Re: They're Making A New Doom

On 6/11/24 12:29, Rin Stowleigh wrote:

On Mon, 10 Jun 2024 20:56:36 -0400, Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com>
wrote:
 

On Mon, 10 Jun 2024 18:34:55 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
>

Just be sure it has good MIDI. FM MIDI sucks. ;)

>
I may not be a fan of DOOM but I like the soundtrack. I have the
Roland SC-55 midi version in my collection. I agree, FM midi sucks.

 You guys are cracking me up.
 Not sure if you realize that at least half of all the best selling
commercial music of the 1980s that utilized synthesizers made
extensive use of FM synthesis in combination with MIDI?
 (There isn't really such a thing as "FM MIDI"... Frequency Modulation
(FM) is the method of synthesis, and has nothing to do with the note
data (MIDI) that plays the sound).
 I'm assuming here what you're discussing that sucks is likely the
sonic characteristics of specific sound cards or devices that just
happened to be based on FM?  Yes some of those can sound tinny but
that is not necessarily a characteristic of Frequency Modulation as a
synthesis method.
 Also, many of the warmest/richest sounding subtractive analog
synthesizers can do FM.  This only refers to modulating one oscillator
with another, effectively establishing the carrier/modulator
relationship that FM synths are based on.
 By default and if the sound designer doesn't know what they are doing,
or if the signal path is crap, FM sounds can be harsh and metallic
sounding.
 Listen to the pad that comes in at about 11 seconds in.  A Yamaha DX7
(FM synth) was used for this:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RUIeX6UCT8

This guy synths :)
Great post.
I've been using FM synths for some decades (Yamaha TX7, DX21, DX7) and in the right hands, can sound wonderful.
Even OPL can sound great (Monkey Island, Dune 2, Tyrian, etc)
Cheers