The OPL Archive
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The OPL Archive is a tribute to music written for the Yamaha OPL series sound chips, primarily the OPL2 and OPL3. Commonly used on early DOS-based PCs via the AdLib Music Synthesizer Card, Sound Blaster series, and other compatible sound cards, they made FM synthesis available to the masses. A wide range of music was written to take advantage of these chips. However, that music is spread across dozens of different file formats with varying accessibility and documentation. This project intends to bring all that music together in one place, in one unified file format, to give it the recognition it deserves.

The files on this site are direct logs of playback in the VGM format, allowing preservation of the songs in their original hardware format. The primary way to play them is using VGMPlay or the in_vgm Winamp/XMPlay plugin, both of which are available on VGMRips, here. For a more exhaustive list of players, including software to play them back on your real retro PC with OPL2/OPL3 chip, check out this page.

Thanks to the magic of modern web technology, you can now click on any song to play it right in your browser! If you want to download the VGM file, just click the disk
[Download VGM]
icon.

Note that this isn't a "game music" site, so to speak - you won't find actual DOS game soundtracks here. Ripping soundtracks to VGM is a mission is already being accomplished by the aforementioned VGMRips project. I am working on everything else-- from the demoscene, original compositions in trackers, covers, and the likes.

This archive is a perpetual work in progress. I am welcoming of submissions of any old files I might not have, or your new creations! Let's make the OPL series shine brighter than ever!
2024-03-04: Presenting Release 8, an update that got way out of hand.

As you may have noticed, one change I am making is that I will now be giving version numbers to updates. If you download the full archive ZIP file, or mirror the archive elsewhere, this will help you identify if your copy of the archive is up to date. A readme file with the version number is now included. I'm calling the pre-site-redesign iterations of the archive "Release 1" collectively as I didn't accurately track changes back then, so taking into account the site updates since then, that makes today's update Release 8.

Anyway... 209 new songs from:
Ad Lib, Inc (161), garvalf (2), Phandral (2), Sir Vega (1), Sly (1), spaztron64 (33), Spinning Voices (1), Strobe (1), Tobikomi (1), Warlord (1), Wayne Kerr (4), Xanvier (1).

The bulk of the new songs are the classic AdLib song disks - some of the earliest OPL2 songs on the PC!

As to why this update got out of hand and took so long? It's all the changes to existing files! I started doing tagging updates and adding missing dates, and then all of a sudden 354 files (that's a third of the existing files!) had been updated in various ways, including 57 that were completely relogged from scratch. So many things changed that I'm not even sure how to list it out here in a concise way! Also, during this, 3 previously unidentified files were identified and attributed to Axe, Crossbone, and JaSS! Throw out your old files and grab this latest release!

2023-08-29: The OPL Archive will be exhibiting at Vintage Computer Festival Midwest in Elmhurst, IL on September 9-10. Come visit, listen to some tunes, and get your free OPL sticker (while supplies last)!

Oh yeah, there's a big update to the site, too - 139 new songs from:
44magnum (1), Ahn1979 (4), argarak (5), Baron Knoxburry (1), Big Lumby (1), bigSmonkinLoser (1), BlastlessAnthony (4), cabbage drop (2), Corona688 (1), Dippy (2), dj.tuBIG/MaliceX (1), FL4SHK (2), funute (2), garvalf (4), gotoandplay (3), Hortus (1), Ikuma (1), JonKaruzu (1), JOZZ (40), Karmic (1), kleeder (2), kleeder & MiDoRi (collab) (1), kleeder & Spring (collab) (1), Malfunction (3), mega9man (1), Meritaethi (1), michu (1), MPU401 (2), MrKsoft (1), now_its_dark (1), Peter Gantar (1), Post-Retro (1), raphaelgoulart (1), reinhard (8), Savestate (2), Scooblee (1), Skuld (4), Slimeball (1), Speedstar (5), subz3ro (2), SuperJet Spade (6), TennesseeFields (1), tennisers (1), tennisers & bigSmonkinLoser (collab) (1), Tobikomi (3), TrippleP (1), uUni (1), vintaque (1), Viravax (1), Xaser (1), Zero (1), Zlew (1), Zumi (2).

