Better Music for GM ScummVM (and DOSBox) games

[Bluddy]

This page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_M ... uter_games is a pretty good resource, both for ScummVM and Dosbox. If the game is in the table, it supports the mt-32. If the last column says something like 'General Midi' or 'Roland SC-55', the music was composed for general midi. There are some games on that list that still sound better on General Midi though, like Day of the Tentacle and possibly Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, but on the whole, the list is accurate.

[cwadge]

This page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_M ... uter_games is a pretty good resource, both for ScummVM and Dosbox. If the game is in the table, it supports the mt-32. If the last column says something like 'General Midi' or 'Roland SC-55', the music was composed for general midi. There are some games on that list that still sound better on General Midi though, like Day of the Tentacle and possibly Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, but on the whole, the list is accurate.

Yep, many of those games were composed for FM (AdLib, Sound Blaster, etc.), MT-32, and GM simultaneously, so they actually contain 2 or 3 versions of the same soundtrack. Others even have a soundtrack specifically arranged for the SC-55 (e.g. Tie Fighter) that only really sounds correct on period-specific hardware, not even later models like the SC-88. It's kind of a mess to sort out for the uninitiated.

I should really create a table of what games sound best with what synthesis method and add it to https://fatboy.site/ ... when I come across some of that mythical free time I keep hearing about. Probably over the winter holidays.

[scarmona]

• Leisure Suit Larry 4 - 6

YOU FOUND Leisure Suit Larry 4: The Missing Floppies?????
WHERE? post some screen shots please!!!



Sorry, couldn't resist...

[cwadge]

• Leisure Suit Larry 4 - 6

YOU FOUND Leisure Suit Larry 4: The Missing Floppies?????
WHERE? post some screen shots please!!!



Sorry, couldn't resist...

HOLY SHIT SOMEBODY GOT MY JOKE
/dead

[Blakes7]

• Leisure Suit Larry 4 - 6

YOU FOUND Leisure Suit Larry 4: The Missing Floppies?????
WHERE? post some screen shots please!!!



Sorry, couldn't resist...

Sure thing pal.

[cwadge]

What better to do after an 18 hour work day than post a quick update?

FatBoy v0.787 is here.

• Made GM "Power Drums" more... powerful.

• Slightly lowered the attenuation of the GM "Distortion Guitar" to prevent overpowering when layered.

Please let me know if you notice any problems with this version. Thanks to everyone who's helped me make FatBoy what it is!

Enjoy.

[scarmona]

Amazing @cwadge, thanks for the update.
I can't stress enough how gorgeous the GK tracks sound with FatBoy!
Sorry for the newb question, but is there a way to extract those tracks (or midi files) and play them using your soundfont? I'd like to have it as a playlist for getting work done as well as for R&R time.
Thank you once again

[cwadge]

Amazing @cwadge, thanks for the update.
I can't stress enough how gorgeous the GK tracks sound with FatBoy!

No problem, glad you're enjoying it.

Sorry for the newb question, but is there a way to extract those tracks (or midi files) and play them using your soundfont? I'd like to have it as a playlist for getting work done as well as for R&R time.
Thank you once again

Well, I did write a script that will render MIDIs out to raw digital audio in faster than realtime, but it's a (Linux) BASH script that calls the CLI version of FluidSynth directly. Nothing fancy, just something to help make testing in bulk a little easier. If you want it, I'll make it available.

The other complication is that Sierra soundtracks in particular seem to be of the streaming/looping variety, rather than stand-alone MIDI tracks like a lot of other games. Thankfully, Tom Lewandowski has painstakingly streamed and captured most of the old Sierra soundtracks, in various formats, and made them available here: http://www.midimusicadventures.com/ques ... undtracks/

...but, I've cut to the chase for you and used my script and Tom's game rip to produce this: https://pub.dotbalm.org/audio/gk1_gmv2_fatboy_0787.mp3

=======================================================================
TRACK SHEET - GENERAL MIDI VERSION

GABRIEL KNIGHT: SINS OF THE FATHERS
=======================================================================
START MEASURE/TIME *
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Sierra Fanfare 3 00:00:04
2. Introduction - Opening Theme 10 00:00:21
3. Introduction - The Nightmare 80 00:03:09
4. Day One Chimes 104 00:04:07
5. St. George Book Shop 122 00:04:50
6. New Orleans City Map 181 00:07:12
7. The Blues Band 222 00:08:50
8. The Jazz Band 259 00:10:19
9. The Cajun Band 291 00:11:36
10. Grandmother Knight 315 00:12:33
11. Police Station 379 00:15:07
12. Historical Voodoo Museum 427 00:17:02
13. Dixieland Drug Store 466 00:18:36
14. St. Louis Cemetery #1 518 00:20:40
15. Gabriel's Radio 569 00:22:43
16. Madame Loreli 608 00:24:16
17. Lake Ponchartrain 634 00:25:19
18. Detective Mosley 675 00:26:57
19. Gedde Estate 712 00:28:26
20. Malia Gedde 763 00:30:28
21. Magentia Moonbeam 803 00:32:04
22. Tulane University 833 00:33:16
23. St. Louis Cathedral 878 00:35:04
24. Cazaunoux Residence 918 00:36:40
25. Napolean House 973 00:38:52
26. Crash Interrogation 1011 00:40:24
27. The Bayou 1050 00:41:57
28. Flight To Germany 1087 00:43:26
29. Ritter Castle - The Great Hall 1116 00:44:36
30. Ritter Castle - Wolfgang's Bedroom 1151 00:46:00
31. Ritter Castle - Schattenjager Library 1186 00:47:24
32. Ritter Castle - The Chapel 1244 00:49:43
33. Purification Dream 1292 00:51:36
34. Africa 1349 00:53:55
35. Circle Within A Circle 1389 00:55:31
36. Wolfgang Ritter 1429 00:57:07
37. Return To New Orleans - Day Ten Theme 1473 00:58:52
38. Gedde Haunfor 1524 01:00:55
39. Animal Room 1574 01:02:55
40. Ritual - Rada Drums 1604 01:04:07
41. Malia Gedde Rescue 1628 01:05:19
42. Closing Theme 1653 01:06:04
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Time: 01:08:24


