A Toejam and Earl fan pointed me at this. I created Toejam and Earl and came up with most of the original music lines, often working with other talented folks like John Baker and Mark Miller, or in more recent years Burke Trieschmann, Cody Wright, and Nick Stubblefield. I am super impressed at your funky recreation. You did that on the fly and didn't just match it - your version had all of the funky soul any TJ&E song could ask for. Really nice work. And your love and nostalgia for the old game and game music shines. Thanks for sharing that with everyone. Of course the tool looks amazing too. You showed it off well.
Oh man, wow thank you! Stoked you found your way all the way here. But most of all, thank you for all the incredibly funky music! You’ve inspired me for more or less my whole life. Trying to pick out and play game soundtracks on the piano was one of my favourite things to do as a kid. And once I became a little better, I started to play some of those funky lines of Toejam and Earl. It’s always been a fond place to revisit, especially when I’m trying an FM synth. Kinda my FM synth go to benchmark. Thanks for connecting man. I really appreciate it.
Hi Greg, I've always wondered what music you were listening to when writing the music for Toejam and Earl? I definitely hear the influence of the O'Jays "For the Love of Money" in the main title theme, but was wondering what else was influencing you at the time?
Cuckoo, this is just so rare, when a person shares his true feelings and memories. This is the best way to inspire someone. Totally inspired! Thank you
@@unbreakablealex2732 reaction videos are not the same thing, They're videos of people watching and "reacting" to how they are initially feeling. I personally don't watch them because i don't think they're genuine or authentic. How can you truly react to something in an honest manner when you are aware that strangers are watching and judging you? What this person is doing is sharing his nostalgic love of Sega's awesome sound system (which I also remember fondly) from childhood and trying to recreate it now as an adult.
I remember plugging headphones into my Model 1 Genesis and just listening to the music on all my games. I even got to the point that I didn't need the TV hooked up, because I memorized the controls to get into sound tests on various games. This makes me want to drag it back out and mod the audio circuit for even cleaner output.
Lol I did the same, especially with sonic 3, doing the fast up up down down down down level select with no TV and memorising the option menu ahh classic days, my favourite games for listening through headphones on sound test was Street fighter 2, sonic 1, sonic 3, green dog, streets of rage 1 and 2, moonwalker, tiny toons, kid chameleon, outrun.
As a series Streets of Rage covers many styles of EDM including techno (on rage 3). Streets, TJ & E & also Biohazard Battle are my favourite MD soundtracks.
This is literally the reason I preferred the Sega Genesis over the SNES. All my friends had SNES and sometimes we had the same games. I would get mad that the music wasn't as good. And they thought I was crazy lol.
Genesis is 100% better in terms of music. I was never a fan of the distorted, faux instrument sound. FM all the way. You just need to listen to the EWJ OST differences to really get how much better it sounds on Genesis.
I always appreciate free vst recommendations! I've been scouring vst4free for nice sounds from all eras and styles, may have missed this one somehow, gonna properly look through KVR Audio and Plugin Boutique to see if they have a good free selection as well.
I used to record NES music to cassette to and listen to it in my room. It was especially cool to rent games not only to play them, but to record the music. Unfortunately it was not standard for NES games to have a music and sound effects menu section. But I did make use of that in Genesis as well.
Never saw a cuckoo vid with more smiles in it. My memories are filled with snes and c64 sounds. Back then my uncle recorded a tape with c64 songs. It was one of my favorites.
This is so awesome. The synth I use in my band is a Nord Modular G2X but most of the sounds I use are based on an FM synth I designed in it which is based on the Yamaha YM2612 from the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis. I've added a few bells and whistles like formant filters and the ability to modulate the FM via envelopes, LFO's and aftertouch, but it still sounds a lot like those great Sega games.
I think Plogue is making a really good job preserving the sound of iconic FM synthesis chips like this YM2612 and previously the YM2413 through software emulation.
This was such a joyful watch. I never got to play and experience the old sega games and the music behind it all, this was great to see because all those sounds were fun. Definitely worth putting some time into
I see Sega and Cuckoo, I click. This sounds lovely. Phantasy Star II (and IV) music, Toejam & Earl and so many others I love. . Gonna watch the rest of the video and then I’ll probably need that synth. Can’t beat that FM nostalgia.
So glad you chose Toejam and Earl me and my brothers spent hours just using the Jam option making mad beat to tape. The memories are flooding back. Thanks dude your narly.
