A few years back I posted a huuuuge part 2 post with another 35 of my favourite music tracks from the awesome growing retro Sythwave music movement, which is basically new songs with an old retro futuristic style. There were fast songs, slow songs, songs based on 80s action/scifi/horror films and all sorts of other weirdly awesome stuff that fall into Sythwave’s other names and subcategories such as FutureSynth, Retro Electro, DarkSynth, ViolentSynth, HardcoreSynth, RetroWave, Outrun, and ChillWave. Well I figured it was time to put together another big post with 35 more awesome Synthwave songs I’ve been listening to and watching as many have really cool retro futuristic video clips using CGI or even actors on sets. Hope people enjoy!
You can find my full Synthwave playlist saved on youtube HERE !
BACK to part 2: HERE CONTINUED in Part 4: COMING SOON
To most people Midi music files are a long forgotten music format from a bygone era of 90s gaming and the internet. However surprisingly to this day there are still quite a lot of midi hosting websites and people creating them. I still quite like them as there’s just something about finding the best quality approximation of the real song in that tiny little file size that takes up next to no space. I quite like using them on my website Blake’s Sanctum and also on my Youtube channel as its a great way to circumvent music copyright issues haha! I’ve also been using them in my Sid Meier’s Civilization 2 mods as it’s a great way to include custom music in them without massively increasing the download size.
Back in the 90s most of us rocked Soundblaster cards or cheaper equivalents and dreamed of having one of those Roland MT32, AWE32 or General Midi cards that rich people owned as it completely transformed midi music we’d hear in our cheap soundcards into something amazing and more realistic. Thankfully in more recent decades those amazing effects could be recreated using modern day Midi to MP3 converter sites with powerful Soundfont options. The best was a site known as Solmire and I used it for many years however sadly the website disappeared in 2021 and has not returned. There’s a webarchive copy of the site but sadly it doesn’t work as it needs a fully functioning webserver instead of a frozen read only copy. I was pretty devo as all attempts to convert midis on other websites and using downloaded apps did not net music results anywhere near as good.
However thankfully with some help I recently finally figured out how to perfectly replicate the Solmire experience! First you need the free opensource and easy to use Midi to MP3 converter program called Keppy’s Midi Converter. Alone it’ll do an ‘okayish’ job but it really needs soundfonts. Thankfully the webarchive copy of Solmire showed me that their default soundfont they used was one called SGM V2.01. It took some hunting but I was able to find a copy of SGM V2.01 soundfont preserved on internet archive. There are many other good soundfonts out there which are backed up on Internet Archive too that people like (ie I know someone who swears by MagicSFver2) and I suspect I’d love too if I had the time to test them all, but personally I’m happy with SGM V2.01 as that was Solmire’s preferred choice!
To get it working simply install Keppy’s Midi Converter, place the downloaded soundfont file in a location of your choice, start the converter, go to ‘Actions’ menu and select ‘Open Soundfonts/VTS manager’, click ‘Import Soundfonts’, go to where you put the soundfont file and load it in and hit OK, go to ‘Actions’ menu again and select ‘Import MIDIs’, find and load in your favourite old midi file from back in the day and it will appear in the job list, go to ‘Actions’ menu again and select ‘render to MP3’ and select where you want the file outputted and the conversion process will being. Go play the outputted file and hear the difference between that and your original midi file! It should be pointed out that these days the free and popular VLC Media Player supports Midi soundfonts as well so you can skip the whole conversion process and just use that if you wish too!
I really really enjoyed this ‘Rise of the Synths‘ doco! These people like what I like and think how I think haha. Whenever someone asks me what music I’m into these days and I reply “Synthwave” I usually get a “wtf is that?” look or response lol. Synthwave is hard to describe (especially as it has so many sub categories like 80sSynth, FutureSynth, Retro Electro, DarkSynth, HardcoreSynth, RetroWave, Outrun, and ChillWave) but to me Synthwave is an emerging music genre/scene where artists are creating new music based on the soundtracks from 80s movies (eg Terminator, Escape From New York, Blade Runner, Tron, Back to the Future, and a whole lot of Van Dam, Arnie & Stallone films), TV shows (eg Miami Vice) and video games. You can find my favourite Synthwave songs playlist on youtube HERE !
