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Cosmetic Data Packs: Music

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Ballaam edited this page Mar 15, 2025 · 6 revisions

Cosmetic Data Packs can handle encoded forms of custom music. This article covers the formats of Custom Music along with some resources that might be useful.

Creating Custom music

Video Tutorial

It's worth noting that some information that this tutorial talks about is out of date, including (but not limited to):

  • File Size Restrictions
  • Using the desktop N64 Midi Tool (which is now outdated and bugged)

It's recommended that you visit the discord for any information until a more up-to-date tutorial is available.

Video Tutorial - Creating Custom Music

Acquiring the DK64 Soundfont

  1. Open N64 SoundBank Tool (Note "Soundbank" not "Sound"), which can be found here
  2. Select Donkey Kong 64 (U) in the dropdown and load your DK64 US ROM
  3. Select "Write all DLS Soundfont Banks", and select a folder. It should write a file called ExtractedSoundbank_00.dls in there
  4. Visit the online version of N64 Midi Tool and click "Fix Soundfont".
  5. Load ExtractedSoundbank_00.dls as your DLS Soundfont
  6. Select either DLS or SF2 as the output format. Different pieces of software will support either one or both of these, so feel free to download both the DLS version and the SF2 version if you're unsure.
  7. Click Download.
  8. Happy Donkin'

Acquire other soundfonts

  1. Open N64 SoundBank Tool (Note "Soundbank" not "Sound"), which can be found here
  2. Select the game of your choice in the dropdown and load the relevant ROM
  3. Select "Write all DLS Soundfont Banks", and select a folder. It should write a file called ExtractedSoundbank_00.dls in there
  4. Go to this page and download the installation package for Viena64
  5. Do all the installation setup. You will only need this program for the next 5-10 minutes.
  6. File > Import Soundfonts > Click "Ok" > Files > Select the ExtractedSoundbank_00.dls file > Open
  7. In the prompt that has popped up: Select all in all Soundfonts > Ok
  8. File > Save as > Save as a .sf2 file
  9. The SF2 file you just saved should now be the relevant soundfont you can work from. Feel free to uninstall Viena64 as you will no longer need it.

Common Problems

Important changes between vanilla DK64 and Randomizer

From 2.0 onwards, DK64 Randomizer can support files as big as 32768 bytes instead of 16512 for main BGM tracks. Compressed file sizes aren't a concern with regard to DK64 Randomizer.

An instrument is looping out of sync of other instruments when playing back my song in-game

Before importing your MIDI into N64 Midi Tool, check BOTH No Repeaters and Extend Short Tracks

Custom Music Categorization

Music in DK64 is classed into 5 categories: BGM (Background Music), Major Items, Minor Items, Events, Other.

Background Music

Will play in the background in levels when walking around.

  • Jungle Japes
    • Jungle Japes (Starting Area)
    • Jungle Japes (Minecart)
    • Jungle Japes (Army Dillo)
    • Jungle Japes (Caves/Underground) (NOTE: Also plays in the seasick ship in Galleon)
    • Jungle Japes (Lobby)
    • Jungle Japes (Tunnels)
    • Jungle Japes (Baboon Blast)
    • Jungle Japes
    • Jungle Japes (Cranky Area)
  • Angry Aztec
    • Angry Aztec
    • Angry Aztec (Beetle Slide)
    • Angry Aztec (Temple)
    • Angry Aztec (Dogadon)
    • Angry Aztec (5-Door Temple/5DT)
    • Angry Aztec (Lobby)
    • Angry Aztec (Tunnels)
    • Angry Aztec (Chunky Klaptraps)
    • Angry Aztec (Baboon Blast)
  • Frantic Factory
    • Frantic Factory (Car Race)
    • Frantic Factory
    • Frantic Factory (Lobby)
    • Frantic Factory (Mad Jack)
    • Frantic Factory (Crusher Room)
    • Frantic Factory (R&D)
    • Frantic Factory (Production Room)
  • Gloomy Galleon
    • Gloomy Galleon (Pufftoss)
    • Gloomy Galleon (Seal Race)
    • Gloomy Galleon (Tunnels)
    • Gloomy Galleon (Lighthouse)
    • Gloomy Galleon (2DS)
    • Gloomy Galleon (5DS/Submarine)
    • Gloomy Galleon (Treasure Chest)
    • Gloomy Galleon (Mermaid Palace)
    • Gloomy Galleon (Mechanical Fish)
    • Gloomy Galleon (Baboon Blast)
    • Gloomy Galleon (Lobby)
    • Gloomy Galleon (Outside)
  • Fungi Forest
    • Fungi Forest (Anthill)
    • Fungi Forest (Barn)
    • Fungi Forest (Mill)
    • Fungi Forest (Spider)
    • Fungi Forest (Mushroom Top Rooms)
    • Fungi Forest (Giant Mushroom)
    • Fungi Forest (Day)
    • Fungi Forest (Night)
    • Fungi Forest (Minecart)
    • Fungi Forest (Dogadon)
    • Fungi Forest (Lobby)
    • Fungi Forest (Baboon Blast)
    • Fungi Forest (Rabbit Race)
  • Crystal Caves
    • Crystal Caves (Army Dillo)
    • Crystal Caves (Cabins)
    • Crystal Caves (Rotating Room)
    • Crystal Caves (Tile Flipping)
    • Crystal Caves (Tunnels)
    • Crystal Caves
    • Crystal Caves (Tantrum)
    • Crystal Caves (Beetle Race)
    • Crystal Caves (Igloos)
    • Crystal Caves (Lobby)
    • Crystal Caves (Baboon Blast)
  • Creepy Castle
    • Creepy Castle (Wind Tower)
    • Creepy Castle (Tree)
    • Creepy Castle (Museum)
    • Creepy Castle (Kut Out)
    • Creepy Castle (Dungeon Without Chains)
    • Creepy Castle (Inner Crypts)
    • Creepy Castle (Ballroom)
    • Creepy Castle (Greenhouse)
    • Creepy Castle
    • Creepy Castle (Minecart)
    • Creepy Castle (Crypt)
    • Creepy Castle (Dungeon with Chains)
    • Creepy Castle (Lobby)
    • Creepy Castle (Trash Can)
    • Creepy Castle (Toolshed)
    • Creepy Castle (Baboon Blast)
  • Hideout Helm
    • Hideout Helm (Blast-o-Matic on)
    • Hideout Helm (Blast-o-Matic off)
    • Hideout Helm (Bonus Barrels)
    • Hideout Helm (Lobby)
  • DK Isles
    • DK Isles
    • DK Isles (K. Rool's Ship)
    • DK Isles (Banana Fairy Island)
    • DK Isles (K. Lumsy's Prison)
    • Training Grounds
    • DK Isles (Snide's Room)
    • K. Lumsy Celebration
    • K. Rool Takeoff
  • Miscellaneous
    • Cranky's Lab
    • Funky's Hut
    • Bonus Minigames
    • Mini Monkey
    • Hunky Chunky
    • Snide's HQ
    • Candy's Music Shop
    • Pause Menu
    • Rambi
    • Troff 'n' Scoff
    • Awaiting to enter boss
    • Battle Arena
    • Strong Kong
    • Rocketbarrel Boost
    • Orangstand Sprint
    • DK Rap
    • Mad Maze Maul
    • Stealthy Snoop
    • Minecart Mayhem
    • Boss Introduction
    • Mini Boss
    • Gorilla Gone
    • Intro Story Medley
    • Enguarde
    • Main Menu
    • K. Rool's Theme
    • K. Rool's Battle
    • End Sequence
    • K. Lumsy Ending
    • K. Rool's Entrance
    • Monkey Smash
    • Wrinkly Kong
    • Nintendo Logo

