Retro video game music podcasts?

[sunteam_paul]

Are there any podcasts out there that play music just from the pre-polygon age, such as Commodore 64, Sega Master System, Arcade Games, PC Engine, Mega Drive, Amiga etc? You know, mostly the chip sound stuff (with the exception of the PCE CD of course) I've done a bit of searching and am surprised to find nothing. Very tempted to start my own...

[esteban]

There was a show that played the occasional PSG tune from PCE games, but I forget what it was called (Dungeon City?)... it featured an unusual cast, as well.

As for podcasts... I really haven't looked for anything outside of the C64/SlayRadio stuff (which rely heavily on remixes). Is there an unadulterated SID podcast you like?

I usually don't have the patience to look for podcasts, to be honest. So many promising descriptions... so few worthy of my eardrums...

[ccovell]

No podcasts that I know of, but there are a few online gaming radio stations that I like:

http://gyusyabu.ddo.jp/MP3/MP3.html    Retro Japanese PC gaming radio.
http://www.kohina.org/   Kohina -- Arcade, JP/US console and PC/ EU home computer radio.

[sunteam_paul]

http://gyusyabu.ddo.jp/MP3/MP3.html    Retro Japanese PC gaming radio.

I didn't know about that one, thanks.

Slay radio is one of my favourite retro stations. There are a couple of related podcasts (The C64 Takeaway and One Man and his Mic) but they've been very quiet for a while now.

[Dark Fact]

You can start your own but don't forget to advertise considering that you are catering to the gamers of yesteryear.  Aaron here started up his own radio show but has since put it on hiatus and featured all sorts of music from the Turbo CD. 

Find any sites that deal with classic video games and advertise your show on their boards (if they allow you to advertise).  Make a banner ad if you like.  Send e-mails to subscribers.  Anything to garner interest.

[sunteam_paul]

You can start your own but don't forget to advertise considering that you are catering to the gamers of yesteryear.  Aaron here started up his own radio show but has since put it on hiatus and featured all sorts of music from the Turbo CD. 

Find any sites that deal with classic video games and advertise your show on their boards (if they allow you to advertise).  Make a banner ad if you like.  Send e-mails to subscribers.  Anything to garner interest.

I have been thinking about this, but the two things that concern me are copyright and bandwith.
The PC Engine has a limited fanbase, but if you start using music from many more formats, including arcade stuff that has been released commercially on CD in japan...well it all gets a bit fuzzy (in terms of what you can get away with, because naturally any use is breaking copyright law). Podcast hosting sites will probably remove you if they smell breach of copyright as well. In terms of bandwith, I can see further issues as free podcast hosting sites will limit bandwith until you cough up cash. I wouldn't want to put them on my web space again as I'm getting it free out of the kindness of a web design company and don't want to be pushing my luck.

[Dark Fact]

Chances are that license holders would hit you with a C & D notice first and foremost before they decide to take further action against you.  However, considering the age of the songs in question and who they cater to, would Hudson or NEC really bother to go through with it?

[sunteam_paul]

Chances are that license holders would hit you with a C & D notice first and foremost before they decide to take further action against you.  However, considering the age of the songs in question and who they cater to, would Hudson or NEC really bother to go through with it?

Yeah I know it is very unlikely, but it still makes me slightly uneasy. I considered the best way to approach it would be to announce if any of the games that music is played from are available on Virtual Console or the Xbox equivalent. That way they are getting a free ad so are less likely to complain (it also gives the listener pertinent information).

That only leaves the hosting. I've been looking at Podbean, their free package gives 5Gb monthly bandwith which sounds like enough for a niche 'cast, but I'm not really sure.

[HuDude]

Check out Otobeya's page. He "transplants" chiptune music from other consoles to other consoles. There is even chiptune versions of music from more recent games.

http://park19.wakwak.com/~cherry/oto/

[sunteam_paul]

I've been unable to put this out of my mind for some time, so I'll most likely ressurect PC Engine City in the form of a multi-format podcast sometime in the future. I expect to cover Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, SMS, NES, Amiga, PC Engine, Mega Drive, SNES and arcade music, with some remixes thrown in. I'm hoping that a 5gb monthly bandwidth limit will suffice.

