First post, by Alkarion
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Well, I just read the following article http://www.hardware-one.com/reviews.asp?aid=194&page=2 and found this statement:
FM synthesis was a really bad way to model real instruments and most of the time, the instruments sounded really tinny and hollow, not at all like the real thing.
which forced me to say something in defense of the good old adlib midi synth. I admit that the FM-synth wasn't good at reproducing real instruments except, perhaps for the trumpet (which is one of the easiest to simulate), but it didn't have to serve that purpose. Game music in the early nineties wasn't supposed to sound like a real orchestra or a real rock band. It was game music with entirely different aesthetics, without a real model in mind. Just think of the music for MadTV, it would sound ugly with a good instrument synthesis. I know Roland MT-32 owners think otherwise, and I still envy them, but I feel the Wing Commander music sounds warmer and is more immersive in the fm-synth version. I never liked the Kilrathi Saga sound remake of Wing Commander 1. The newly synthesized music just didn't belong to the 1990's graphics. Well, perhaps someone feels the same way.