Major Items

The song will play whenever a major item is spawned or collected.

  • Golden Banana (GB) / Key Get
  • Company Coin Get
  • Blueprint Get
  • Blueprint Drop
  • Move Get
  • Gun Get
  • Headphones Get
  • Pearl Get
  • Drop Rainbow Coin
  • Rainbow Coin Get
  • Bean Get
  • Banana Medal Get

Minor Items

The song will play whenever a minor item is spawned or collected.

  • Banana Coin Get
  • Minecart Coin Get
  • Melon Slice Get
  • Crystal Coconut Get
  • Fairy Tick
  • Melon Slice Drop
  • Drop Coins (Minecart)
  • Checkpoint
  • Normal Star

Events

The song will play sometimes when triggering an event.

  • Triangle Trample
  • Guitar Gazump
  • Bongo Blast
  • Trombone Tremor
  • Saxophone Slam
  • Transformation
  • Success
  • Failure
  • Boss Defeat
  • Boss Unlock
  • Success (Races)
  • Failure (Races & Try Again)
  • Baboon Balloon
  • Oh Banana
  • 100th CB Get
  • Going Through Vulture Ring
  • BBlast final star

Other

(There is no way to randomize these tracks by design. These are purely listed to prevent confusion)

  • Silence
  • Unused Coin Pickup (In rando, this is changed to the windows 95 theme that plays on fast boot)
  • Water Droplets
  • DK Transition (Opening)
  • DK Transition (Closing)
  • Generic Twinkly sounds
  • Fairy Nearby
  • Nintendo Logo (Old?)
  • Generic Seaside Sounds
  • Tag Barrel
  • K. Rool Defeat
  • Start (To Pause Game)
  • Unused High-Pitched Japes
  • Bonus Barrel Introduction
  • Game Over

candy File Formats

.candy files are essentially renamed .zip files, which contain two files. song.bin which is the song binary file, and data.json which contains various pieces of information which are relevant for sorting.

data.json has the following JSON structure:

{
   "song":"Rusty Bucket Bay: Engine Room", // Song Name, as a string
   "game":"Banjo-Kazooie", // Game name as a string
   "group":"bgm", // Either "bgm", "events", "majoritems" or "minoritems"
   "length":126.66375, // Length of the song in seconds, as a float
   "logo":"Banjo-Kazooie.png", // Path to the image in your pack with the logo
   "composer":"Grant Kirkhope", // List of composers who made the song, as a string, where each composer is delimited by a comma
   "converter":"Ballaam", // List of converters who converted the song, as a string, where each converter is delimited by a comma
   "tags":[
      "Interiors",
      "Gloomy"
   ] // Array of strings, see "Accepted Tags" for more
}

Accepted tags

The following strings are acceptable tags:

  • Exteriors
  • Interiors
  • Lobbies and Shops
  • Fights
  • Minigames
  • Spawning
  • Collection
  • Calm
  • Happy
  • Gloomy

Troubleshooting

Music selection (Music Plando) file isn't working

  • Check the structure of your music pack. If, when you view the contents of the zip file, it contains a master pack directory, and then the bgm/events etc subdirectories, this might interfere with the music selections file. Make sure there is no pack master directory

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