15 ms·

The Impact of Jungle Music in 90s Video Game Development

700 points by atan2 2y ago

secdeal 2y ago
In Street Fighter 3rd Strike (1999) Akuma's stage music titled Killing Moon is one my favorites, I still listen to it
MrAlex94 2y ago
Related to this is the Buck Bumble[1] theme song[2]: > “That’s the whole point of it, we didn’t want to do sort of boring techno stuff as well, or jungle, so we picked speed garage, it’s funkier than house and garage.”[3] [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Bumble https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Bumble [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8FQ-N0zb2U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8FQ-N0zb2U) [3]: https://archive.org/details/64-magazine-15/page/n39/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/64-magazine-15/page/n39/mode/1up
- egypturnash 2y ago
  this is fucking hilarious
polishdude20 2y ago
When I read jungle music I totally thought about Diddy Kong Racing or the Donkey King games for SNES.
- josteink 2y ago
  Nah. It's more in the direction of whatever this is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isiVdlz8bDY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isiVdlz8bDY It's educational, reference real events and you may have a laugh at the same time ;)
  - itishappy 2y ago
    This is the video I cam here to see. This guy's a wizard. Here's two of my other favs (the second is more my speed, but the first is more fun): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqpa418gcKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqpa418gcKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDKpQQ4NoNA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDKpQQ4NoNA
  - schnitzelstoat 2y ago
    This was hilarious!
- toast0 2y ago
  If we're sharing jungle music videos... here's my favorite recent release. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1xneKsFArY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1xneKsFArY
- Bartkusa 2y ago
  I totally thought about Tetrisphere on N64: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRMN7GzZ3ic&list=PLE0926B068F92F536&t=44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRMN7GzZ3ic&list=PLE0926B068...
- bliblablub4 2y ago
  Donkey Kong is peak jungle music (besides other music types (which is basically all of them)). Sometimes I imagine that when the first jungle evolved, it did so because it anticipated that Donkey Kong will eventually be created. As something inevitable. And so is the ocean, the tundra, pretty much everything. Sounds unlikely? Listen to the Soundtrack und think again. Something so beautiful, so magnificent, it's like the opus magnum of some higher being. Something for us to ponder about, to marvel at. Just like life itself.
  - polishdude20 2y ago
    We should be friends.
austinallegro 2y ago
Wicked! Wicked! Jungle is massive! https://youtu.be/O7TklQTeuSE https://youtu.be/O7TklQTeuSE
- cut3 2y ago
  in cred ible
  - slim 2y ago
    in cre di ble
- imp0cat 2y ago
  Oh, care for a trip down the memory lane? :) https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5JibYKhC4GaAZXoDypqyAm https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5JibYKhC4GaAZXoDypqyAm
- ahartmetz 2y ago
  I believe it's "Junglist massive" with massive ~= crowd ...or is that intentional with Ali G's spelling abilities...
  - stanleykm 2y ago
    it is junglist massive and i dont think thats the kind of mistake ali g would make but i can understand how someone would hear jungle is massive
- vanderZwan 2y ago
  My favorite version of that song is General Levy's surprise guest appearance during a live Grime session[0]. The full 22 minutes are also worth a listen to, and this isn't even my type of music usually[1]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8aa1N9Vcfc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8aa1N9Vcfc [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOIF7iUn-Z8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOIF7iUn-Z8
  - miek 2y ago
gustavopezzi 2y ago
Author here. Thanks for sharing the blog post on HN; it was a nice surprise to see it in the first page.
- mason55 2y ago
  FYI you have a typo in there. You wrote "JTL Bukem" but it should be "LTJ Bukem". LTJ being short for "Long Time Junglist"
  - jsheard 2y ago
    Also "Examples of popular drum brakes" should be "breaks".
    - fb03 2y ago
      Drum brakes is an excellent typo tho ahah
    - addled 2y ago
      Now I desperately want to see drum breaks made with brake drums.
      - mometsi 2y ago
        For this set I'm gonna need a 5HP turntable with dual 4-jaw chucks
- jamal-kumar 2y ago
  cool to see ace combat 2 in there cause i love bullet hell games. was wild trying it on MAME instead of an arcade cabinet, hooked up to a subwoofer and realizing what genre it was cause your typical cabinet doesn't go loud enough to hear like half the song in the sub bass also funny how you can beat the game as a dolphin flying a plane haha
- samatman 2y ago
  You have gotten the history here dead wrong: > The techno scene originated in Germany, reached the UK, and it was later associated with the Chicago & Detroit EDM scene in America. Techno was invented in Detroit, house music in Chicago. Germany like techno. In no sense whatsoever did they invent or originate it.
jamal-kumar 2y ago
I've been having a lot of fun learning trackers as a little hobby in the past year with a cheap portable midi keyboard and some samples to play around with. There's just so many resources to learn from these days on youtube which didn't exist 5-10 years ago and I guarantee you if you have the time for it you can go from downloading renoise and a bunch of samples to bumping out some songs within a week or two of learning. There's also a lot to be said for the kind of sound you get out of older hardware, you have kids who are like 20 years old picking up these things and doing shit like emulating the DSP in there to create a VST for use on modern systems for those who don't want to drop a bunch of money on getting an amiga 500 shipped to their door [1], but you also have people pretty much just doing that and busting out octamed or protracker. Lots of cool clips out there [2]. If anyone is looking to have some fun with all this I suggest bizzy b's channel [3], the 'groovin in g' channel [4], as well as stranjah's channel on youtube [5] [1] https://potenzadsp.com/plugins/amigo/ https://potenzadsp.com/plugins/amigo/ [2] https://www.instagram.com/p/C0Pf1bNPgWy/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/p/C0Pf1bNPgWy/?hl=en [3] https://www.youtube.com/@TheBizzyBScience https://www.youtube.com/@TheBizzyBScience [4] https://www.youtube.com/@groovining https://www.youtube.com/@groovining [5] https://www.youtube.com/@STRANJAH https://www.youtube.com/@STRANJAH
- miek 2y ago
  Good stuff here, and if you don't have decent headphones/speakers, it just won't sound the same. For anyone needing an excellent subwoofer, check out RSL Speedwoofer 10e ($299) or 10s. What a world of difference a good sub makes.
  - jamal-kumar 2y ago
    Really the best sound test is done on a few things though, you also want to see how it sounds on whatever consumer audio solutions you have sitting around (the car especially is a good test)
buildsjets 2y ago
It's ruff in the jungle business. RIP Keith.
- kristianp 2y ago
  Sad he's no longer the paint we tasted.
the__alchemist 2y ago
I didn't know this genre was a thing. I'm hooked!
- miek 2y ago
  You might need Ishkur's guide :D https://music.ishkur.com/ https://music.ishkur.com/
  - croisillon 2y ago
    thanks for that, reminds me of epitonic.com
zolland 2y ago
here are my favorites showing up in gameplay footage: Soul of the Samurai: https://youtu.be/JAyu7o_t_Ys?si=6RvvXtpsLyxXndCu&t=7190 https://youtu.be/JAyu7o_t_Ys?si=6RvvXtpsLyxXndCu&t=7190 Ace Combat 2: https://youtu.be/_ylkb5td5K0?si=LJw4bf3JsDilDEnf&t=114 https://youtu.be/_ylkb5td5K0?si=LJw4bf3JsDilDEnf&t=114
louthy 2y ago
If anyone's interested and wants to hear more, I have a mix of 92/93 era Jungle [1] Some rough mixes here and there (especially the first one) because it was live from a NYE event. But it suits the style of music, that era was so raw and fresh, the future was being invented right there! Very happy days :) 1) DJ SS - Intro 2) Higher Sense - Cold Fresh Air 3) Deep Blue - The Helicopter Tune 4) Roni Size - Time Stretch (93 Mix) 5) DMS & The Boneman X - Sweet Vibrations 6) Engineers Without Fears - Spiritual Aura 7) Omni Trio - Soul Promenade 8) Codename John - Kindred 9) Brainkillers - Screwface 10) Dubtronix - Fantasy (Remix) 11) M-Beat - Incredible 12) DJ Rap - Your Mind (Gimp/Steve Mix) 13) Asend & Ultravibe - What Kind Of World 14) LTJ Bukem – Horizons 15) Bruck Wild - Silent Dub [1] https://on.soundcloud.com/WjQVyJRfYMyQLP3f8 https://on.soundcloud.com/WjQVyJRfYMyQLP3f8
- vdvsvwvwvwvwv 2y ago
  Thanks for the link. Someone who I know who was into that with the decks, sampler etc. will love it! Anyway to avoid app install?
  - accrual 2y ago
    The original link worked for me in a desktop browser, but this direct link was provided by GP in another comment and may work for you: https://soundcloud.com/paullouth/paul-louth-jungle-mix-nye-2017 https://soundcloud.com/paullouth/paul-louth-jungle-mix-nye-2...
- jamal-kumar 2y ago
  Nice selection! One of the things I noticed with a bunch of the younger producers is that they make really nice tunes but they don't bother with the whole intro/outro thing so there's no buffer on either end of the track to mix the thing unless you go add them yourself before even attempting to get them in with a bunch of older choons meant for mixing. like this is great [1], but 1:34 minutes lmao what? On the other hand people who have been at it since the very early days are still quietly releasing alot, here's some secret dillinja cuts [2] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M77SxLGAxWg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M77SxLGAxWg [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfyHx7SCn3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfyHx7SCn3g
stonethrowaway 2y ago
[dead]
bitschubser_ 2y ago
Uhhh throwback to simpler times <3 I loved the scene in Basel back in the days For the adventurous Ishkur also has a nice opinionated guide through the history of electronic music with much of its facets: https://music.ishkur.com/ https://music.ishkur.com/
imp0cat 2y ago
Let's not forget The Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and High Stakes (both a wonderful mixtures of rock and electronic music). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akf4vQs7R9A&list=PLCDB3A4909F61CA29 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akf4vQs7R9A&list=PLCDB3A4909... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7dQELIwP0U&list=PLD48C6CD40AA6CEF0&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7dQELIwP0U&list=PLD48C6CD40...
- selimthegrim 2y ago
  You beat me to it.
fuhsnn 2y ago
Before pre-rendering took over, game soundtracks were basically tracker mods, beautiful era.
dm319 2y ago
If anyone wants to see a continuation of this subculture, have a look at this: https://youtu.be/V_akDC1ztXQ?si=wxMOxlfvaN4IRSnw https://youtu.be/V_akDC1ztXQ?si=wxMOxlfvaN4IRSnw and this: https://youtu.be/iD9xk3SDSYc?si=KD5TvSg4UDMb-sh8 https://youtu.be/iD9xk3SDSYc?si=KD5TvSg4UDMb-sh8
- jamal-kumar 2y ago
