Pixelated Audio - Vgm And Retro Gaming

We're joined today by Emily Reese; Minnesota Public Radio newscaster, VGM podcast legend and co-creator of the Level with Emily Reese and Top Score podcasts with Sam Keenan. She is a trumpet player, and studied music education and jazz studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder and received her master’s degree in Music Theory from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Emily is an avid gamer (RPGs and FPS games are a favorite), and a lover of music with jazz and classical in particular. Today's show began as an interview with Emily but quickly turned into the three of us talking shop about the inner workings of creating the best possible podcast. All the discussion of audio editing and interview planning you can handle, as well as some career highlights from the trio. It's not our typical show format, but we had a great time talking with a fellow podcast host and kindred spirit.   Emily started her radio career in 2005 and began working at Minnesota Public Radio in 2008, where she and Sam created Top S

How do you do justice describing Brian Schmidt's contribution to gaming? His impact on the global trajectory of games has been immense. There's no doubt in our minds that Brian is one of the most important figures in videogame history, and we couldn't be more honored to have him joining us on the show. This next paragraph is only a portion of what Brian has been up to for the last 35 years or so. Brian Schmidt began his career in games at Williams around 1987. He soon began working on music and sound programming on iconic pinball games like Swords of Fury and Black Knight 2000, as well as the infamous arcade game NARC. He later went freelance and worked on mechanical and redemption games, dozens of licensed pinball games like Data East's Batman and many for Sega. Fun fact: the 1991 Batman pinball game was the first to use Brian's BSMT2000 hardware board designed for sample playback which went on to see use in pinball games for around 10 years. He then went to Electronic Arts and did sound for a ton of consol

Today we're joined by composer and graphics artist Robert Vroemisse for Angelic Warrior DEVA, a modern indie game for the MSX2 released in 2020. Together we talk about the game, the development process, Team DEVA and gaming in the Dutch MSX scene. Angelic Warrior DEVA is a fast-paced, tough as nails action RPG for the MSX2 created by Team DEVA; made up of Robert Vroemisse (pronounced "Fru-miss-uh") on graphics and most music, John Hassink another MSX scene legend on additional music, and Bart van Velzen the mad lad behind the coding of the project. Robert Vroemisse who typically works on graphics is the main composer out of necessity but what a killer job he did. The soundtrack is absolutely jam packed with amazing music written for the combo of MSX-AUDIO (OPL1) and MSX-MUSIC (OPLL) and we couldn't be happier to talk with Robert about it. For more info about Robert check out his MSX.org profile. For the soundtrack to DEVA itself, you can listen to it on Robert's YouTube, on VGMRips, or for download on MS

We're back with another stellar euro platformer, this time in the form of Wolfchild, developed by Core Design. Your father Kal Morrow, expert in genetic research and creation of human-animal hybrids, has been kidnapped and the rest of your family was brutally murdered by the terrorist organization CHIMERA. You take control of his surviving son Saul to exact revenge against CHIMERA and their leader Karl Draxx. Core Design is best known for their work on the first few Tomb Raider games, as well as other games like Rick Dangerous, Jaguar XJ220 and the Fighting Force series. Simon Phipps, one of the early members of core and a lead graphic designer on Wolfchild published a great article on his website which is where we gathered a lot of the information for this episode. He talks about the origin of the game, the inspiration for its design (Strider, Island of Dr. Moreau, etc) and some notes about animation and the various releases. Music this time around is handled by Martin Iveson on the original Amiga, Atari

Today we're joined by industry legend Neil Biggin in an absolutely massive show! Neil regales us with hilarious stories as we cover a wide range of his electronic music during his time at Gremlin Graphics from about 1992-1996. He walks us through some memories of landmark events during the 16 and 32-bit eras: the launch of the CD32, the first days of the Playstation, and being at a company with one of the world's first motion capture studios. Neil Biggin began his career with Zool 2 on Amiga, and continued with games like the CD32 versions of Zool 1 and 2 and Top Gear 2, Top Gear 3000, the Actua (or VR) sports games, Loaded, Re-Loaded, a number of FIFA games from 1997-2000, and music porting duties for the Desert/Jungle Strike games. His earliest works are teeming with the lovely sounds of Rave and House music, but as his sound progresses he gets deeper into other genres like Metal, Jungle, Drum and Bass and much more. Whether you're new to his work or an old fan, Neil's music continues to sound great to t

