The audio demo above only uses synth instruments from this pack and drums from the 8-Bit Drum Kit series. No melodies or MIDI patterns are included, and no games were sampled.
8-Bit Synths: The Basics
8-Bit Synths: The Basics is the first of a set of four 8-bit sample instrument packs which encompass the full range of 8-bit instruments used in classic video games from the most popular console of the late 80s and early 90s. "The Basics" contains the essentials, providing the most common sounds used for a vast amount of music in those games.
The following list describes the categories of the different 8-bit instrument types included in this pack, along with the total number of each. All four 8-Bit Synths packs have the same categories but contain different instruments & sounds (for more detailed descriptions of the sound types in this list, click on the "More Instrument Info" drop-down below):
- Lead Single (43): sustained instruments that use a single channel from the sound chip
- Lead Combo (75): sustained instruments using two or more channels combined together, providing chorused, octave and interval sounds
- Stab Single (48): one-shot instruments that use a single channel
- Stab Combo (28): one-shot instruments using two or more channels combined together
- Triangle Bass (6): instruments use the triangle channel only and are most often used as bass instruments
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Fundamental (4): these instruments are the four basic waveforms available in the original sound chip: Square, Pulse Width 1, Pulse Width 2, and Triangle (these instruments are provided in all four 8-Bit Synths packs)
This pack contains:
- 204 8-Bit Synth Instrument Patches for Native Instruments Kontakt, Ableton Live, Maschine, Logic Pro EXS24/Sampler, FL Studio, MPC Expansion Pack, and TAL-Sampler
- 7691 8-Bit Synth Samples
- 24-bit, 44.1 kHz WAV files
- 1.8 GB
For more synths from this series, check out: 8-Bit Synths 2: Game Pop, 8-Bit Synths 3: World Melodies, and 8-Bit Synths 4: Spectrum
Get the bundle with all four 8-Bit Synth packs here: 8-Bit Synths Bundle
The audio demo above only uses synth instruments from this pack and drums from the 8-Bit Drum Kit series. No melodies or MIDI patterns are included, and no games were sampled.
The instrument types are further broken down into the following categories:
Lead Single, Stab Single & Triangle Bass:
- Basic - simple synths with only basic characteristics
- Transient - synths with a unique attack or note start
- Vibrato - synths with vibrato in the samples themselves
- Repeater - synths with rhythmic repetition
- Jump - sounds that quickly jump upwards or downwards in tone (stabs only)
Lead Combo & Stab Combo:
- Chorus - synths with slight channel offsets to produce a chorus sound
- Octave - synths with channels that are octave intervals played together
- Merge - synths where the waveforms blend together
- Interval - synths with channels separated by intervals such as 4ths or 5ths
- Jump - stabs that quickly jump upwards or downwards in tone (stabs only)
The entire keyboard range of notes is provided for every instrument for playability, however some of the instruments are best played within certain ranges. For example, due to the way that vibrato functioned in the original sound chip, it is often undetectable in the very low ranges and over-the-top in the very high ranges. The highest and lowest notes in the instrument patches were also stretched to cover all MIDI note values, but in reality the sound chip had rigid low and high frequency limits and wouldn't normally be playable in these ranges.
Instrument Patches:
- 43 Lead Single 8-Bit Synth Instrument Patches
- 75 Lead Combo 8-Bit Synth Instrument Patches
- 48 Stab Single 8-Bit Synth Instrument Patches
- 28 Stab Combo 8-Bit Synth Instrument Patches
- 8 Triangle Bass 8-Bit Synth Instrument Patches
- 4 Fundamental 8-Bit Synth Instrument Patches
Sample List:
- 917 Lead Single Notes
- 1053 Lead Combo Notes
- 3504 Stab Single Notes
- 2027 Stab Combo Notes
- 138 Triangle Bass Notes
- 52 Fundamental Notes
Instrument Formats & Required Software:
- Kontakt Instrument Patches (.nki), Kontakt 4+
- Maschine Expansion Pack (.mxsnd), Maschine 2+
- Ableton Live Pack (.adv), Live 9+
- FL Studio DirectWave Patches (.dwp), FL Studio 12+
- MPC Expansion Pack (.xpn), MPC Software or MPC Beats
- EXS24/Sampler Instrument Patches (.exs), Logic Pro 9+
- TAL Instrument Patches (.talsmpl), TAL Sampler 3+
- Single WAV files (.wav), usable in any DAW or audio software