Maybe the CD version only supports audio music?

Is it worth to get the CD version? Or better go for the floppy disks?

@Mau1wurf1977: could be, but then what would be the point of including the ADLIB.IMS, SOUNDBLAST.IMS, ROLAND.IMS and SPEAKER.IMS with the game on the CD?

@Robin4: I'm only using this CD version because I suspect there are some tracks that are missing from the floppy version, for example Stan's Emporium theme or the tune that plays when LeChuck's ship leaves Mêlée Island. Those two tracks are present on the CD's audio.
Also I think this version supports SoundBlaster instead of AdLib, so I might end up getting stereo OPL audio.

I've noticed the same behaviour, CD audio still plays even when all relevant sound devices are disabled in DOSBox. But the sound effects do change. You get digitized samples when SoundBlaster is selected, OPL2 effects with AdLib etc. Just the music stays as CD audio.

marooned_on_mars wrote:

@Robin4: I'm only using this CD version because I suspect there are some tracks that are missing from the floppy version, for example Stan's Emporium theme or the tune that plays when LeChuck's ship leaves Mêlée Island. Those two tracks are present on the CD's audio.
Also I think this version supports SoundBlaster instead of AdLib, so I might end up getting stereo OPL audio.

There's also the cannibals' village theme, three ambient tracks (Melee dock, forest and jungle) and an apparently unused track.

I remember reading that the guys who did the music for the special edition had to transcribe the extra tracks by ear (including all the additional variations in the original tracks), because they couldn't find the MIDI information.

Hey, you're one of my subscribers, thanks for that! =D
Guess what I'm going to post next =P

Laukku wrote:

I've noticed the same behaviour, CD audio still plays even when all relevant sound devices are disabled in DOSBox. But the sound effects do change. You get digitized samples when SoundBlaster is selected, OPL2 effects with AdLib etc. Just the music stays as CD audio.

Ah I see, I didn't notice that, I always selected Roland, so I guess they haven't implemented any sound effects for the module. But if it were for them to provide support for the CM-32L, it would have had enough sound effects to cover everything in it's library for everything used in MI1. Also sadly I guess there's no hope for music on this variant of the game.

Laukku wrote:

There's also the cannibals' village theme, three ambient tracks (Melee dock, forest and jungle) and an apparently unused track.

These are all what I know of (except the unused track, could you clarify on what that is? ^^ ), but do you know any of these songs being available anyway out of the CDDA? (on MT-32, SB, Speaker, Tandy, GB, whatnot)

Laukku wrote:

I remember reading that the guys who did the music for the special edition had to transcribe the extra tracks by ear (including all the additional variations in the original tracks), because they couldn't find the MIDI information.

Would you happen to know who those "guys" were? =)
It is possible they couldn't get the MIDI data out because all SCUMM games use a proprietary custom format for the music instead of standard midi (perhaps the GM-era games had more standardised music, but with the iMuse and all, I doubt)

Track listings for the CD Versions

Track 2 - Voodoo Lady's Theme
Track 3 - Following Shopkeeper Music
Track 4 - Forest Maze Music
Track 5 - Wedding Chapel Music
Track 6 - Melee Island Travelling Music
Track 7 - Part Theme
Track 8 - Guybrush & Elaine Love Theme
Track 9 - SCUMM Bar Music
Track 10 - Ghost Ship Music
Track 11 - LeChuck's Theme
Track 12 - Circus Brother's Theme
Track 13 - LeChuck's Theme
Track 14 - LeChuck's Theme (Short)
Track 15 - Monkey Island Exploring Music
Track 16 - Guybrush's Ship Music
Track 17 - Guybrush & Elaine Love Theme
Track 18 - Introduction Music
Track 19 - Stan's Theme
Track 20 - LeChuck Kidnaps Elaine
Track 21 - unknown
Track 22 - Cannibal Village Music
Track 23 - Sea Music (heard outside SCUMM Bar)
Track 24 - Woods Music (heard around Melee Island)
Track 25 - Jungle Music (heard around Monkey Island)

@Great Hierophant: Thanks for the list, though I vaguely remember hearing that tune somewhere on Monkey Island, but I can't put my finger as to where exactly. I think maybe it was played when you shot at your ship with the stone see-saw apparatus, or maybe at the Sierra joke. I'm not entirely sure though.

marooned_on_mars wrote:

Hey, you're one of my subscribers, thanks for that! =D
Guess what I'm going to post next =P

*reads PM* Ohhhh, so you're VengefulChip, from YouTube! 😁

marooned_on_mars wrote:

Laukku wrote:

I remember reading that the guys who did the music for the special edition had to transcribe the extra tracks by ear (including all the additional variations in the original tracks), because they couldn't find the MIDI information.

