Sound - day of the tentacle (CD)

[chas-g]

Jwrath asked previously -
For example: At MS DOS when I started the game I could hear the bird from the introduction singing.
Now with SCUMMVM I can't hear it.
Is there an option that can enable the game to sound better?

eriktorbjorn replied -
The bird chirping in The Day of the Tentacle is a MIDI instrument. I don't hear it if I use the Adlib music driver, but I do hear it if I tell ScummVM to use a real MIDI driver. On my computer (which runs Linux) that's the ALSA music driver, but on yours it's probably called Windows MIDI

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Well I tried my D.O.T. (CD) & with ScummVM in default mode
i.e. no options selected & I could not hear the chirping birds,
so I tried the other sound choices one at a time & could detect no obvious differences between them & still no chirping!!

I didn't tamper with the Soundfont or the Midi Gain (since I'm unsure what to do with those).
I am running win XP & version 0.90 ScummVM

Anyone any ideas?

[eriktorbjorn]

Well I tried my D.O.T. (CD) & with ScummVM in default mode
i.e. no options selected & I could not hear the chirping birds,
so I tried the other sound choices one at a time & could detect no obvious differences between them & still no chirping!!

Strange, there should be a pretty noticeable difference between MIDI and Adlib music, at least.

I didn't tamper with the Soundfont or the Midi Gain (since I'm unsure what to do with those).
I am running win XP & version 0.90 ScummVM

The SoundFont option is only used by the CoreAudio (Mac OS X) and FluidSynth (emulated MIDI) music drivers. The MIDI Gain setting is only used by the FluidSynth music driver. In other words, they won't make any difference to you.

Anyone any ideas?

I'm not sure. One possible source of errors is that options can be set globally (with the Options button) or per-game (with the Edit Game... button). If you've changed the Day of the Tentacle settings to override the global settings, changing the global settings won't make any difference.

[chas-g]

I have it working!! - some bird chirps & who knows maybe other sounds further into the game

First I removed from the GUI all games which said English (US) & then individually got them back in the GUI, but this time with a slightly different discription & now English with no mention of US

I thought I'd also have a tinker with the Audio Tab -
Music Driver - I selected Windows Midi - Success!!

Now I wonder if this setting will be suitable for all my other games including BASS & FOA & both Simons (CD versions)?

[eriktorbjorn]

Now I wonder if this setting will be suitable for all my other games including BASS & FOA & both Simons (CD versions)?

I've seen this question a couple of times, but it never fails to surprise me. When choosing between MIDI and Adlib, you should of course use the setting that sounds best to you.

MIDI has the potential to sound better than Adlib, but there are still games where I think Adlib sounds better. (Usually the games where the MIDI music was written for the Roland MT-32, rather than for General MIDI, since I don't have an MT-32, or the means to emulate one.)

[domino]

(Usually the games where the MIDI music was written for the Roland MT-32, rather than for General MIDI,

is there a way to determine whether some game has music written for mt-32 or general midi or adlib? i mean which one is the native option for each game?

[Kaminari]

Moby Games is a good start to find that kind of information (look for the Technical Specs).

A rule of thumb is that most MIDI soundtracks prior to 1993 were composed for the MT-32. General MIDI synths only entered the market in late 1991 and were not popular before 1993. As for AdLib (which appeared around the same time as the MT-32, circa 1987), it's a matter of taste whether you prefer it over MT-32 or not.

In any case, if you don't have a real MT-32 or GM synth, don't bother with MIDI and stay with AdLib. The default Microsoft or Creative GM virtual synths are not what I call decent MIDI devices.

[clone2727]

(Usually the games where the MIDI music was written for the Roland MT-32, rather than for General MIDI,

is there a way to determine whether some game has music written for mt-32 or general midi or adlib? i mean which one is the native option for each game?

The older ones had mt-32, adlib, and pc speaker. The later ones (starting with DOTT?) had mt-32, adlib, and general midi.

[efen3001]

I have it working!! - some bird chirps & who knows maybe other sounds further into the game

First I removed from the GUI all games which said English (US) & then individually got them back in the GUI, but this time with a slightly different discription & now English with no mention of US

I thought I'd also have a tinker with the Audio Tab -
Music Driver - I selected Windows Midi - Success!!

Now I wonder if this setting will be suitable for all my other games including BASS & FOA & both Simons (CD versions)?

It worked, thanks!!!

[fischkopf]

For even better sounding MIDI music, try VirtualMidiSynth with one of the Soundfonts provided on the page. "SGM-V2.01" sounds quite nice and there are even bigger ones if you have enough RAM. Here is an example: https://youtu.be/TFwN0DMOp4A?t=411
It's crazy how many people are not aware of this and use adlib music instead.