Topic: Super Castlevania IV OST MIDI Remaster

[quattj]

I started a project remastering SNES soundtracks as high quality MIDI files.  It took two full years to reach this point, where my second officially complete soundtrack is Super Castlevania IV.  Enjoy!

The SNES MIDI Remaster Project

Super Castlevania IV
https://youtu.be/r0-P66UJDzY

The full project playlist (will always work even if individual videos are updated)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzNFPVjo8upworyQq0DXDTiCZzPP29Frw

The Youtube soundtrack pages contain links to download MIDI and mp3 versions of the remastered soundtracks, as well as documentation of the entire creation process and software used.

[X]

Hello there!

SCV4 has always been a favorite of mine so I'll give these a listen-to.

[quattj]

Bonus soundtrack added today: Super Castlevania IV (Prototype)
A protoype for Super Castlevania IV was leaked in 2020, with work-in-progress versions of tracks that would end up in the final game, plus a track that never saw the light of day.  The variations are interesting to hear, and a must-listen for any Castlevania enthusiast.

Super Castlevania IV (Prototype)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPQJMg3UVng

The full project playlist (will always work even if individual videos are updated)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzNFPVjo8upworyQq0DXDTiCZzPP29Frw

Super Castlevania IV
https://youtu.be/r0-P66UJDzY

Super R-Type
https://youtu.be/3ApAJHJDjc4

[quattj]

As this is a Castlevania forum, this is the last update I'll make on here until I eventually do the soundtrack for Dracula X.  Updates will continue on the project pages until then.

Soundtrack number 4 is now live!

Prince Of Persia
https://youtu.be/wt6PVCw1Hvw

As always, The full project playlist (will always work even if individual videos are updated)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzNFPVjo8upworyQq0DXDTiCZzPP29Frw

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Are these done by grabbing the chip data and converting it to MIDI?
I know that for the ones I used to do, I did it by hand by hearing each channel and notating it accordingly.

[quattj]

Are these done by grabbing the chip data and converting it to MIDI?
I know that for the ones I used to do, I did it by hand by hearing each channel and notating it accordingly.

Yes, they start with the chip data (spc files).

I begin with spc2midi, which was never finished, and is in Japanese (v0.023, if that tells you anything about completeness).  But it attempts to convert the spc data to corresponding midi data.  It works fairly well, but they never finished the percussion conversion, so all percussion is a mess. Pitch values are often incorrect for an entire instrument (SNES does not store the set pitch value, only pitch relative to the sample used, so it runs I believe an FFT on the audio to try to guess the pitch), plus each game/audio engine seems to provide some unique quirks that need to be worked around with the generated files.  Yet I find in general it still provides a more "true" rendition than the only other utility I have found that does this, there's just a LOT of work that goes in both before and after the conversion.

If you are curious about the whole process, a I have a step-by-step breakdown located at
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1op35g2ALiWenpXUNndyuHikq6ZlfmQuG?usp=sharing
under the file SNES MIDI Remaster Project xxxx-xx-xx.docx

[Inccubus]

Groovy! I'm really diggin' these!

[X]

I remember this program. Tried it out back in 2002/03..? Somewhere around that time. I used if briefly when I was converting a song from Ys 3. It turned out alright but navigating the program due to its incompleteness was a bit of a challenge.