Also: MIDI version, MIDI MP3 version

Though my previous Star Fox chiptune used DPCM and I did consider it using it this time for either the ambience or the bass, I decided against it. The mere presence of DPCM audio playing causes both the triangle wave and noise channels to become quieter, and the percussion in Fortuna is too important to waste.

As for what I did use...

I was tempted to use the sawtooth channel for at least one of the two keyboard-ish voices, since it was a sawtooth wave sound even in the Super NES game. But that would have meant I couldn't use the sawtooth channel for the bass, and I couldn't design a satisfactory bass instrument using pulse channels alone. So I assigned 4/16th pulse instruments to these keyboards, which I named "sawmolars." :P

Likewise, the otherworldly voice instrument was originally a triangle wave. But this song not only requires volume control for this instrument, but it has an instrument echo, and there's only one NES triangle wave channel and it has no volume control. So I used 8/16th pulse instead.

I often use the triangle wave for low-pitched "thud" percussion anyway, which worked well enough in my Corneria and Training Mission chiptunes. But this time, even without DPCM, the other instruments kept drowning it out. So I designed a new thud instrument using one of the pulse channels, and even then I had to amplify its volume and micromanage its pitch until it was audible. Not my proudest accomplishment, but at least you can hear it now.

Which brings me to what I am proud of: I designed two pulse instruments to create ambience sound effects similar to those heard in the original Super NES version. One instrument's volume keeps repeatedly oscillating at "15 10 5 0 0 5 10 15", and the other instrument's volume keeps repeatedly oscillating concurrently at "0 5 10 15 15 10 5 0" (opposing volumes at any given tick), and the two instruments play at different pitches, creating that "flying saucer" sound effect. Both instruments fade in from silence, and then when they reach their loudest volume, they gently pitch-slide downward then cut out. What do you think? Did I succeed?

Revisiting the "thud" instrument: Since one of the ambience instruments and the pulse thud instrument share the same pulse channel, I did end up using a (weaker-sounding) triangle wave thud that's heard only while the ambience is playing. Chiptuning is full of compromises.

Sequenced in FamiTracker using the Konami VRC6 expansion chip.

Click here to download the FTM and NSF files.