So it turns out they DID make a Solstice 2 (Equinox) which is funny because I used a tune from that in the background music during the ZX Spectrum section. My mistake, I completely missed that. Also the drums in Solstice/Silver Surfer are apparently NOT sample channel, but instead clever triangle/noise magic. Thank you to the people who pointed this out and I'm very very very sad that I missed this because that's much more technically impressive than DPCM samples. Will try my best to deliver higher quality of research in the future👍
One more relatively minor thing. There were two types of sound on the ZX Spectrum: the 1-bit beeper speaker, which is what that "crunchy" sound is, and the later 3-voice AY-3 chip used on later, slightly higher-spec versions of the computer. I would include more details but I need to sleep as I write this
As @@bouncypear_net partially pointed out, 1-bit music on the ZX Spectrum is not 3 voiced. Technically, it actually has 0 voices! Any "channels" for 1-bit music have to be coded by hand using the CPU, often using hardware timers. People still make 1-bit music for the ZX Spectrum, and it can have up to 8 - 9 channels, depending on how you count. In fact, some of Tim Follin's sound engines had up to 6: 5 for pitch and 1 percussion channel that interrupted the others. "Chronos" and "Agent X1/2" are excellent examples of this. Edit: "Agent X2", while also having many channels, used an audio expansion for percussion. The AY-3-8910 warrants a separate discussion, though One reason why many of 1-bit songs sound like they only have 3 voices is because many of the channels are playing in unison with a slight detune, which gives a phasing effect to each duplicated note. Without this effect, each voice would just be an extremely thin pulse wave Another note about DPCM, SMB3 is also using that channel for the wood block sound, not just the steel drum. Kirby's Adventure is another track that uses the DPCM very well. One thing that's especially impressive about SNES music is that while samples are present, there is only 64k of RAM for all music, which is also used by the music player for multiple other things, including the sound driver state and an optional echo buffer. So, composers had to be very careful in what samples they used, with many often only being a single wavelength in size to afford more space. What's especially impressive about "Plok!", is that most of the OST only uses 5 of the 8 channels the SNES has to offer. Because of this, multi-note samples were used to achieve greater polyphony, which is not easily done with the SNES's limited sample memory. Also, if you're interested, I would highly recommend GST Channel's Artist Feature on Tim Follin, it does a great job covering the full scope of Follin's work. Also also, please cover more chiptune stuff! It's great to hear chiptune like this being discussed by music theorists 😁 Rest in peace, Mr. Follin 😌
I have a question about Pokemon Suite , the main theme after the intro part , I am trying to transcibe the theme to piano but can't seem to identify the last chord . I found the orchestral vers. on musescore . So , Can you help me please ?? at .5:30:54 / .5:43:26
Equinox is actually one of my favorites. It creates ambient soundscapes unlike anything else I've heard on the snes. Plus the boss music is an insane banger.
Solstice doesn't even use the DPCM (sample) channel, Follin brothers never used it in any tunes. All drums are made using a clever use of the triangle and noise channel, the triangle doing a quick swipe down to simulate a drum sound.
yeah there needs to be a pinned corrections comment for this and the "Spectrum speaker has 3 voices", which actually depends on software. What does have three voices is the sound chip in the 128K model of the ZX Spectrum, which isn't what was used for the Tim Follin speaker tunes.
Just wanna point out, the reason the ZX spectrum music sounds so crunchy is because the 3 channels are generated using software. The ZX only had a single output pin that you could either set high or low. Only makes the achievement more impressive!
Tim was a technical wizard, even as a teenager. How did he managed to figure out to create more than 3 voices in the ZX Spectrum is nothing but a miracle. The chip was rudimentary, it had no hardware sound support at all. The only thing it had was a single channel beeper that was controlled directly by the machine's main CPU, making synchronous music and gameplay should be near impossible. Yet Tim not only managed to do that, but also creating music that are polyphonic as well??? How much this man disregard and downplay his works baffles me sometimes, he was heck of a genius and a revolutionary!!!