  People making entire mixes with two amiga 500s between a mixer and entirely new tracks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2k9eMuRwGw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2k9eMuRwGw
  - alt227 2y ago
    This is awesome. I used to run a Jungle night, and once we booked Paradox to play. He brought his entire Amiga set up and we had to replace the decks with it for his set. He had to load each track from a floppy disk and it took like 2-3 mins whilst the beat of the previous track would play out and the crowd waited for the next track to load. Crazy seeing a whole dancefloor chilling waiting for a floppy disk to load up!
    - jamal-kumar 2y ago
      This is the trick now: https://www.ami64.com/product-page/gotek-usb-flash-drive-for-amiga-options https://www.ami64.com/product-page/gotek-usb-flash-drive-for...
      - snvzz 2y ago
        The hardware is quite generic. What's interesting is the firmware everyone uses, FlashFloppy[0]. 0. https://github.com/keirf/flashfloppy/wiki https://github.com/keirf/flashfloppy/wiki
VyseofArcadia 2y ago
I don't know much about Jungle music, but I do know a lot about video games, and I want to shout out the Neo Geo game Shock Troopers. One of the best top down run and gun games ever made, and I'm told it has a Jungle/DnB soundtrack.
spacechild1 2y ago
Another game with a cool jungle soundtrack is "Trick'n Snowboarder". The game itself is unremarkable, but I still remember the music to this day. For example, check out https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=38yTPVGqj8c&t=369s https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=38yTPVGqj8c&t=369s or https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=38yTPVGqj8c&t=1477s https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=38yTPVGqj8c&t=1477s
- pkkkzip 2y ago
  not related but lot of 90s snowboarding games had underrated soundtracks cool boarders 2 come to mind
littlestripes 2y ago
excellent write-up! always loved this sound to death. great for the coding flow states too.
trollied 2y ago
We can't accept drum and bass we need jungle I'm afraid.
- griffzhowl 2y ago
  amen, brother
  - sceadu 2y ago
    Not sure if you're making a jungle Brothers reference to Amen break reference :)
    - Intermernet 2y ago
      The Amen break comes from a track called "Amen, brother" by The Winstons. So your assumption is mostly correct, but without the JBs reference
  - zer00eyz 2y ago
    Amen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac The very best of jungle was "UK Apache with Shy FX - Original Nuttah". It got a bit of re-release for its 25th birthday (5 years ago) with an intro by Idris Elba. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GclYmrvWyuY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GclYmrvWyuY Ali G gave jungle a moment to shine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efgIm9YPZvE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efgIm9YPZvE And jungle isnt dead its just evolved a bit! Nia Archives - Off Wiv Ya Headz from last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrnDC94_Tic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrnDC94_Tic Amen brother, Amen!
    - walthamstow 2y ago
      Original Nuttah was the last tune at a friend's wedding a few weeks ago. A great time was had by all.
- petecooper 2y ago
  Context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecl2kZBnBnY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecl2kZBnBnY
BlandDuck 2y ago
"We can't accept drum and bass we need jungle I'm afraid" ;)
rtuin 2y ago
What a nice writeup. I've listened to jungle and related styles on and off over the years but I wasn't aware the music had played such a big role in 90's game music!
tailsdog 2y ago
GTA III MSX FM
- 71bw 2y ago
  Timecode step inside the zone. Out to the Moving Shadow crew. Goes out to the robots and the Scott, it’s the Gav and to the Julia long time. 101.1 MSX FM in your manor. Right across the border, your time rude boys, yeah out to the email crew, msxfm@movingshadow.com , direct link up with us, phone line crew 0 double 7 47 114 553 yeah show dedication, all across Liberty, all Liberty City massive, south east north and the west, yeah spread it across the airwaves sound of the 101.1 killin the other stations dead, the Liberty City’s finest, It’s live! The groove that sounds the best MSX FM no contest. SHOW THEM MISTA TIME CODE!
  - selimthegrim 2y ago
    Guy called Gerald was definitely on SF-UR in later volumes
sockbot 2y ago
One of the best sound tracks ever is Street Fighter 3 3rd Strike, heavily featuring jungle.
petecooper 2y ago
Pete Cannon on jungle production techniques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDn7ZDcx9w0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDn7ZDcx9w0
ChrisArchitect 2y ago
To me there is/was a natural connection between electronic music and game development just by the sheer involvement with technology. And jungle just happened to be very popular and going thru some major grassroots scene development around the same time. Personally, alongside earlier exposure to popular/underground dance music, my deeper exposure to electronic music came from tracker music and the demoscene which of course went hand in hand with developments in the game industry.
- dylan604 2y ago
  It's also just a natural thing for a game to make bleeps/bloops/whoomps/booms vs storing raw audio type data.
  - dpc050505 2y ago
    I've been playing a bit of 3d pinball space cadet last week and I kept thinking how the game sounds could fit wonderfully into breakcore and acid tekno tracks.
Modified3019 2y ago
There was a game called “SILENT THUNDER: A-10 TANK KILLER II” my father had in his collection that I’d ruffle through as a kid. While the gameplay (brutal flight sim) wasn’t that compelling to child me, it had a full soundtrack made of multiple genres that lives in my brain to this day, especially “Monk’s revenge”. In fact, I think it was setup so that you could put the disk in a CD player and have it play as an audio disk. No idea if any of it counts as “jungle”, but it’s very much 90’s electronic game music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9c6PPlkvBE&list=PLc3TVNLOqsp1Pp0tJcpyhxSeQM08Suggd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9c6PPlkvBE&list=PLc3TVNLOqs...
- HKH2 2y ago
  Jungle has breakbeats, whereas that music is four-on-the-floor.
- thenthenthen 2y ago
  Wow this lead me to rediscover this dnb (sry not jungle) cd from 24 years ago: a1 sound carrier ii by dj tonic [0] Never really liked the CD but there are some unique, weird tracks on there. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D94YaTCeZlU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D94YaTCeZlU
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
  Lots of games in that era just put the game data as track 1 and then filled the rest of the disc with audio tracks, so that they could command the disc player to handle all playback for them Rock raiders too
contingencies 2y ago
90's games + jungle = obligatory mention of Jill of the Jungle (1992). https://www.playdosgames.com/online/jill-of-the-jungle/ https://www.playdosgames.com/online/jill-of-the-jungle/
Thaxll 2y ago
Noclip has an amazing documentary about Wipeout 2097 music: https://youtu.be/-nwWpQJFGp8?si=f96-_G3bBqmGEP_c https://youtu.be/-nwWpQJFGp8?si=f96-_G3bBqmGEP_c
- myself248 2y ago
  Ah, I'm glad the demoscene gets a mention. One does not make music on a computer in the 90s without at least some, or possibly a whole truckload of, influence from the demoscene.
  - miek 2y ago
    https://www.pouet.net/ https://www.pouet.net/ for modern demoscene hub. who remembers Ojuice.net?
    - pjmlp 2y ago
      I do, and the original Nectarine radio, Hugi demo mag, Assembly early days, Breakout,.... Feeling oldie. :)
- nlawalker 2y ago
  Clicked link, heard Firestarter, A+ for meeting expectations.
  - blipvert 2y ago
    Only just clocked yesterday that Keith FLINT would be a literal fire starter. Twenty eight years! I’m ashamed of myself.
    - 4gotunameagain 2y ago
      I'll save you the wait, tinder + match = fire !
- miek 2y ago
  Fun fact: A high-quality prototype of the original PS1 Wipeout is shown in the movie Hackers (arcade scene). It was done on a high-end SGI server and allowed the dev team to try out tracks and gameplay before porting to the Playstation. There are features and graphics in the movie that do not exist in the actual game.
comprev 2y ago
GTA + Moving Shadow record label... legendary for showcasing d&b to a wider audience. https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Moving_Shadow https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Moving_Shadow For those interested I can highly recommend the "Moving Shadow Sampler Series" mix anthology [0] [0] https://www.discogs.com/label/396717-Movingshadow-Sampler-Series https://www.discogs.com/label/396717-Movingshadow-Sampler-Se...
magicalhippo 2y ago
I recall the Wipeout 2097 soundtrack[1] blew me away as a kid. I had heard some techno and eurodance was popular at the time, but the sounds coming out of the speaker at the store where the demo ran was on another level. Bought the CD and listen to it every now and then, and Orbital's Petrol track is still up there on my top 100 list. There was something raw, and edge, that seems lost in so much electronic music these days. [1]: https://www.discogs.com/release/6385-Various-Wipeout-2097-The-Soundtrack https://www.discogs.com/release/6385-Various-Wipeout-2097-Th...
- tetris11 2y ago
  https://archive.org/details/wipeout2097_soundtrack https://archive.org/details/wipeout2097_soundtrack
  - gatane 2y ago
    WE HAVE EXPLOSIVEEE
    - imp0cat 2y ago
      I think this was also on the Mortal Kombat movie OST (another hidden gem from the 90's; not the movie, the soundtrack).
      - vinceguidry 2y ago
        Did you ever listen to the More Kombat follow on? Most of the tracks were forgettable, but there was that one track Space Man by Babylon Zoo that still runs through my head every now and again.
        markedathome 2y ago
        The "Spaceman" track was used in a Levi's ad[1] which used the intro. Then everyone went out and bought the single, and rocketed it up the charts in a lot of countries. At the time there was much disappointment that the rest of the song was not like that intro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTIrUXYLtpA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTIrUXYLtpA
OliveMate 2y ago
I can't accept Drum and Bass, we need Jungle I'm afraid. Genuinely glad I got to experience so much of it growing up with a PS1 and the genre's stuck with me. If you want to focus on listening or have some soothing background noise, it's perfect, versatile. While not all jungle, shouout to PS1 racing games for their killer soundtracks. The glorified mixtape of Gran Turismo 2 (all versions!), Colin Mcrae Rally's acid beats, everything in Ridge Racer. Really feels like vidya soundtracks peaked there.
- agentdrek 2y ago
  "I can't accept Drum and Bass" is the greatest YouTube remix rabbit hole to go down
- ErigmolCt 2y ago
  The PS1 era really was the golden age for soundtracks
  - fennecfoxy 2y ago
    Going from carts to CDs, so much more storage. I've got a great collection of retro (at least from my childhood) games going and PS1 is my favourite, got a big stack
- cnity 2y ago
  My introduction to The Prodigy was Firestarter on one of the Wipeout games. That soundtrack was brilliant.
vehemenz 2y ago