I literally have the Highwater Pass and Pyramid themes tabbed out by ear on guitar from when I was like 13, lmao. Definitely one of my favorites as well.
The look of joy on your face when you listened to the ToeJam & Earl track you recreated totally made this video! I'd love to hear how Plogue's done those distorted guitar sounds that were used in games like Thunder Force IV :) The Genesis has an incredible chip sound, I fell in love with it when I got Mega Turrican on Wii Virtual Console over a decade ago.
Aaaah Sega Genesis.... Still my main console to this day. Currently midway through Phantasy star 3. Then I'll start Phantasy star 4 (for the 5th time) the soundtrack in this game is LEGENDARY!
Yeah that FM extension for the Master system was pretty rare in Europe. I still haven’t seen it. I think that particular version of Master System was a transition to the Megadrive.
I’m in love; just woww. What I’d die for is for some sort of integration with genMDM so I can create sounds and play it off real hardware too. Standalone this sounds great; thank you so much for sharing!
So this Yamaha chip is the beast that pushes every right button in my brain which tells me in in for a good time and heaven is indeed on Earth? Very good to know. Very pleased indeed! So glad to have found your channel. The games didn't even have to be that great for any number of reasons, or horrendously hard or terrifying (thanks Ecco, still love you tho bae) the music always made it worth it! ...Is it possible to be nostalgic to the music of the stages you never managed to reach as a child? Gosh it would be great to hear a collecion of interviews from the folks who originally made the music on Megadrive/Genesis back in the way. All of their troubles, if any, or did the music just spring to them as it leaps to my ears so flawlessly?
your passion for the mega drives sounds is very inspiring, i wasnt even born when it came out but i remember playing racing games on it at a relatives place when i was small and i was just blown away by the music, this really impacted my taste in music and im so glad to see someone give love to this console's sound and see it as much more than just something made for video games. keep the great work please cuckoo
The Megadrive was and still is a great console. And it‘s Yamaha FM Chip is still amazing. Remembering the times when I’ve played Phantasy Star II for months every night. Great review 😀
Toejam & Earls was a great co-op game for two players. It was simple, yet very original and fun to play. Great characters. I remember seeing a new version for the x-box some years ago. And I also had Toejam & Earl 2 - Panic on planet funkotron for the Megadrive. Would like to revisit that again too.
Simply great fun and so back to youth it's a joy. Ordered immediately. Plogue people are passionated genius. In your video one can literally feel your excitement. Great video :)
Only just discovered your channel. Loving your content (subscribed). Thank you for bringing this to my attention... If its retro FM, Video games or cartoons, I'm in... Going to have a lot of fun with this... Thanks 🤘👍
First time being on your channel. Pure Genius with the mirror directed towards your face. Getting two cameras would of been a Pain! Great video buying the plugin now
Great video ! I had a megadrive for X-mas in the mid nineties, man that was the peak of my childhood, being able to play street fighter at home without having to pay...Didn't know Mystic Defender, the intro is rad ! The soundtrack i prefered was "shadow dancer" (if you don't know listen, it's amazing, and the game is AWESOME).
Dude! This made me so happy! Also check out the soundtrack for mega turrican. Man.. so good! And I agree, the sound of that chip has something interresting. The way the filter resonance is emulated is very unique.
I love that these companies are keeping all my favorite sound chips alive and easily usable in this day and age. I love all those old chip tunes. The snes sample sound chip was amazing and the fm synth in the mega drive will always have a huge spot in my heart.
Love this channel! Mega drive was the best! Doesn’t matter how powerful the next gen console is, or how good the graphics are! there will never be anything like that long lasting nostalgic enjoyment feel to it! IMO.
Aidan Lawrence is selling some hardware called the Mega MIDI. I wonder how it compares. I bought a SegaMegaDrive about 6 months ago and a PVM about a month ago. Absolutely loving it. I must admit the sound you have recorded here does sound very accurate.
😍😍😍 I loved the sound of the Genesis/MD as a teenager. I had the model 1 with the stereo headphone output and I ran that into some old monitor speakers - not great speakers but better than TV sound. I just got a Genesis again about a week ago - but a model 2 this time which has stereo out capability through AV adapter. I think the Genesis sound chip is what really deepened my love of electronic music back in the 90s. The NES wasn’t bad either but Genesis music was very listenable for long periods. The timing on this is amazing. Thanks for the great video! By the way - sadly a lot of people say the SNES had better sound “because it used samples”. Ehhh that’s their loss. Check out the soundtracks for Strider, Flashback, Gauntlet 4, and Lightning Force/Thunder Force and of course Streets of Rage.
