Solmire : EFFING BRILLIANT

[hian]

So, I came across this page :
http://solmire.com/

Which allows you to take any midi file, upload it, have each midi instrument be replaced with a higher quality soundfonts (essentially recordings of real instruments playing the various notes ordered which can then be read and used by a software), and then feed it back to you in MP3 format.

You can even mute out instruments you don't want, edit tracks, or add effects (such as reverb or chorus for that real "gamey" vibe).
Did I mention it has a huge selection of soundfont options, one of them the actual FFVII soundfont?

So here's the entertaining part :
This is http://vgmusic.com

This page has an insanely huge library of video-game music in midi format.
All you gotta do is download a midi of your choice (personally with with the Chrono Trigger theme for maximum effect), and start playing around - and of course comparing the old midi file with the new "high def" MP3 version.

This tool can literally allow anyone, and by that I mean everyone plus those who does not have any idea how to use DAWs, or other complicated music software, to create higher quality versions of their old favorite tracks, or better yet -
if you're one of those people who want to make your own game music, but get all terrified looking at the interfaces of more modern and powerful software, or if your hardware is very limited, you can now just write your own music in some simple midi program, and then feed it through this site to increase the quality by a pretty decent degree.

It's easy, brilliant and fun, and I can't believe I didn't pick this up earlier.
Now back to playing with SNES music

EDIT :
Also, a tip if you really want to make the "perfect" track.
The soundfonts don't have equal quality on all fronts - some might be better for percussion, while others better for strings etc.
Since you can mute tracks however, you can for example just mute everything but the percussion using one soundfont, download the MP3, then do the same for the string using another one.

Then finally, using a software like Audacity, you can take the various tracks and merge them into one, getting the best of both worlds.

Here's an example of everyone's favorite character's theme song (of course I'm talking about Cait Sith!):

http://picosong.com/t9pn/

2nd EDIT :

One interesting thing you could do, which I did, was take the actually midi files from the FFVII game, and play around with them using the original soundfont (which turns them into the PSX version), and then compared with other soundfonts, or swap around instruments.
http://www.ffshrine.org/ff7/ff7_midi.php

 

[RedFFWolf]

I could do without reasons to procrastinate...oh, well

This is an incredible tool. (And that Cait Sith piece is excellent). I love playing around with VSTs as it is, and I use Sonar for them, but with this it's like "I wonder how else this piece could sound? Oh, neat. That was interesting; I'm keeping it, too. Only took ten seconds. I think I'll try another." - and repeat.

 

[hian]

Yah, I'm loving this thing. Check this out :

Chrono Trigger - Wind Scene
http://picosong.com/t5ui/

and

FFIV - Rosa's theme
http://picosong.com/t56c/

Still sounds like midi, but at least it sounds like PSX era Midi, haha.
I mean, Rosa's theme here wouldn't sound out of place on the FFIX soundtrack.
(no, like, listen to the original - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEnTOeDmsdU)

So far, I'm thinking I like the "Merlin Vienna 3" option best overall, if I just want a quick brush-up and no work.

If you really want an improvement though :
"PersonalCopy 5.1D" has the best percussion, and "Jurgen" has some really solid orchestral stuff (but lousy synths), while the "Final Fantasy 7" might actually be best for el-guitars/bases and certain synths (no surprise really).
So, I'll usually divide the tracks, use whatever else suits best based on the above, and then put it all back together in audacity for full effect.