[HN Gopher] The Impact of Jungle Music in 90s Video Game Develop...
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       The Impact of Jungle Music in 90s Video Game Development
        
       Author : atan2
       Score  : 230 points
       Date   : 2024-11-13 18:43 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (pikuma.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (pikuma.com)
        
       | MrAlex94 wrote:
       | Related to this is the Buck Bumble[1] theme song[2]:
       | 
       | > "That's the whole point of it, we didn't want to do sort of
       | boring techno stuff as well, or jungle, so we picked speed
       | garage, it's funkier than house and garage."[3]
       | 
       | [1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Bumble
       | 
       | [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8FQ-N0zb2U)
       | 
       | [3]: https://archive.org/details/64-magazine-15/page/n39/mode/1up
        
         | egypturnash wrote:
         | this is fucking hilarious
        
       | polishdude20 wrote:
       | When I read jungle music I totally thought about Diddy Kong
       | Racing or the Donkey King games for SNES.
        
         | josteink wrote:
         | Nah. It's more in the direction of whatever this is:
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isiVdlz8bDY
         | 
         | It's educational, reference real events and you may have a
         | laugh at the same time ;)
        
           | itishappy wrote:
           | This is the video I cam here to see. This guy's a wizard.
           | Here's two of my other favs (the second is more my speed, but
           | the first is more fun):
           | 
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqpa418gcKc
           | 
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDKpQQ4NoNA
        
         | toast0 wrote:
         | If we're sharing jungle music videos... here's my favorite
         | recent release.
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1xneKsFArY
        
         | Bartkusa wrote:
         | I totally thought about Tetrisphere on N64:
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRMN7GzZ3ic&list=PLE0926B068...
        
         | bliblablub4 wrote:
         | Donkey Kong is peak jungle music (besides other music types
         | (which is basically all of them)). Sometimes I imagine that
         | when the first jungle evolved, it did so because it anticipated
         | that Donkey Kong will eventually be created. As something
         | inevitable. And so is the ocean, the tundra, pretty much
         | everything. Sounds unlikely? Listen to the Soundtrack und think
         | again. Something so beautiful, so magnificent, it's like the
         | opus magnum of some higher being. Something for us to ponder
         | about, to marvel at. Just like life itself.
        
       | austinallegro wrote:
       | Wicked! Wicked! Jungle is massive!
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/O7TklQTeuSE
        
         | cut3 wrote:
         | in cred ible
        
         | imp0cat wrote:
         | Oh, care for a trip down the memory lane? :)
         | 
         | https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5JibYKhC4GaAZXoDypqyAm
        
         | ahartmetz wrote:
         | I believe it's "Junglist massive" with massive ~= crowd ...or
         | is that intentional with Ali G's spelling abilities...
        
       | gustavopezzi wrote:
       | Author here. Thanks for sharing the blog post on HN; it was a
       | nice surprise to see it in the first page.
        
         | jamal-kumar wrote:
         | cool to see ace combat 2 in there cause i love bullet hell
         | games. was wild trying it on MAME instead of an arcade cabinet,
         | hooked up to a subwoofer and realizing what genre it was cause
         | your typical cabinet doesn't go loud enough to hear like half
         | the song in the sub bass
         | 
         | also funny how you can beat the game as a dolphin flying a
         | plane haha
        
         | mason55 wrote:
         | FYI you have a typo in there. You wrote "JTL Bukem" but it
         | should be "LTJ Bukem". LTJ being short for "Long Time Junglist"
        
           | jsheard wrote:
           | Also "Examples of popular drum brakes" should be "breaks".
        
       | jamal-kumar wrote:
       | I've been having a lot of fun learning trackers as a little hobby
       | in the past year with a cheap portable midi keyboard and some
       | samples to play around with. There's just so many resources to
       | learn from these days on youtube which didn't exist 5-10 years
       | ago and I guarantee you if you have the time for it you can go
       | from downloading renoise and a bunch of samples to bumping out
       | some songs within a week or two of learning. There's also a lot
       | to be said for the kind of sound you get out of older hardware,
       | you have kids who are like 20 years old picking up these things
       | and doing shit like emulating the DSP in there to create a VST
       | for use on modern systems for those who don't want to drop a
       | bunch of money on getting an amiga 500 shipped to their door [1],
       | but you also have people pretty much just doing that and busting
       | out octamed or protracker. Lots of cool clips out there [2]. If
       | anyone is looking to have some fun with all this I suggest bizzy
       | b's channel [3], the 'groovin in g' channel [4], as well as
       | stranjah's channel on youtube [5]
       | 
       | [1] https://potenzadsp.com/plugins/amigo/
       | 
       | [2] https://www.instagram.com/p/C0Pf1bNPgWy/?hl=en
       | 
       | [3] https://www.youtube.com/@TheBizzyBScience
       | 
       | [4] https://www.youtube.com/@groovining
       | 
       | [5] https://www.youtube.com/@STRANJAH
        
       | buildsjets wrote:
       | It's ruff in the jungle business. RIP Keith.
        
