Requesting MIDI Sequences from PSX/N64 Games by NeoSpearBlade at 8:45 AM EST on February 17, 2016
Hello, everyone! This is a cool place I stumbled upon in which I learned stuff about how music works in PSX/N64 games that I didn't know.
But how did I discover this place to begin with? Because I've been looking for a way to extract/convert/whatever-the-term-is the music sequences in PSX/N64 games into .MID for the last 3 months.
For N64 games, most of my searches reach the conclusion of using VGMTrans but since the game I want doesn't use the smashy driver, that program just gives me hex numbers.
And I don't even know what to use for PSX games.
Call me uninformed at this point but since there's a Winamp plugin to play PSX/N64 music exactly how they sounded in their respective systems, that must mean that there's a sequence being read and played similar to MIDI.
But I don't want to play the songs. I want the sequences so I can mess around with them and do whatever I want (and not put them in vgmusic.com).
At this point, I've giving up looking for a way to get those sequences myself and now I want someone else who knows more about this to do it for me.
Just to be clear, I want all the sequences in .MID format, with a separate channel per instrument. I don't care if all channels end up being set to Grand Piano, I can fix that myself (like how I did for Impact Racing's only sequence file used for the loading screen). I just want the sequences.
Here's the games I want the sequences from: Battletanx Global Assault [N64] Mega Man Legends [PSX] Mega Man Legends 2 [PSX]
Sorry If I came across as rude but this has really frustrated me.
Also, as far as I know, this is not impossible, just really hard. If that's the case for my requests, then fine. I'll completely give up on this.
The second one's particularly interesting as it allows you to also export the instrument samples to a DLS file (which can be applied to the midi using a number of programs). It's not perfect, but it's certainly fun to explore with and opens up quite a number of possibilities. I was expecting a new N64 format / USF alternative to come forth after this tool was created using the samples and sequences directly from the ROM but it never happened.
If a ripped .psf file has sequenced music, its soundfont will be stored in a .psflib file. This means that the .psf's have SEQ's (PlayStation's MIDI format) inside them.
Step-by-step guide: 1)Load a .psf file in VGMTrans and the options "PS1 SEQ" and "VAB" will appear.
2) Right click on SEQ and "save as MIDI".
3) If you want the game's samples as well, right click on VAB and extract to DLS or SF2. Since you're using FL Studio, use DLS.
4) In FL studio, import the midi. When the "Import MIDI Data" appears, make sure "Add Fruity LSD to project" box is checked.
5) Click the Open button on Fruity LSD and load the .dls.
6) Press play!
Note: Not all soundfonts work well with this method. For example, Crash Bandicoot 3's soundfonts work perfectly except for track 1 (the main theme), while, in other games, no soundfont works properly when added to Fruity DLS. But MIDI's always work on their own, so you can use your own instruments!
by NeoSpearBlade at 9:03 AM EST on February 18, 2016
Well, so much for my request but I'll give it one more shot.
@wolupgm6 Again, I apologize if I sound rude but did you even read my game request list? Battletanx Global Assault is not listed in the Games Supported list for those tools. Midi Tool reacts like you canceled ROM selection (even though I selected the .N64 ROM) and Soundbank Tool just straight up crashes. Sound Tool does support the game but I can't understand the interface as I don't see where to load the ROM.
@vajuvaju I didn't know VGMTrans work for PSX games. Thanks for letting me know.
Also, I already knew .SEQ was PSX's MIDI format as when I got LOADLOOP.SEQ from Impact Racing using PSound back in 2011, I was able to easily convert it to .MID (I don't remember with what but I do remember it was very easy) and was able to rebuild that song with the audio samples I also got using PSound. That's how I leaned that one of the samples is a drumbeat instead of using a drum channel. That caught me by surprise.
And while your guide would help me, I still need Mega Man Legends 2's .PSF files and apparently, it's hard to get.
Battletanx Global Assault does not have a known sequence format, so it cannot be converted.
by NeoSpearBlade at 6:58 AM EST on February 19, 2016
@punk7890-2 And yet, the music got ripped by hcs to be played in Winamp using a plugin so whatever its sequence format, it can still be read.
*sigh* Of all the N64 games that are supported on all 3 tools and VGMTrans, I just had to pick the one game whose sequences cannot be converted.
Oh well. I guess if I want those sequences, I'll have to make them myself. But I'm not that heartbroken about it. I wanted them because someone put up the music as .MP3 and not only do I want to extend the music for me to use in World of Tanks, but I've noticed that the volume levels are off. For example, compare Cassandra's Plot Of Revenge to Arizona Truck Stop.
As I'm not interested in getting Winamp just to check the game's actual music volume levels, can someone do that for me? Confirm whether or not the volume levels are off.
Now, I already have the .PSF files for Mega Man Legends but what about Mega Man Legends 2? In this case, I really need that game's sequence files if I want to HD my favorite songs, if not the whole soundtrack.
You're pretty much SOL with the megaman 2 files. The reason it hasn't been ripped is pretty much the same reason why earlier rips of Biohazard 3's psfs weren't from the ps1 version. If it used standard seq+vb+vh data, then they are tucked away in the games dat files using nonstandard headers (or just plain headerless) making vgmtoolbox's automated way of extracting them useless.
Midi Tool V2 now supports Battletanx GA (may need minor octave fixes but music is sound). Enjoy! You can use soundfont tool to rip a soundfont, though not many params are in this format, and ADSR is part of song, so is lost on export.
N64 3DO games seem to be on perfect octaves from my testing. Though oddly some midi channels are off key. This isn't a error but is in fact what the composers did. For some reason instruments in this game (some, not all) are off key and so they placed the notes off key when using a off key instrument. Really odd.