Check Out Full Six-Channel MIDI Audio from the Atari ST Version of “Ultima 4”
YouTube vlogger Cloudscahtze has uploaded a video showcasing the MIDI music from the Atari ST version of Ultima 4 played over a Roland MT-32. What’s interesting about the music, however, is that the Atari ST version of the game shipped with several hidden channels embedded in its MIDI data. Cloudschatze spend several hours fidding with the synthesizer to get it just right, but the resultant tracks are stunning…to the point that it’s hard to believe they originate from the original data encoded in a 1987 game.
And happily, Cloudschatze has made recordings of each track from the game available for download; links can be found in the description of the video on YouTube.
(Hat tip: Golanth Dragon)
I had Ultima III on the Atari ST back then, hooked up to my synthesizer, and got to hear the single-channel MIDI music surprise me, but I never learned about this. Thanks for sharing it!
That was awesome! He also did the same for Ultima III:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ-XfiEXN-A
Has anyone converted these Atari ST MIDIs to .mid files in General MIDI or Roland-32 format for use with the music upgrades for DOS U3 and U4?
Note that the xU4 module for the Cloudschatze recordings is available from the project’s download page:
https://xu4.sourceforge.net/download.php
Another fine rendition of the U4 soundtrack was done a couple years ago by Pieces of 8-bit. In fact, you’ll find music for all Ultimas 3 through 8 on his page at
https://www.youtube.com/@HQRemakes.