Would you happen to know who those "guys" were? =)
It is possible they couldn't get the MIDI data out because all SCUMM games use a proprietary custom format for the music instead of standard midi (perhaps the GM-era games had more standardised music, but with the iMuse and all, I doubt)

I did some googling to find again the interview: http://mixnmojo.com/features/interviews/Jesse … arlin-Interview

Was there any sheet music available from back when the game was produced, or did you have to write new arrangements?

No. No, there was not. In fact, there was nothing - no audio archives of the game from 1990 or 1992, no MIDI files, no sheet music - nothing. I doubt that any sheet music ever existed for SMI since the entire score was originally just MIDI data that played back through either AdLib or Roland MT-32 sound cards. Regardless, if it did exist at one time, it doesn't now.

The first thing I had to do was try and find out what still existed from when the game was first created. As I said, the answer was "nothing." Once I knew that, the next thing I had to do was ask the Engineering team if they could extract the MIDI data out of the 1990 version of the game. The files weren't encoded as regular .MID files and so our engineers had to first create a translator utility. The translator got us most of the way there, but then we had to run the translated files through another translator and then do a little more magic before I had actual MIDI files I could use as a starting point. Unfortunately, because the 1992 version used Redbook audio on the CD-ROM and added four new tracks to the score, we didn't have any MIDI files for these and had to transcribe them by ear along with all of the extended variations to tracks like "LeChuck's Theme" and "The Fettucini Brothers." Once everything was translated and transcribed, then I could begin to look at the scope of the task ahead of me.

There's also a bit about the unused track:

One of the songs listed there is simply called "Cue 2." When I started the project, "Cue 2" drove me crazy. It's this small cue, maybe 20 seconds long, and is one of the tracks that can be ripped off of the 1992 CD-ROM version of the game. As I did multiple playthroughs of the game to map out which pieces of music played where, I never heard it actually play in-game anywhere. I can't remember how many playthroughs I did trying to figure out if it was just due to branching options or strange in-game conditions that were needed to trigger it, but I kept coming up without any answers. Then I started watching full playthroughs of the original 1990 version on YouTube thinking that perhaps something had been broken when it was redone in 1992. Maybe it existed somewhere originally and a scripted trigger changed and now it wasn't playing in the 1992 version? No. Nothing still.

I went to our engineering team and said, "Guys, I hate to have to ask. There's this track on the CD-ROM named "track22.wav." Can you please comb through all of the game's scripts and tell me where it's being played in-game?" As it turns out, it isn't. It never has. It was written for the 1992 version, put on disc, and now is ripped and considered part of the official soundtrack for the game but it doesn't actually appear anywhere in-game. The whole point of the Special Edition remake, however, was to remake the game as faithfully as possible for the fans. So, I produced a full update of "Cue2." Does it appear in-game anywhere? No. But whenever I get the thumbs-up to put out a soundtrack, you'll find it there. Stay tuned on that issue. I'm working on it. ; )

However, I recall hearing the tune once when finding the ghost ship in the lava caves. Couldn't reproduce it since.

Laukku wrote:

*reads PM* Ohhhh, so you're VengefulChip, from YouTube! 😁

Yup =D
Also not just YT. =P

Laukku wrote:

I remember reading that the guys who did the music for the special edition had to transcribe the extra tracks by ear (including all the additional variations in the original tracks), because they couldn't find the MIDI information.

I did some googling to find again the interview: http://mixnmojo.com/features/interviews/Jesse … arlin-Interview

Thanks for that, but unfortunately it doesn't say who worked on the CDDA music, as I want to properly credit the authors on the videos/site/tracks/etc. But I'll try to look around some more when I'll have some time. For now I just credited the original composers.

Laukku wrote:

However, I recall hearing the tune once when finding the ghost ship in the lava caves. Couldn't reproduce it since.

It could be that it played when the ghost ship left for Melee island(tm). (this joke has been passed on for longer than needed 🤣)