If you like this kind of music—and even the late 90s/early 00s aesthetic—check out Zorrovian's YouTube channel for some nice playlists. https://www.youtube.com/@zorrovian https://www.youtube.com/@zorrovian
Buttons840 2y ago
I've recently been into game development, and I needed music which lead me to discovering synthesizers--I was hooked the first time I saw so many buttons, knobs, and flashing lights--and now I've gone off on a huge tangent and am studying music theory instead of making my game. Oh well, it's all for fun. Does HN have any advice on how to get started with synthesizers, with an eye towards creating a game soundtrack?
- dakna 2y ago
  I don't have any advice on how to get started, but please take a look at one of the legends of the 8/16-bit era: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Huelsbeck https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Huelsbeck Maybe I'm nostalgic, but these tunes were amazing. https://youtu.be/7dJrsmt9BOY https://youtu.be/7dJrsmt9BOY Oh, and if you haven't invested 30 minutes of your remaining lifetime listening to Orbital - The Box (Full Version) you are missing a masterpiece. Here is Orbital's Paul Hartnoll playing with his gear: https://youtu.be/VjlWypTclec https://youtu.be/VjlWypTclec
- squeaky-clean 2y ago
  Ableton has a good free introduction using web audio stuff so no download needed. https://learningsynths.ableton.com/ https://learningsynths.ableton.com/ For a more advanced set of lessons there is Syntorial, which has a demo including the first 20 or so lessons and the full set of 200 lessons for $120. Syntorial requires a download, but it's a full synthesizer with lessons built into it, so you can use it in your own music. Aside from that I'd say youtube is the best source. While you're still a beginner I'd recommend avoiding any videos where they don't show the finished result because it's much harder to tell if the video is BS or not. For free synthesizers, I'd recommend "TAL U-NO-60" as a good beginner one, it's modeled after the Roland Juno 60. And "Vital" for a more complex / less beginner friendly one. Both of those have paid versions with additional features but those additional features are not necessary at all. You'll also need a DAW software capable of loading VST plugins to use them.
- timc3 2y ago
  You started in the right place with music theory. As for learning synths, you can do it in two ways - just start using them, fiddling and playing (whether its a software synth or hardware synth) or you learning actually the fundamentals by books, video and articles like these: https://www.soundonsound.com/series/synth-secrets-sound-sound https://www.soundonsound.com/series/synth-secrets-sound-soun... I started the first way in the early 80s and did the second and have a life long love of synths ( I don't even know how many I have now but probably around 30-40 hardware synths, samplers and drum machines).
dfxm12 2y ago
I remember Gran Turismo well. The Quest Mode theme from Tobal no. 1 goes unmentioned. It's just a short break looped over and over again. After playing this game, you realize if you like jungle or not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mC6K5kqZU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mC6K5kqZU
- selimthegrim 2y ago
  I guess now I realize where all the music in the late 90s Need for Speeds came from
empath75 2y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ9QHGaxdig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ9QHGaxdig Tempest 2000 was probably more acid house influenced, but there was also a lot of early breakbeat hardcore/jungle tunes in there too.
- miek 2y ago
  The most demoscene inspired game ever? Is there another? It's beautiful.
ethbr1 2y ago
Was hoping this was that kind of jungle. :D Aka 'Some dnb tracks' funk goes to 10... ours goes to 11' jungle
xipix 2y ago
> Fun fact: Unlicensed stations began streaming jungle music from onboard ships off the coast of Britain, hence the expression "pirate radios." Didn't pirate radio broadcast from boats predate Jungle by about 20 years?
- pacaro 2y ago
  From the mid 60s
- richrichardsson 2y ago
  It's weird things like using "streaming" instead of "broadcasting", let alone the fact by the time Jungle was invented pirate radio was no longer happening on the seas but had moved to having the "studio" in one high rise block of flats with a point to point link to the actual broadcast site on another, coupled with the general structure and other fantasies makes me question how much of this was LLM generated. I couldn't continue reading after a while.
  - gustavopezzi 2y ago
    Hi there. Author here. Thanks for the heads up. I would never even consider using LLMs for this, this is just a subject that was always interesting to me so I thought it would be a good idea to write some of it down. Some of these mentions look like shortcomings of English not being my first language; I'll try to review it and change the words or terms that you suggested.
brirec 2y ago
The article mentions Bomberman on the Nintendo 64, but they made a mistake — there were actually 4 different Bomberman games on the Nintendo 64, and the one featuring Jungle music is Bomberman Hero, not the one whose box art they used (Bomberman 64).
AirMax98 2y ago
A bit slept on, but Extreme G 2 soundtrack has a ‘96-97 Source Direct vibe to it.
samirsd 2y ago
self-plug: i built a streaming platform devoted to 90s jungle deep cuts called .mixtape — good curated selection on there https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mixtape/id1391354414 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mixtape/id1391354414
nntwozz 2y ago
Jungle instantly reminds me of Squarepusher - Feed Me Weird Things from 1996 Tundra is a masterpiece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G01DKEig14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G01DKEig14
- psd1 2y ago
  I do love that track, but although it takes the form of jungle it is utterly unlike jungle. Squarepusher is refined. Jungle is amateur. It needs to have the feel of "this is what we cafe because it's what we could make" whereas Squarepusher is grade 8 on at least two instruments. Love Squarepusher but he's not jungle.
- 0x011011 2y ago
  aaaah, seeing someone recommend a squarepusher album on hn makes my brain mush.
  - timc3 2y ago
    I can recommend more if you like and of course the Chris Cunningham video https://youtu.be/MWCSw_cNxKc https://youtu.be/MWCSw_cNxKc Not sure I would class it as jungle though.
metrognome 2y ago
I'm going to leave this here for anyone who wants some good focus-time music: https://youtu.be/Do5_wU9X1pc https://youtu.be/Do5_wU9X1pc
NKosmatos 2y ago
I had the luck/privilege of being in the UK back in the 90s, around the time Jungle and Drum and Bass were really high (pun intended). Those were the good old times with PlayStation arriving, Wipeout having a superb soundtrack, and many excellent artists providing tunes for games. In case there are people interested in DnB have a look at Andy C ;-)
- louthy 2y ago
  There was a club in London that I used to go to in the mid-90s called Complex. It had three floors, one was drum&bass, one techno, and the top floor was PlayStations. The PS1 was a real zeitgeist moment where gaming came of age.
  - helboi4 2y ago
    That sounds so fucking cool. I would love to experience a club like that. Just take a little playstation break from the dancefloor lol
- miek 2y ago
  Andy C will be in LA on nov 28!
stanleykm 2y ago
jungle & drum and bass were magical in the 90s. The breakbeats left so much room for crazy experimentation with synthesizers that you didnt really get out of other genres with the more familiar booming 4 on the floor kick drums. This was also a time when people were moving from hardware to software for music production so the evolution of the music, if you were to look at it from the early 90s to early 2000s was incredible.
comprambler 2y ago
Morphadron from the EA Need for Speed series must be jungle as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POxdm5dW7wE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POxdm5dW7wE
- HKH2 2y ago
  The music you linked is too slow for Jungle.
analog31 2y ago
Amusingly, I clicked on the link, wondering how video games were using 1920s jazz.
TheRealPomax 2y ago
And the impact of Jungle in the last few months of 2024 in K-pop (They discovered two step garage earlier in the year, now they've moved on to jungle. I look forward to them discovering UK dubstep from before Skrillex)
- gaoryrt 2y ago
  You mean Right Now by newjeans?
- tosmatos 2y ago
  Some examples please ! I listen to 0 k-pop but am very curious now. My cousin used to send me stuff that sounded really good.
  - TheRealPomax 2y ago
    Search youtube for "new kpop 2024 november week 1" and work your way back. Bebe Yana is probably the most "what if I just did jungle?" of the lot, but it's made its way into pretty much all the mainstream groups (even if, because of how the kpop formula works, it's only a chorus section after a drop)
WD-42 2y ago
Still some of the best music to code by. I know it’s more millennium, but I still listen to the unreal tournament 1999 soundtrack.
- miek 2y ago
  facing worlds!!
the__alchemist 2y ago
Tangent: The Serious Sam soundtrack owns! Really, anything by Damjan Mravunac.
TacticalCoder 2y ago
In "Wipeout" on the original Playstation there's the famous "Firestarter" song by Prodigy. It's the, slowed down, amen break too I think: https://youtu.be/V_b5-RWOfMo https://youtu.be/V_b5-RWOfMo EDIT: yup it's in TFA, facepalming myself.
- TomK32 2y ago
  A real turning point for The Prodigy turning it from a producer-driven dance act into a proper band with a lead singer. Flint created a job in the act for himself not once but twice.
  - miek 2y ago
    His funeral was a proper sendoff .... to outer space, to find another race https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfAEECqG9G8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfAEECqG9G8
- midnightclubbed 2y ago
  Killer track but technically Firestarter isn't Drum and Bass (or Jungle). Prodigy slowed everything down after Experience (first album).
miek 2y ago
Jungle ramblings: -Can't forget Facing Worlds in Unreal Tournament 1999! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i_0G6WPuss4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i_0G6WPuss4 -Andy C will be in Los Angeles Nov. 28 (typically plays LA a few times per year) -Worth checking out: Modern DJs who mix DnB/jungle with "footwork" (musical genre), e.g. Sharelle https://m.soundcloud.com/iamsherelle https://m.soundcloud.com/iamsherelle -BBC Radio 1, Radio 6, and Rinse FM all have drum n bass shows and are available for free online and through Alexa etc. -h2k2 had at least one wicked drum n bass set, I wonder if any of you were there :)
- docmars 2y ago
  I was surprised Unreal Tournament didn't get a mention in the article — it's famous for its music! I fondly remember several of its tracks falling within this genre.
  - daneyh 2y ago
    Unreal tournament - Mechanism eight is such a great track
miek 2y ago
One of the first things I asked ChatGPT when I got access: could you write a song in the style of a uk drum-n-bass MC about why a fictional brand of study bible, "The Rilla Bibla," is better than others? Verse 1: Listen up, listen up, I got a story to tell About a brand new study bible that's straight outta hell It's called "The Rilla Bibla," and it's the real deal Got all the wisdom, all the knowledge, it's the bomb, it's for real Chorus: The Rilla Bibla, it's the one and only Got all the beats and rhythm, it's the holy holy It's got the flow, it's got the style It's gonna elevate your understanding, mile by mile etc. etc. Golden.
