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PCE Music composers (Leg. Axe II, Dungeon Expl., etc)
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ccovell
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 24, 2006 3:56 pm    Post subject: PCE Music composers (Leg. Axe II, Dungeon Expl., etc) Reply with quote

Hi, folks. I've found out a bit more about the musicians on some of my favourite PCE games, so I'm happy to share this information.

A little while back there was a little debate as to who made the music for Legendary Axe II. Was it Hiro T. Suzuki? Was it Macco? If not, why was it so similar to Dungeon Explorer's music?

Well, in fact, there are 2 musicians. Or even 3. Tsukasa "Macco" Masuko, "Steinberger" Hiro, and maybe even another T. Suzuki.

I did a little HES music ripping this weekend (see here) and I ripped the music to Maniac Pro Wrestling, which is a terrible game but has fantastic music. In the credits, the sound director is listed as Macco, and the composer (sound creator) is Steinberger Hiro.

Macco is the more famous of the two, as he has worked for Atlus for a long time, making the PCE music for Kyukyoku Tiger, PC-Genjin (Bonk), and Dungeon Explorer. He's done lots of other game soundtracks, like Cosmo Tank on GB, Bio Senshi Dan on Famicom, and the Megami Tensei series on several platforms. Some of the songs in Maniac Prowres are clearly similar-sounding to Dungeon Explorer and Cosmo Tank. So Macco's hand can be heard at work here.

On the other hand, Hiro, (or possibly Hiro T. Suzuki) is most (only?) famous for the wonderful music in Legendary Axe II (Ankoku Densetsu). His style is quite similar to Macco's, but I think I can tell apart what tunes in Maniac Prowres Macco did, and which ones Hiro did. For example, "Music 5" in the HES is clearly Macco's, and sounds just like a song in Cosmo Tank. And then the "Ending" music is clearly done by Hiro.

I just wish I could clear up Hiro's name. "Steinberger" is obviously a nickname. In the credits to Legendary Axe II, the music is listed as being done by "Hiro T. Suzuki". That could be one person or two, since Japanese people never (?) have middle names. It could be Hiro and a T. Suzuki. (Takeshi Suzuki maybe?) credited next to each other.

Anyway, that's all I know for now.
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sideshow
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice .hes rips and thanks for the info on those composers. The Pcengine will go down in history of videogames for having the best music. Hucard and CD. Very Happy
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David Shadoff
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:46 am    Post subject: Spiff ! Reply with quote

Wow, that's really great, Chris !
I take it that you got the bug for ripping PCE PSG music from Manbow J's site ?

It sounds like you folks have ripped quite a bit more - is there a central repository for these HES files (or the tools to rip them) ?

There are quite a few CD games with decent PSG music; it would be nice to have a universal HES header for them; it always seemed to me that the PSG music is generally isolated into its own bank, so if you can find the entry points for the music, maybe it's pretty easy to rip them (but then, maybe it isn't either....)

- Dave
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stevek666
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:31 am    Post subject: Re: PCE Music composers (Leg. Axe II, Dungeon Expl., etc) Reply with quote

ccovell wrote:
Hi, folks. I've found out a bit more about the musicians on some of my favourite PCE games, so I'm happy to share this information...
Good stuff... thanks for giving us the scoop Smile Looks like there is a bit more detective work to be done ... why can't things be easier to figure out? Smile
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Keranu
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, that's some impressive information you have supplied us. Thanks a lot!
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Kaminari
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 11:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting stuff :)

The Game Music Composer List is always a good start for that kind of research. There are also many Japanese BBS where people actively discuss about those forlorn composers, but the information is sometimes more speculative than factual (not that there's any choice, considering that many composers of the time wish to remain anonymous).

David Shadoff wrote:
is there a central repository for these HES files (or the tools to rip them) ?


Zophar hosts most of the Japanese rips, and Kingshriek's rips are available on his page.

My own site is probably the closest thing to what you would call a HES central -- though my primary objective was not to host each and every HES file ever ripped, but to provide complete playlists for those.
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ccovell
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Spiff ! Reply with quote

David Shadoff wrote:
Wow, that's really great, Chris !
I take it that you got the bug for ripping PCE PSG music from Manbow J's site ?

There are quite a few CD games with decent PSG music; it would be nice to have a universal HES header for them

Actually, I got the bug after running across Kingshriek's website. He did all those rips himself, and I was impressed by the CD rips. It seemed actually possible -- not some one-off rip like Xanadu.

CD rips are not so difficult, a bit more complex than regular HuCard rips if they use the System Card PSG driver, but relocating banks is as easy as for HuCard rips. The only bad thing is that CD games that use ADPCM for samples in music can't be played properly in any current HES players (like NEZPlug). Anyway, see our threads here, scroll up a bit and here for more technical information about ripping HuCard and CD HES music.
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Kaminari
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 7:00 pm    Post subject: Re: Spiff ! Reply with quote

ccovell wrote:
The only bad thing is that CD games that use ADPCM for samples in music can't be played properly in any current HES players (like NEZPlug).


Does that include NEZplug+ as well?

Looks like Cyber City is going to be a tough case... :(
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Paranoia Dragon
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Keranu wrote:
Wow, that's some impressive information you have supplied us. Thanks a lot!


ditto!
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2X4
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 12:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I really like the music in Legendary Axe II, is this soundtrack already ripped by somebody? I don't know if there is a rule about asking for hes rips, but since I own the game it should be kosher. If anybody has info on where to find this or any other great psg music, I would really appreciate it!
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ccovell
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 1:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

David Shadoff wrote:
is there a central repository for these HES files (or the tools to rip them) ?

Zophar hosts most of the Japanese rips, and Kingshriek's rips are available on his page.

Linked for greater clarity. Get HES (PC-Engine ripped music) from these sites! Uh, plus the ones that I made and linked to above.
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Kaminari
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 1:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shameless plug: Kaminarimon. Browse through RX-Files > HES Music Archive.
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kingshriek
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 3:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't really have anything to add, but I thought I'd provide a few rips before I put them in the next site update.

DE-JA (HES) - http://h1.ripway.com/kingshriek/DE-JA.zip

...and because it's relevant,

Cosmo Tank (GBS) - http://h1.ripway.com/kingshriek/CosmoTank.7z

Also, has anyone else looked at the source code to NEZplug+ to try to figure out/determine the problem with ADPCM. The foundation is at least there for it, but I can't figure out why nothing is working.
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Paranoia Dragon
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 4:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey 2X4, just so you know, Legendary Axe 2, is under Ankoku Densetsu(Dark Legend). Very Happy I still don't know what Makyo Densetsu translated to, anyone here know??
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Kaminari
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 6:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Makyō Densetsu roughly translates as Legend of the Evil World ("makyō" means something like "evil frontier"). Not sure why the official undertitle is Legendary Axe :)
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