Yep, it's like the Apple II's sound, just a speaker connected to a single bit of control. You must push and pull the speaker with timed code to make a sound. Even the IBM PC speaker is more advanced since it can hold a tone.
Yeah there were a lot of technical inaccuracies in this video. The author got confused because a later iteration of the ZX had three SQUARE WAVE channels to tap, and Tim Follin did do some music with said chip, but the 1-bit music is what he's really known for. For the record, he didn't invent the technique per se. It was a common way of getting more out of a simple beeper speaker than a single square wave. Games on the Apple II had been doing it for years. The tradition met its climax, I would say, when the Sega Genesis was forced to play 4-voice digital music through its lone digital voice-the CPU was mixing all four voices. Could only be done for title or other non-intensive moments, as usual. But again, this is something that had already been done on the Amiga.
The Follins' work shown in this video sounds like modern music emulating retro-style tunes. Hard to believe these were ACTUALLY composed on those retro consoles.
@@MaxOakland Absolutely, it seems to me that a lot of the techniques that define chiptune as a genre, like grandiose arpeggiating chords, triangle snares, and so on, were pioneered by the brothers Follin, or at least were popularized by them. That in mind, I'm fully comfortable saying they invented/pioneered/whatever verb you wanna use the music genre, even if at the time *all* game music was "chiptune."
I think the ultimate bow to the brothers talents are the mistakes in this video. The ZX spectrum didnt have 3 channels. It had 1. Tim programmed his own music routine (at 14 years old mind you) that was able to interlace several channels in software, and then output it to the 1-bit beeper. This is why it sounds as tim himself put it "nails in a vacuum". Since any other waveform would be unnecessarily taxing on the cpu. But also, the brothers nes games didnt use samples, they used a rare technique of combining the triangle and noise channel to create the drums, which not only sounds great due to their clarity compared to the sample channel but also acts as a natural sidechain on the bass since only one sound can be played per channel at once. This made them clearer and louder than they would have been had they simply been stacked with the sample channel like most games did. They never cease to amaze.
Worth noting that the ZX Spectrum 128, released at the tail end of 1985, and most models released after did have a built-in 3-channel PSG (AY-3-8910, same as the MSX standard and Amstrad CPC line), so that's not entirely incorrect. Tim's earliest soundtracks were only made for the beeper, but he also used the PSG in most of his later games. Agent X II and Raw Recruit's title screens even used the beeper and PSG noise at the same time on models that supported it - this video just shows the pure beeper for the latter though.
As a kid playing Solstice required patience because you just had to listen to at least 3 playthroughs of the theme tune before you could start the game haha.
@@danh945 I got that game as a young kid from my Dad's friend, which came with a couple area maps and a nice little "infinite lives" cheat (spoiler, it did in fact not grant infinite lives) which helped me immensely with playing that game - even with all those lives, learning that game entirely by myself, I burnt through all of them several times over, and it was still a few years before I ever saw the end of the game at all. Good times. Even the main game's music loop was somehow enchanting to me. Both that, and the colors on an old CRT. Definitely no other game experience like it.
Holy crap I'm so sorry to hear of Geoff's passing. I love that the retro game music community has really rallied around Plok's beach theme as a SNES masterpiece - making that one song more famous than the game itself. Thanks for going through some of the brothers' lesser known work!
The fact that I learned of Geoff's passing from a freaking Othello gameboy game, aka Spot, feels kind of criminal tbh, the game is as garbage as anyone can imagine, but the track that goes when you don't make a move, is insanely good.
The beach theme is good but overhyped. I don't think it's fair that it overshadows several other memorable and fun tunes in Plok. Nearly every song in that game is noteworthy in some fashion. For example, the boss theme is a banger. Let's rally around the WHOLE game and not just a fraction of it.
The Follin brothers pushed the limits of what was possible and broke new ground in places no one thought to break, which is why I love their work. Everything they make is absolutely insane. R.I.P. to Geoff.