Going back to the NES we get The Guardian Legend, a curiousity developed by Compile that is best described as Zelda plus Zanac. Originally released in 1988 for the NES, The Guardian Legend or "Guardic Gaiden" is the pseudo sequel to MSX game Guardic from 1986. While the developers insist there's no story links between the games, there's enough gameplay and music shared between the two that we decided to play a lot of Guardic music for comparison. The music was composed by two individuals: Masatomo Miyamoto and Takeshi Santo. Masatomo Miyamoto worked with Compile from around 1985-1990 and soonafter left the game industry. Takeshi Santo worked as a sound programmer at Compile from 1987-1989 and then went off to found Sting where he's spent most of his career in a producer capacity. The Guardian Legend (NES) - 1988 | Guardic (MSX) - 1986 Composed by Masatomo Miyamoto (both games) and Takeshi Santo (TGL only) Track List: 0:00:04 Title Screen 0:03:16 Approaching NAJU 0:05:16 Boss Theme 1 0:06:58 Mess

Today we're joined by composer and indie game developer Timmie aka DDRKirby(ISQ) to talk about their music for Super Mega Zero, an awesome fast-paced puzzle platformer for PC and Switch. We also spend a good deal of time talking about DDRKirby's work in the indie game scene, as well as their upcoming game Rhythm Quest which sounds amazing. Super Mega Zero was developed by Silkworm and Rogue Games and released in April of 2022, it's a mix of VVVVVV and Celeste, so fans of those games will feel right at home. Pick up your copy on Steam or Switch, you'll be glad you did! DDRKirby has been involved in composition and indie game development for a long while and their signature "9-bit" style is on full display here. If you like what you hear, check out more from the links below: Website | YouTube | Patreon Bandcamp | Super Mega Zero OST Rhythm Quest | Discord Links to some of the other things mentioned Kat Jia's website featuring her wonderful art Cocoa Moss - DDRKirby and Kat's game studio One Hou

Kicking off the new year with a Famicom banger! Uchuu Keibitai SDF is a vertical shooter released by HAL Laboratory in 1990 for the Japanese market only. While the game leaves a bit to be desired, the soundtrack is great and definitely worth exploring. It was composed by HAL veterans, Jun Ishikawa (known for Kirby Super Star, Alcahest, and Hyper Zone) and Hideki Kanazashi (known for F1-Race, Mach Rider, Eggerland, Rollerball, and Adventures of Lolo). Great music and plenty of space babies to keep it interesting. Uchuu Keibitai SDF (宇宙警備隊 SDF) Famicom - 1990 HAL Laboratory Composed by Jun Ishikawa & Zap Rodeo (aka Hideki Kanazashi) Track List: 00:06 Start Demo 02:24 Stage 1 07:03 Boss 08:08 Stage 2 10:13 Stage 3 15:47 Stage 4 18:06 Stage 5 22:48 Stage 6 25:30 Stage 7 31:19 Unknown 33:45 Final Boss 36:49 Ending Uchuu Keibitai SDF @ VGMrips #credit to GTheGuardian

Following up our last show on CANYON.MID, we're joined by the artist that closed out the show, Austin Green. Austin is a guitarist and leader of the band WASD. We're going all in on PC game music today with a mix of Austin's favorites as well as PC game music covers from his recently released album Escape. For more info about Austin and WASD, check out the following links: Linktree | Bandcamp Don't forget to catch WASD live at MAGFest 2023 January 5-8, 2023 (Thursday to Sunday) Episode Track List: 0:00:00 Jazz Be Damned - Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (1998) - Alexander Brandon 0:05:33 Welcome to Fyrestone - Borderlands (2009) - Jesper Kyd 0:15:03 Fyrestone (WASD cover) - Borderlands (2009) - Jesper Kyd 0:21:37 Progressive - The Incredible Machine 3 (1995) - Chris Stevens, Tim Clarke, Jan Paul Moorhead 0:25:30 Programmable Rock (WASD cover) - The Incredible Machine 3 (1995) - Chris Stevens, Tim Clarke, Jan Paul Moorhead 0:36:23 Brain Freeze - Command and Conquer: Yuri’s Revenge (2001) - Frank Klepacki

Today we're talking about one of early PC computing's most iconic songs, "Trip Through the Grand Canyon" also known as "CANYON.MID" with none other than the composer himself, George Stone! We take a trip down memory lane and discuss how the song was written, how it ended up on millions of PCs around the world starting with Windows 3.0, and its status as a song that remains beloved to this day. George Stone is a multi-talented jazz musician who has been active for over 35 years; he's a performer, composer, arranger, and long-time professor at Cuesta College (Music, Recording Arts, Jazz performance/arrangement/composition). In addition to teaching and live performance, George recently did orchestration and arrangement for the 2022 film Amsterdam. After our interview, George was kind enough to send us a number of gifts that bring us joy: a signed PDF copy of CANYON.MID for Bryan and Gene to cherish (yes really), an unreleased MIDI from 1991 which we included in the show, the above charming side-by-side photo

