Here you can listen one of my favorite PSG songs made especially for MSX by Yzi... This is recorded by the maestro him self on NMS8255... Personally I like it better when played on 60Hz, but I think I need to respect the author... :)
Thank you for your kind words, Nyyrikki.
I'm afraid that mp3 file wasn't recorded from the final released song, because it is missing the melody from the end part.
For those who are interested in how the sounds were made, I added the Arkos Tracker .AKS file as a download to the Lieves!Tuore prod page: http://www.kameli.net/lt/prod.htm
Btw, here's a toung-in-cheek remix of Ebykti. My song was released in 2010, three years before the other thing, so it should be evident who copied who! ;)
So by using the envelope generator at audio rates, you can do ring modulation on the PSG. In other words, the PSG is a 2-op AM synthesizer. The carrier (TG / NG) has a square or noise waveform, and the modulator (EG) has a logarithmic sawtooth or triangle waveform.
It’s different from FM synthesis, but several of the same principles apply;
For example, matching up the carrier and modulator frequency produces some nice base sounds. And like FM synthesis, using frequencies which are multiples of each other (octaves, 5ths and other harmonic frequencies) also produce nice timbres.
Add a small detune and you get PWM-like sounds. Add a larger detune, and you get more complex timbres, often metallic / bell type sounds.
There are some downsides though. First, the volume can not be controlled, only on or off. You may fool the ear into thinking it hears volume changes by applying pitch bends though, this is a trick used in NES music where the triangle channel also does not have volume control.
Second, the EG has limited precision in audio range. Bass sounds are no problem, the middle range is also decent (some notes a bit detuned), but in the higher end it can not play all notes (octaves and 5ths go up high though). You may want to transpose and tune your scales to fit better with the limited precision.
Finally, note that when turning off the TG and NG you can still play the EG, and produce clean (logarithmic) sawtooth and triangle waveforms.
If you have a subtractive synth you can play around with ring modulation, and when you find a nice sound try to replicate it on the PSG.
