Mario 64 too.


L. Spiro

[L. Spiro]

This is a bad recording of Staff Roll from Super Mario 64.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgdm1SHfcw4

It shows that I still have some things to learn about reverb and chorus on Nintendo 64.

I am using the exact same reverb settings as on Mario Kart 64, which sounds great. In Super Mario 64, the MIDI files use reverb settings of 30 and 40, which is a lot higher than Mario Kart 64 did, yet in the real game it almost sounds as if reverb is off, and instead chorus has been turned up.

Now I really need more information on how reverb and chorus work on Nintendo 64 to continue.
Is it an either-or-system? It sounds as if Super Mario 64 is in Chorus Mode so all the reverb settings should instead apply to chorus and there is no reverb.


Does anyone know the default MIDI control values? I am assuming they are standard. Reverb = 0, pan = 0x40, main volume = 127, expression = 100, etc., but it would be nice to confirm.

Also I am guessing there are types of reverb (hall, room, caverns, etc.) And custom reverb via CPU seems possible?

I need as much information as possible.


L. Spiro

[L. Spiro]

Banjo-Kazooie being added. Reverb very close to real game's (and I will probably re-record these tonight with an even-closer reverb).
Mine:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kit3LOPHvo
Real game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQNA...7714E316F2CB06

Still would be great to have actual data on the reverb, although I am understanding it slowly on my own.

Across all recordings I have done there is always more bass in the Nintendo 64 recordings and although I am happy to create "ground truth" recordings it sometimes gives them a bit more depth to have the bass. In exchange for accuracy, mine are a bit flat.

I've been assuming it is the DAC to blame for introducing extra bass to the sound.
Anyone know details on this, or if it is something else, for example just a built-in equalizer on the Nintendo 64 (in which case I would also need settings)?

Any word on chorus? Is it a standard G chorus? Can it be used with reverb or only one at a time? If only one, is that for a single track or for the whole song? Is it controlled via MIDI control 91 (normally used to control reverb)?


L. Spiro

[L. Spiro]

Can I get my post here approved?
How long will I have to get approvals for posts that contain links?


L. Spiro

[RPGMaster]

Originally Posted by L. Spiro

How long will I have to get approvals for posts that contain links?

iirc, it's 30 posts.

I haven't found anything on reverb yet, but I will try searching when I get the chance.

[retroben]

In case you don't know or forget,Banjo-Kazooie has numerous themes in the levels and near their entrances and character interaction music for Brentilda and Cheato and Snacker and Nipper.

Spiral Mountain for example has Conga's version,the version for when near the tower (hut two three four),and near Mumbo.

[L. Spiro]

Banjo-Kazooie is done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b30x...fLy-d2Cni1YW5T

That playlist matches the OST with only a few differences. For instance, the Captain Blubber song seems not to exist, nor do I have Prickly Pear Isle.
Feel free to find any errors such as misnamings etc.
Following the OST are SFX and alternative versions.


Working on Diddy Kong Racing next.


L. Spiro

[L. Spiro]

Diddy Kong Racing is sounding great, but there are some songs obviously missing chorus. It’s more obvious here than any other games I have done so far.

I found this: https://level42.ca/projects/ultra64/...index17.4.html

Anyone know the details?
Chorus should be applied to channels separately, but from their diagrams it is not clear if chorus can be applied to each track or only to the whole final waveform generated. I can’t imagine it is just applied to the whole sound after all tracks are combined.

But the big question is: Can we get this information from the games, perhaps via Project64 or a tool for creating USF files that can also dump chorus values?

Anyone familiar enough with the code of Project64 to be able to do this, or who can point me in the right direction?


L. Spiro

[RPGMaster]

Originally Posted by L. Spiro

Anyone know the details?
Chorus should be applied to channels separately, but from their diagrams it is not clear if chorus can be applied to each track or only to the whole final waveform generated. I can’t imagine it is just applied to the whole sound after all tracks are combined.

But the big question is: Can we get this information from the games, perhaps via Project64 or a tool for creating USF files that can also dump chorus values?

Anyone familiar enough with the code of Project64 to be able to do this, or who can point me in the right direction?

I don't think anyone here specializes in audio. I wish I could be of more help, but I don't have a clue how audio works in general. It would be great if you could point me in the right direction, learning how audio works.

I'm not aware of any high level tools, so at this rate you will likely have to use a debugger and debug at assembly level. Anyway, i recommend that you try joining more forums, because a lot of interesting projects are scattered across different places. You could try this forum for starters https://hcs64.com/mboard/forum.php

For example, I came across this interesting project http://goldeneyevault.com/viewfile.php?id=212 . Maybe you could talk to Subdrag.

Another good resource I found was http://en64.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Diddy_Kong_Racing . This has a list of addresses for some library functions used in various games.

I don't know how good the IDA pro is for N64 ROMs, but I heard it can be useful for it. Also I managed to find this tool, which allows you disassemble RAM dumps http://goldeneyevault.com/viewfile.php?id=219 .

I'll keep an eye out for more interesting projects/resources and also see if I can find more knowledgeable people.