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Game Boy Music Software for sound production on the classic Game Boy and Game Boy Color.
Highly recommended programs are LSDj, mGB and nanoloop as native solutions
and GBTPlayer, GB Tracker and hUGETracker as PC Software!
NATIVE SOFTWARE:
Software to make music directly on the Game Boy itself.
Amenizer
Amen Break Sample Masher.
Enables to make some changes
to the famous amen breaks sample loop.
Developed by nitro2k01 in 2013
for his Game Boy project week #6.
https://blog.gg8.se/wordpress/2013/02/11/gameboy-project-week-6-can-i-have-an-a-men/
Beep Boop Boom Box
Simple „tone matrix“ program.
2 channel sound engine
with 3 additional defined percussion sounds.
Part of the „8 Bitty Games“ project.
Made with GBDK.
https://patchworkgames.itch.io/8bittygames
Chord
Simple synthesizer program.
Every button could be mapped to a note
and there are some more settings available.
http://www.humbletune.com/chord/
Death Ray
Noise Generator.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/PixelH8/
Droneboy
Well done drone sound software.
https://github.com/purefunktion/Droneboy/
Drum Tech
16-step drum sequencer, with tempo adjustment.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/PixelH8/
Faderfox jr
Micromodul LX1 simulation for
Midi use for old Windows PC.
http://rhinoplex.org/8cylinder/softwaredevices.html
Game Boy Camera *(/Trippy-H)
The one and only official music tool
for the Nintendo Game Boy.
*Sorry, no download link available.
Game Boy Sound Manipulator
Sound tool for Game Boy Color.
Theoretically working on classic Game Boy as well,
but the graphics won’t be shown.
Shows all the values in binary and hex format.
Really useful for developers.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080120110354/http://www.plasmaworks.com/gbsound/
GB Electric Drum
E-drum for Game Boy. Every button is a drum sound.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/Aleksi%20Eeben/
GB SFX Generator
Simple program to make some Game Boy sounds.
http://patchworkgames.itch.io/gbsfx
GB Synth *(Source Code)
Simple „keyboard“. Available as RGBDS source code!
http://cratel.wichita.edu/blogs/assembly08/2008/05/12/alec-jahn-gameboy-synthesizer/
GB-303 *(Source Code)
303 Clone for Game Boy.
As the software was quite buggy,
and there were some other issues
with the initial buildthe source code
was published.
A slightly different version was later
released by kitsch-bent.
https://github.com/furrtek/GB303
IK-Boper / Ikumi Boper
Nice keyboard for the Game Boy.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/Japanese/Bopper/
Instrumentor *(Source Code)
First music software programmed
by Johan Kotlinski in GBDK.
The predecessor of LSDj!
https://github.com/jkotlinski/instrumentor
LSDj
The number one Game Boy tracker!
http://www.littlesounddj.com/
mGB
The best Game Boy -> Midi software!
https://github.com/trash80/mGB
Muddy GB
Forerunner of mGB.
But this is a keyboard software,
not a Midi tool.
http://web.archive.org/web/20060224002050/http://f28.aaa.livedoor.jp/~stepgirl/
Music Tech
Simple keyboard.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/PixelH8/
Music Tech V2
Simple keyboard.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/PixelH8/
nanoloop
The Game Boy step-sequencer number one!
http://www.nanoloop.de/one/index.html
nanoloop mono
Game Boy step-sequenzer
with analogue sound production.
http://www.nanoloop.de/mono/
nanosynth
Simple graphic synthesizer.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/Oliver%20Wittchow/Nanosynth/
nanovoice
Simpler graphic (16) step-sequencer.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/Oliver%20Wittchow/Nanovoice/
*Furthermore the sourcecode in C for GBDK is available!
http://swiki.hfbk-hamburg.de:8888/MusicTechnology/uploads/132/nanovoice.c
Nerd-Rix *(/IK-Boper)
Nice keyboard for the Game Boy.
