Another world Game Developers in Japans 1991 Chapter 58 - 55 Making sound for video games

After QNA session with the twins , the twins continue to learning assembly the ZEPS and ga catridges again then next day happens , Zaboru keep teaching the twins then Yugo ask him , "Boss-sama , aren't you gonna teach us how to make music for ZEPS!?" Zaboru smile "Of course , lets go to to special room"

Zaboru led them to a smaller workstation in the corner of his office. A large CRT monitor, a keyboard, a MIDI synthesizer, and several pieces of audio equipnt were neatly arranged.

"Alright," Zaboru said, cracking his knuckles. "Now, let's talk about ga music. Unlike modern computers that can play full recorded tracks, ZEPS uses synthesized sound generated in real-ti. That ans we have to compose music in a way the hardware understands."

Zaboru powered on a Yamaha DX7 synthesizer, a popular FM (Frequency Modulation) synthesizer of the ti.

"This is one of the main tools used for making ga music," he explained. "FM synthesis lets us create a variety of sounds by modulating different waveforms. Ho consoles don't have the sa power as arcade machines, so we have to be efficient."

He pressed a few keys on the synthesizer, demonstrating the distinct tallic and bell-like tones FM synthesis could produce. "For gas, we keep it simple: bass, lody, harmony, and percussion—all using electronic synthesis."

Next, Zaboru turned to his PC. He loaded a tracker software called "MML Composer," which allowed music to be programd using a text-based system.

"This is Music Macro Language, or MML. Instead of just playing music, we write it as code, and the console will generate the sounds in real-ti. Here, let show you."

He typed:

#TITLE ZEPS The

T120

L8 O4 C D E F G A B >C

"This code sets the tempo to 120 beats per minute and plays a simple scale. Let's hear it." He pressed the Enter key, and the ZEPS hardware emulator on his PC-98 produced the electronic beeps of the scale.

Zaboru then explained how drum sounds were created. "Since we don't have sampled drums, we make percussion using noise waveforms."

He typed another MML command:

V10 @10 C V12 @14 G V15 @20 C

"This tells the sound chip to play a short burst of noise at different frequencies, simulating a snare drum and hi-hat."

The console produced a rhythmic clicking sound. Yugo's eyes widened. "So every sound is just a modified electronic waveform?"

"Exactly," Zaboru confird. "We tweak frequencies and modulations to make the best use of limited sound channels."

To create a full song, Zaboru composed a short looping tune by layering lody, harmony, bass, and drums. He entered the following:

T120

L8 O4 C D E F G A B >C

L8 O3 G F E D C

V10 @10 C V12 @14 G V15 @20 C

The emulator played a simple but catchy loop. "Once I get a lody and rhythm I like, I tweak the instrunt patches on the FM synth, adjust the timing, and make sure everything loops smoothly."

"Once the track is ready," Zaboru continued, "I convert it into raw binary data and embed it into the ga code. The ZEPS sound chip reads these instructions in real-ti and generates the music on the fly."

He pointed at a ROM burner on his desk. "Finally, I write the ga data onto an EPROM chip and test it on an actual ZEPS console."

Yugo was nearly vibrating with excitent. "This is aweso! You're literally coding music into the ga itself!" Yuna, though less enthusiastic about ga music, nodded in approval. "It's fascinating"

Zaboru smirked. "It takes practice, but once you get the hang of it, making music this way feels like second nature. Now, who wants to try writing their first ga track?"

Yugo raised his hand instantly, while Yuna sighed, already knowing she wouldn't be able to avoid learning it too.

And with that, the twins trying making music for video gas