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The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => Fan Stuff => Topic started by: bucky on April 07, 2019, 08:15:38 AM

Title: Retro Game Audio - CV Bloodlines Soundtrack. Podcast listenthrough and analysis.
Post by: bucky on April 07, 2019, 08:15:38 AM

Retro Game Audio - Episode 30: Castlevania Bloodlines (https://soundcloud.com/retrogameaudio/castlevania-bloodlines)

Hey ya'll, long-timer lurker. A few days ago we uploaded a podcast episode about the Bloodlines soundtrack. The soundtrack was sampled from a modded genesis to get a crisp sound, and we explore some of the sound design elements that went into crafting this soundtrack for the Sega Genesis. It's our first-ever episode dedicated entirely to a Castlevania soundtrack, but there are also a bunch of other times we've discussed CV music in the past:

Episode 02: Konami's Wai Wai World soundtracks (https://soundcloud.com/retrogameaudio/retrogameaudio-episode2-waiwaiworld)

This one includes lots of comparisons of how the Castlevania music was changed when ported to/covered in the Wai Wai World soundtracks.

Episode 08: The Famicom Disk System (https://soundcloud.com/retrogameaudio/the-famicom-disk-system)

Around 42:50, we review and dissect the FDS soundtrack of Dracula II (Castlevania 2).

Episode 10: The VRC6 (https://soundcloud.com/retrogameaudio/the-vrc6)

A review of the sound expansion used in the Japanese version of Castlevania 3, Akumajou Densetsu.

Episode 17: Konami's NES Music (https://soundcloud.com/retrogameaudio/konami-nes-music)

A lengthy tour through Konami's NES soundtracks in chronological order, showing how their sound design evolved over time. Castlevania 1 appears at 43:50, and in context, we reveal how it was essentially Konami's first "good" soundtrack on the system. 1:12:07 - Brief return to Dracula II. 1:30:47 - Castlevania II, in context, it's presented as a sort of one-two punch following The Adventures of Bayou Billy. This marks a turning point where the quality of their sound design takes a noticeable increase. 1:51:22 - Akumajou Densetsu kicks things off for non-FDS sound expansion.

Hope these deep dives into the technical-side of classic VGM is interesting to some fans of Castlevania music, thanks for checking it out!  :)

Title: Re: Retro Game Audio - CV Bloodlines Soundtrack. Podcast listenthrough and analysis.
Post by: Eric Roman on April 23, 2019, 09:43:43 AM

Neat, the Bloodlines fans will get a kick out of this one. 

How was the console modded?  Were you guys using the original "High Definition Graphics" machine?  I read somewhere the output of the YM3812whatever changed slightly between the Genesis I, II, and III. 

Title: Re: Retro Game Audio - CV Bloodlines Soundtrack. Podcast listenthrough and analysis.
Post by: Mikepjr on May 07, 2019, 03:19:46 PM

Oh awesome!
I recently redid the level 1 theme using VSTs.
I enjoy making music from the Genesis/Megadrive sound better.. less synthy/chip-tuney.