It’s really special isn’t it. I love it too. To Nintendo’s defence though, there are some really memorable soundtracks on the SNES too of course. A completely different palette of sounds, but Secret of Mana, Super Metroid, Chrono Trigger, Zelda, Final Fantasy all have some quite wonderful soundtracks too.
True Cuckoo - thanks for pointing that out. I should have clarified that a great number of beautiful memorable soundtracks were created on the SNES. The difference is the SNES sound hardware doesn’t seem to be an important component in that music - I don’t think of it as a musical instrument the way the MD was. Like CD based games that came next - the sound isn’t created by the hardware at that point. So, I think it’s unfair to credit the SNES hardware as having better sound than the MD when the sounds are sample based. The MD had a great sound chip with interesting and distinct character. It’s worthy of being recreated and preserved like this. I think the MD has the best sound chip of any home console ever, followed by the 8-bit NES. But if the question is which system has the best soundtracks; well... that can probably never be answered. There has been great music on probably every system - at least from the 8-bit days onward 😙
Just want to chime in and say I have been having a great time with my Atmegatron and miniAtmegatron by Soulsby Synths. They have all the flithy lowbit grit you could ask for.
Took them long enough lol.. You should check out Inphoniks RYM2612 plugin. You can actually take VGM files from Genesis/Mega Drive games and drop them into the plugin! So you can legit get the sounds Yuzo used in Streets of Rage 2! Edit: OH SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYT YOU CAN DO THAT WITHIN THIS PLUGIN!!!!! Welp RIP!!!!!
Hello! Been following your channel for a while now. Really love these clips with retro sounds from new synths. This really brings back memories from childhood, and the old games with fantastic music. This is so inspirational. I just started my own channel with synths, and will hopefully use this Sega synth in my upcoming videos. Thank you for sharing this! :)
I know I'm replying to my self here but I would like to mention the Analogue MegaSG, which has a FPGA implementation of both the Genesis sound chips (YM2612 and PSG SN76489)
As a (mostly) hardware guy, I can't help but to think that, if one could control this perfectly with a modern 4-op FM-synth, like Reface DX or Digitone, it would be super sweet. I have to DL the demo and try to map it as close as possible. Not holding my breath though, as switching between operators and algorithms might be something that would actually need support from Plogue's side, but I guess I'll see what happens (when I have time to try it). :)
Nope, the soundtracks of Sonic 1 and 2 were entirely composed by Masato Nakamura of the J-Pop band "Dreams Come True". Sonic 3 is rumored to have had some MJ involvement, though nobody has proven yet that any music by him made it to the final game. Some composers/producers who did work for MJ really made music for Sonic 3, and are in the game's credits. Brad Buxer, for example, reused one of his older tracks ("Hard Times" by The Jetzons) for the Ice Cap Zone, and his proto-version of what later became "Stranger in Moscow" for the game's ending theme.
I remember sitting with my brother and playing a game and having a conversation about how great the sound was on the Sega genesis.. now I know why it sounded great
It genuinely makes me smile to see you having fun using this thing. I bought chipsynth earlier today and I'm anxious for my 1 year old daughter to fall asleep so I can play with it! One question though: Where can I download vgm's to play in chipsynth?
There's actually a tracker called DefleMask which emulates Sega Genesis' sound chip (and others) perfectly. You can even export your song to a ROM file and play on an emulator (or the console if you have a flash cartridge). And it's also free. =)
If only it was this simple with all music, I'd love to assemble it all and then make additions and changes that I've always wanted certain pieces of music to have. This is particularly true with Dilla's music, most of it has tons of repetition to make the rappers shine, but I like the instrumentals myself... He gets away with it cause there's usually a strong groove and even a couple ways to look at it thx to the jazzy voice leading, but I ALWAYS come up with little variations when listening to it, even if it's just a different emphasis on existing voices. I mean, he works 99% with samples, but just imagine tech get's so advanced we can actually reverse-engineer any sound into it's elements, there's already some mind blowing acapella splitting tech, if the algorithm suits the music and you're good at touching it's quality back up, it's seriously unnoticeable that it's cut. (Dylan Tallchief covered what seemed like an amazing and FREE one recently! Just gotta fiddle)
I loved the mega drive sound chip (the mk1 anyway). It’s a shame it had a reputation of being worse than the snes, but that was just due to a lot of developers not knowing how to get the best out of it. As much as I love snes music, the best music of the era was on genesis. When in the hands of a master, like Yuzo Koshiro (or Michael Jackson) it can produce not just good game music, but good music.