yellowapple 2y ago
I'm a bit surprised, given the mention of other Dreamcast games, that there's no mention of Airforce Delta's soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR7C-9laJbs&list=PLbPd0JMiEHj_VXKSpjAkhw4BbLS6YZu6a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR7C-9laJbs&list=PLbPd0JMiEH... AFD's soundtrack is interesting because it tends to be superficially EDM-ish but still pulls in that jungle influence. Track 2 on that playlist is a perfect example: you have a very standard drum beat front and center, but you also have a heavily-chopped drum beat as texture from the very first moment. The resulting syncopated effect with the piano and synth cords is a nice touch (especially in that bit around the 2 minute mark, which itself is a nice introduction to a broader motif throughout the rest of the soundtrack, particularly the finale Track 24 - which itself is another great example of that "EDM main beat with jungle-like chopping as texture" style). Occasionally that style flips around, though. Track 15 is a good example, where it's the chopped beat (albeit not severely) that takes front and center, yet again producing neat syncopated effects with the synth chords now in the more rigid role. Similar deal with Tracks 8, 10, and 13, though most of these are less afraid to move the chords into the off-beats. And then there's my second-favorite track, Track 11, which deemphasizes the chopped drums a bit but instead chops up the synth arpeggios for the same effect of adding that nice bit of texture to the pulsing beat and soaring synths. My favorite track, Track 7, alternates between a very pure-jungle sound across the board (with the drums and chords being heavily chopped and syncopated, often in support of nice long notes) and brief moments of that EDM-like pulse, to great effect. And of course there's plenty of great stuff outside of that EDM/jungle hybrid, like Track 23's Harold-Faltermeyer-esque "Top Gun Anthem" knockoff, or the smooth-jazz-ish segues like Track 22. All in all, a fantastic body of work that defined my childhood. ---- Another game conspicuously missing from the discussion is Buck Bumble and its jungle-to-the-max soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lax-KRVVPfo&list=PLeXmIIlkcO5gSXBxiKx9E57f668XUQpt9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lax-KRVVPfo&list=PLeXmIIlkcO... bump to the boom to the bump to the bass, bump to the boom to the bumble
- rndmio 2y ago
  Just listened to the Buck Bumble soundtrack and that is very much garage not jungle.
ttul 2y ago
I worked as an intern in the sound department at a video game company in 1997/1998. We had a full recording studio in house around the corner from my desk. One day, a drummer came in to lay down some drum’n’bass tracks for a game. So yeah, indeed the Jungle sound was present in video games back then. What a time.
trq01758 2y ago
Ahh, I'm so enjoying Sebastian Ahrenberg work from Seba Producer 06. This is compilation released in 2003 of tracks from 1996-1999. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhcqYxogdsU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhcqYxogdsU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7RRgGSMmjk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7RRgGSMmjk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy69Heb33pg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy69Heb33pg
ErigmolCt 2y ago
The blend of music and gaming culture in the 90s is something special
jbaiter 2y ago
This series of mixes by Lee Gamble is a great romp through jungle history, highly recommended: https://soundcloud.com/leegamble/sets/jungle-as-particle-accelerator https://soundcloud.com/leegamble/sets/jungle-as-particle-acc...
uk_jungle 2y ago
For anyone who likes jungle and is not familiar with the UK cult classic film Human Traffic, you must at least see "the jungle scene" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ChSg0-r_jqA&pp=ygUUSHVtYW4gdHJhZmZpYyBqdW5nbGU%3D https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ChSg0-r_jqA&pp=ygUUSHVtYW4gdHJ... If you were part of the rave scene, you should watch the whole film, it's full of comedy and nostalgia of those hedonistic times. One of my all time favourite films.
- alt227 2y ago
  Any new jungle in guy?
bromuk 2y ago
Dissapointed that buck bumble wasn’t mentioned.
scoopr 2y ago
I think the referenced Tim Wright interview is this[0] one [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CGhBLHfP_M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CGhBLHfP_M
itsoggy 2y ago
Didn't think 90's Jungle / DnB would be on HN... Yes! Add these to the list... Saint Etienne - The Sea (PFM Mix): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1JrnoEbQDE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1JrnoEbQDE Funky Technicians - Airtight (Original) (1996): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwC43QSY94A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwC43QSY94A
anilakar 2y ago
I only had to read the title and immediately knew what the article was about: that breakbeat soundtrack you could hear in countless original Playstation games.
jl6 2y ago
An article about jungle music in 90s video games that doesn’t mention Unreal Tournament?!
AntoniusBlock 2y ago
Some excellent contemporary Jungle producers, if anyone wants recommendations: Dead Man's Chest, Tim Reaper, Equinox and Coco Bryce. These lads are producing bangers better, or on par, with the producers of the late 80s and 90s.
- bookaway 2y ago
  I'm looking for the more Ragga heavy melodic dirty sounding jungle a la Krinjah's Return or Hold Yuh remix. Any new people on that sound?
  - miek 2y ago
    I don't track it, but that's good stuff
1oooqooq 2y ago
most of this article is nostalgia. the reason game development use sampled music was because it was always about cutting cost, specially at Sony when they introduced CD audio to games.
- JodieBenitez 2y ago
  Cutting cost: driving creativity since forever :)
schnitzelstoat 2y ago
I'm not sure if it is Jungle music, but the electronic (drum and bass?) music in games like Forsaken 64 and Unreal Tournament (1999) was amazing. I still listen to the UT99 soundtrack when I need to concentrate on something.
- miek 2y ago
  This is THE track from UT99 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i_0G6WPuss4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i_0G6WPuss4
seventhtiger 2y ago
Ape Escape was mentioned. That game was released to promote the dual analog controller on Playstation 1. Back then the convention of camera control on right stick wasn't even established, so camera rotation was on the shoulder buttnos, while the right stick was used to control weapons! The game's soundtrack is iconic. Dark Ruins is a favorite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jbNHgmU1TM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jbNHgmU1TM
maep 2y ago
Shoutout to h0ffman, in my opinion the best contemporary junglist on olschool hardware. His 8-Bit Jungle music disk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--J66FY7qro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--J66FY7qro
orthoxerox 2y ago
As someone who was so non-conformist in the 90s that he refused to listen to the music for non-conformists, I am constantly surprised that jungle doesn't sound the way it's named. Every time I expect EDM with Afro-Caribbean percussion, like bongos and steelpans and marimbas, realize it's nothing like that and promptly forget what jungle sounds like until the next revelation.
- miek 2y ago
  While not a perfect match, Ragga Jungle is a subgenre that hits the afro carrib mark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yiLR4IAByc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yiLR4IAByc
  - bookaway 2y ago
    I asked in response to another comment[0] above somewhere but do you have any recommendations for more recent producers/djs on the ragga jungle sound? [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42136943 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42136943
tigerBL00D 2y ago
Thank you for putting this together. For a certain generation this resonates strongly. For me in the mid to late 90's getting into coding and hacking assembly while listening to and coding underground music in trackers were huge influences that have had their impact on the trajectory of my life and my social circle. P.S. Let's hang out )
sourcepluck 2y ago
I have been going through a heavy jungle phase recently thanks to these mixes I found when investigating what's possible on the Commodore A600 (I recently came into possession of one): https://inv.nadeko.net/playlist?list=PLF8fxbriplbmwB7zypOxa_oV4fkzTQOEh It's a channel called "off1k", and a playlist called "Jungle / Drum & Bass", and all the tunes come from people making music on Amigas in the early 90s on software called "protracker". A600s, A1200s, maybe others, maybe other versions or variants of protracker, I'm not sure. Anyway, if someone can get through 30s of mix 1 without losing their sh*t, I want to hear about it, I'll keel over. And, to top it all off, about a week in to these mixes on loop, I ask myself: what is that software? Is that still going? And I discover some fellow called "Olav Sørensen" recently wrote an identical-looking protracker clone: https://16-bits.org/pt2.php EDIT: GH link https://github.com/8bitbubsy/pt2-clone Which I can confirm runs very smoothly on Arch (btw). It says it's available for Mac and Windows on the site. In the words of the sample from the first track on mix 1: "annihilating the rhythm". Get jungling people!
know-how 2y ago
[dead]
miek 2y ago
Can't help but drop these-- For easy listening jungle/Drum N Bass, excellent for work, search for "atmospheric drum n bass" or "liquid drum n bass". Artists: Photek, LTJ Bukem, DB (some), etc. Best atmospheric mix w vocals ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAXnFZ3anlE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAXnFZ3anlE For a tour of jungle over time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgK8h9xRFls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgK8h9xRFls For a famous jungle dj/vocalist pairing: AK1200 moonshine over america https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqRNrhQvYEc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqRNrhQvYEc Also, you may recognize Goldie, a pioneer of the genre, who turned actor, turned model, and more recently launched a record label
omar12 2y ago
Growing up, the music from PS1 games and getting my first computer with internet access sparked my interest in Drum and Bass, Jungle, and eventually other electronic music. In high school, I would spend hours every night searching for music and connecting with people who shared similar interests, discovering what they enjoyed. I also remembered going to Borders and spend hours browsing their library. It was a great time. I still have my drum and bass CDs from back then. Roni Size - New Forms was a game changer for me.
safar_so_far 2y ago
Wow! I was literally listening to jungle mix when I came across this article. Amazing. Let's keep the genre alive!
racl101 2y ago
Still remember the Killer Instinct OST CD had some Jungle in it.
svecaf 2y ago
‏كيف اخذ الهاكر