Had no idea who these guys were and thought "oh a bunch of soundtracks from games I've never heard of might find something new and cool" only to realise I knew almost every song transcribed. My respect for the work that goes into this stuff has skyrocketed, thanks for making this video, it's really well made and can see how much effort it took.
13:32 - Actually, I’m pretty sure there actually IS a Solstice 2. It’s just that it doesn’t the exact name being known as Equinox on the SNES. And yes, Tim/Geoff Follin return to compose for that game which overall sounds way more immersive than their usual straight-up bangers.
There's never gonna be enough words in the English dictionary to describe just how hard the Silver Surfer music goes. There's something about it that just makes the game feel so much more action packed than it is. It's a shame that the Follin brothers never quite got that big impactful game to put their stamp on, but they absolutely elevated every game they composed for. By far the greatest chiptune tracks of all time. Rest in peace Geoff, may your legacy shine ever bright
The ZX spectrum beeper had only 1 channel, it could simply be switched between two states and nothing more; that makes what Tim Follin did with it even more astonishing…
If sega hired that duo to work on sonic 3 and knuckles michael jackson wouldn't have been ashamed to be credited as he described that his music can't be replicated on it as he thought it could
Tim did make a soundtrack for the Genesis, it was for a game that never got released, he also stated that he regrets not making more music for the Genesis
i used to listen to tim follin on the way to my college classes every single morning. i'd think, "maybe i should listen to another album today", and then i'd pull up the plok ost. so happy to see this video
"The [...] Duo You've Never Heard Of" The first sentence in the video: "[...] you've probably heard of Tim and Geoff Follin" I jest of course. This was a lovely video! The news of Geoff's passing came out of nowhere and I didn't know it would affect me this much. The soundtracks mentioned here are almost exactly the ones I went to listen to after hearing the news.
Great vid, I love the Follins' work. Minor nitpick, though - they did actually make a Solstice 2! Equinox for the SNES, music also composed by the Follins. RIP Geoff.
And how was cadence hira supposed to know that equinox is the sequel to solstice? It doesn't even sound like a sequel name, something like "Solstice II" or "The second solstice" would make sense. Or better yet, even "iceloss" would've made more sense since it's an anagram.
@@-originalLemon- Both are terms for specific parts of the year, the solstice is when the sun is the highest or lowest in the sky, the equinoxes are the midpoint between those two
@@-originalLemon- I mean solstices and equinoxes are directly connected moments. In summer and winter, you have solstices. Their equivalents in spring and fall are equinoxes. Also, when you boot up the game, it does say "Solstice II", which was its official title in Japan.
You should listen to the "Ghouls n' Ghosts" (for the Commodore 64) theme Tim made. There's an oscilloscope view of it on youtube. In that song he emulates the sounds of rain, wind, bells, clavichords, footsteps, heart beats, etc. using only three channels!
having never heard of these fine lads or solstice before, going from "oh this is a nice little tune!-" to "-HERE WE F-ING GOOOOOOOOO" in 2 seconds flat was a lifechanging experience, and i thank you for it
12:56 OKAY CADENCE Love how well-edited these videos have gotten. From the short memes spawning here and there to that little stereo jumpscare. Great stuff!
idk how but that last "rest in peace, Geoff" was one of the most emotional and soft condolences I have ever heard. this comment does not take away the magnificence of their work, only serves to amplify that subtle detail
I was really hoping to hear you talk about the boss theme from Plok. Regardless, fantastic video! I love the Follin brother's music and your breakdowns so this was something I'd hoped to see at some point.
when i was recording gameplay the plok boss theme jumpscared me with the laugh sample lmao great tune though i would have probably talked about that if i talked about a second plok tune
@@CadenceHira I randomly came across the Plok soundtrack the other day, and the tune which stood out for me, as well as the Beach theme, was Back Home. Plenty of amazing chord progressions there! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YRemn5PVQok.html
Follin brothers mentioned, let's go! I remember stumbling with Solstice's theme back then a few years ago, listened to it out of morbid curiosity, and BOY what a pleasant surprise, then began searching through RU-vid more about the composer's works and holy shit, the Follin brothers deserved way more than what they got
the beeper didn't have three channels. thats all in software. The 128k also had a three channel AY sound chip in addition to the beeper, but the 48K only has the beeper.
