#sound module

‘What equipment did you use when you made music for Shenmue?’ “It was quite a while ago, so my memory is a little faint in places, but I'll answer as far as I can remember. There were several composers in my team, so this is purely the equipment that I personally used myself. Since the topic is about the equipment I used, this may not turn out to be a very long answer! I'll also include notes about how each was mainly used.

YAMAHA 01V Digital Mixing Console (1998) A mixer. Several of my songs use a distorted rhythm. I distort them by putting them through the mixer's effector.

Roland JV-2080 64-Voice Synthesizer Module (1996) This was my primary sound source. For pads and bells I used the internal sounds, while for melodies or an ethnic style, as well as for orchestral percussion, I used expansion cards.

Korg TR-Rack sound module (1998) I remember using this for the piano in Continent and Sea. This was my go-to when I wanted to use that distinctive Korg sound.

Ensoniq MR-Rack sound module (1996) I also remember using this sound source for things like piano, bells and pads.

Roland SoundCanvas MIDI Sound Generator SC-88VL (1995) After starting to commute in to SEGA, one of my very first songs was a demo of Shenhua's theme song. From around that time, I consistently used a lot of ethnic-style percussion from this sound generator throughout my own songs for the Shenmue project. Admittedly it's not the same as playing or using an actual musical instrument lol, but in the end how it sounds is what's important. The [sound] set was called Ethnic, or something like that. I also used this for simple bells. These were my main sound generators at the very beginning (or should I say, these two units were everything I had).

YAMAHA DX7II-D Digital Programmable Algorithm Synthesizer (1987) My main keyboard at the start.

movement sound mechanism, motion sound module for stuffed animal toys and dolls.