There is also a single tagging update for Hydra.

2023-07-02: Today's update is all about the group Vibrants!

Originating in the Commodore 64 scene, the members of Vibrants later moved to the PC and leveraged their experience writing music on the C64 to produce some really great OPL2 music using their own custom playback drivers. This eventually led to EdLib, an OPL2 tracker that is still renowned for its flexibility (and complexity).

While the OPL Archive has had some Vibrants songs already, I wanted to use this update to complete the collection as best as I could. There are some unfinished "worktunes" that I did not include, and I had to skip songs in the D01 format, which are EdLib songs with sampled drums (and can't currently be accurately logged or replayed as VGMs). Alongside the songs already on the archive, I added the remaining 48 songs from:
Drax (2), Drax & Metal (collab) (1), JCH (1), JO (20), Metal (21), MSK (3).

As part of this, I have to admit: I really screwed up. In the earliest days of the OPL Archive, I included some of my favorites from the overall Vibrants collection. However, these were all logged to VGM incorrectly, having used AdPlug/AdPlay instead of the actual EdLib replayer. AdPlug's underlying EdLib playback code is NOT 100% accurate, tending to affect how instruments are reproduced, so the VGMs didn't actually sound correct! That's my bad for not using the original program back then. I spent time as part of this update re-logging all of those EdLib songs. This means that ALL previously existing VGMs were replaced for Drax, Drax & Metal (collab), and JCH. There were also a few tagging fixes as part of that. While I don't think other files from the early days are affected, I can't exactly remember what I did back then, so I may have to replace others in the future - I'm still working through them to be sure.

Outside of the Vibrants stuff, tagging updates were made to songs from: kvee, Kulor, and No-XS. Additionally I am working to improve screen-reader accessibility for vision-impaired visitors (thanks to Juan for reaching out to me with feedback).

2023-04-24: It's the biggest update ever!! A whopping 388 songs have been added all at once! Enjoy new VGMs from:
0x5066 (1), Benjamin Gerardin (30), Bird (10), Brendan Bailey (89), Dalezy (12), Diode Milliampere (11), dj.tuBIG/MaliceX (1), Dretz (9), Dullstar (1), Encore (6), EpicTyphlosion (1), Erik (1), Hydra (24), Kagamiin~ (1), konakonaa (21), kvee (10), Lameguy64 (2), Louis Gorenfeld (5), Madness (26), Malfunction (12), MrKsoft (1), Nula (26), OxygenStar (9), Phandral (16), pigdevil2010 (1), Speedy (4), subz3ro (3), Svetlana Tovarisch (1), SwapXFO (1), Televicious (47), VileR (1), Void (4), Ygor (1)

As part of that, the archive now has (almost) every single demo song included with Adlib Tracker II! (Some exceptions were made for duplicates and rips from game OSTs) We also have our very first song utilizing Dual-OPL2 (as used on the Sound Blaster Pro 1)! From here on out, with the low-hanging fruit taken care of, we are getting deeper into the jungles of the OPL world...

I have also updated files from Benjamin Gerardin, Candela, Dalezy, dj.tuBIG/MaliceX, Encore, jam777, kvee, Matt Furniss, spaztron64, and Weeppiko to fix some errors.

Lastly, the OPL playback code on the site has been completely rewritten thanks to contributions from kvee, who provided a new JS library based on the considerably more accurate Nuked OPL3! Not only does everything sound better, but this has helped reduce the size of the site's code dependencies from 3.32 MiB down to just 57.9 KiB! Absolutely incredible. Thanks so much for collaborating on this effort!

