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From: Rin Stowleigh <rstowleigh@x-nospam-x.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: They're Making A New Doom
Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2024 19:58:03 -0400
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On Tue, 11 Jun 2024 14:34:02 -0400, Mike S. <Mike_S@nowhere.com>
wrote:

>On Tue, 11 Jun 2024 07:29:43 -0400, Rin Stowleigh
><rstowleigh@x-nospam-x.com> wrote:
>
>>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.
>
>To me, (and I suspect to video gamers in general who played PC video
>games in the 80s and 90s)  'FM MIDI' generally refers to what you get
>on a stock SoundBlaster card... which usually sounds terrible.

See my recent response to Sandro.  One reason for what you describe as
crappy sound is because a lot of times, a MIDI track is put together
with the intent of replacement with "bog standard" instruments.  By
that I mean in order for it to sound even remotely like most would
expect it to, the drum sounds need to be PCM samples of real drums
that were properly mic'd.  Because synthesized drums (while they can
sound great) don't typically sound like what most folks think of when
they think of drums.  So the music ends up sounding dissapointing,
unless the entire track was composed around the sonic limitations and
capabilities of the synth, so that the sounds that particular synth
wants to naturally make are used to craft the track, rather than just
using the synth as a playback device.

Now, add to that the fact that some of those OPL chips only had two
operators (synths like the DX7 had six), and the operators were not
only the sound source but the building blocks of the various
algorithms needed to create certain categories of sounds, so that's a
pretty brutal limitation right off the bat.  Next, add the fact that
they were relatively low-end gear compared to studio grade instruments
in the first place.

Even now, when I hear a lot of low priced synths, the sound coming out
of them just screams low-end.  There is something about when costs are
cut on circuitry where lots of small, and seemingly insignificant
sacrifices are made... but the total end product of all those small
sacrifices always seems to result in a lackluster, unimpressive sound.

The other thing to keep in mind is that most "real" music you hear on
an album or streaming or whatever has been produced.  Lots of FX,
mixing and post production techniques giving it the sheen that really
makes it sound good.  MIDI files playing directly out of a synth will
never have that sheen, and while newer AI technologies are getting
better, so far nobody has made the art of mixing and mastering
obsolete.  Although I wish they would, because I much prefer the sound
design and songwriting process, and would love an "easy button" to
produce a perfect mix.  It's because of the above you're more likely
to get your music from .wav audio in games these days than MIDI.