nesdev.org

Hello, guys! I was wondering if there were any books about NES synthesis or something similar to that topic? You know, there are some books about FM synthesis, so maybe it's possible to get the theoretical background about audio capabilities of 2A03 through literature? It is cool to be able to push the limits of the soundchip to create something cool, but if you are not a programmer (just a composer), is it possible to get that knowledge? Was trying to learn NTRQ, but it looks like the lack of the knowledge makes it impossible...
Any help is much appreciated, thank you in advance!

NES sound hardware does not have anything special or unique to write theory books. It is just pair of digital pulse wave generators, triangle wave generator, LFSR for noise, and DPCM unit (this one is relatively unique). The same things are found all around, in old sound chips, old and modern analog or digital or software synthesizers, etc.

Shiru, thanks for the information!

The details of the APU are on the wiki. http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/APU

That stuff is a bit technically oriented, though. If you want to hang out in a more composer oriented place, I suggest the Famitracker forums. http://famitracker.com/forum/

There's lots of people there who know the NES APU in and out, if you have questions, and also Famitracker is IMO the best tool there is for making NES music.

rainwarrior, thanks! I'll check it out!