A Toejam and Earl fan pointed me at this. I created Toejam and Earl and came up with most of the original music lines, often working with other talented folks like John Baker and Mark Miller, or in more recent years Burke Trieschmann, Cody Wright, and Nick Stubblefield. I am super impressed at your funky recreation. You did that on the fly and didn't just match it - your version had all of the funky soul any TJ&E song could ask for. Really nice work. And your love and nostalgia for the old game and game music shines. Thanks for sharing that with everyone. Of course the tool looks amazing too. You showed it off well.
Oh man, wow thank you! Stoked you found your way all the way here. But most of all, thank you for all the incredibly funky music! You’ve inspired me for more or less my whole life. Trying to pick out and play game soundtracks on the piano was one of my favourite things to do as a kid. And once I became a little better, I started to play some of those funky lines of Toejam and Earl. It’s always been a fond place to revisit, especially when I’m trying an FM synth. Kinda my FM synth go to benchmark. Thanks for connecting man. I really appreciate it.
Hi Greg, I've always wondered what music you were listening to when writing the music for Toejam and Earl? I definitely hear the influence of the O'Jays "For the Love of Money" in the main title theme, but was wondering what else was influencing you at the time?
Greg when was the last time you went to planet Funkotron?
@@raydenwins1071 I wish I had come up with your question. I haven’t been to Funkotron in about a year myself.
@@SMAAAASHTV Herbie Hancock for sure.
Cuckoo, this is just so rare, when a person shares his true feelings and memories. This is the best way to inspire someone. Totally inspired! Thank you
Matia Mus rare? TH-cam is full of reaction videos :D
@@unbreakablealex2732 reaction videos are not the same thing, They're videos of people watching and "reacting" to how they are initially feeling. I personally don't watch them because i don't think they're genuine or authentic. How can you truly react to something in an honest manner when you are aware that strangers are watching and judging you? What this person is doing is sharing his nostalgic love of Sega's awesome sound system (which I also remember fondly) from childhood and trying to recreate it now as an adult.
GAY
I agree with you, Matia Mus. You can see and feel the nostalgia & feelings of a young Cuckoo from 30 years ago come flooding back. 🙂
I remember plugging headphones into my Model 1 Genesis and just listening to the music on all my games. I even got to the point that I didn't need the TV hooked up, because I memorized the controls to get into sound tests on various games. This makes me want to drag it back out and mod the audio circuit for even cleaner output.
❤️❤️❤️
boss..i had the 2nd genesis core model, i dont think it had a headphone jack..i for sure wouldve tried that
@@empowermph Nothing beats the original 'HIGH DEFINITION GRAPHICS' model 1 Mega Drive/Genesis...
Lol I did the same, especially with sonic 3, doing the fast up up down down down down level select with no TV and memorising the option menu ahh classic days, my favourite games for listening through headphones on sound test was Street fighter 2, sonic 1, sonic 3, green dog, streets of rage 1 and 2, moonwalker, tiny toons, kid chameleon, outrun.
@@truecuckoo is there an n64 version of this?
Streets of Rage is some of the best hardcore FM techno ever made.
Yuzo Koshiro is the best music composer on the Mega Drive period.
Meh.
Except it's not Techno, it's house/dance. Same ballpark but it's like saying Megadeth and Blink 182 are both "rock".
Santino amen
As a series Streets of Rage covers many styles of EDM including techno (on rage 3). Streets, TJ & E & also Biohazard Battle are my favourite MD soundtracks.
Arcus Odyssey, Landstalker, Langrisser II and warsong? A man of culture. Now you just need that fat bass line from 1st stage of Target Earth.
😌👊🏼
Target Earth sounds was amazing!!! @@truecuckoo
This is literally the reason I preferred the Sega Genesis over the SNES. All my friends had SNES and sometimes we had the same games. I would get mad that the music wasn't as good. And they thought I was crazy lol.
Genesis is 100% better in terms of music.
I was never a fan of the distorted, faux instrument sound.
FM all the way. You just need to listen to the EWJ OST differences to really get how much better it sounds on Genesis.
Understandable. Though Donkey Kong Country games' soundtracks are probably the rare exceptions
-hehe "Rare" geddit-
Exactly the same here, felt the Sega's FM synth chip was out of this world! Nothing compared to the Mega Drive as early as it was pioneered.!!
Plogue also makes Alter Ego!! It's a FREE Vocaliser thing, like a synthesized voice! It's awesome! They're awesome!
