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My first PC sound card was an AdLib, which used a Yamaha FM chip. That thing was incredibly cool at the time. It had a jukebox[1], instrument creator[2], and co

My first PC sound card was an AdLib, which used a Yamaha FM chip. That thing was incredibly cool at the time. It had a jukebox[1], instrument creator[2], and composition software[3]. Lots of early Sierra and LucasArts games used it. Almost all early sound cards had an FM chip, so I forget that people today might not have been exposed to this tech. Also, there is the interesting area between the AdLib ROL/MIDI synthesis and full blown digitized audio such as wav/mp3... the demoscene was sampling digital audio, chopping it up (MOD/S3M/etc. file format). The result was a wav-like audio file in a tiny file size. Some of the tracker formats, such as Scream Tracker I believe, could do both FM synth and PCM output[4] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USNTZl7DGls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USNTZl7DGls [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H_g7WQMnFE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H_g7WQMnFE [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQa7uSFA0Zg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQa7uSFA0Zg [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lFNYJ7B820 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lFNYJ7B820

PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
> Also, there is the interesting area between the AdLib ROL/MIDI synthesis and full blown digitized audio such as wav/mp3... the demoscene was sampling digital audio, chopping it up (MOD/S3M/etc. file format). The result was a wav-like audio file in a tiny file size. This is typically called wavetable synthesis. You generate the (typically complex) waveform using other means, then load it into the synth and do stuff with it.
disqard 5y ago
I haven't heard of Scream Tracker (ST3) since... the late 1990s. That took me back :) I remember ripping .MOD files from DOS games and marvelling at how well they were composed/crafted. In particular, I still remember some amazing work by Andrew Sega, aka "Necros" [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sega https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sega

PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago

> Also, there is the interesting area between the AdLib ROL/MIDI synthesis and full blown digitized audio such as wav/mp3... the demoscene was sampling digital audio, chopping it up (MOD/S3M/etc. file format). The result was a wav-like audio file in a tiny file size. This is typically called wavetable synthesis. You generate the (typically complex) waveform using other means, then load it into the synth and do stuff with it.

disqard 5y ago

I haven't heard of Scream Tracker (ST3) since... the late 1990s. That took me back :) I remember ripping .MOD files from DOS games and marvelling at how well they were composed/crafted. In particular, I still remember some amazing work by Andrew Sega, aka "Necros" [0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sega https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Sega