(REQUEST) .PSF to Midi Converter

[Ultimacloud123]

Mark, any tutorials out there for making music like most ps1 games? Is it as simple as just making MIDI and saving it in another format? I got a headache just thinking about it. Maybe it's so simple I'm overthinking it. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[SonicBlue]

Mark, any tutorials out there for making music like most ps1 games? Is it as simple as just making MIDI and saving it in another format? I got a headache just thinking about it. Maybe it's so simple I'm overthinking it. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The SEQ file format is just a MIDI file, and the VAB containing the samples, it's like a sampler patch. Every track has its own set of samples, just like a piano sound font, considering the limited hardware capabilities of the PSX, you can't load many samples per instrument. You have to build a patch with fewer samples as possible, for example one that covers 2 or more notes, including only the sample for the notes that actually play in your composition.

[MeganGrass]

@Cloud - ...pretty much what Sonic said.

To create a VAB using custom samples, download VABtool - it should be included in the PSY-Q SDK. Additionally, the SDK contains tools to convert MID to SEQ (SMF2MID, iirc).

To test your results with PSone hardware, simply create a PSF of the data. Otherwise, you'd need dev-unit hardware which isn't cheap and/or is hoarded by people who have absolutely no clue how to use it.

[SonicBlue]

And here's some pseudo-neurofunk demonstrating the integration of external samples and MIDI data into an existing Gun Survivor track (15), changing the Jungle loop with something else ad adding a bassline.

Edit:

Sorry, wrong PSF file.

[Ultimacloud123]

Sonic that's amazing! Please share what software your using. I'm more inclined to do rearrangements since you showed you demo. In fact that should be an official rearrangement! I tried getting the PSY-q SDK however it's taking forever to download which should normally be done in like 1 minute for me. Time for me to take a crash coarse in programming.

[SonicBlue]

Sonic that's amazing! Please share what software your using. I'm more inclined to do rearrangements since you showed you demo. In fact that should be an official rearrangement! I tried getting the PSY-q SDK however it's taking forever to download which should normally be done in like 1 minute for me. Time for me to take a crash coarse in programming.

The standard tools available in PSY-Q SDK (you can try downloading the emuparadise version, SDK category).

If you want to have full control on the track, the procedure is the following:

You have to convert the music sequence in usable way, so convert the SEQ with SEQ2MID, to get a MIDI file that can be imported into a DAW.

Open a blank project and import the MIDI track in multi track mode, so that every channel is separated, now we need the samples.

They are stored inside the VAB that needs to be converted into something that can be read by a sampler, the fastest way to do so is with Awave Studio, it generates a lot of different PlayStation compatible files, but they are usually broken, presenting various problems, like in this case that the samples are read with the root note an octave above the normal, you have to manually change the root note of every sample to get the correct sound in your DAW, despite being able to save VAB files too, at the moment there is no way other than VAB Tool to generate a version that can be read correctly.

Anyway, the format I chose is GigaStudio (.gig) that can be easily opened by Kontakt and overall preserves most of the VAB parameters.

Open Kontakt inside your DAW, create a new Instrument Bank, this is crucial as the way the PSX handles SEQ and VAB files. It works similar to a Tracker, every channel could pick an instrument with its samples associated, for example MIDI Channel 1 could call the Instrument 2 with a Program Change, so that Channel 1 doesn't necessarily correspond to Instrument 0, Channel 2 to Instrument 1, etc.
Create a new Instrument Bank from Files, expand it (by clicking on the wrench icon) and from the browser, select where you saved the .gig file containing the samples, inside it there should be various programs, click and drag them in the available empty slots, in the correct order, e.g. Program 0 into slot 001, Program 2 into slot 002, etc.

After all the samples are correctly assigned, click Save as Bank#1 and assign a name to it, from the browser drag the newly created .nkb file for every channel you have, if they are 5, drag and drop the .nkb to have 5 instances of the same Instrument Bank, they will be automatically assigned to a different MIDI channel.

Route the MIDI channels out to Kontakt, and press play ;)

Now, if you want to add another instrument, you first have to compose the part/s in the usual way as you do, but firstly, create a MIDI track with a Program Change on the channel next to the last with a value corresponding to the first empy Program slot, or the Program slot you want to use, to be sure, add a Volume and Pan Control Change too, now should be ready to receive new MIDI data. Obviously, to hear something you have to loading the samples inside Kontakt (mimicking how they are structured) so that when you have to prepare the VAB, they are already in the correct form.

Samples have to be 16 bit, mono, 22.050 Hz, if your sample needs to be stereo, you have to split it into a dual mono and pan the samples, by importing a stereo sample into VAG edit will be automatically splitted into 2 mono files.
If the sample is single shot it could be made in any length you want (better if it fades to 0), if it needs to be looped, you have to make its sample size multiple of 28, in VAG edit it's indicated by cyan vertical lines.

When you got the sample you want to loop with the correct size (for example 4312) import it into VAG Edit, select the part you want to loop, keep in mind that the PSX have only a loop start point, the loop end it's always at the end of the sample.



Saved the wave sample to VAG, you need to insert it inside the VAB, open VAB Tool and load the VAB, click on View VAG and Add Extra VAG, select the sample, and then Close.

Back on the main window, create a new program with Add Program, double click to open it, or click View Tones, change the Vag value to reflect the number of the newly added VAG, then set the root note (Centre), 60 correspond to C4, and the note range (MinNote, MaxNote), you can also set the fine tuning in cents (Pitch). There are other parameters, like Volume, Pan and Reverb which are self explanatory, the Reverb doesn't seems to be editable, it's always 4.

For the Priority, sound FX have higher values, while music are usually on lower.

The last thing to set is the ADSR, try to copy the one setted on Kontakt, otherwise you have to test the PSF to hear the changes, in this case is a trial and error.

Completed the task of adding new Programs to the VAB, you have to save it as VH-VB.

To test it you need the new SEQ, so export your composition from the DAW in MIDI, and covert it with SMF2SEQ, load the SEQ and the VH-VB into Generic PSF Utility, and save your PSF.

If you've done everything correctly, you should hear the changes, if not, try to review the MIDI channel setting or the VAB with VAB Edit, to see if there's something wrong, if it ok, then you made a working PSF.