Are there any trackers for Namco's WSG audio unit?

Discussion of development of software for any "obsolete" computer or video game system. See the WSdev wiki and ObscureDev wiki for more information on certain platforms.
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Sogona
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Are there any trackers for Namco's WSG audio unit?

Post by Sogona »

I recently began playing some of Namco's arcade classics again (Pacman, Mappy, Galaga, Bosconian, Xevious, etc.) And noticed that the sound is actually really good and sounds like it could actually come from an electric organ or something.

If I'm correct I believe the name of the chip used in most of Namco's arcade games is the WSG and it clocks at about 3 MHz.

I don't know very much about trackers but I think it'd be cool to try and emulate the WSG'S sound. Is there a tracker that supports it?
tepples
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Re: Are there any trackers for Namco's WSG audio unit?

Post by tepples »

WSG is three channels with eight fixed 32-step, 4-bit PCM waveforms in ROM. At 96 kHz, a frequency value is added to the current 20-bit (voice 1) or 16-bit (voices 2 and 3) waveform position, and then the top 5 bits of the result are used as an index into one of eight 32-sample waveforms.

If you can find a Namco 163, TurboGrafx-16, or Virtual Boy tracker, those should be close in capability so long as you use only three channels. Otherwise, the third channel of the Game Boy PSG is fairly similar.

I see someone on FamiTracker's board is also interested in WSG. A Tumblr user made a monosynth for WSG.
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Memblers
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Re: Are there any trackers for Namco's WSG audio unit?

Post by Memblers »

Konami SCC is also similar, with 32-step waveforms, but I believe it has 5 channels and the samples are 8-bit. It's used on some MSX2 cartridges. I'm sure there must be a tracker for it, but I wouldn't know what one to recommend. I would recommend checking out the music in Metal Gear 2 though, it uses that chip and is one of my favorite game soundtracks.
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