       | the__alchemist wrote:
       | I didn't know this genre was a thing. I'm hooked!
        
       | zolland wrote:
       | here are my favorites showing up in gameplay footage:
       | 
       | Soul of the Samurai:
       | https://youtu.be/JAyu7o_t_Ys?si=6RvvXtpsLyxXndCu&t=7190
       | 
       | Ace Combat 2:
       | https://youtu.be/_ylkb5td5K0?si=LJw4bf3JsDilDEnf&t=114
        
       | louthy wrote:
       | If anyone's interested and wants to hear more, I have a mix of
       | 92/93 era Jungle [1]
       | 
       | Some rough mixes here and there (especially the first one)
       | because it was live from a NYE event. But it suits the style of
       | music, that era was so raw and fresh, the future was being
       | invented right there! Very happy days :)
       | 
       | 1) DJ SS - Intro
       | 
       | 2) Higher Sense - Cold Fresh Air
       | 
       | 3) Deep Blue - The Helicopter Tune
       | 
       | 4) Roni Size - Time Stretch (93 Mix)
       | 
       | 5) DMS & The Boneman X - Sweet Vibrations
       | 
       | 6) Engineers Without Fears - Spiritual Aura
       | 
       | 7) Omni Trio - Soul Promenade
       | 
       | 8) Codename John - Kindred
       | 
       | 9) Brainkillers - Screwface
       | 
       | 10) Dubtronix - Fantasy (Remix)
       | 
       | 11) M-Beat - Incredible
       | 
       | 12) DJ Rap - Your Mind (Gimp/Steve Mix)
       | 
       | 13) Asend & Ultravibe - What Kind Of World
       | 
       | 14) LTJ Bukem - Horizons
       | 
       | 15) Bruck Wild - Silent Dub
       | 
       | [1] https://on.soundcloud.com/WjQVyJRfYMyQLP3f8
        
         | jamal-kumar wrote:
         | Nice selection!
         | 
         | One of the things I noticed with a bunch of the younger
         | producers is that they make really nice tunes but they don't
         | bother with the whole intro/outro thing so there's no buffer on
         | either end of the track to mix the thing unless you go add them
         | yourself before even attempting to get them in with a bunch of
         | older choons meant for mixing. like this is great [1], but 1:34
         | minutes lmao what? On the other hand people who have been at it
         | since the very early days are still quietly releasing alot,
         | here's some secret dillinja cuts [2]
         | 
         | [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M77SxLGAxWg
         | 
         | [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfyHx7SCn3g
        
           | bbbambambam wrote:
           | True,but more modern mixing equipment has made loops a lot
           | easier so I just tend to make my own intros in the mix
        
         | blacksignal wrote:
         | iirc helicopter tune was in midnight club 3. jungle makes for
         | great racing music
         | 
         | I didn't expect a jungle setlist while browsing HN -- bless
        
           | louthy wrote:
           | > I didn't expect a jungle setlist while browsing HN
           | 
           | I didn't ever expect to post one! :D
        
         | trollied wrote:
         | I'm going to see Bukem on Saturday, really looking forward to
         | it!
        
           | miek wrote:
           | Nice!! It's too bad MC Conrad died this year, they were
           | killer together.
        
             | E39M5S62 wrote:
             | Damn! The Progression Session albums, the third one in
             | particular, are absolutely amazing. When the album rolls in
             | to Track #2, 'Big Bud - Pure', with him and DRS ... it's
             | just magical.
        
           | alexpatin wrote:
           | only had the chance to see him once before. he is one of my
           | favorites. his cosmic twilight sets from tipper and friends
           | events are killer.
        
         | austinallegro wrote:
         | I'll just leave this here...
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/9hJ4OROIvxY
         | 
         | ...and as a bonus, have this 'n all...
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/HImPRflyyJk
         | 
         | ...and as it's a Wednesday, have this as a freebie:
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/M_tKjqUK5lM
        
         | dylan604 wrote:
         | > that era was so raw and fresh, the future was being invented
         | right there! Very happy days
         | 
         | I've been told by several Gen-Z that they've never been to a
         | "rave", and I feel sorry for them. In my town, we had quite the
         | underground scene, but then times changed and it is so much
         | smaller now. Now, "kids" just call it all EDM instead of the
         | specific genre that we know and love.
        