We're once again joined by our guest host from the last episode, KVGM host Hammock and his father figure Craig Stadler in this milestone show. It's Expansion Pack XXX - Episode 169, covering the music from adult visual novels and adventure games. Hammock is an expert spelunker in the world of adult VGM jams and the numeric convergence was just too good to pass up. We've got a selection of tunes both sexy and unusual in this show, and we hope you enjoy it! In other golf related news, happy belated 69th birthday to our guest Craig, and check out episode 69 - Neo Turf Masters with Takushi Hiyamuta. If you like what you hear, check out more from Hammock on KVGM - The Last Wave on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher, on Twitter at @kvgmradio, on YouTube, or online at kvgmradio.com For more amazing adult game VGM check out some of our past shows: Grounseed, Eve Burst Error, Hole Chaser, Heart Heat Girls, and Mime Track List: 0:00:00 Emily (Mellow) - Futa Fix Dick Dine and Dash (PC, 2020) - g3ntlebreeze 0:

KVGM's host Hammock joins us once again in this expansion pack to talk about the many lovely tunes produced for T&E Soft golf games over the years. We also have the voice of another special guest from 1995's hit game Pebble Beach Golf Links, arguably the crown jewel of T&E golf games. Kick back, relax and and enjoy an Arnold Palmtree in the golf clubhouse along with some relaxing tunes. If you like what you hear, check out more from KVGM - The Last Wave on iTunes or your favorite podcatcher, on Twitter at @kvgmradio, on YouTube, or online at kvgmradio.com Track List: 00:04 Pebble Beach Golf Links (SAT) - Opening Movie by Yumi Satake 01:19 (Bedding) Pebble Beach: The Great Shot (ST-V) - BGM by unknown 02:08 (Bedding) True Swing Golf (DS) - BGM2 by Katsumi Yokokawa 04:55 Masters Harakanaru Augusta 2 (SFC) - BGM2 by Yumi Satake 09:37 New 3D Golf Simulation Eight Lakes G.C. (PC98) - Menu by Yumi Satake 13:55 Golf / T&E Virtual Golf (VB) - Options ~ Map Screen by Ken Kojima 18:36 (Bedding) Maste

The hotly anticipated Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge is here for your listening pleasure! The game saw several releases between 1992-1994 on the SNES, Genesis, Game Boy and Game Gear. It was developed by UK games company Software Creations Ltd., published by LJN on Nintendo systems and by Acclaim subsidiary Flying Edge on Sega systems. It's a bad game where you control 5 different characters: Spider-Man, Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops and Gambit in a gauntlet of tedious stages with great music (except Wolverine). The soundtrack was originally composed by brothers Geoff Follin and Tim Follin, no strangers to writing amazing soundtracks for mediocre games, many of them for Software Creations throughout the 80s and 90s. The arrangements for other systems were done by "Sound Images" on Genesis, John Loose on Game Boy, and Alastair (Allister) Brimble on Game Gear. We've disliked the game for almost 30 years but we hope you enjoy the music! Track List: 0:00:01 Title (SNES) 0:01:56 (Bedding) Title

Another year another MAGWest, we're back in person in person this year exploring the depths of what makes 'water music' with a legend of VGM analysis, 8-bit Music Theory! We put him through the paces as we goof off in our usual Pixelated Audio style. First we 'get to the bottom' of what makes water music sound so wet with some examples and audience commentary, followed by a silly but fun quiz! Check out 8-bit Music Theory's YouTube channel. 8bmt is a music theory expert, drummer, pianist, and all around nice guy who was so kind to join us on the panel! Thanks also to special audience appearances by friends and previous PA guests: Chase Bethea (Eps: #156 and #20) Street Cleaner aka Jesse Bishop (Eps: #150 and #161) As well as comments from new musician friends Audio Mocha and winner of the sad prize, Mason Lieberman! Apologies about the audio quality, but that's live baby! We still hope you enjoy the show as much we did! We did our best to make our show as enjoyable for regular listeners, but we h

Trying out a new format today with MIDI Spotlight starting on a PC98 title called Mime, published and developed by Studio Twinkle and composed by Hiroaki Sano. For a while now, VGMRips stalwart ValleyBell has graciously streamed music to our Discord channel featuring somewhat less common MIDI versions of the soundtracks on authentic hardware. We wanted to share his work more broadly with our audience and we hope you enjoy it. Due to timing it's Bryan solo today, but it's a lightweight radio program style show, light on commentary and heavy on music. If you like the format let us know! Mime was composed by Hiraoki Sano, an MVP of adult-oriented video games and anime. He's composed some great soundtracks to Japanese PC games like Division Guardian: Twinkle Star, Mirage 2, and one of the earliest English translated adult themed games, Knights of Xentar (for you old school DOS afficionados)! He's typically associated with FM soundtracks, but like many composers of the mid-90s wrote a number of MIDI compatible so