* Start times are approximate.

[Kasenshlogga]

@cwadge
They can also be extracted with a old program called "SCI REsource Viewer" which you can find here: http://www.sierrahelp.com/forums/viewto ... f=27&t=456

The cool thing is with a lot of Sierra games there were unused music tracks hidden in the resource files (among other unused stuff) so you might find some songs only few people have heard before.

[cwadge]

@cwadge
They can also be extracted with a old program called "SCI REsource Viewer" which you can find here: http://www.sierrahelp.com/forums/viewto ... f=27&t=456

The cool thing is with a lot of Sierra games there were unused music tracks hidden in the resource files (among other unused stuff) so you might find some songs only few people have heard before.

I remember using that tool a long time ago. One complication is that sysex and init messages are often passed contextually, not as part of the track, so some need to be manually added or passed prior to the music resource being rendered properly. Also, some tracks are a rather short loop, designed to be played on repeat seamlessly. Tom's approach of simply capturing the whole MIDI string and fading out looping tracks in a place that sounds natural is probably the best avenue for the casual MIDIphile. That said, SCIREV is a great resource, thanks for the link.

[scarmona]

...but, I've cut to the chase for you and used my script and Tom's game rip to produce this: https://pub.dotbalm.org/audio/gk1_gmv2_fatboy_0787.mp3

Amazing! thanks so much for doing this, although it doesn't sound exactly like ScummVM with FatBoy for FluidSynth. I'm wondering if I can do it myself using a specific software? Maybe there's specific settings I need to use?

[cwadge]

Amazing! thanks so much for doing this, although it doesn't sound exactly like ScummVM with FatBoy for FluidSynth. I'm wondering if I can do it myself using a specific software? Maybe there's specific settings I need to use?

This probably has something to do with Tom's MIDI capture, since the audio file I linked was recorded with FluidSynth and Fatboy v0.787, though without ScummVM. I've noticed there was a place in the arrangement where there was a stuck note that caused some ugly dissonance, but GK1 is a buggy game in terms of MIDI so I'm not really surprised if Tom ran into that problem while capturing.

I tried extracting all of the General MIDI tracks in the GK1 resource files that are > 3 seconds long, and discovered that a) almost all are looped, b) they all use SMPTE timing which means they're going to have glitchy timing issues outside of the SCI engine, and c) I can't render them out automatically using a script either.

Bottom line: MIDI music for GK1 kinda needs to be captured in-game (or at least in-engine), as Tom did with the version of the soundtrack I linked, or it'll sound really funky. Buuuuut, somebody with a lot of time and patience could potentially use an SCI emulator or debug engine and capture looped versions of all game GM music, manually fade and level these into a halfway presentable soundtrack.

Here's a track I recorded using an old debug version of the SCI engine: https://pub.dotbalm.org/audio/gk1_extra ... sample.mp3 As you can tell, the track is designed to loop and just kind of ends. Thus the looping+fading I was referring to.

Forgive my verbosity. This topic is deceptively complex when you just want to "play music", right?

[scarmona]

I appreciate the verbosity tremendously!
Thanks for taking the time to respond and explain, your latest sample sounds EXACTLY like the game!
I'm more than happy to take the time to extract and render properly, I just don't have the knowledge, tools I can learn to use
What software did you use to render with FatBoy and export to mp3 if I may ask?

I found this soundtrack as well... http://www.sierramusiccentral.com/gk1cd.html, close... but yours is much much better, FatBoy makes this soundtrack shine!!

[cwadge]

I appreciate the verbosity tremendously!
Thanks for taking the time to respond and explain, your latest sample sounds EXACTLY like the game!
I'm more than happy to take the time to extract and render properly, I just don't have the knowledge, tools I can learn to use

Well, the SCIREV tool Kasenshlogga linked to may be able to do it, in conjunction with a SF2 compatible soft synth (I use FluidSynth directly in Linux, not a Windows guy I'm afraid), some off-the-shelf audio recording software (Audacity maybe?), a copy of GK1, a little audio engineering know-how and a lot of patience.

What software did you use to render with FatBoy and export to mp3 if I may ask?

I used FluidSynth (via Qsynth for convenience), an old and brittle debug build of an SCI engine, the GK1 asset files and Rosegarden.

[cwadge]

FatBoy v0.788 is available for download.

Just a few more minor adjustments to the attenuation of the GM Distortion Guitar. The envelope is weird on the attack on this one, so it took a lot of testing, but I think it sounds about right: Doom 1, E1M1 - At Doom's Gate

As usual, please let me know if you notice any problems with this version.

Enjoy.