This music is usually accompanied by videos/pics with 80s retro futuristic visual themes relating to sports cars (eg the Delorean from Back to the Future, the crazy Vector W8, and lots of Ferraris & Lambos!), 80s arcades & their games, 80s cities or futuristic cyberpunk cities all usually at night lit by colourful neon lights (usually blue, red or violet).
This scene seems to have started appearing in mainstream media over the last few years in modern movies (eg Daft Punk’s Tron Legacy soundtrack, Driver, Kung Fury, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor 3 Ragnarok, Blade Runner 2049), TV shows (eg Stranger Things, and even the Simpsons), video games (Australian group Power Glove’s ‘Far Cry Blood Dragon’ soundtrack, and the new Cyberpunk 2077 to name a few) and trailers.. lots of trailers lol (odds are you’ve liked something that’s used it).
I think it’s become popular as it plays on that nostalgic love for the 80s that so many of us have to due to growing up in or near that time. You felt innocent, none of the worries you have now existed, and the music & movies seemed magical. It also captures that strange beauty you can sometimes see when driving around a nearly empty city at night under the lights and really nails that (now) crazy but cool either dark or optimistic 80s view of what the future would be (eg it’s 2021 so according to 80s films we should all be on flying skateboards, flying cars and using cybernetic implants by now haha). This doco covered all that and had interviews with all my favourite Synthwave artists from around the world (eg Power Glove, Dance with the Dead, Carpenter Brut, Perturbator, The Midnight, Lazerhawk and many more) usually accompanied by moody footage of them walking or driving around at night in a retro car under neon lights. The whole thing is narrated by famous director John Carpenter who was one of the people who really kicked all this off 40 years ago in his movies.
https://theriseofthesynths.com/ (Note: Their store where you can buy blu-ray, dvd, VHS copies of the doco has temp closed but will hopefully reopen again soon, copies can also be found on ebay and in google searches though)
A few years back I posted a huuuuge post with 35 of my favourite music tracks from the awesome growing retro Sythwave music movement, which is basically new songs with an old retro futuristic style. There were fast songs, slow songs, songs based on 80s action/scifi/horror films and all sorts of other weirdly awesome stuff that fall into Sythwave’s other names and subcategories such as FutureSynth, Retro Electro, DarkSynth, ViolentSynth, HardcoreSynth, RetroWave, Outrun, and ChillWave. Well I figured it was time to put together another big post with 35 more awesome Synthwave songs I’ve been listening to and watching as many have really cool retro futuristic video clips using CGI or even actors on sets. Hope people enjoy!
You can find my full Synthwave playlist saved on youtube HERE !
If you’re a fan of all things retro including cars then this series might interest you. I’ve posted before about how I’m a huge fan of the retro Synthwave music movement over the last decade, and the main synth music channel I listen to has this sub series called ‘New Retro Wave Motors’ where they take a famous iconic 80s car for a drive, often at night under neon lights and pump some sweet synthwave music while they do it. Naturally the first episode just had to be a DeLorean haha! Personally I’m hoping they can get their hands on a Vector W8!
Followers of this blog may have seen me post about my recent love of 80s Future Synthwave songs and their compilation playlists in the past. Many of these tracks have freaky video clips and one of the standouts was Turbo Killer by Carpenter Brut. The utterly amazing video track was made by Seth Ickerman. Well now they’re working on a sequel project! If haven’t seen the original video then there it is:
Making of video:
Turns out I’m late to the party as usual as they announced a Turbo Killer 2 sequel in 2019 and launched a Kickstarter crowdfund campaign which did quite well as it showed shorts from both Tubero Killer 2 and another project they’re working on with serious Blade Runner vibes called project Ickerman!