Pixelated Audio joins the many podcasts participating in the Masters of VGM (@MastersofVGM) event organized by bedroth, host of Very Good Music and BGMania. Masters of VGM is a month long event of participating podcasts and their own on take on who they think are the best of the best! We picked 8 veteran VGM Masters and aimed for a good blend of well known and lesser known tracks to keep things interesting. As always we hope you enjoy! Track List: 0:00:02 Flower Garden - Yoshi's Island (SNES) by Koji Kondo 0:04:40 Helicopter - Pilotwings (SNES) by Koji Kondo 0:08:53 Dampe's Cabin - Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC) by Koji Kondo 0:12:20 (Bedding) Time of the Falling Rain - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) by Koji Kondo 0:13:13 (Bedding) Forest of Mystery - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) by Koji Kondo 0:13:57 (Bedding) Priest of the Dark Order - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) by Koji Kondo 0:14:50 Little Sweet Cafe - Seiken Densetsu 3 (SNES) by Hi

We're joined today by another amazing and prolific guest; composer, Jeff van Dyck. Instead of focusing on a specific game we take a tour through Jeff's entire career from Skitchin' all the way to recent games like Unpacking. Jeff began his career in 1992 with EA (Electronic Arts), working on games like the FIFA, NHL series, and Need for Speed 1 & 2. He continued on to do the music for many of the major games in the Total War series, starting with the original, Shogun: Total War, and continuing with the Medieval and Rome Total War games. In recent years, Jeff has written music for a number of indie games like Assault Android Cactus, Hand of Fate 1 & 2, Submerged, Forts, Paint the Town Red and Unpacking In this interview we talk about a great many things; working in a constantly shifting industry, evolving as a composer, writing music for AAA games as well as indies, a bit of light hardware discussion, and just life in general over the last three decades. 2022 marks 30 years for Jeff in the games industry, a l

We had a great time at VGMTogether presenting our talk on game audio logging and the dedicated communities around the world that have spent years archiving music as accurately as possible. It's a commonly overlooked topic that nevertheless supports a lot of activities in the game music scene. You may have heard it referred to as "VGM ripping"; logging is the process of accessing, capturing, organizing and ultimately archiving game music in more accessible ways. There are a few ways that game music is stored in data, and a few ways that game music is captured for easier access. It's a time-consuming but rewarding process that requires some computer skills and a decent amount of patience. In addition to the tracklist we've included a number of other resources: links to some of our past shows with a focus on logging and preservation, links to some of the more prominent game and computer music archives, and some other relevant talks. To all of those involved in VGM logging including our good friends ValleyBell

Today we're joined be returning guest Jesse Bishop aka Street Cleaner to talk about Roadkill! It's an Amiga and Amiga CD-32 top down combat racing game released around early 1995, developed by Vision Software and published by Acid Software, both New Zealand based studios. The game's music was written by Blair Zuppicich, a composer and demoscene artist that went by the handle BaZ. Jesse fills us in on some cool discoveries he made ripping the sound and music, along with some technical discussion on how Blair and his team implemented it all in the game. We talk 90s 'tude, combat racers and butt rock (yeah!) in this short but fun episode. All music composed by Blair Zuppicich unless otherwise stated Track List: 0:00:03 Race start stinger + Song 1 0:07:49 Car Select 0:15:00 Title Music 0:30:17 stingers and voice clips 0:38:06 Stats 0:38:35 Song 2 0:40:38 [excerpt] Ragnarok Canyon - Battletoads in Battlemaniacs (SNES) - composed by David Wise 0:46:18 End Theme   Street Cleaner game music

The 8-Bit Big Band is a 30-65 member Jazz/Pops orchestra (led by Charlie Rosen) that formed to celebrate and realize some of the best musical themes written from various video games. The members of the 8-Bit Big Band come from all around the world, but most reside primarily in New York City, and are some of the most highly sought after musicians and performers, all gamers at heart who enjoy playing their favorite games of all time!   Charlie Rosen is extremely talented; he's a composer and arranger, professional bass player and multi-instrumentalist and does just about everything involved in producing the 8BBB albums. He's been playing professionally for years and has orchestrated and composed music for television, film and over a dozen Broadway shows.  He's well-versed in all manner of Big Band and Jazz, and his expanded arrangements give new life to old classics. Together with Charlie we cover a selection of tracks from 3 full-length albums and an EP. We talk music theory, arrangement, our favorite pop c