           | louthy wrote:
           | There's still plenty of fresh underground music and the
           | 'kids' are doing just fine. Yeah there's loads of mainstream
           | garbage out there, but there always was. The main difference
           | is that this stuff was being invented, whereas most
           | electronic music now is derived from those early 90s invented
           | genres, but even saying that there's still plenty of
           | creativity.
           | 
           | There's a night in London called Cartulis (which is usually
           | at Fold), when I go there it feels very much like the early
           | rave scene to me (this is just one example, of course). I
           | think there's a tendency when we get older to not be as
           | exposed to the bubbling undercurrent of music, so it's easy
           | to just say "it's not as good as it used to be", but that
           | would be a mistake imho. It's there if you look for it.
        
             | dylan604 wrote:
             | I didn't intend someone taking away from that no fresh
             | music was being made. I simply said that the parties of old
             | are no longer happening, so that experience isn't available
             | to them.
             | 
             | I'm constantly listening to new music, and I've come up
             | with lots of new tracks that will make a helluva set list,
             | one day. Problem I have is only owning 1200s, and none of
             | the gear to let those drive digital files. My discretionary
             | funds for gear has evolved into other things so buying the
             | right equipment gets pushed lower on the priority list
        
             | pfannkuchen wrote:
             | Was it being invented or discovered?
             | 
             | I feel like with each new wave of music technology, people
             | basically search the space for a while until the fruitful
             | sub spaces are identified.
             | 
             | The novelty of the exploration is what is there the first
             | time and not there in the future. You don't know what's
             | going to sound good until someone happens to bump into it.
             | You get surprises.
        
               | dylan604 wrote:
               | hey, you got your drum-n-bass in my trance!
               | 
               | no, you got your trance in my drum-n-bass.
               | 
               | that new wave of technology meant that anyone with access
               | to warez could create music for $0 instead of the
               | thousands on buying synths and samplers. no more renting
               | a truck to haul that gear to a gig; now it's just a
               | laptop and/or tablet. new choons level achieved
        
           | morkalork wrote:
           | Gentrification and moral panic killed warehouse parties and
           | raves.
        
             | dylan604 wrote:
             | the local police here formed a Rave Task Force. it became
             | very effective, and pretty much killed the scene. it got to
             | the point where the cops would show up as the guys were
             | unloading the PA from the truck. lots of cat and mouse
             | games followed on trying to get past the cops. promoters
             | even started lining up alternate locations to relocate if
             | something got shut down. then the cops started threatening
             | to use crack house laws to arrest the promoters for
             | providing a place for drugs to be used. we don't have clubs
             | to speak of and mainly just bars. we tried doing events at
             | bars, but having to shut down at 2am is just a joke.
        
         | acka wrote:
         | OP, the link you provided keeps redirecting me to the Google
         | Play store to install the SoundCloud app, no matter what
         | browser I use to open it. Could you please create a link which
         | stays on the SoundCloud website? Not everyone wants to use apps
         | on mobile just because some service wants to force you to use
         | them.
        
           | louthy wrote:
           | I can't edit it, so here's a direct site link:
           | 
           | https://soundcloud.com/paullouth/paul-louth-jungle-mix-
           | nye-2...
        
             | acka wrote:
             | Thank you very much!
        
             | sltkr wrote:
             | In general please don't use Soundcloud to share music. It's
             | complete shit. It doesn't even allow seeking unless you
             | register for an account. At least Youtube is borderline
             | usable without signing in.
        
         | noman-land wrote:
         | Never clicked a link faster. OG jungle is something special.
        
         | bloopernova wrote:
         | Oh hell yes, thank you for this.
        
       | bitschubser_ wrote:
       | Uhhh throwback to simpler times <3 I loved the scene in Basel
       | back in the days
       | 
       | For the adventurous Ishkur also has a nice opinionated guide
       | through the history of electronic music with much of its facets:
       | https://music.ishkur.com/
        
       | imp0cat wrote:
       | Let's not forget The Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and High Stakes
       | (both a wonderful mixtures of rock and electronic music).
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akf4vQs7R9A&list=PLCDB3A4909...
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7dQELIwP0U&list=PLD48C6CD40...
        
       | fuhsnn wrote:
       | Before pre-rendering took over, game soundtracks were basically
       | tracker mods, beautiful era.
        
