Samples of Gran Turismo

Posted by TAIYO | Dec 30, 2023

Gran Turismo

Early builds of the game had no race start cues. This changed midway through the game's development, around July 29, 1997, when a basic "beep" was introduced before any race. Just two weeks before the final build date on November 13, someone opted to alter the starting sequence sound to what we know and love. They took a sample from the "Zero-G Ambient Vol. 2" disc, specifically the fifth sample from track 45 named "Ouch Hit." Surprisingly, the origin of a Gran Turismo staple lies in a pitched-up version of Ian Boddy hitting a metal statue connected to a synth, as confirmed by asking Ian himself.

Despite Polyphony's claim of recording real car sounds, the game's limited budget led them to source the classic tire screeching sound from the "20th Century Fox Sound Effects Library." Specifically, the effect was labeled as "AUTO, SKID - BRAKE SKID."

Gran Turismo 2 - From The East

While Isamu Ohira's music had already left its mark in the series in the East, Gran Turismo 2 was the first time the Western audience could appreciate his creations. Isamu shared insights into his studio setup on his personal Facebook account, revealing the use of Pro Tools 5 and Studio Vision for song creation. His primary tool was the Roland XV-5080 for sound samples, complemented by some unconfirmed hints of S-760, SC-8850, JV1080, and SC-88PRO.

Gran Turismo 3 -

Now, with the enhanced capabilities of the PlayStation 2, many games transitioned to "streamed" audio. However, Gran Turismo 3 remained committed to sequenced music samples. Isamu Ohira continued using the XV-5080, now augmented with a SRX-01 expansion kit, evident in the clear sound of the "StdRock1" preset. A "MOON STRATOCASTER" guitar was used for the album version of the game, alongside a Fender DX bass.

Gran Turismo 4 - From The East

Isamu Ohira disclosed his use of a Goodin MIDI for recording samples for "From East to West," but it's likely that he used that too as a composing tool. It's been found that he probably used a Korg Triton since it matches many of the game samples, and the soundtrack incorporated some more SC-88Pro tidbits. Expansion kits played a more prominent role in this case, with "Hypnosis" featuring a drum loop sourced from the Roland SRX-09 World Collection as "TABLA groove" and pretty much the use of the "PhatTrak Kit" preset from "Roland SRX-05 Supreme Dance" expansion all over the entire soundtrack.