Download Download FamiStudio Free

The launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 marked the beginning of a revolution that would lead to the global success of the video game industry. The initial success was due to a new standard of game quality that helped birth Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Mega Man, Castlevania, Contra and countless other classic games and other gems.

In addition to the colorful graphics and simple but challenging gameplay, many players will remember the catchy soundtrack. Sound quality is limited to 8-bit, but it’s this limitation that makes the music so beautiful and memorable. It certainly left its mark on many musicians who created entire styles centered around 8-bit sound, but it probably left an even bigger mark on fans; I’m sure there are very few of you who can’t perfectly hum Super Mario The theme song of “Brothers”.

in short, home studio Allows you to create NES style 8-bit music. It takes its name from the Famicom, the name of the Nintendo console sold only in Japan and on which the NES is based. FamiStudio’s interface features a sequencer and piano roll, reminiscent of professional DAWs. However, when it comes to usability, things don’t go so smoothly.

When you try to add the first note in the sequencer, if you click on any bar, you don’t get just one note, but the whole infinite bar of that note, and you have to stop it by adding a stop note ( Ctrl + click). It’s really not an intuitive way to create music with the click of a mouse; I’m sure most digital musicians would find it easier to create a single note with a click and then drag that note around.

You can create with only four tracks: two tracks composed of square wave sounds, one track composed of triangle wave sounds, and one track composed of noise. There’s also a fifth DPCM track that helps modulate other sounds, and you can also use a very small number of effects.

FamiStudio isn’t necessarily a bad program. It sounds great, and I’m sure once you get used to the unusual workflow, you can actually create some nice stuff with it. But even though I like the colorful interface, I’d probably stick with another plug-in or synthesizer dedicated to creating 8-bit music.