       | dm319 wrote:
       | If anyone wants to see a continuation of this subculture, have a
       | look at this:
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/V_akDC1ztXQ?si=wxMOxlfvaN4IRSnw
       | 
       | and this:
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/iD9xk3SDSYc?si=KD5TvSg4UDMb-sh8
        
         | jamal-kumar wrote:
         | People making entire mixes with two amiga 500s between a mixer
         | and entirely new tracks
         | 
         | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2k9eMuRwGw
        
       | VyseofArcadia wrote:
       | I don't know much about Jungle music, but I do know a lot about
       | video games, and I want to shout out the Neo Geo game Shock
       | Troopers. One of the best top down run and gun games ever made,
       | and I'm told it has a Jungle/DnB soundtrack.
        
       | spacechild1 wrote:
       | Another game with a cool jungle soundtrack is "Trick'n
       | Snowboarder". The game itself is unremarkable, but I still
       | remember the music to this day. For example, check out
       | https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=38yTPVGqj8c&t=369s or
       | https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=38yTPVGqj8c&t=1477s
        
         | pkkkzip wrote:
         | not related but lot of 90s snowboarding games had underrated
         | soundtracks
         | 
         | cool boarders 2 come to mind
        
       | littlestripes wrote:
       | excellent write-up! always loved this sound to death. great for
       | the coding flow states too.
        
       | trollied wrote:
       | We can't accept drum and bass we need jungle I'm afraid.
        
         | griffzhowl wrote:
         | amen, brother
        
           | sceadu wrote:
           | Not sure if you're making a jungle Brothers reference to Amen
           | break reference :)
        
         | petecooper wrote:
         | Context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ecl2kZBnBnY
        
           | yieldcrv wrote:
           | this makes me day
        
           | Kye wrote:
           | Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isiVdlz8bDY
        
         | sundarurfriend wrote:
         | Got me started on watching University Challenge, and now Cosmic
         | Pumpkin is one of my very few "must watch new videos right
         | away" subscriptions on YouTube.
        
           | 1986 wrote:
           | I have to recommend digging into the story behind the person
           | who used to upload UC episodes to YouTube before Cosmic
           | Pumpkin, and the reason that they stopped uploading. Google
           | "Dave Garda", I don't think anyone has done an authoritative
           | writeup but it's a wild one.
        
       | BlandDuck wrote:
       | "We can't accept drum and bass we need jungle I'm afraid" ;)
        
       | rtuin wrote:
       | What a nice writeup. I've listened to jungle and related styles
       | on and off over the years but I wasn't aware the music had played
       | such a big role in 90's game music!
        
       | tailsdog wrote:
       | GTA III MSX FM
        
       | sockbot wrote:
       | One of the best sound tracks ever is Street Fighter 3 3rd Strike,
       | heavily featuring jungle.
        
       | petecooper wrote:
       | Pete Cannon on jungle production techniques:
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDn7ZDcx9w0
        
       | ChrisArchitect wrote:
       | To me there is/was a natural connection between electronic music
       | and game development just by the sheer involvement with
       | _technology_. And jungle just happened to be very popular and
       | going thru some major grassroots scene development around the
       | same time. Personally, alongside earlier exposure to popular
       | /underground dance music, my deeper exposure to electronic music
       | came from tracker music and the demoscene which of course went
       | hand in hand with developments in the game industry.
        
         | dylan604 wrote:
         | It's also just a natural thing for a game to make
         | bleeps/bloops/whoomps/booms vs storing raw audio type data.
        
           | dpc050505 wrote:
           | I've been playing a bit of 3d pinball space cadet last week
           | and I kept thinking how the game sounds could fit wonderfully
           | into breakcore and acid tekno tracks.
        
       | Modified3019 wrote:
       | There was a game called "SILENT THUNDER: A-10 TANK KILLER II" my
       | father had in his collection that I'd ruffle through as a kid.
       | 
       | While the gameplay (brutal flight sim) wasn't that compelling to
       | child me, it had a full soundtrack made of multiple genres that
       | lives in my brain to this day, especially "Monk's revenge". In
       | fact, I think it was setup so that you could put the disk in a CD
       | player and have it play as an audio disk. No idea if any of it
       | counts as "jungle", but it's very much 90's electronic game
       | music.
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9c6PPlkvBE&list=PLc3TVNLOqs...
        
       | contingencies wrote:
       | 90's games + jungle = obligatory mention of _Jill of the Jungle_
       | (1992).
       | 
       | https://www.playdosgames.com/online/jill-of-the-jungle/
        
       | Thaxll wrote:
       | Noclip has an amazing documentary about Wipeout 2097 music:
       | https://youtu.be/-nwWpQJFGp8?si=f96-_G3bBqmGEP_c
        
         | myself248 wrote:
         | Ah, I'm glad the demoscene gets a mention. One does not make
         | music on a computer in the 90s without at least some, or
         | possibly a whole truckload of, influence from the demoscene.
        