2023-01-19: Added 71 songs from:
Bisqwit (2), BlastlessAnthony (1), Bodenständig 2000 (1), Carlos Amoyan (1), dj.tuBIG/MaliceX (1), Essentric (1), Fabe (4), FADE (1), Hannes Siefert (5), Karl Sommer (2), L1nd0 (1), Legend (2), Mads Orbesen Troest (4), No-XS (1), Rene Verhaag (4), Sexton (1), Silent Mode (2), Skaven (1), $pleen (6), subz3ro (1), SuperJet Spade (2), Tobikomi (7), Tyr (1), VanDerNurd Music (1), Vincent Voois (1), Warlord (1), Yuzu (1), Zephyr (2), ??? - Unknown Authors (13)

2022-12-31: Happy New Year! I've added 21 songs from:
brickblock369 (1), Dippy (1), Erik (1), Kulor (6), Sami Wilenius (5), Scalex (1), Skaven (1), Speedstar (1), $pleen (1), subz3ro (1), Ygor (2).
Also fixed some tags for Benjamin Gerardin, Kulor, and Rebible to reflect new information on song titles.

2022-10-28: After 8 years, the site has been completely redesigned from scratch - and it even finally matches the DOS aethetic :) The goal of this redesign is to be able to provide more information than the basic "file browser" display from the old version, and make the site more friendly to the average chiptune enjoyer. That means there's finally browser-based playback!!! It's a bit fidgety at times but it works well enough to have a quick listen. You can still download the VGMs, of course. Speaking of VGMs, I've done a once-over on all of them to clean up the tags and add more information - and a number of files with unknown authors have been identified! There are tons of NEW files as well - I'd been lazy and holding them off for this rewrite for a few YEARS at this point!

[[ 0-9 ]]
0x5066 / 44magnum


44magnum (aka: 최택진 / Choi Taekjin


Abstract_(64)

Ad Lib, Inc.
Covers









































































Agargara
Covers

AURORA*FIELDS
Originals

Axe
Covers


Baron Knoxburry
Originals

Covers

Big Lumby
Originals

Covers

bigSmonkinLoser

Brendan Bailey (aka: Total Chipster)
Originals



















































































Byulbram
Originals

Covers


Carlos Amoyan
Originals

Covers

Chris Korte (aka: CHaK, Chris 6%)
Originals

Covers

Corona688
Originals

Covers

Crossbone (aka: Eberhard Grummt)
Covers


Drax & Metal (collab)
[[ F ]]
Fabe / FADE / FL4SHK / funute


FADE

FL4SHK

funute
[[ I ]]
Ikuma


Ikuma
Covers
[[ J ]]
jam777 / Jangler / JaSS / JCH / JO / JonKaruzu / JOZZ / jrlepage


JaSS
Covers

JonKaruzu
Covers

jrlepage
Covers


Kagamiin~
Covers

Karl Sommer (aka: Mc Lord)

Karmic
Covers

kilowatt64
Covers

kleeder & MiDoRi (collab)
Covers

kleeder & Spring (collab)
Covers

Kot


Mads Orbesen Troest (aka: Marvin of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation)

mega9man

MelonadeM
Covers

Meritaethi
Originals

Covers

michu
Originals

Covers

MSK (aka: Morten Sigaard Kristensen)


Scalex

Sexton
Covers

Silent Mode (aka: Joker)
Originals


Covers

Sir Vega
Originals

Covers

Skaven (aka: Peter Hajba)

Slimeball

Sly

spaztron64
Originals
Covers













































s.p.i.k.e

Spinning Voices
Originals

Strobe
Covers

Svetlana Tovarisch

SwapXFO
Covers

SynaMax
Covers
[[ U ]]
Undine / uUni


Undine

uUni
Originals

Covers


VanDerNurd Music
Originals

Covers

VileR
Covers

Vincent Voois (aka: Lethal Noise Operator, The Dutch Composer)
Covers

vintaque

Viravax
Originals

Covers
[[ ??? - Unknown Authors ]]
I have no idea who made these. Many of these hail from the days of MS-DOS and 8.3 filenames, and if the author didn't put any data in the file itself, I don't have much to go on. Some files originate from countries whose languages I don't speak. In some cases, I may not even know if the song is a cover or not due to my own lack of musical knowledge. I've titled them to the best of my knowledge, but please, if you have more info, contact me!