I always appreciate free vst recommendations! I've been scouring vst4free for nice sounds from all eras and styles, may have missed this one somehow, gonna properly look through KVR Audio and Plugin Boutique to see if they have a good free selection as well.
I used to record NES music to cassette to and listen to it in my room. It was especially cool to rent games not only to play them, but to record the music. Unfortunately it was not standard for NES games to have a music and sound effects menu section. But I did make use of that in Genesis as well.
"today on 'Cuckoo Plays' we'll be doing an Ecco The Dolphin longplay"
You playing Toe Jam and Earl and grooving out makes me so happy - hits me in the feels. Tears of joy.
On PC Dune 2 had a great atmospheric FM sound track on Adlib cards, search TH-cam for "Dune 2 - Soundtrack (Adlib)"
Never saw a cuckoo vid with more smiles in it. My memories are filled with snes and c64 sounds. Back then my uncle recorded a tape with c64 songs. It was one of my favorites.
This is so awesome. The synth I use in my band is a Nord Modular G2X but most of the sounds I use are based on an FM synth I designed in it which is based on the Yamaha YM2612 from the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis. I've added a few bells and whistles like formant filters and the ability to modulate the FM via envelopes, LFO's and aftertouch, but it still sounds a lot like those great Sega games.
I think Plogue is making a really good job preserving the sound of iconic FM synthesis chips like this YM2612 and previously the YM2413 through software emulation.
All of Plogue's stuff kicks ass in 1 way or another & then personal preference obviously comes into play, but damn they make some awesome stuff!!!
Absolutely love that you chose that track to use. TJ&E was my favourite MD game by a long shot. So under appreciated :D
This was such a joyful watch.
I never got to play and experience the old sega games and the music behind it all, this was great to see because all those sounds were fun.
Definitely worth putting some time into
ToeJam and Earl was my whole deal as a child.
yes!! so many good memories playing this with my sister and a kid
Yeh but the soundtrack is like a poor mans Fresh prince 👎🏼
same!! 3 was pretty great too honestly
Really nice to see your passion about this... clearly the Megadrive was a big part of your youth :3
I see Sega and Cuckoo, I click. This sounds lovely. Phantasy Star II (and IV) music, Toejam & Earl and so many others I love. . Gonna watch the rest of the video and then I’ll probably need that synth. Can’t beat that FM nostalgia.
Phantasy Star IV
Lol
I have a few of these YM-chips around here . Love the sound from them, and not forgetting all the fm-synthesis chips from Yamaha in the arcades :)
❤️
So glad you chose Toejam and Earl me and my brothers spent hours just using the Jam option making mad beat to tape. The memories are flooding back. Thanks dude your narly.
Ah Mega Drive, so awesome to see someone like you deep diving into this divine soundchip.
Divine it is!
Just had a huge wave of kid Chameleon memories flood back! That soundtrack was ridiculously good.
I literally have the Highwater Pass and Pyramid themes tabbed out by ear on guitar from when I was like 13, lmao.
Definitely one of my favorites as well.
The look of joy on your face when you listened to the ToeJam & Earl track you recreated totally made this video! I'd love to hear how Plogue's done those distorted guitar sounds that were used in games like Thunder Force IV :)
The Genesis has an incredible chip sound, I fell in love with it when I got Mega Turrican on Wii Virtual Console over a decade ago.
❤️🙏🏼
Aaaah Sega Genesis.... Still my main console to this day.
Currently midway through Phantasy star 3. Then I'll start Phantasy star 4 (for the 5th time) the soundtrack in this game is LEGENDARY!
Will you play to Paprium and Xeno crisis? The soundtracks are legendary too!
damn this was my faavvoorriittee game growing up! thank you for this!
I ordered the DAFM-synth that has the YM-2616 chip, will hopefully arrive in the mail any day now. Sounds like a synth you would enjoy. :)
Hi Didrik, I sent it last weekend. I hope you will get it next week. I am looking forward to hearing the tunes you can get out of it, 😀
Love the music from Toejam and Earl. Your video has brought it all back 😍
5:29 as a 34 yold man you mange to play piece of my childhood major flashback playing that game as a child and now I cry becasue i miss my childhood.
Wow, brings back memories. Technosoft's Thunderforce 4 and Streets of Rage 1+2 were my favourites regarding BGM.
Master system had FM too, but onboard cart chip. Yamaha also produced a few “pro” keyboards which featured game console architecture.