       | comprev wrote:
       | GTA + Moving Shadow record label... legendary for showcasing d&b
       | to a wider audience.
       | 
       | https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Moving_Shadow
       | 
       | For those interested I can highly recommend the "Moving Shadow
       | Sampler Series" mix anthology [0]
       | 
       | [0] https://www.discogs.com/label/396717-Movingshadow-Sampler-
       | Se...
        
       | magicalhippo wrote:
       | I recall the Wipeout 2097 soundtrack[1] blew me away as a kid.
       | 
       | I had heard some techno and eurodance was popular at the time,
       | but the sounds coming out of the speaker at the store where the
       | demo ran was on another level.
       | 
       | Bought the CD and listen to it every now and then, and Orbital's
       | Petrol track is still up there on my top 100 list.
       | 
       | There was something raw, and edge, that seems lost in so much
       | electronic music these days.
       | 
       | [1]: https://www.discogs.com/release/6385-Various-
       | Wipeout-2097-Th...
        
       | OliveMate wrote:
       | I can't accept Drum and Bass, we need Jungle I'm afraid.
       | 
       | Genuinely glad I got to experience so much of it growing up with
       | a PS1 and the genre's stuck with me. If you want to focus on
       | listening or have some soothing background noise, it's perfect,
       | versatile.
       | 
       | While not all jungle, shouout to PS1 racing games for their
       | killer soundtracks. The glorified mixtape of Gran Turismo 2 (all
       | versions!), Colin Mcrae Rally's acid beats, everything in Ridge
       | Racer. Really feels like vidya soundtracks peaked there.
        
       | vehemenz wrote:
       | If you like this kind of music--and even the late 90s/early 00s
       | aesthetic--check out Zorrovian's YouTube channel for some nice
       | playlists.
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/@zorrovian
        
       | Buttons840 wrote:
       | I've recently been into game development, and I needed music
       | which lead me to discovering synthesizers--I was hooked the first
       | time I saw so many buttons, knobs, and flashing lights--and now
       | I've gone off on a huge tangent and am studying music theory
       | instead of making my game. Oh well, it's all for fun.
       | 
       | Does HN have any advice on how to get started with synthesizers,
       | with an eye towards creating a game soundtrack?
        
         | dakna wrote:
         | I don't have any advice on how to get started, but please take
         | a look at one of the legends of the 8/16-bit era:
         | 
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Huelsbeck
         | 
         | Maybe I'm nostalgic, but these tunes were amazing.
         | https://youtu.be/7dJrsmt9BOY
         | 
         | Oh, and if you haven't invested 30 minutes of your remaining
         | lifetime listening to Orbital - The Box (Full Version) you are
         | missing a masterpiece.
         | 
         | Here is Orbital's Paul Hartnoll playing with his gear:
         | 
         | https://youtu.be/VjlWypTclec
        
       | dfxm12 wrote:
       | I remember Gran Turismo well. The Quest Mode theme from Tobal no.
       | 1 goes unmentioned. It's just a short break looped over and over
       | again. After playing this game, you realize if you like jungle or
       | not.
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1mC6K5kqZU
        
       | empath75 wrote:
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ9QHGaxdig
       | 
       | Tempest 2000 was probably more acid house influenced, but there
       | was also a lot of early breakbeat hardcore/jungle tunes in there
       | too.
        
       | ethbr1 wrote:
       | Was hoping this was that kind of jungle. :D
       | 
       | Aka 'Some dnb tracks' funk goes to 10... ours goes to 11' jungle
        
       | xipix wrote:
       | > Fun fact: Unlicensed stations began streaming jungle music from
       | onboard ships off the coast of Britain, hence the expression
       | "pirate radios."
       | 
       | Didn't pirate radio broadcast from boats predate Jungle by about
       | 20 years?
        
       | brirec wrote:
       | The article mentions Bomberman on the Nintendo 64, but they made
       | a mistake -- there were actually 4 different Bomberman games on
       | the Nintendo 64, and the one featuring Jungle music is Bomberman
       | Hero, not the one whose box art they used (Bomberman 64).
        
       | AirMax98 wrote:
       | A bit slept on, but Extreme G 2 soundtrack has a '96-97 Source
       | Direct vibe to it.
        
       | samirsd wrote:
       | self-plug: i built a streaming platform devoted to 90s jungle
       | deep cuts called .mixtape -- good curated selection on there
       | https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mixtape/id1391354414
        
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       (page generated 2024-11-13 23:00 UTC)