700 points by atan2 2y ago

In Street Fighter 3rd Strike (1999) Akuma's stage music titled Killing Moon is one my favorites, I still listen to it

Related to this is the Buck Bumble[1] theme song[2]: > “That’s the whole point of it, we didn’t want to do sort of boring techno stuff as well, or jungle, so we picked speed garage, it’s funkier than house and garage.”[3] [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Bumble https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Bumble [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8FQ-N0zb2U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8FQ-N0zb2U) [3]: https://archive.org/details/64-magazine-15/page/n39/mode/1up https://archive.org/details/64-magazine-15/page/n39/mode/1up

egypturnash 2y ago
this is fucking hilarious

polishdude20 2y ago

When I read jungle music I totally thought about Diddy Kong Racing or the Donkey King games for SNES.

josteink 2y ago
Nah. It's more in the direction of whatever this is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isiVdlz8bDY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isiVdlz8bDY It's educational, reference real events and you may have a laugh at the same time ;)
- itishappy 2y ago
  This is the video I cam here to see. This guy's a wizard. Here's two of my other favs (the second is more my speed, but the first is more fun): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqpa418gcKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqpa418gcKc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDKpQQ4NoNA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDKpQQ4NoNA
- schnitzelstoat 2y ago
  This was hilarious!
toast0 2y ago
If we're sharing jungle music videos... here's my favorite recent release. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1xneKsFArY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1xneKsFArY
Bartkusa 2y ago
I totally thought about Tetrisphere on N64: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRMN7GzZ3ic&list=PLE0926B068F92F536&t=44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRMN7GzZ3ic&list=PLE0926B068...
bliblablub4 2y ago
Donkey Kong is peak jungle music (besides other music types (which is basically all of them)). Sometimes I imagine that when the first jungle evolved, it did so because it anticipated that Donkey Kong will eventually be created. As something inevitable. And so is the ocean, the tundra, pretty much everything. Sounds unlikely? Listen to the Soundtrack und think again. Something so beautiful, so magnificent, it's like the opus magnum of some higher being. Something for us to ponder about, to marvel at. Just like life itself.
- polishdude20 2y ago
  We should be friends.

austinallegro 2y ago

Wicked! Wicked! Jungle is massive! https://youtu.be/O7TklQTeuSE https://youtu.be/O7TklQTeuSE

cut3 2y ago
in cred ible
- slim 2y ago
  in cre di ble
imp0cat 2y ago
Oh, care for a trip down the memory lane? :) https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5JibYKhC4GaAZXoDypqyAm https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5JibYKhC4GaAZXoDypqyAm
ahartmetz 2y ago
I believe it's "Junglist massive" with massive ~= crowd ...or is that intentional with Ali G's spelling abilities...
- stanleykm 2y ago
  it is junglist massive and i dont think thats the kind of mistake ali g would make but i can understand how someone would hear jungle is massive
vanderZwan 2y ago
My favorite version of that song is General Levy's surprise guest appearance during a live Grime session[0]. The full 22 minutes are also worth a listen to, and this isn't even my type of music usually[1]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8aa1N9Vcfc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8aa1N9Vcfc [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOIF7iUn-Z8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOIF7iUn-Z8
- miek 2y ago

gustavopezzi 2y ago

Author here. Thanks for sharing the blog post on HN; it was a nice surprise to see it in the first page.

mason55 2y ago
FYI you have a typo in there. You wrote "JTL Bukem" but it should be "LTJ Bukem". LTJ being short for "Long Time Junglist"
- jsheard 2y ago
  Also "Examples of popular drum brakes" should be "breaks".
  - fb03 2y ago
    Drum brakes is an excellent typo tho ahah
  - addled 2y ago
    Now I desperately want to see drum breaks made with brake drums.
    - mometsi 2y ago
      For this set I'm gonna need a 5HP turntable with dual 4-jaw chucks
jamal-kumar 2y ago
cool to see ace combat 2 in there cause i love bullet hell games. was wild trying it on MAME instead of an arcade cabinet, hooked up to a subwoofer and realizing what genre it was cause your typical cabinet doesn't go loud enough to hear like half the song in the sub bass also funny how you can beat the game as a dolphin flying a plane haha
samatman 2y ago
You have gotten the history here dead wrong: > The techno scene originated in Germany, reached the UK, and it was later associated with the Chicago & Detroit EDM scene in America. Techno was invented in Detroit, house music in Chicago. Germany like techno. In no sense whatsoever did they invent or originate it.

jamal-kumar 2y ago

I've been having a lot of fun learning trackers as a little hobby in the past year with a cheap portable midi keyboard and some samples to play around with. There's just so many resources to learn from these days on youtube which didn't exist 5-10 years ago and I guarantee you if you have the time for it you can go from downloading renoise and a bunch of samples to bumping out some songs within a week or two of learning. There's also a lot to be said for the kind of sound you get out of older hardware, you have kids who are like 20 years old picking up these things and doing shit like emulating the DSP in there to create a VST for use on modern systems for those who don't want to drop a bunch of money on getting an amiga 500 shipped to their door [1], but you also have people pretty much just doing that and busting out octamed or protracker. Lots of cool clips out there [2]. If anyone is looking to have some fun with all this I suggest bizzy b's channel [3], the 'groovin in g' channel [4], as well as stranjah's channel on youtube [5] [1] https://potenzadsp.com/plugins/amigo/ https://potenzadsp.com/plugins/amigo/ [2] https://www.instagram.com/p/C0Pf1bNPgWy/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/p/C0Pf1bNPgWy/?hl=en [3] https://www.youtube.com/@TheBizzyBScience https://www.youtube.com/@TheBizzyBScience [4] https://www.youtube.com/@groovining https://www.youtube.com/@groovining [5] https://www.youtube.com/@STRANJAH https://www.youtube.com/@STRANJAH

miek 2y ago
Good stuff here, and if you don't have decent headphones/speakers, it just won't sound the same. For anyone needing an excellent subwoofer, check out RSL Speedwoofer 10e ($299) or 10s. What a world of difference a good sub makes.
- jamal-kumar 2y ago
  Really the best sound test is done on a few things though, you also want to see how it sounds on whatever consumer audio solutions you have sitting around (the car especially is a good test)

buildsjets 2y ago

It's ruff in the jungle business. RIP Keith.

kristianp 2y ago
Sad he's no longer the paint we tasted.

the__alchemist 2y ago

I didn't know this genre was a thing. I'm hooked!

miek 2y ago
You might need Ishkur's guide :D https://music.ishkur.com/ https://music.ishkur.com/
- croisillon 2y ago
  thanks for that, reminds me of epitonic.com

zolland 2y ago

here are my favorites showing up in gameplay footage: Soul of the Samurai: https://youtu.be/JAyu7o_t_Ys?si=6RvvXtpsLyxXndCu&t=7190 https://youtu.be/JAyu7o_t_Ys?si=6RvvXtpsLyxXndCu&t=7190 Ace Combat 2: https://youtu.be/_ylkb5td5K0?si=LJw4bf3JsDilDEnf&t=114 https://youtu.be/_ylkb5td5K0?si=LJw4bf3JsDilDEnf&t=114

louthy 2y ago

If anyone's interested and wants to hear more, I have a mix of 92/93 era Jungle [1] Some rough mixes here and there (especially the first one) because it was live from a NYE event. But it suits the style of music, that era was so raw and fresh, the future was being invented right there! Very happy days :) 1) DJ SS - Intro 2) Higher Sense - Cold Fresh Air 3) Deep Blue - The Helicopter Tune 4) Roni Size - Time Stretch (93 Mix) 5) DMS & The Boneman X - Sweet Vibrations 6) Engineers Without Fears - Spiritual Aura 7) Omni Trio - Soul Promenade 8) Codename John - Kindred 9) Brainkillers - Screwface 10) Dubtronix - Fantasy (Remix) 11) M-Beat - Incredible 12) DJ Rap - Your Mind (Gimp/Steve Mix) 13) Asend & Ultravibe - What Kind Of World 14) LTJ Bukem – Horizons 15) Bruck Wild - Silent Dub [1] https://on.soundcloud.com/WjQVyJRfYMyQLP3f8 https://on.soundcloud.com/WjQVyJRfYMyQLP3f8

vdvsvwvwvwvwv 2y ago
Thanks for the link. Someone who I know who was into that with the decks, sampler etc. will love it! Anyway to avoid app install?
- accrual 2y ago
  The original link worked for me in a desktop browser, but this direct link was provided by GP in another comment and may work for you: https://soundcloud.com/paullouth/paul-louth-jungle-mix-nye-2017 https://soundcloud.com/paullouth/paul-louth-jungle-mix-nye-2...
jamal-kumar 2y ago
Nice selection! One of the things I noticed with a bunch of the younger producers is that they make really nice tunes but they don't bother with the whole intro/outro thing so there's no buffer on either end of the track to mix the thing unless you go add them yourself before even attempting to get them in with a bunch of older choons meant for mixing. like this is great [1], but 1:34 minutes lmao what? On the other hand people who have been at it since the very early days are still quietly releasing alot, here's some secret dillinja cuts [2] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M77SxLGAxWg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M77SxLGAxWg [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfyHx7SCn3g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfyHx7SCn3g

stonethrowaway 2y ago

[dead]

bitschubser_ 2y ago

Uhhh throwback to simpler times <3 I loved the scene in Basel back in the days For the adventurous Ishkur also has a nice opinionated guide through the history of electronic music with much of its facets: https://music.ishkur.com/ https://music.ishkur.com/

imp0cat 2y ago

Let's not forget The Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and High Stakes (both a wonderful mixtures of rock and electronic music). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akf4vQs7R9A&list=PLCDB3A4909F61CA29 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akf4vQs7R9A&list=PLCDB3A4909... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7dQELIwP0U&list=PLD48C6CD40AA6CEF0&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7dQELIwP0U&list=PLD48C6CD40...

selimthegrim 2y ago
You beat me to it.

fuhsnn 2y ago

Before pre-rendering took over, game soundtracks were basically tracker mods, beautiful era.