Yeah that FM extension for the Master system was pretty rare in Europe. I still haven’t seen it. I think that particular version of Master System was a transition to the Megadrive.
Checkout the intro music and opening sequence to “Ranger X”. I’ll look up the Yamaha keyboard model number too. Thanks for the reply. Peace
bUH sNUH I meant certain carts had fm option in game.
I’m in love; just woww. What I’d die for is for some sort of integration with genMDM so I can create sounds and play it off real hardware too. Standalone this sounds great; thank you so much for sharing!
I actually have a genMDM here and briefly talked to them about reading my VST MIDI connection data. Just sooo much to do :)
@@plgDavid genmdm is amazing. just got the jamatar too! not really got my head into it yet.
So happy you went with the TJ&E sounds.
Probably one of my top three favs of all time. Real Headhunters vibes.
I just love your self-control on perfectionism! Trying your best and btw it sounds terrific even if you feel not being precise! Thanks for this!
So this Yamaha chip is the beast that pushes every right button in my brain which tells me in in for a good time and heaven is indeed on Earth? Very good to know. Very pleased indeed!
So glad to have found your channel. The games didn't even have to be that great for any number of reasons, or horrendously hard or terrifying (thanks Ecco, still love you tho bae) the music always made it worth it! ...Is it possible to be nostalgic to the music of the stages you never managed to reach as a child?
Gosh it would be great to hear a collecion of interviews from the folks who originally made the music on Megadrive/Genesis back in the way. All of their troubles, if any, or did the music just spring to them as it leaps to my ears so flawlessly?
There's some Yamaha FM synthesizer keyboards. DX7, DX 11, DX100, TX 81Z. Also the SY99.
Thanks so much for sharing this. Toe Jam and Earl was my favourite game back in the day. It may be the thing that got me into funk.
your passion for the mega drives sounds is very inspiring, i wasnt even born when it came out but i remember playing racing games on it at a relatives place when i was small and i was just blown away by the music, this really impacted my taste in music and im so glad to see someone give love to this console's sound and see it as much more than just something made for video games. keep the great work please cuckoo
you should check deflemask, its a tracker specially focused on that yamaha soundchip
yeah it's great!
One of the first songs from a game that I learned on bass guitar back in high school! Love Toejam and Earl, and is a perfect fit with your style!
The Megadrive was and still is a great console. And it‘s Yamaha FM Chip is still amazing. Remembering the times when I’ve played Phantasy Star II for months every night. Great review 😀
And there are new games complete in box coming out every year now!
I super love this video. I dont think ive ever seen Cuckoo happier.
😍
Ooo my good, revenge of shinobi, Musha, thunder force 4, best VGM for me.
Very cool Plogue, I discover it
thanks Cuckoo
Those soundtracks are epic!!
Toejam & Earls was a great co-op game for two players. It was simple, yet very original and fun to play. Great characters. I remember seeing a new version for the x-box some years ago.
And I also had Toejam & Earl 2 - Panic on planet funkotron for the Megadrive. Would like to revisit that again too.
Simply great fun and so back to youth it's a joy. Ordered immediately. Plogue people are passionated genius. In your video one can literally feel your excitement. Great video :)
Only just discovered your channel.
Loving your content (subscribed). Thank you for bringing this to my attention...
If its retro FM, Video games or cartoons, I'm in... Going to have a lot of fun with this... Thanks 🤘👍
Great video ! Im a synth nerd and Phantasy Star ost fan. And I live in Montreal were Plogue is ! Guess I was meant to find your video today.
I love seeing the passion you have for synths. I just have a micro korg right now but you’re living the dream man. Keep up the amazing content.
The MicroKorg is a really great only synth to have! When I made my sound pack for it, I was overwhelmed with the quality of it.
@@truecuckoo well thanks for the inspiration again really appreciate that!
Also loved Genesis music! This sounds Super Accurate, that harsh edge is there. Next: Some Yuzo Koshiro?
First time being on your channel. Pure Genius with the mirror directed towards your face. Getting two cameras would of been a Pain! Great video buying the plugin now
I love the screen capture and face cam setup you got going on in this vid
Great video ! I had a megadrive for X-mas in the mid nineties, man that was the peak of my childhood, being able to play street fighter at home without having to pay...Didn't know Mystic Defender, the intro is rad ! The soundtrack i prefered was "shadow dancer" (if you don't know listen, it's amazing, and the game is AWESOME).
Plogue deserves more attention. They create great software, Bidule and Chipcrusher are some of my favorites.
