How to Compose 16-bit Super Nintendo Music in a DAW 

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Nice! Finally found a video that actually tells you how the produce the sounds and not just "look how I compose" kinda video. Thanks (:

I was just about to say your piano sounds like Chrono Trigger & u brought it up!

You're so talented at playing. The fact you can go from playing single notes to something that sounds instinctively like music is so impressive to me

Awesome video. This really needs more views, super useful!

Damn Steven, your live playing is immaculate! Really beautiful! Thanks for the solid tips as well!

Hey, great video! Found this jewel, while doing some research. It’d be wonderful if you could do a tutorial on the sounds from DKC 2, which of course you know, is probably the most technically advanced score in the SNES because of how David Wise programmed everything. It’d be great to emulate the sounds with your help!

Have you tried composing in the SNES style yet?

So easy to understand and interesting, great work thank you

Remember to limit your maximum number if concurrent playing notes to eight, there are sections where you have as many 16 sounds playing at once that's more like PS1 N64 or Nintendo DS territory.

Thanks i love super nintendo music, and i never knew why thats sounds very special!!!

7:17... Chrono Trigger detected.

Honestly.. You just saved me! I've been looking forward to converting my instruments to 16bit chiptune... Honestly.. You saved me.. Thanks alot bro

i looove the sound of that harp it has a magical feel to it and the ambiance is dreamy :)

This is closer to PS1/N64 music than SNES in quality tough.

Very informative, I been looking for other videos on to create those kind of sounds, thanks a bunch! There are 4 other things also that can make your samples sound SNES like. 1: All samples on the cartridges were recorded in Mono sound. 2: The sample rate of the recorded samples varied greatly from sample to samples. Some were recorded even as high as 16khz (usually drum samples, and that's because drum samples had to be recorded higher hz rates, and then be downsampled to 16khz in order to retain their crisp sound). When the samples are played back in real time on the machine the final mix is played back in Stereo at 32khz. 3: The 8 channels were also Monophonic, (only one note allowed at a time). So when a new note is played it'd also cancel any said reverb on said channel. To take advantage of this, composers would often end specific sounds early, (brass/woodwinds/etc) to let that delay echo be heard. Also, I bet these effects would sound great on some old fashioned MIDI synths like Yamaha S-YXG50 vsti. I'm pretty sure some of the games way back when used some of those samples. If you use FL Studio, then Fruity LSD with the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth isn't a bad choice for these kind of effects either.

could be a mario & luigi overworld theme

Excellent research. Thank you so much for this.

Dude this is awesome. Thanks so much for sharing

This was extremely enlightening about the custom made sound workflow that SNES composers had, which really set the OSTs apart game to game. Out of curiosity, what would you suggest would be the way for someone who is interested in replicating the workflow for a truly authentic SNES song that those composers had to do at the time? Correct me if I'm wrong but even if each of these instruments are sampled like this, which does look and sound like the way SNES composers crafted their library of sounds for the games they were writing for, it seems like we could continue to layer more instruments and notes as much as we want in the DAW. Is their any reliable way to compose for the SNES where you can keep track of the hardware and sound limitations of the console, or do you just compose and hope the console can handle the song when you import it, and if it can't you strip away or reduce stuff until it can? I hope this question makes sense. Its fascinating to think about the creation process and workflow of the composers from that time and if it was a trial and error sort of thing, or did they have access to some sort of hardware / software so they could playback what they were writing and know during the writing process if the song was meeting the limitations or exceeding them and could make proper adjustments on the fly.

Well documented, thanks!

been making some beats in this style, but the tips on delay you gave were incredible. i’m gonna have to try and download the sampler plug-in you were using, as i’m not sure what all the ableton equivalents would be. thank you so much!

Really awesome video bro

such a great video. thank you so much

Would you recommend using snesggs to make music for games based on that era? I'm pretty new to video game music design and want to create that authentic snes sound for my game.

Really cool, Steven! Could you make a sega genesis vídeo?

Hey can you do a tutorial on how to make Mega Man X Music? Like how they did the mega man x games on the SNES? Im DYING to Make Mega Man X3 or Mega Man X1 Style music! Please do a tutorial on that, THAT WOULD BE "ROCKING" Awesome!

I probably already left a comment but thank you!

Really helpful! :D

haha the cover is awesome, i guesss i gonna buy this if it is really 16 bit advanced

hey Steve when it comes to 16 and 32 bits music.. would you recommend to use LMMS instead any other DAW.?

Hey steven, do you have any list in your channel that help me start composing, like basics or something, love your content btw, i can't understand most of it tho 😁

I can't find the EXS24 sampler, should I download that plugin somewhere else or should I use the newer "sampler"?

really want to improve my arranging skills. got a lot to learn but I'll get there thanks.

Feels like a Banjo Kazooie SNES game that should have been.

Ngl the BG music sounds likes Doki doki X udertale collab

When trying to do this for a piano on garageband, the notes become earpiercingly loud (they're played close to C5). Unfortunately when I try to lower the treble, the sounds of the keys loses their impact. Do you know a way to help with this?

So... what's the sotware name? I couldn't hear it... Anyways the tutorial was awesome!

Why not just use the SNES VSTs?

can you please please please make a tutorial on how to compose like ffxiii composer masashi hamazu?

I'm a bit confused and perhaps you can help me. When you mention that the attack could be between 200-1000ms, do you mean that's the initial part of the sample before the waveform starts looping?

how do i recreate the genesis drums cuz i wanna make genesis sounding music

the FF Pro-Q, L1+ Ultram and L1 limiter are all very expensive for me, do you have any free alternative recommendation please?

I think it would too late to ask, but how did you get the accordion sound?

What if we wanted to make songs to put on an SNES home brew game?

Hey Steven, now that you use Cubase do you have a different Bit crushing plugin that you use? I have tried a couple free ones and can't quite get the sound I'm hoping for.

Hey how exactly do you adjust the amount of bits on a track that's what I want to know

Hi, this software is downloadable somewhere on the internet?

when I add bit crusher to my harp, there's a very high pitch noise that I can't figure out how to get rid of, any thoughts?

i am trying this with lmms but there is always this noise idk it just makes me sad a little

What software did you use for this?

What's the title of the first song in the background?

what software is he using?

is this possible in garageband ios?

What music making software is this?

What program did you use for this tutorial?

What is the software you use ?

What program

What does DAW stand for

Isn't the gameboy advanced 32 bit?

I have one question, can this music play on the actually SNES?

Sounds like Mario party

The SNES Support 8 Channels Music! Not 11!

lmao this isn't how you make snes music. Snes instruments use compressed wav files, not vst-esque instruments

This isn't true 16-bit music. You're using plugins in a DAW, not composing using software that at least emulates the SNES sound chip (something like Famitracker)

SNES is garbage sega genesis makes better music but theirs synthesizers better then both