Ickerman appears to be the long term project while Blood Machines the short term one. However like with so many great and creative projects things can blow out a bit and their Blood Machines short film expanded into a 50min movie so they did a second very successful Kickstarter in 2020. What’s even cooler is that the entire film soundtrack was done by Carepnder Brut and David Sandberg the creator of Kung Fury (which if you haven’t seen it’s awesomeness on then shame on you haha) also joined their team as a producer. I love how all these guys work looks so big budget despite being made in garages lol and that their creativity is inspired by 80s action, Synth Music and blade runner cyberpunk. Here’s some trailers:
A few months back I posted about how I’ve really become addicted to retro 1980s Futuristic Synth style music over the last year in all its many formats such as SynthWave, FutureSynth, Retro Electro, DarkSynth, ViolentSynth, HardcoreSynth, RetroWave, Outrun, and ChillWave. I posted a few cool playlists, but as with all playlists and albums there’s usually a few great songs and a few meh songs haha. So I thought I’d do my own playlist in a new post with some of my favourite single tracks. When I’m playing an old game with no music or I’m at work trying to meet a deadline these tracks really get me going! Like with the playlists these songs are often accompanied by cool images and animations of eerie blue and purple landscapes containing retro futuristic cars and cities. Love it! Here’s some of my favourite tracks…
You can find my full Synthwave playlist saved on youtube HERE !
Thanks to the awesome Tron Legacy Soundtrack by Daft Punk, the utterly amazing Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon Soundtrack by Power Glove and the cool retro Kung Fury Soundtrack by various synth artists I’ve really become addicted to retro 1980s Futuristic Synth style music over the last year in all its many formats such as SynthWave, FutureSynth, Retro Electro, DarkSynth, ViolentSynth, HardcoreSynth, RetroWave, Outrun, and ChillWave. If you’re at work and need to get a lot of stuff done the faster and darker hardcore Synth stuff can really get you pumping haha while the slower chilled retro synth stuff makes great background music when you’re relaxing at home or driving at night. Hearing these songs can take your mind back to cool 1980s scifi future films and great old video games you grew up playing. The playlists are often accompanied by cool images and animations of eerie blue and purple landscapes containing retro futuristic cars and cities.
Back To The 80’s Vol 7 – Best of Synthwave & Retro Electro Mix
Gone! 😦 Unplayable archive backup & tracklist HERE!
Playable REDUX copy with 5 tracks removed HERE!
Full ‘Back to the 80s’ mix collection playlist HERE!
Okay maybe I wasn’t finished updating my Heroes of Might & Magic section lol! While working on another section I realised there were still several cool things I hadn’t put in my HoMM section yet. Custom cursors and tributes to all the awesome fan made Heroes games and mods out there! Visit my Heroes page to check them all out, I’ll stick some pics below. Also I’ve had Protectors of the Earth stuck in my head ever since Ubisoft used it in the recent Heroes 7 trailer so I’ve stuck the song below for your enjoyment.
While setting up my Lord Of The Rings video pages I got to re-experience just how awesome Peter Jackson’s trailers were back in the day and the music they used. Here’s 2 songs he used that just blow you away.
Gothic Power – X-Ray Dog (used in Fellowship of the Ring trailers)
Requiem for a Dream – Clint Mansell (used in The Two Towers trailers)
A few years back I posted a huuuuge part 2 post with another 35 of my favourite music tracks from the awesome growing retro Sythwave music movement, which is basically new songs with an old retro futuristic style. There were fast songs, slow songs, songs based on 80s action/scifi/horror films and all sorts of other weirdly awesome stuff that fall into Sythwave’s other names and subcategories such as FutureSynth, Retro Electro, DarkSynth, ViolentSynth, HardcoreSynth, RetroWave, Outrun, and ChillWave. Well I figured it was time to put together another big post with 35 more awesome Synthwave songs I’ve been listening to and watching as many have really cool retro futuristic video clips using CGI or even actors on sets. Hope people enjoy!
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