Help, I'm a sketch artist not a musician:LF Zelda-like Music?

[VitaliaDi]

I have a couple questions for the music buffs on here.

1. What types of resources should I look for if I'm looking to make a Gameboy style fanmade Zelda game? I know MIDI music is a thing but I'm not sure if that's just a file type of music or if it's an actual style. Can I have some insight on this?

2. I'm new to RPG Maker MV, I've used 2k3 and XP in the past. Is there anything special about MV in reference to the music files it will accept?

3. If anyone has any saved resources, preferably free but paid is fine too I'm just looking for the style fit right now, can you share them here? Or your favorite music making users, or drop your own music. I'd like to check them out.

Thanks!
-VD

 

[definite_lee]

Since we're only allowed to share RPG Maker resources here...I will suggest you check out the music/sounds section on the RPG Maker Web store. Most of them allow you to hear samples before you buy.

MIDI is a file format type of music...Chiptune (or 8-bit) music is the style you are looking for if you want that old school video game sound.

For RPG Maker MV, you should use .ogg format for audio.

 

[MushroomCake28]

1. You might want to look for 8 bit music. MIDI music is also good.

2. .ogg for music files in MV.

 

[VitaliaDi]

@definite_lee @MushroomCake28 Thank you both I'll check those out. If I find .mp3 etc files I want to use is there an easy way to convert to .ogg? That seems like an obscure file type

 

[MushroomCake28]

It's an open source file type that frankly should be used more. It's pretty easy to convert, you can use a software like Audacity (free and simple to use).

 

[definite_lee]

I also use this website to convert my mp3's and wav files to ogg. Very quick, easy and free.

 

[Sharm]

Since you're curious about it, midi isn't just a file format type, it's a completely separate way of doing music. In graphics terms, it's like the difference between vector and raster images. Most music formats are about taking a recording and compressing the information in such a way that it doesn't take as much space on the hard drive. Then the player program will uncompress it for listening. Kinda like a zip file, I think? Anyway, midi is completely different. It doesn't have any actual sound information, what is saved is more like a sheet of music, it's the information for how to play the song. The player program has to provide the actual sound information, and the sound information provided isn't consistent between players or computers. There are multiple instrument sets and the computers always play them slightly differently, I guess you could say? The sound information is computer generated too, there are no actual instruments or recordings used, so the sound created by midis will always sound a little inorganic. It also doesn't contain any information about intensity of sound, so it's not as dynamic. The reason it's still a useful format is because some like the old school sound and because the file size is drastically smaller, but mostly you're better off using one of the other types.

I might have gotten things a little wrong, as I'm an artist and not a musician either, but it should be correct enough to be useful, I hope.

 

[definite_lee]

@Sharm that sounds exactly correct. I have experience using MIDI as a music producer and your explanation is spot on.

 

[VitaliaDi]

Thank you everyone, you've been very helpful and answered everything I needed to know!