>>49579266If you want to go easy, there's a YM2608 soundfont. You will use this in a DAW of choice (I use Ardour, personally.)
https://musical-artifacts.com/artifacts/2175
Another option is to get the VOPM vsti in a DAW of choice and then import these instruments into VOPM.
https://pastebin.com/J4b9SkJE
This is a really authentic sounding option while being somewhat easy to setup.
The YM2608 is the soundchip that is used throughout the PC-98 touhou series (save for the YM2203, which was used in Touhou 2 and 3). (The YM2203 is similar to the YM2608, but it has fewer FM channels and less sound features.)
But if you want to make authentic PC-98 music which may be played back on a PC-98, then learn how to code in PMD MML. PMD is the main music driver that Touhou 2-5 uses. (Touhou 1 uses MDRV, but that's another story entirely.) PMD is what communicates the hardware to the software. MML is music macro language. Back in the day, the music composers were also programmers. Be forewarned that coding in MML is absolutely fucking tedious. When you actually compose a song for PMD, it will run on an actual PC-98, provided it has a YM2608 or an 86 board (an entire sound module.)
Resources.
Here is the official PMD mml manual translated in english.
https://pigu-a.github.io/pmddocs/pmdmml.htm
Here is Masahiro Kajihara's (creator of PMD) official website.
http://www5.airnet.ne.jp/kajapon/
If you can understand nip, then Masahiro Kajihara also has a youtube channel showing him composing FM synth music.
https://www.youtube.com/@masahirokajiharakaja5476/videos
Another guide in English - https://mml-guide.readthedocs.io/pmd/intro/
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=xEiCngF5v1A - PMD MML tutorial Part 1
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=FyKxZXTvBvg&listen=false - PMD MML tutorial Part 2
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=aeYVqMd7rkM - Hertzdevil illustrating what coding in PMD mml looks like. When I did this myself, I kind of ripped off his setup. Essentially, I set up a Windows XP VM. You will need FMPMD2000 to play back the compiled MML files, which are .M or .M2 files. You will need the PMD driver itself. MC.exe is what you will be using to compile the .mml files you create.
http://www5.airnet.ne.jp/kajapon/dat/PMD48O_F.LZH - This is the entire package containing what you need to compile .mml files.
To make this less tedious, you will need MuMML.
Basically, MuMML streamlines this process. Whenever you save the .mml file you are working on, it will automatically compile it, so that you can play it back using FMPMD2000.
https://battleofthebits.com/lyceum/View/PPMCK - MuMML may be found here.
You can make your own instruments in MML, but it's rather a confusing and tedious process. If you want to use the instruments that ZUN uses, then they are listed here.
https://pastebin.com/YbPCdeR7
Here's an example of what PMD MML looks like.
https://pastebin.com/Amb5tTXg
Not really necessary but may come in handy and still interesting to read.
https://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/File:YM2608_Manual_(Translated).pdf
Not necessary either, but if you can read nip, this is a fun read.
https://archive.org/details/AKIPC980186NEC/page/n25/mode/2up (86 board manual)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ZOE5pAdCI&t=85 - cool video on the 86 board.