I need a clever name though. My only current idea is to simply call it 'Bleepy Bloppy Computer Music' but if anyone can think of anything a bit more clever then let me know. Also, any suggestions or ideas would be welcome.

[esteban]

TurboChipTunes (TcT)

turboCHIPtunes (tCt)

Or, alternatively, entitle your show:

"Throw your Gameboys on the fire"


A Truly Grand* Idea: It's not always the best music that is fun to listen to. Why not have a segment on each episode that highlights one or more "bad" songs? And I don't mean a short 20 second excerpt of a crappy song. I mean,  present it in all its glory, full-length, and unadultered. In order for this to work, I think it would be neat NOT to mock the song. State things matter-of-factly (like an impartial news report: provide a context (interesting trivia about the game, what stage the music is featured in, the composer, blah, blah, blah). Provide listeners only the vaguest of clues that the particular song has been chosen for its mediocrity.... perhaps a hint in the title of the segment: "And now, it's time to visit l'éboueur".

At the close of the segment, finish with variations of the line: "Remember... To truly savor sweetness, we must first endure the brine"


Hackneyed Idea: Since many games were released on more than one platform, you should definitely have a segment of each show where you play tunes from the same game (or series), across platforms. It's an easy way to get folks' attention (a hook). For example, the arcade tunes for Monster Lair are great, and some tunes hold up really well to the PCE Red Book (I am thinking specifically of the shoot-em-up tune prior to boss battles). Throw the MegaDrive in there as well. At least we'll love it


A Trite Suggestion: Well, clearly, we need to have mini-respectives of certain composers. Give people a taste of music across different titles (and platforms). Auteur theory, and all that.


* By "grand", I mean "total and utter shite"

[sunteam_paul]

Thanks for the ideas!

Don't you think those names are a little, erm, Turbo biased though?

Crappy songs is not a bad idea. I would most likely do that once in a while rather than regularly as there is too much great music out there and only a limited time in a 30min show.

Dedicating a single show to one game across platforms is something I have considered. If I do this I think my first choice would be R-Type as there is a lot of variation from machine to machine.

Composers...maybe. That means research which means actual work and assuming I know what I'm talking about. I'll be off to wikipedia for that...

[esteban]

Composers...maybe. That means research which means actual work and assuming I know what I'm talking about. I'll be off to wikipedia for that...

Hey, I'm really bad with that as well. You can ask folks here to help (we are a goddamn community, after all).

I thoroughly trust Mr. Covell, for example, when it comes to this sort of thing.

BRILL (UK): One show could be dedicated to the songs that were "stolen" / "borrowed" / "inspired" from elsewhere.

I recall a Huelsbeck tune mirroring something from Ys? It was an ancient thread at magicengine.com. We found a bunch of neat covers/nods to pop songs as well (God Panic has Stairway to Heaven ? and a bunch of other cover songs). Loom has Tchaikovsky (though it is not particularly well done).

BRILL CREAM (US) This is corny, but you could have a "contest" during the show, where you play a short clip of a song (or two) and ask folks to identify it. Yeah, lame... but I think some folks might enjoy it.

Of course, you'd have to send out hair products to the winners.

[sunteam_paul]

That Huelsbeck tune was the level 1 music from Jim Power which sounds like Ys 3.
I already had a kind of 'contest' idea, where I play a snippet of gameplay sounds from a game I will play a tune from at the end of the show, just for fun, so I might use that.

[sunteam_paul]

Ah, one thing I might need are suggestions for some of the best NES/SNES tracks as I'm not that familiar with NES music and never really bought much on the SNES.

EDIT: I forgot about the Neo Geo! Does anyone know if there is a Neo Geo music player/emulator/Winamp plugin out there?