dm319 2y ago

If anyone wants to see a continuation of this subculture, have a look at this: https://youtu.be/V_akDC1ztXQ?si=wxMOxlfvaN4IRSnw https://youtu.be/V_akDC1ztXQ?si=wxMOxlfvaN4IRSnw and this: https://youtu.be/iD9xk3SDSYc?si=KD5TvSg4UDMb-sh8 https://youtu.be/iD9xk3SDSYc?si=KD5TvSg4UDMb-sh8

jamal-kumar 2y ago
People making entire mixes with two amiga 500s between a mixer and entirely new tracks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2k9eMuRwGw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2k9eMuRwGw
- alt227 2y ago
  This is awesome. I used to run a Jungle night, and once we booked Paradox to play. He brought his entire Amiga set up and we had to replace the decks with it for his set. He had to load each track from a floppy disk and it took like 2-3 mins whilst the beat of the previous track would play out and the crowd waited for the next track to load. Crazy seeing a whole dancefloor chilling waiting for a floppy disk to load up!
  - jamal-kumar 2y ago
    This is the trick now: https://www.ami64.com/product-page/gotek-usb-flash-drive-for-amiga-options https://www.ami64.com/product-page/gotek-usb-flash-drive-for...
    - snvzz 2y ago
      The hardware is quite generic. What's interesting is the firmware everyone uses, FlashFloppy[0]. 0. https://github.com/keirf/flashfloppy/wiki https://github.com/keirf/flashfloppy/wiki

VyseofArcadia 2y ago

I don't know much about Jungle music, but I do know a lot about video games, and I want to shout out the Neo Geo game Shock Troopers. One of the best top down run and gun games ever made, and I'm told it has a Jungle/DnB soundtrack.

spacechild1 2y ago

Another game with a cool jungle soundtrack is "Trick'n Snowboarder". The game itself is unremarkable, but I still remember the music to this day. For example, check out https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=38yTPVGqj8c&t=369s https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=38yTPVGqj8c&t=369s or https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=38yTPVGqj8c&t=1477s https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=38yTPVGqj8c&t=1477s

pkkkzip 2y ago
not related but lot of 90s snowboarding games had underrated soundtracks cool boarders 2 come to mind

littlestripes 2y ago

excellent write-up! always loved this sound to death. great for the coding flow states too.

trollied 2y ago

We can't accept drum and bass we need jungle I'm afraid.

griffzhowl 2y ago
amen, brother
- sceadu 2y ago
  Not sure if you're making a jungle Brothers reference to Amen break reference :)
  - Intermernet 2y ago
    The Amen break comes from a track called "Amen, brother" by The Winstons. So your assumption is mostly correct, but without the JBs reference
- zer00eyz 2y ago
  Amen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac The very best of jungle was "UK Apache with Shy FX - Original Nuttah". It got a bit of re-release for its 25th birthday (5 years ago) with an intro by Idris Elba. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GclYmrvWyuY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GclYmrvWyuY Ali G gave jungle a moment to shine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efgIm9YPZvE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efgIm9YPZvE And jungle isnt dead its just evolved a bit! Nia Archives - Off Wiv Ya Headz from last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrnDC94_Tic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrnDC94_Tic Amen brother, Amen!
  - walthamstow 2y ago
    Original Nuttah was the last tune at a friend's wedding a few weeks ago. A great time was had by all.
petecooper 2y ago
Context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecl2kZBnBnY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecl2kZBnBnY

BlandDuck 2y ago

"We can't accept drum and bass we need jungle I'm afraid" ;)

rtuin 2y ago

What a nice writeup. I've listened to jungle and related styles on and off over the years but I wasn't aware the music had played such a big role in 90's game music!

tailsdog 2y ago

GTA III MSX FM

71bw 2y ago
Timecode step inside the zone. Out to the Moving Shadow crew. Goes out to the robots and the Scott, it’s the Gav and to the Julia long time. 101.1 MSX FM in your manor. Right across the border, your time rude boys, yeah out to the email crew, msxfm@movingshadow.com , direct link up with us, phone line crew 0 double 7 47 114 553 yeah show dedication, all across Liberty, all Liberty City massive, south east north and the west, yeah spread it across the airwaves sound of the 101.1 killin the other stations dead, the Liberty City’s finest, It’s live! The groove that sounds the best MSX FM no contest. SHOW THEM MISTA TIME CODE!
- selimthegrim 2y ago
  Guy called Gerald was definitely on SF-UR in later volumes

sockbot 2y ago

One of the best sound tracks ever is Street Fighter 3 3rd Strike, heavily featuring jungle.

petecooper 2y ago

Pete Cannon on jungle production techniques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDn7ZDcx9w0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDn7ZDcx9w0

ChrisArchitect 2y ago

To me there is/was a natural connection between electronic music and game development just by the sheer involvement with technology. And jungle just happened to be very popular and going thru some major grassroots scene development around the same time. Personally, alongside earlier exposure to popular/underground dance music, my deeper exposure to electronic music came from tracker music and the demoscene which of course went hand in hand with developments in the game industry.

dylan604 2y ago
It's also just a natural thing for a game to make bleeps/bloops/whoomps/booms vs storing raw audio type data.
- dpc050505 2y ago
  I've been playing a bit of 3d pinball space cadet last week and I kept thinking how the game sounds could fit wonderfully into breakcore and acid tekno tracks.

Modified3019 2y ago

There was a game called “SILENT THUNDER: A-10 TANK KILLER II” my father had in his collection that I’d ruffle through as a kid. While the gameplay (brutal flight sim) wasn’t that compelling to child me, it had a full soundtrack made of multiple genres that lives in my brain to this day, especially “Monk’s revenge”. In fact, I think it was setup so that you could put the disk in a CD player and have it play as an audio disk. No idea if any of it counts as “jungle”, but it’s very much 90’s electronic game music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9c6PPlkvBE&list=PLc3TVNLOqsp1Pp0tJcpyhxSeQM08Suggd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9c6PPlkvBE&list=PLc3TVNLOqs...

HKH2 2y ago
Jungle has breakbeats, whereas that music is four-on-the-floor.
thenthenthen 2y ago
Wow this lead me to rediscover this dnb (sry not jungle) cd from 24 years ago: a1 sound carrier ii by dj tonic [0] Never really liked the CD but there are some unique, weird tracks on there. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D94YaTCeZlU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D94YaTCeZlU
01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y ago
Lots of games in that era just put the game data as track 1 and then filled the rest of the disc with audio tracks, so that they could command the disc player to handle all playback for them Rock raiders too

contingencies 2y ago

90's games + jungle = obligatory mention of Jill of the Jungle (1992). https://www.playdosgames.com/online/jill-of-the-jungle/ https://www.playdosgames.com/online/jill-of-the-jungle/

Thaxll 2y ago

Noclip has an amazing documentary about Wipeout 2097 music: https://youtu.be/-nwWpQJFGp8?si=f96-_G3bBqmGEP_c https://youtu.be/-nwWpQJFGp8?si=f96-_G3bBqmGEP_c

myself248 2y ago
Ah, I'm glad the demoscene gets a mention. One does not make music on a computer in the 90s without at least some, or possibly a whole truckload of, influence from the demoscene.
- miek 2y ago
  https://www.pouet.net/ https://www.pouet.net/ for modern demoscene hub. who remembers Ojuice.net?
  - pjmlp 2y ago
    I do, and the original Nectarine radio, Hugi demo mag, Assembly early days, Breakout,.... Feeling oldie. :)
nlawalker 2y ago
Clicked link, heard Firestarter, A+ for meeting expectations.
- blipvert 2y ago
  Only just clocked yesterday that Keith FLINT would be a literal fire starter. Twenty eight years! I’m ashamed of myself.
  - 4gotunameagain 2y ago
    I'll save you the wait, tinder + match = fire !
miek 2y ago
Fun fact: A high-quality prototype of the original PS1 Wipeout is shown in the movie Hackers (arcade scene). It was done on a high-end SGI server and allowed the dev team to try out tracks and gameplay before porting to the Playstation. There are features and graphics in the movie that do not exist in the actual game.

comprev 2y ago

GTA + Moving Shadow record label... legendary for showcasing d&b to a wider audience. https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Moving_Shadow https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Moving_Shadow For those interested I can highly recommend the "Moving Shadow Sampler Series" mix anthology [0] [0] https://www.discogs.com/label/396717-Movingshadow-Sampler-Series https://www.discogs.com/label/396717-Movingshadow-Sampler-Se...

magicalhippo 2y ago

I recall the Wipeout 2097 soundtrack[1] blew me away as a kid. I had heard some techno and eurodance was popular at the time, but the sounds coming out of the speaker at the store where the demo ran was on another level. Bought the CD and listen to it every now and then, and Orbital's Petrol track is still up there on my top 100 list. There was something raw, and edge, that seems lost in so much electronic music these days. [1]: https://www.discogs.com/release/6385-Various-Wipeout-2097-The-Soundtrack https://www.discogs.com/release/6385-Various-Wipeout-2097-Th...

tetris11 2y ago
https://archive.org/details/wipeout2097_soundtrack https://archive.org/details/wipeout2097_soundtrack
- gatane 2y ago
  WE HAVE EXPLOSIVEEE
  - imp0cat 2y ago
    I think this was also on the Mortal Kombat movie OST (another hidden gem from the 90's; not the movie, the soundtrack).
    - vinceguidry 2y ago
      Did you ever listen to the More Kombat follow on? Most of the tracks were forgettable, but there was that one track Space Man by Babylon Zoo that still runs through my head every now and again.
      - markedathome 2y ago
        The "Spaceman" track was used in a Levi's ad[1] which used the intro. Then everyone went out and bought the single, and rocketed it up the charts in a lot of countries. At the time there was much disappointment that the rest of the song was not like that intro. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTIrUXYLtpA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTIrUXYLtpA

OliveMate 2y ago

I can't accept Drum and Bass, we need Jungle I'm afraid. Genuinely glad I got to experience so much of it growing up with a PS1 and the genre's stuck with me. If you want to focus on listening or have some soothing background noise, it's perfect, versatile. While not all jungle, shouout to PS1 racing games for their killer soundtracks. The glorified mixtape of Gran Turismo 2 (all versions!), Colin Mcrae Rally's acid beats, everything in Ridge Racer. Really feels like vidya soundtracks peaked there.

