Whether you're a hardcore retro collector on your Sega Mega Drive (known as the Sega Genesis in North America) or upgraded to HD with Mega Sg's premium Analog, did you know you can? More than just playing Sonic 3? and knuckles? It may not look like it, but your console can double as a music player, and we don't just mean selecting a game's sound test menu. "Technoptimistic" is an album by Remute, a Hamburg-based techno music producer, released on cartridge. That's right, not on a CD or vinyl, but on a truly playable Mega Drive cartridge. This isn't the most likely medium you'd expect to record a music album for, but as he tells TechRadar: "This is the album I've wanted to make since the beginning of my career." Video games have a rich musical tradition, from their underground demo roots to their rise up the pop chart, with more and more game soundtracks available on Spotify. Although this relationship has mostly seen musicians sample game sounds in their work, Remute wants to go further by using retro consoles to create these sounds. Video games have a rich musical tradition, from the underground roots of the 1980s to their breakthrough in pop hits with titles like Doctor Spin's Tetris from the 90s to the present, where game soundtracks are becoming increasingly popular. More available on Spotify. Although this relationship has mostly seen musicians sample game sounds in their work, Remute wants to go further by using retro consoles to create these sounds. In fact, Remute's career began in the early 00s with an EP titled "Hypnoconsole", heavily influenced by video games, but he regrets that at the time, he was able to test only the sounds and effects of the existing game, as in everything else. former. But with his new album, he was able to create his own original sounds using specifically the Yamaha YM2612 Mega Drive synthesizer chip.
Music tracker in the field.
Hamburg-based techno producer Remute, who released the first techno album on a cartridge (Image credit: Remute) Remute has composed 'Technoptimistic' using the widely used music tracking software Deflemask, which closely emulates the Mega Drive sound chip (and a host of other classic sound chips, from the Commodore 64 to the NES). However, it was not enough to imitate the sound of the Mega Drive, he also wanted this music to be playable on a chip. We may be used to seeing classic and contemporary game soundtracks get a vinyl, but a cartridge album isn't just a novelty record. In fact, it's not a recording at all. "Technoptimist" only reads the code that starts playing music when the console is turned on; everything is generated in real time," Remute explains. "I thought I had to release it on cartridge because it wouldn't look natural on vinyl or digital, it would just be another album recorded." However, Technoptimistic doesn't claim to be the first cartridge album from Mega Drive. In 2010, Nathan Stanley, better known as freezedream, was an Australian artist specializing in electronic music. He released an album called "Today" for the Mega Drive. More recently, he has also composed the music for the Mega Drive platform Tanglewood, released in 2018.
Freezedream's Mega Drive album was released in 2010, well before many times the retro game (Image Credit: frozendream) Having grown up experimenting with Amiga tracking software, Stanley admits he doesn't have the Mega Drive nostalgia like Remute or others. musicians particularly influenced by their sound. The laid-back vibe of today's slopes is actually very different from what you might expect to hear in the material. "I generally like softer electronic music," Stanley tells us. "I'd probably say 'instead of being influenced by traditional Mega Drive sound or video game music, I was wondering how to do something different for this console.'" There was also no skin at the time. 'Today' was created with a tracker called TFM Music Maker, which includes an FM expansion module compatible with the Mega Drive FM chip.
Basket life
Due to limitations, frozendream split their 16-bit ROM into two 8-bit chips and soldered them together (Image credit: frozendream) In both musician cases, getting the music onto a proper cartridge was no easy feat. Although there are still many pressing facilities for vinyl, there is no industrial way to create music on game cartridges. Therefore, everything is done by hand, from designing your own card. Circuit board to make your own cases. For the latter, Stanley has recycled the old-fashioned way. "I just bought a bunch of old sports games and collected the shells en masse," he says. "It was a bit of work, which is why I didn't produce too many copies of the album." The limited run naturally means that "Today" is no longer available on Bandcamp as a stream or digital download. For those who purchase 'Technoptimistic', a free digital code is also included with the cartridge, if you don't have a 30 year old console. However, Remute always insists that the cartridge is the best way to discover his album. "Some of my fans who bought my cartridge told me they didn't have a Mega Drive to play it on, so they had to track it down," he says. "It was a lot of fun for them to go through eBay or the flea markets." Getting people to do something to listen to music is very adventurous and exciting, and entertainment is made for excitement and adventure. Having played music on a floppy disk in the past, Remute knows something about physical technology. Given the distinction between the sound chips of early computers and consoles, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to consider them musical instruments in their own right.
Restore physical life to music.
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Welcome to the next level (Image credit: Sega) Although digital has become the mainstream mode of music consumption, vinyl has made a further comeback – even tape seems to be making a comeback. It is true that game cartridges have never been designed as a listening format for albums. However, after the introduction of Google Stadia and the technological march to the cloud, even new features like this highlight the continued importance of physical media. "I think the return of physical media shows people's desire to collect, to have an emotional connection to something, because we can't have an emotional connection to Spotify," says Remute. "It's become too convenient, too impersonal, music becomes important. Having a physical support brings music to life." Unsurprisingly, Remute also bought a Mega Sg, which the cartridge also runs on, although he too used it to play his music live. If not, we recommend playing with a Mega Drive model 1, known for its superior sound to the newer model, as well as a headphone jack. Cartridge albums might be too specialized to become the next vinyl among music collectors, but who knows, maybe the next big indie retro game will release its soundtrack on a cartridge, after all, 16-bit sections of the ninja platform. The time-travelling Messenger also had his composite score on Deflemask. With Mega Drive's 30th anniversary celebration coming to a close and Sega's Mega Drive Mini coming out in September, now is the perfect time.