Chipsounds is great, too
Dude! This made me so happy!
Also check out the soundtrack for mega turrican. Man.. so good!
And I agree, the sound of that chip has something interresting.
The way the filter resonance is emulated is very unique.
I love that these companies are keeping all my favorite sound chips alive and easily usable in this day and age. I love all those old chip tunes. The snes sample sound chip was amazing and the fm synth in the mega drive will always have a huge spot in my heart.
Love this channel!
Mega drive was the best! Doesn’t matter how powerful the next gen console is, or how good the graphics are! there will never be anything like that long lasting nostalgic enjoyment feel to it! IMO.
I'm so glad to be hearing this video today, cuckoo. So many memories. I had no idea the MD had this chip!
Haha wow, yeahhh!! This is one of my all-time funky md songs as well! That, and Sonic 3 Hydrocity Zone Act 1.
The best genesis game soundtrack..."Fatal Labrynth"!!!
You are all kindly welcome!
My childhood was build on adlib pc games.. love this sound tune for all the time.. thank you for this video..
Aidan Lawrence is selling some hardware called the Mega MIDI. I wonder how it compares. I bought a SegaMegaDrive about 6 months ago and a PVM about a month ago. Absolutely loving it. I must admit the sound you have recorded here does sound very accurate.
😍😍😍 I loved the sound of the Genesis/MD as a teenager. I had the model 1 with the stereo headphone output and I ran that into some old monitor speakers - not great speakers but better than TV sound. I just got a Genesis again about a week ago - but a model 2 this time which has stereo out capability through AV adapter. I think the Genesis sound chip is what really deepened my love of electronic music back in the 90s. The NES wasn’t bad either but Genesis music was very listenable for long periods. The timing on this is amazing. Thanks for the great video! By the way - sadly a lot of people say the SNES had better sound “because it used samples”. Ehhh that’s their loss. Check out the soundtracks for Strider, Flashback, Gauntlet 4, and Lightning Force/Thunder Force and of course Streets of Rage.
It’s really special isn’t it. I love it too.
To Nintendo’s defence though, there are some really memorable soundtracks on the SNES too of course. A completely different palette of sounds, but Secret of Mana, Super Metroid, Chrono Trigger, Zelda, Final Fantasy all have some quite wonderful soundtracks too.
True Cuckoo - thanks for pointing that out. I should have clarified that a great number of beautiful memorable soundtracks were created on the SNES. The difference is the SNES sound hardware doesn’t seem to be an important component in that music - I don’t think of it as a musical instrument the way the MD was. Like CD based games that came next - the sound isn’t created by the hardware at that point. So, I think it’s unfair to credit the SNES hardware as having better sound than the MD when the sounds are sample based. The MD had a great sound chip with interesting and distinct character. It’s worthy of being recreated and preserved like this. I think the MD has the best sound chip of any home console ever, followed by the 8-bit NES. But if the question is which system has the best soundtracks; well... that can probably never be answered. There has been great music on probably every system - at least from the 8-bit days onward 😙
great video! I am a massive fan of the megadrive and still regularly play toejam and earl with my 5 year old son. It is one of his favourite games!
Just want to chime in and say I have been having a great time with my Atmegatron and miniAtmegatron by Soulsby Synths. They have all the flithy lowbit grit you could ask for.
Any music found on a Tecno Soft cartridge is bound to be awesome
Thunder Force III/IV FTW!
Took them long enough lol.. You should check out Inphoniks RYM2612 plugin. You can actually take VGM files from Genesis/Mega Drive games and drop them into the plugin! So you can legit get the sounds Yuzo used in Streets of Rage 2!
Edit: OH SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYT YOU CAN DO THAT WITHIN THIS PLUGIN!!!!! Welp RIP!!!!!
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@@truecuckoo lol I bought this plugin and goodness I see why my buddies at Plogue took so long... 10/10!
Hello! Been following your channel for a while now. Really love these clips with retro sounds from new synths. This really brings back memories from childhood, and the old games with fantastic music. This is so inspirational. I just started my own channel with synths, and will hopefully use this Sega synth in my upcoming videos. Thank you for sharing this! :)
As for keeping these old chips alive, I'm surprised that no one is making a FPGA based synth/midi box for all these classic FM chips.