The recent surge of musicians discovering the genius of the Follin Brothers warms my heart, never thought you would make a video on them as well, what a pleasant surprise! Also, rest in peace Geoff Follin, it is a shame that one of the most incredible and underrated chiptune composers had passed away. P/S: The drums in Solstice, Silver Surfer are actually produced by the triangle channel! A common technique chiptune composers often utilized is to have constantly switching between the drums and the bass produced by the triangle channel. The drums are created by quickly pitching downwards the triangle, while simultaneously played with the drums created by noise channel, giving it a more realistic feel while saving space, as the DPCM would often take too much space!
I love the way your videos highlight how much care and love went into making these compositions. Your passion for the music really shines through the videos and brings me a deeper appreciation for the music even though I have no music theory background. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.
What's it called in music theory when a tune has a beginning where it implies it is far less dynamic and energetic than it is? Solstice, Pokey means business. Outside video game music, Deja Vu from Initial D (which also has a very interesting key change). Raining Blood starts as thrash then gets unusually and unexpectedly fast. Anyway it's my favourite thing in music
Also, I'm surprised you never heard about Tim Follin's involvement in the soundtrack for the unreleased Genesis version of Time Trax, which was the only time he ever worked with the Genesis hardware.
Maybe you should talk about European video game composers that most Americans ACTUALLY haven't heard of like Rob Hubbard and Jeroen Tel. Maybe it's because I'm just old but to me people discovering the Follin Brothers for the first time comes off as being surprised that Mario 2 was Doki Doki Panic.
The ZX Spectrum only had ONE 1-bit voice.. Or more bluntly, it just had one speaker whose membrane you could push to one side or the other - a total of two choices which amounts to one bit and nothing else. Squeezing more voices into it was Tim Follin's magic.
While I am not musically trained, when I was a kid, I wanted to take piano and drum lessons, but it never happened, but over the years I learned how much I love percussion and tones due to it. While I don't fully UNDERSTAND sheet music, or how musical composition works, I get it. I programmed a couple of NES songs on a tracker, so i have that skill in my pocket.
The ZX Spectrum music briefly featured in this video was not generated by "3 channel" hardware. It was, as the video correctly noted, 1-bit audio. The speaker was meant to play only square waves, just like the speaker in other computers of the time such as the Apple II. When you hear "crunchy, multi-voice" music, you're hearing that 1-bit audio being directed in realtime by the CPU to change its square wave fast enough to count as a mix of multiple sounds. In fact, some of Tim's ZX Spectrum music simulated 5+ voices this way. You can't get around the crunchy nature of it without at least sacrificing a _lot_ of volume. I am guessing that the audio was mistakenly identified as "3 channel" because of the 3-voice hardware later introduced with the 128K ZX.
Hey, nice video! Great breakdowns of the tracks, and overall very good editing throughout. Definitely subscribed! The Follin brothers' music is very inspiring. To work with the limitations you have and embrace them, really showing that it isn't about the gear. Any piece of equipment is just a tool. Hats off to the Follin brothers and RIP to Geoff.
Now is a good time to mention that 1. the last half of the Chronos theme blows my mind, I don't know how he does that on a beeper, and 2. for some reason when Plok's beach theme loops, it doesn't return to the original tempo, it stays slowed down. Even the best among us make mistakes.
Cadence please do a spotlight on Jake Kaufman’s illustrious and colorful compositions!!! I’d love to see a music theory breakdown because that dude does some CRAZY stuff in a lot of his tracks :))))
I’d feel like there needs to be more people who dissect the interesting music from more underrated classics. Some of mine are Mr. Nutz (SNES) & The Adventures of Batman & Robin (Genesis) which truly have their spark.
