Hey all,

I'd like to add some (semi-) realistic drum sounds to a game I'm working on, but I'm not very good with the sound editor. Anyone have any suggestions on a sound that approximates a snare hit, a hi-hat closing, and a hi-hat hit? Thanks!

It'd be nice to get a good instrument library going in general. I'm sure there are some more talented chiptunes musicians who have played around with it, and can show off some tone samples.

A lot of people have had success with this using the noise wave (#7) and combinations of the fade in/out effect (#4 and 5) or slides (#1) with volume changes. You can find a playlist of Pico-8 tracker tutorials here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj1LJQutMCY&list=PLjZAika8vyZkyOjoCp0EbHeIFZ8MLlhvg

After a lot of trial-and-error, I'm getting closer (those video tutorials helped a lot with the basics, thanks!). The noise wave does work well for a snare drum, and for cymbals I found that alternating between two pitches at the shortest note duration works decently.

I'd support an instrument library too :)

Triangle wave with the pitch bend down effect will imply a kick drum. Play with it at different speeds and pitches until it sounds good to you. Noise waves with envelope effects will get you hats, layer a pitch bent square on a different channel for a snare.

You won't do much better than that for realism in pico-8. Try lowering the volume of non-percussive sounds significantly, especially when they overlap your drums.