I program drum patterns on the TR-606 drum machine (4). Rather than having it producing drum sounds, I've modded it to output 5v pulses. There are a total of 6 different pulse "channels". Each channel is connected to a famicom (1) via the external trigger unit (2). Those units convert the pulse data into famicom controller data.
As for the famicoms, each one is running a "sound test". Certain games have hidden sound test modes.
Basically, all this gear lets me trigger different sound effects in a rhythmic pattern.
To change sounds, and trigger sounds manually, i use the controller box (3). all audio outputs go to the mixer (6). distortion and delay effects are added through the effects loop (5).
UPDATE: ok, here's the deal kids. there are better ways to make famicom-based music, trust me, i know. however, by likening this project to other electronic music/console-based music, it's like comparing apples and orange monkeys.
i'm not interested in programming original sounds, nor am i interested in interfacing an NES/famicom sound chip with a pc, or whatever. that's not the purpose of this project [more on that another time].
with this project, the way i make music has a lot more in common with the way scratch djs [d-styles, ricci rucker, qbert, a-trak, etc] make tracks. [not to say i'm comparable to them--they destroy all!]. instead of using records as sound sources, i use actual game sounds [explosions, punches, beeps], sequence them, freestyle other game sounds over top of it, and tweak the sounds with a couple of guitar pedals. that's it.