I know I'm replying to my self here but I would like to mention the Analogue MegaSG, which has a FPGA implementation of both the Genesis sound chips (YM2612 and PSG SN76489)
As a (mostly) hardware guy, I can't help but to think that, if one could control this perfectly with a modern 4-op FM-synth, like Reface DX or Digitone, it would be super sweet. I have to DL the demo and try to map it as close as possible. Not holding my breath though, as switching between operators and algorithms might be something that would actually need support from Plogue's side, but I guess I'll see what happens (when I have time to try it). :)
Thanks for this! Remember these games from way back
Very unique great sounds of the 16 bit console days!
Dude you just literally played all my favorite sega genesis tracks. What a man of fine taste.
Wooooooooaaaaaah just found you. So much awesomeness here!
Amazing! Love your attempt at recreating the Toe Jam music.
Sonic 1 & 2 tunes are the most iconic for me. So good, apparently influenced by MJ.
Nope, the soundtracks of Sonic 1 and 2 were entirely composed by Masato Nakamura of the J-Pop band "Dreams Come True". Sonic 3 is rumored to have had some MJ involvement, though nobody has proven yet that any music by him made it to the final game. Some composers/producers who did work for MJ really made music for Sonic 3, and are in the game's credits. Brad Buxer, for example, reused one of his older tracks ("Hard Times" by The Jetzons) for the Ice Cap Zone, and his proto-version of what later became "Stranger in Moscow" for the game's ending theme.
This is EPIC! Revenge of Shinobi & Batman have most nostalgic soundtracks!
Sweet! Now I can jam along with my favorite Phantasy Star 2 tracks! Epic and interesting what nostalgic part of the brain this excites. Thanks.
This was great , the sounds are so amazing ...i still have my mega drive from 1990 , with original games , it still works , my son enjoys playing :-)
Thanks for the video! I think I may have to pick this one up!
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I’ve got to pick this up! FM is such a distinct and wonderful sound
So cool, I been keeping my ear to the ground on Sega Genesis synthesis. Glad to find out about this, thanks.
I remember sitting with my brother and playing a game and having a conversation about how great the sound was on the Sega genesis.. now I know why it sounded great
It genuinely makes me smile to see you having fun using this thing. I bought chipsynth earlier today and I'm anxious for my 1 year old daughter to fall asleep so I can play with it! One question though:
Where can I download vgm's to play in chipsynth?
You legend Cuckoo that was so much fun to watch!!!
Have you checked out dexed? Another great fm vst
This is awesome!! I’m definitely gonna need to get these sounds. Thank you for making this video!!
Hi, Cuckoo! Excellent video and playing as always. Thanks for sharing. That black midi by Arturia is your mod or its a special version? =)
There's actually a tracker called DefleMask which emulates Sega Genesis' sound chip (and others) perfectly. You can even export your song to a ROM file and play on an emulator (or the console if you have a flash cartridge). And it's also free. =)
this was incredibly fun to watch, thanks!
Streets of Rage, Shadow Dancer and Lightening Force were some of my favs.
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Flashback soundtrack is one of my favourites.
Never heard these songs before, love them thank you!
Great demo. So much great music was made on this system. I recommend checking out the music from Rings of Power.
The Sam Powell soundtrack for the Shadowrun Genesis game is one of my all time favorites, really grimy and retrofuturistic.
If only it was this simple with all music, I'd love to assemble it all and then make additions and changes that I've always wanted certain pieces of music to have. This is particularly true with Dilla's music, most of it has tons of repetition to make the rappers shine, but I like the instrumentals myself... He gets away with it cause there's usually a strong groove and even a couple ways to look at it thx to the jazzy voice leading, but I ALWAYS come up with little variations when listening to it, even if it's just a different emphasis on existing voices. I mean, he works 99% with samples, but just imagine tech get's so advanced we can actually reverse-engineer any sound into it's elements, there's already some mind blowing acapella splitting tech, if the algorithm suits the music and you're good at touching it's quality back up, it's seriously unnoticeable that it's cut. (Dylan Tallchief covered what seemed like an amazing and FREE one recently! Just gotta fiddle)
The genesis chip and the snes one simply are pure gold when propely used.
awesome, always loved the Megadrive sounds
Elemental Master. A man of taste and high standards, I see. ;)
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I loved the mega drive sound chip (the mk1 anyway). It’s a shame it had a reputation of being worse than the snes, but that was just due to a lot of developers not knowing how to get the best out of it. As much as I love snes music, the best music of the era was on genesis. When in the hands of a master, like Yuzo Koshiro (or Michael Jackson) it can produce not just good game music, but good music.
That sounded pretty cool. I would like to get that software.
I love the Genesis, chip tunes, and FM synthesis. I'm buying this immediately.