Software/Hardware Synths for a JRPG Videogame

[ernzo]

Hi there!

We're developing a JRPG videogame and had some question about Synthesizers..


What kind of Software, or Hardware Synthesizer do you think was used for this Hero Emblem OST?


What will you use to get a Similar sound?


-Researching on Software, I found out Halion Symphonic Orchestra seems to be pretty much the Standart Synth Orchestra nowadays...


but I find it too Good, too Realistic for this type of Music/Game..


Looking for older stuff I found the Edirol Orchestra, wich even if a little dated, sounds quite on the line in terms of Quality/Realism..


but it could also sound a little bit Serious for this..


-Then I thought they must be using some Hardware Synths, either Rack or Keyboard alla Korg, Yamaha, Kurzweil..

Did a little bit of research, and it seems the E-MU Hardware stuff was pretty much the Standart at some point:

theres the E-MU Proteus Orchestral..
Which sounds and feels very close to the classic Videogame sound, but we think it's a little bit Dated.

then there's the E-MU Virtuoso 2000..
Wich sounds Very Good, but it's somehow too Serious, having a somewhat Dark touch on the Timbres
(if you know what I mean..)


-So being myself a stranger on the Synths world, and since the history of synths is this big..

What do you think about the matter?

Do you know any Software (VST, new or old), that could get us close to the Hero Emblem sound?

Before Halion Symphonic, wich software was the Standart Orchestral Synth?
and before it?
..and before? smile

If Hero Emblem was made with Hardware Synths, what do you think they used?


Thanks in advance!

[commodorejohn]

I can't listen at work, but for general style-pastiche purposes, 90% of the time with oldschool Japanese games the standard is either the SC-55 or SC-88 Roland Sound Canvas (unless you go back to PC-88 games with the Yamaha FM chip - Etrian Odyssey is such an homage that they even did the soundtrack on a PC-88!)

[vicd]

Or maybe even Roland MT32

[synthroom]

Not many people had a Sound Canvas, let alone a MT-32 back then. The vast majority of PC users would have had a Creative Labs SoundBlaster 16, 32 or 64 as time went along. Not very realistic, for sure.

[commodorejohn]

Not many people had a Sound Canvas, let alone a MT-32 back then. The vast majority of PC users would have had a Creative Labs SoundBlaster 16, 32 or 64 as time went along. Not very realistic, for sure.

Be that as it may, for some reason Japanese games had it as the main target for music playback long before Western games did. (I suspect it has to do with the fact that full-fledged PC clones weren't an omnipresent de facto standard for Japanese gamers until Windows 95 added decent Japanese-language support, and Windows games used General MIDI from the get-go, even if it was being played back on a Sound Blaster - they had a Japanese version of DOS for NEC PC-98, but that had its own particular hardware standard and I don't think they bothered much with the Sound Blasters.)

[moosiakdefrogosa]

Interesting questions — and you’re right that a lot of JRPGs lean toward that slightly dated, characterful orchestral sound. The Hero Emblem OST definitely feels closer to mid-2000s sample libraries, and the Edirol Orchestra or older E-MU modules would get you surprisingly close.