The other day, when I asked on this forum, “What’s your favorite 4-operator FM synth?” many people mentioned the TX81Z, so when I came across a used one, I couldn’t resist buying it. I really love how, thanks to the added operator waveforms and frequency fine cource controls, I can get a gritty sound similar to the Prophet’s poly-mod. It sounds just like a musical air vent.
Ever since watching the biopic, I've been revisiting Michael Jackson's music, rewatching his music videos, and reading through his Wikipedia pages. While doing that, I came across a mention that he recorded a session with Run-D.M.C. during the Bad era, although the track apparently never ended up being released.
I've heard quite a few stories like that over the years. The abandoned collaboration with Freddie Mercury is probably the best-known example, but I've also come across claims that Michael approached Madonna and Prince about recording duets, only to be turned down.
I've also come across stories involving Thomas Dolby, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tetsuya Komuro, and others—Thomas Dolby being invited to the Jackson family home (with Hyperactive! apparently growing out of a song originally written for Michael), Ryuichi Sakamoto declining permission for Michael to cover "Behind the Mask" over rights issues, and Tetsuya Komuro bringing demo tapes to Neverland after being approached to write songs for Michael. It seems there were quite a few unexpected collaborations being discussed behind the scenes that ultimately never came to fruition.
Are there any other interesting "Michael Jackson & ___" collaborations that were planned but never happened during his lifetime?
In a way, Michael and Xscape ended up revealing some of the collaborations that had remained behind the scenes for years—such as his work with Paul Anka and Babyface, or the remake of "Behind the Mask." I'm curious if there are any other projects that got as far as discussions, demos, or recording sessions but ultimately never came to fruition.
I recently figured out how to convert instrument data from VGZ/VGM files to older FM synths and Chipsynth MD, and I've been experimenting with it. The YM2151, YM2612, and YM2203 all reproduce almost exactly as expected, but the YM2610 sounds completely different.
Take The Ninja Warriors, for example. The converted sounds come out surprisingly clean, almost too clean, and seem to be missing something. Listening to the original soundtrack again—and the same goes for Night Striker and Metal Black—the original hardware has a slightly rougher, less pristine character.
Is this due to the DAC or the analog output circuitry, or is there something unique about the YM2610 itself that makes it sound so different from Yamaha's other FM chips?
Editing the DX21 is a bit of a hassle, so I tinkered with the Gemini to create an editor.
When you enter EDIT MODE on this unit, you can adjust parameters in real time.
Since I only own a DX21, I haven’t tested it, but since the DX27 and DX100 also feature compatible parameters, it should work with those models as well.
I was unable to implement SysEx send/receive functionality, so it is not included in this editor (however, you can receive the sound currently selected on the hardware unit). Please also note that it cannot be used as a librarian.
When I turned it on for the first time in a while, there was no sound.
It powers on and the display lights up, but I can’t even hear any white noise.
It’s a pretty straightforward setup that simply converts the rotary encoder's movement into mouse input (shoutout to Gemini for helping with the code!). Since it's just connecting the components to a 5V Arduino Pro Micro, it’s really easy to put together. The whole build only cost me about 5,000 yen (around $35–$40).
As for compatibility, built it for switch/switch2, but someone on X (Twitter) mentioned that it also works great on MiSTer! I haven't had a chance to test it on PS5 or Xbox yet, though.
The GitHub README is written in Japanese for now, but it should be perfectly readable if you run it through a translation service.
https://github.com/inuikasao/Paddle2Mouse-For-Arcade-Archives
I'm slowly ripping my PS1 games using ImgBurn and an external disc drive, but it takes about 30 minutes to an hour just to read a single disc... Is that normal?
Update... I set it to completely ignore read errors, and the loading time has shortened significantly.
That said, software that continuously streams large amounts of video and audio still takes a while (about 20 minutes?).