agentdrek 2y ago
"I can't accept Drum and Bass" is the greatest YouTube remix rabbit hole to go down
ErigmolCt 2y ago
The PS1 era really was the golden age for soundtracks
- fennecfoxy 2y ago
  Going from carts to CDs, so much more storage. I've got a great collection of retro (at least from my childhood) games going and PS1 is my favourite, got a big stack
cnity 2y ago
My introduction to The Prodigy was Firestarter on one of the Wipeout games. That soundtrack was brilliant.

vehemenz 2y ago

If you like this kind of music—and even the late 90s/early 00s aesthetic—check out Zorrovian's YouTube channel for some nice playlists. https://www.youtube.com/@zorrovian https://www.youtube.com/@zorrovian

Buttons840 2y ago

I've recently been into game development, and I needed music which lead me to discovering synthesizers--I was hooked the first time I saw so many buttons, knobs, and flashing lights--and now I've gone off on a huge tangent and am studying music theory instead of making my game. Oh well, it's all for fun. Does HN have any advice on how to get started with synthesizers, with an eye towards creating a game soundtrack?

dakna 2y ago
I don't have any advice on how to get started, but please take a look at one of the legends of the 8/16-bit era: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Huelsbeck https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Huelsbeck Maybe I'm nostalgic, but these tunes were amazing. https://youtu.be/7dJrsmt9BOY https://youtu.be/7dJrsmt9BOY Oh, and if you haven't invested 30 minutes of your remaining lifetime listening to Orbital - The Box (Full Version) you are missing a masterpiece. Here is Orbital's Paul Hartnoll playing with his gear: https://youtu.be/VjlWypTclec https://youtu.be/VjlWypTclec
squeaky-clean 2y ago
Ableton has a good free introduction using web audio stuff so no download needed. https://learningsynths.ableton.com/ https://learningsynths.ableton.com/ For a more advanced set of lessons there is Syntorial, which has a demo including the first 20 or so lessons and the full set of 200 lessons for $120. Syntorial requires a download, but it's a full synthesizer with lessons built into it, so you can use it in your own music. Aside from that I'd say youtube is the best source. While you're still a beginner I'd recommend avoiding any videos where they don't show the finished result because it's much harder to tell if the video is BS or not. For free synthesizers, I'd recommend "TAL U-NO-60" as a good beginner one, it's modeled after the Roland Juno 60. And "Vital" for a more complex / less beginner friendly one. Both of those have paid versions with additional features but those additional features are not necessary at all. You'll also need a DAW software capable of loading VST plugins to use them.
timc3 2y ago
You started in the right place with music theory. As for learning synths, you can do it in two ways - just start using them, fiddling and playing (whether its a software synth or hardware synth) or you learning actually the fundamentals by books, video and articles like these: https://www.soundonsound.com/series/synth-secrets-sound-sound https://www.soundonsound.com/series/synth-secrets-sound-soun... I started the first way in the early 80s and did the second and have a life long love of synths ( I don't even know how many I have now but probably around 30-40 hardware synths, samplers and drum machines).

dfxm12 2y ago

I remember Gran Turismo well. The Quest Mode theme from Tobal no. 1 goes unmentioned. It's just a short break looped over and over again. After playing this game, you realize if you like jungle or not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mC6K5kqZU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mC6K5kqZU

selimthegrim 2y ago
I guess now I realize where all the music in the late 90s Need for Speeds came from

empath75 2y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ9QHGaxdig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ9QHGaxdig Tempest 2000 was probably more acid house influenced, but there was also a lot of early breakbeat hardcore/jungle tunes in there too.

miek 2y ago
The most demoscene inspired game ever? Is there another? It's beautiful.

ethbr1 2y ago

Was hoping this was that kind of jungle. :D Aka 'Some dnb tracks' funk goes to 10... ours goes to 11' jungle

xipix 2y ago

> Fun fact: Unlicensed stations began streaming jungle music from onboard ships off the coast of Britain, hence the expression "pirate radios." Didn't pirate radio broadcast from boats predate Jungle by about 20 years?

pacaro 2y ago
From the mid 60s
richrichardsson 2y ago
It's weird things like using "streaming" instead of "broadcasting", let alone the fact by the time Jungle was invented pirate radio was no longer happening on the seas but had moved to having the "studio" in one high rise block of flats with a point to point link to the actual broadcast site on another, coupled with the general structure and other fantasies makes me question how much of this was LLM generated. I couldn't continue reading after a while.
- gustavopezzi 2y ago
  Hi there. Author here. Thanks for the heads up. I would never even consider using LLMs for this, this is just a subject that was always interesting to me so I thought it would be a good idea to write some of it down. Some of these mentions look like shortcomings of English not being my first language; I'll try to review it and change the words or terms that you suggested.

brirec 2y ago

The article mentions Bomberman on the Nintendo 64, but they made a mistake — there were actually 4 different Bomberman games on the Nintendo 64, and the one featuring Jungle music is Bomberman Hero, not the one whose box art they used (Bomberman 64).

AirMax98 2y ago

A bit slept on, but Extreme G 2 soundtrack has a ‘96-97 Source Direct vibe to it.

samirsd 2y ago

self-plug: i built a streaming platform devoted to 90s jungle deep cuts called .mixtape — good curated selection on there https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mixtape/id1391354414 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mixtape/id1391354414

nntwozz 2y ago

Jungle instantly reminds me of Squarepusher - Feed Me Weird Things from 1996 Tundra is a masterpiece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G01DKEig14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G01DKEig14

psd1 2y ago
I do love that track, but although it takes the form of jungle it is utterly unlike jungle. Squarepusher is refined. Jungle is amateur. It needs to have the feel of "this is what we cafe because it's what we could make" whereas Squarepusher is grade 8 on at least two instruments. Love Squarepusher but he's not jungle.
0x011011 2y ago
aaaah, seeing someone recommend a squarepusher album on hn makes my brain mush.
- timc3 2y ago
  I can recommend more if you like and of course the Chris Cunningham video https://youtu.be/MWCSw_cNxKc https://youtu.be/MWCSw_cNxKc Not sure I would class it as jungle though.

metrognome 2y ago

I'm going to leave this here for anyone who wants some good focus-time music: https://youtu.be/Do5_wU9X1pc https://youtu.be/Do5_wU9X1pc

NKosmatos 2y ago

I had the luck/privilege of being in the UK back in the 90s, around the time Jungle and Drum and Bass were really high (pun intended). Those were the good old times with PlayStation arriving, Wipeout having a superb soundtrack, and many excellent artists providing tunes for games. In case there are people interested in DnB have a look at Andy C ;-)

louthy 2y ago
There was a club in London that I used to go to in the mid-90s called Complex. It had three floors, one was drum&bass, one techno, and the top floor was PlayStations. The PS1 was a real zeitgeist moment where gaming came of age.
- helboi4 2y ago
  That sounds so fucking cool. I would love to experience a club like that. Just take a little playstation break from the dancefloor lol
miek 2y ago
Andy C will be in LA on nov 28!

stanleykm 2y ago

jungle & drum and bass were magical in the 90s. The breakbeats left so much room for crazy experimentation with synthesizers that you didnt really get out of other genres with the more familiar booming 4 on the floor kick drums. This was also a time when people were moving from hardware to software for music production so the evolution of the music, if you were to look at it from the early 90s to early 2000s was incredible.

comprambler 2y ago

Morphadron from the EA Need for Speed series must be jungle as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POxdm5dW7wE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POxdm5dW7wE

HKH2 2y ago
The music you linked is too slow for Jungle.

analog31 2y ago

Amusingly, I clicked on the link, wondering how video games were using 1920s jazz.

TheRealPomax 2y ago

And the impact of Jungle in the last few months of 2024 in K-pop (They discovered two step garage earlier in the year, now they've moved on to jungle. I look forward to them discovering UK dubstep from before Skrillex)

gaoryrt 2y ago
You mean Right Now by newjeans?
tosmatos 2y ago
Some examples please ! I listen to 0 k-pop but am very curious now. My cousin used to send me stuff that sounded really good.
- TheRealPomax 2y ago
  Search youtube for "new kpop 2024 november week 1" and work your way back. Bebe Yana is probably the most "what if I just did jungle?" of the lot, but it's made its way into pretty much all the mainstream groups (even if, because of how the kpop formula works, it's only a chorus section after a drop)

WD-42 2y ago

Still some of the best music to code by. I know it’s more millennium, but I still listen to the unreal tournament 1999 soundtrack.

miek 2y ago
facing worlds!!

the__alchemist 2y ago

Tangent: The Serious Sam soundtrack owns! Really, anything by Damjan Mravunac.

TacticalCoder 2y ago

In "Wipeout" on the original Playstation there's the famous "Firestarter" song by Prodigy. It's the, slowed down, amen break too I think: https://youtu.be/V_b5-RWOfMo https://youtu.be/V_b5-RWOfMo EDIT: yup it's in TFA, facepalming myself.