Alternative version of Ikinari Boper.
http://web.archive.org/web/20051201010202/www.chip-oukoku.com/boper.php
NoiseTest *(Source Code)
Small program to control the noise channel.
Part of the „GameBoy Music Compiler“.
http://www.geocities.jp/submarine600/html/sounddriver.html
Noisewave
Noise-wave generator.
http://blog.gg8.se/gameboyprojects/weekX/
Onputor
4-channel step-sequencer.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/Unknown-Other/Onputor/
Pocket Music
Official music software.
Sadly it runs only on Game Boy Color.
*Sorry, no download link available.
Pounder
Simple drumset.
Every button triggers a drum-sound.
http://rhinoplex.org/8cylinder/softwaredevices.html
Rez
Sound synthesis – Casio CZ style.
http://blog.gg8.se/wordpress/2012/12/11/rez-a-unique-gameboy-synth-rom/
Shitwave
Simples wave-shifting program.
The name tells everything you need to know!
http://blog.gg8.se/wordpress/2009/03/23/shitwave-a-prng-based-drone-generator-for-gameboy/
Sludgeon
8-step-sequencer.
Simple pattern based program.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/8CYLINDER/Sludgeon%202/
Sludgeon V2
8-step-sequenzer.
Simple pattern based program.
http://rhinoplex.org/8cylinder/softwaredevices.html
Sound Demo
Game Boy sound-design tool.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/Unknown-Other/
An updated version was made by Zal0
https://github.com/Zal0/GBSoundDemo/
Stepgirl
Simple Game Boy instrument.
Every button press – one function.
http://web.archive.org/web/20060224002050/http://f28.aaa.livedoor.jp/~stepgirl/
UCBN
Noise generator.
http://rhinoplex.org/8cylinder/softwaredevices.html
PC SOFTWARE:
For Game Boy music production on your PC.
Very interesting for homebrew development.
Carillon
Hybrid tracker.
Songs can be made directly on the Game Boy
and used for making demos/ROMs via PC afterwards.
Besides you can import your own samples.
Comes bundled with FX Hammer,
a very powerful SFX tool for the Game Boy.
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=17337
Deflemask
Multi-system-tracker.
Can export songs as GBS files.
http://www.delek.com.ar/deflemask
GBMC
Game Boy Music Compiler.
Instructions are only available in japanese.
Additionally the FT2GBMC application is available!
(FamiTracker to Game Boy Music Compiler)
http://www.geocities.jp/submarine600/html/sounddriver.html
GBT Player
Simple and space-saving player routine for GBDK.
Also supported by zGB and GB Studio.
MOD-files has to be made first and compiled into
another format later.
The included software Mod2GBT is used for that.
MODs could be made in OpenMPT, for example.
*Sorry. No link available.
GB Studio Music Editor
The internal GB Studio Music Editor based on hUGEdriver.
Switchable between Sequencer and Tracker view.
The most recommended software for your GB Studio projects.
The easy way for making ROMs.
Compatible with hUGETracker 1.0 beta 9
https://www.gbstudio.dev/
GB Tracker (Beyond Tracker / Paragon 5)
PC Tracker for the Game Boy.
Usable for making ROMs.
Supports RGBDS und GBDK.
Highly recommended besides hUGETracker.
https://rv6502.ca/wiki/index.php?title=Game_Boy_Tracker
hUGETracker
PC Tracker for the Game Boy.
Latest version has a lot of functions and supports subpattern.
It is still in active developement.
The song sizes are a bit larger than GBTPlayer songs.
I would absolutely recommend this for any homebrew projects
if you use GBDK, RGBDS, WLA-DX or something similar.
https://github.com/SuperDisk/hUGETracker/
Music Box
Hybrid tracker.
Songs can be written on the Game Boy itself.
And used via PC afterwards to make Demos/ROMs.
Supports RGBDS, GBDK and more.
http://gbdev.gg8.se/files/musictools/Music%20Box/
XPMCK
Multi-system-compiler. MML based.
Is able to export songs in GBS und GB-format.
http://jiggawatt.org/muzak/xpmck/