You may have not realised it, but the kick sound in silver surfer is actually the triangle being shifted so fast in pitch that it sounds like a kick. That was made like that because the kick and bass channels are the same.
Every time I hear the Solstice theme song I get full body reaction. My hair stands on end, shake my head in disbelief. Amazing that a composition like that could be programmed into an NES game
Tim and Mike Follin actually did a fantastic arrangement of the Bubble Bobble music for the Atari ST version published by Software Creations. I kinda thought that's where you were going with showing Bubble Bobble footage, but I didn't notice a mention of it at all, and it seemed to be the NES version which Tim wasn't involved with.
I was going to talk about it! but decided to cut it from the script to talk about bad to the bone instead. left the bubble bobble gameplay as an easter egg and also because I didn't have a zx Spectrum or atari st emulator.
Thanks for the video, i got an education i needed but wasn't looking for. I own the game solstice but not a working NES, and the game was way too difficult to get into. Never heard of these guys but I'm glad I did.
Tim's been a personal hero of mine for 35 years, and is my fave VGM composer. I was so fascinated by these really crappy games that were my favourites because of Tim's magical melodies.
The Follin Brothers pushed the sound of each respective hardware to their absolute limits, it doesn't sound like anything else I've heard! RIP Geoff, your contribution to video game music will live on forever!
Solstice 2's (AKA Equinox) boss theme is an underrated banger from the Follin brothers. My favorite part of it is how the main beat is generated by just rapidly pitching up and down a single layered string(?) sample in such a way that it produces a popping sound, which makes for an instantly memorable techno beat. Would've been interesting to hear you talk about it and the sequel's overall change in music genre, being one of the few primarily ambient soundtracks on the system, alongside Jeremy Soule's work on Secret of Evermore. Another thing that could've been interesting to bring up would be the unreleased Genesis version of Time Trax, which was the only time the brothers worked on the Genesis hardware. Oh well.
I wouldn’t consider myself a retro game enthusiast in the slightest, but even I recognized that iconic track from Silver Surfer. The Follins were absolute musical and technical geniuses.
Now that Cadence has talked about the Follin brothers, is just a matter of time until she talks about the OST from Sunsoft NES games and other who use audio expansion chips on the Famicom, I would love a video about Gimmick! and Lagrange Point soundtrack :D
*Three* channels on the 48k Spectrum? No. ONE beep channel. And while sound while playing, everything else had to stop. Tim was able to squeeze FIVE music channels AND percussion out of that beeper when he did the intro music for Chronos. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yJy45MHrPjc.html
great video I love watching video game music theory videos (even though I know squat about music theory) But I never would have guessed that composers making tracks from that far back would be so ahead of their time
Very good tribute to the Follin brothers. R.I.P Geoff. They continue to be one of the best composers for video games. The first time I heard the Solstice soundtrack it blew my mind. Good video!
one of my favorites from Geoff (may he rest in peace) that doesn't get talked about as much is his work on Tom and Jerry for the NES. It was basically NES adaptations of several bits of score from the actual cartoons put together! As well as the classic opening theme and even the MGM logo music that you'd hear sometimes. And they all sound pretty cool
When I first listen to silver surfer I never fully realized how the nes can do so much more, and even more shock when listening to beach level, the Follin brothers are absolutely cracked in making music
There's a bit more to that legend about Plok: Mr Miyamoto first took apart the system they used, originally believing it to be a modded system, before going over the game code because he was amazed by finding the system to be completely stock. He 100% didn't believe the SNES was even capable of getting remotely close to what they achieved. Apart from the title theme to Plok, the OST left a couple channels free for sound effects during the gameplay so they could add the sound effects without interrupting the music.
Gosh, ive been really enjoying your videos, it makes me want to get back into music and try to learn a few instruments again while studying music theory properly.