TomK32 2y ago
A real turning point for The Prodigy turning it from a producer-driven dance act into a proper band with a lead singer. Flint created a job in the act for himself not once but twice.
- miek 2y ago
  His funeral was a proper sendoff .... to outer space, to find another race https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfAEECqG9G8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfAEECqG9G8
midnightclubbed 2y ago
Killer track but technically Firestarter isn't Drum and Bass (or Jungle). Prodigy slowed everything down after Experience (first album).

miek 2y ago

Jungle ramblings: -Can't forget Facing Worlds in Unreal Tournament 1999! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i_0G6WPuss4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i_0G6WPuss4 -Andy C will be in Los Angeles Nov. 28 (typically plays LA a few times per year) -Worth checking out: Modern DJs who mix DnB/jungle with "footwork" (musical genre), e.g. Sharelle https://m.soundcloud.com/iamsherelle https://m.soundcloud.com/iamsherelle -BBC Radio 1, Radio 6, and Rinse FM all have drum n bass shows and are available for free online and through Alexa etc. -h2k2 had at least one wicked drum n bass set, I wonder if any of you were there :)

docmars 2y ago
I was surprised Unreal Tournament didn't get a mention in the article — it's famous for its music! I fondly remember several of its tracks falling within this genre.
- daneyh 2y ago
  Unreal tournament - Mechanism eight is such a great track

miek 2y ago

One of the first things I asked ChatGPT when I got access: could you write a song in the style of a uk drum-n-bass MC about why a fictional brand of study bible, "The Rilla Bibla," is better than others? Verse 1: Listen up, listen up, I got a story to tell About a brand new study bible that's straight outta hell It's called "The Rilla Bibla," and it's the real deal Got all the wisdom, all the knowledge, it's the bomb, it's for real Chorus: The Rilla Bibla, it's the one and only Got all the beats and rhythm, it's the holy holy It's got the flow, it's got the style It's gonna elevate your understanding, mile by mile etc. etc. Golden.

yellowapple 2y ago

I'm a bit surprised, given the mention of other Dreamcast games, that there's no mention of Airforce Delta's soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR7C-9laJbs&list=PLbPd0JMiEHj_VXKSpjAkhw4BbLS6YZu6a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR7C-9laJbs&list=PLbPd0JMiEH... AFD's soundtrack is interesting because it tends to be superficially EDM-ish but still pulls in that jungle influence. Track 2 on that playlist is a perfect example: you have a very standard drum beat front and center, but you also have a heavily-chopped drum beat as texture from the very first moment. The resulting syncopated effect with the piano and synth cords is a nice touch (especially in that bit around the 2 minute mark, which itself is a nice introduction to a broader motif throughout the rest of the soundtrack, particularly the finale Track 24 - which itself is another great example of that "EDM main beat with jungle-like chopping as texture" style). Occasionally that style flips around, though. Track 15 is a good example, where it's the chopped beat (albeit not severely) that takes front and center, yet again producing neat syncopated effects with the synth chords now in the more rigid role. Similar deal with Tracks 8, 10, and 13, though most of these are less afraid to move the chords into the off-beats. And then there's my second-favorite track, Track 11, which deemphasizes the chopped drums a bit but instead chops up the synth arpeggios for the same effect of adding that nice bit of texture to the pulsing beat and soaring synths. My favorite track, Track 7, alternates between a very pure-jungle sound across the board (with the drums and chords being heavily chopped and syncopated, often in support of nice long notes) and brief moments of that EDM-like pulse, to great effect. And of course there's plenty of great stuff outside of that EDM/jungle hybrid, like Track 23's Harold-Faltermeyer-esque "Top Gun Anthem" knockoff, or the smooth-jazz-ish segues like Track 22. All in all, a fantastic body of work that defined my childhood. ---- Another game conspicuously missing from the discussion is Buck Bumble and its jungle-to-the-max soundtrack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lax-KRVVPfo&list=PLeXmIIlkcO5gSXBxiKx9E57f668XUQpt9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lax-KRVVPfo&list=PLeXmIIlkcO... bump to the boom to the bump to the bass, bump to the boom to the bumble

rndmio 2y ago
Just listened to the Buck Bumble soundtrack and that is very much garage not jungle.

ttul 2y ago

I worked as an intern in the sound department at a video game company in 1997/1998. We had a full recording studio in house around the corner from my desk. One day, a drummer came in to lay down some drum’n’bass tracks for a game. So yeah, indeed the Jungle sound was present in video games back then. What a time.

trq01758 2y ago

Ahh, I'm so enjoying Sebastian Ahrenberg work from Seba Producer 06. This is compilation released in 2003 of tracks from 1996-1999. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhcqYxogdsU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhcqYxogdsU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7RRgGSMmjk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7RRgGSMmjk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy69Heb33pg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy69Heb33pg

ErigmolCt 2y ago

The blend of music and gaming culture in the 90s is something special

jbaiter 2y ago

This series of mixes by Lee Gamble is a great romp through jungle history, highly recommended: https://soundcloud.com/leegamble/sets/jungle-as-particle-accelerator https://soundcloud.com/leegamble/sets/jungle-as-particle-acc...

uk_jungle 2y ago

For anyone who likes jungle and is not familiar with the UK cult classic film Human Traffic, you must at least see "the jungle scene" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ChSg0-r_jqA&pp=ygUUSHVtYW4gdHJhZmZpYyBqdW5nbGU%3D https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ChSg0-r_jqA&pp=ygUUSHVtYW4gdHJ... If you were part of the rave scene, you should watch the whole film, it's full of comedy and nostalgia of those hedonistic times. One of my all time favourite films.

alt227 2y ago
Any new jungle in guy?

bromuk 2y ago

Dissapointed that buck bumble wasn’t mentioned.

scoopr 2y ago

I think the referenced Tim Wright interview is this[0] one [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CGhBLHfP_M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CGhBLHfP_M

itsoggy 2y ago

Didn't think 90's Jungle / DnB would be on HN... Yes! Add these to the list... Saint Etienne - The Sea (PFM Mix): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1JrnoEbQDE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1JrnoEbQDE Funky Technicians - Airtight (Original) (1996): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwC43QSY94A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwC43QSY94A

anilakar 2y ago

I only had to read the title and immediately knew what the article was about: that breakbeat soundtrack you could hear in countless original Playstation games.

jl6 2y ago

An article about jungle music in 90s video games that doesn’t mention Unreal Tournament?!

AntoniusBlock 2y ago

Some excellent contemporary Jungle producers, if anyone wants recommendations: Dead Man's Chest, Tim Reaper, Equinox and Coco Bryce. These lads are producing bangers better, or on par, with the producers of the late 80s and 90s.

bookaway 2y ago
I'm looking for the more Ragga heavy melodic dirty sounding jungle a la Krinjah's Return or Hold Yuh remix. Any new people on that sound?
- miek 2y ago
  I don't track it, but that's good stuff

1oooqooq 2y ago

most of this article is nostalgia. the reason game development use sampled music was because it was always about cutting cost, specially at Sony when they introduced CD audio to games.

JodieBenitez 2y ago
Cutting cost: driving creativity since forever :)

schnitzelstoat 2y ago

I'm not sure if it is Jungle music, but the electronic (drum and bass?) music in games like Forsaken 64 and Unreal Tournament (1999) was amazing. I still listen to the UT99 soundtrack when I need to concentrate on something.

miek 2y ago
This is THE track from UT99 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i_0G6WPuss4 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i_0G6WPuss4

seventhtiger 2y ago

Ape Escape was mentioned. That game was released to promote the dual analog controller on Playstation 1. Back then the convention of camera control on right stick wasn't even established, so camera rotation was on the shoulder buttnos, while the right stick was used to control weapons! The game's soundtrack is iconic. Dark Ruins is a favorite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jbNHgmU1TM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jbNHgmU1TM

maep 2y ago

Shoutout to h0ffman, in my opinion the best contemporary junglist on olschool hardware. His 8-Bit Jungle music disk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--J66FY7qro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--J66FY7qro

orthoxerox 2y ago

As someone who was so non-conformist in the 90s that he refused to listen to the music for non-conformists, I am constantly surprised that jungle doesn't sound the way it's named. Every time I expect EDM with Afro-Caribbean percussion, like bongos and steelpans and marimbas, realize it's nothing like that and promptly forget what jungle sounds like until the next revelation.

miek 2y ago
While not a perfect match, Ragga Jungle is a subgenre that hits the afro carrib mark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yiLR4IAByc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yiLR4IAByc
- bookaway 2y ago
  I asked in response to another comment[0] above somewhere but do you have any recommendations for more recent producers/djs on the ragga jungle sound? [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42136943 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42136943

tigerBL00D 2y ago

Thank you for putting this together. For a certain generation this resonates strongly. For me in the mid to late 90's getting into coding and hacking assembly while listening to and coding underground music in trackers were huge influences that have had their impact on the trajectory of my life and my social circle. P.S. Let's hang out )

sourcepluck 2y ago

I have been going through a heavy jungle phase recently thanks to these mixes I found when investigating what's possible on the Commodore A600 (I recently came into possession of one): https://inv.nadeko.net/playlist?list=PLF8fxbriplbmwB7zypOxa_oV4fkzTQOEh It's a channel called "off1k", and a playlist called "Jungle / Drum & Bass", and all the tunes come from people making music on Amigas in the early 90s on software called "protracker". A600s, A1200s, maybe others, maybe other versions or variants of protracker, I'm not sure. Anyway, if someone can get through 30s of mix 1 without losing their sh*t, I want to hear about it, I'll keel over. And, to top it all off, about a week in to these mixes on loop, I ask myself: what is that software? Is that still going? And I discover some fellow called "Olav Sørensen" recently wrote an identical-looking protracker clone: https://16-bits.org/pt2.php EDIT: GH link https://github.com/8bitbubsy/pt2-clone Which I can confirm runs very smoothly on Arch (btw). It says it's available for Mac and Windows on the site. In the words of the sample from the first track on mix 1: "annihilating the rhythm". Get jungling people!

know-how 2y ago

[dead]

miek 2y ago

Can't help but drop these-- For easy listening jungle/Drum N Bass, excellent for work, search for "atmospheric drum n bass" or "liquid drum n bass". Artists: Photek, LTJ Bukem, DB (some), etc. Best atmospheric mix w vocals ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAXnFZ3anlE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAXnFZ3anlE For a tour of jungle over time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgK8h9xRFls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgK8h9xRFls For a famous jungle dj/vocalist pairing: AK1200 moonshine over america https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqRNrhQvYEc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqRNrhQvYEc Also, you may recognize Goldie, a pioneer of the genre, who turned actor, turned model, and more recently launched a record label

omar12 2y ago

Growing up, the music from PS1 games and getting my first computer with internet access sparked my interest in Drum and Bass, Jungle, and eventually other electronic music. In high school, I would spend hours every night searching for music and connecting with people who shared similar interests, discovering what they enjoyed. I also remembered going to Borders and spend hours browsing their library. It was a great time. I still have my drum and bass CDs from back then. Roni Size - New Forms was a game changer for me.

safar_so_far 2y ago

Wow! I was literally listening to jungle mix when I came across this article. Amazing. Let's keep the genre alive!

racl101 2y ago

Still remember the Killer Instinct OST CD had some Jungle in it.

svecaf 2y ago

‏كيف اخذ الهاكر