In today's beatmaking video, join me on a journey through retro sounds and ai interpretations of a Sega genesis game that doesn’t exist. With sample chops from the Audiokitpro Saga Synth going into the Pocket Operator KO33 to add some lovely bit reduction and sequencing, we're making a properly lofi retro jam that would fit right in an old 16 bit console soundtrack. After that, we'l end the sonic adventure with the SP404 MK2 providing effects and some mastering with Cassette Sim and Compressor. During the jam, check out some imagined landscapes from this Genesis game created with AI prompts. We’ll start in a dystopic Cyberpunk cityscape, but end in some lovely emerald hills.
Here's how I made the track and the synth settings for each part and the SP mastering chain:
Main Sample Chop - This was originally
an arpeggio I made with the default patch using the build in sequencer. The color the PO33's bit reduction adds makes up most of the "sound design" for this part. From there, I sampled the arpeggio into the drum samples on the PO to create 16 chops from the arpeggio. It's those weird in between sounds as the sequencer switches between notes that really caught my attention when building the track.
Drums - These were 808s sampled from garageband into the PO. I still can't believe how different the kick sounded once it went the the PO. If you dig the sound of these drums and want to use them in your own music making, I made a sample pack featuring these drums and an additional variation going through the SP's Lofi setting for even more warped goodness:
Synth Pad - I modified the lush 7ths patch from Saga Synth to be a fifth. With the PO only having 4 voice polyphony, this is a bit of a workaround to have some chords without taking up multiple voices. In the PO sequencer I added some Low Pass Filter automation to help these sit in the mix.
Bass - This was a sample from a garageband synth I already had on the PO, it just fit and added that missing low end.
SP404 Effects and Mastering Chain - Bus 1 had slight reverb, and bus 2 was used for DJFX and Isolator.
The mastering chain was Cassette Sim to tame the highs slightly and Compressor to bring it all together. In Logic, I also added Arturia Mellofi for tape saturation, a stock Logic compressor for a little more balancing, and a Waves L1 Limiter to bring the volume up.
AI Images
I have been working with AI prompts for my next album project (more on that in February) and as I was working on this jam I thought some Sega Genesis style levels would work well for b roll. I used very simple prompts for these images, for example: a Bob Ross style 16bit Sega Genesis 2D level. That's what created this image. Typically I like to use more detail in the prompt, but the short ones actually produced some interesting results.
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