Paper Route - Paperboy 2

Paper Route

Composer Rich Shemaria Released 1991-??-?? Title Origin Game Location

Paper Route is the song that plays in most versions of Paperboy 2 while your Paperboy (or Papergirl) is out making deliveries.

Because the games lacked credits, the composer was unknown for many years since its release, and many speculated that the composer of the song was influenced by the Seinfeld Theme, mainly because the SNES version uses the same slap bass sample as the Seinfeld Theme, which was sampled from a Korg M1.

In 2018, 27 years after the game's release, the composer, Rich Shemaria, identified himself in a YouTube video that he composed the game's music, and also confirmed the speculation that the game was developed by Eastridge Technology, run by Nick Eastridge.

According to Rich, despite people's comments about the song's resemblance to the Seinfeld Theme, he never watched the show, so he was most likely not inspired by it. Rich did state, however, that he listened to the original arcade's score (by Hal Canon) and attempted to write in the style of that song. According to Rich, he composed the song using a Yamaha DX7 and a Roland 505 drum machine.

Rich said that he was able to hear the song on each platform before the game was shipped out, though said the song sounded a little different than what he played. This was most likely due to Nick Eastridge arranging the game's music. It is evidenced by the off-timing of many notes, as well as the random velocities of each note, that at this point, Nick Eastridge wrote a MIDI conversion tool for his NES and SNES sound drivers. He also wrote the sound drivers for the other versions as well; Amiga, Game Boy, and DOS.

Rich should be contacted for an official title.

Rich said of the song:

“

I only used a DX-7 and a Roland 505 drum machine and I had everything the way I wanted it. When the game came out, somehow they managed to change some of the sounds that I had laid down. Also, the phrasing. They quantized it a bit and screwed up my original performance.

„

Games

Paperboy 2 (DOS)

Paperboy 2 (DOS)

Arranger Nick Eastridge Programmer Nick Eastridge Released 1991-??-?? Length 3:07 BPM 123 Format VGZ Loops Yes

The DOS version has no percussion, and plays a piano-like sound for all the instruments.

Paperboy 2 (SNES)

Paperboy 2 (SNES)

Arranger Nick Eastridge Programmer Nick Eastridge Released 1991-11-?? Length 3:15 BPM 120 Format SPC Loops Yes

The SNES version has the highest fidelity of all the ports; it has percussion and several different kinds of instrumentation, as well as several sound channels, and is the best known version.

Many listeners have compared the song to the Seinfeld Theme, as both songs share the slap bass patch from the Korg M1.

Paperboy 2 (GB)

Paperboy 2 (GB)

Arranger Nick Eastridge Programmer Nick Eastridge Released 1992-04-?? Format GBS Loops Yes

The Game Boy version sounds identical to the NES version, but without percussion. Also, after the last note of the song, it loops back to the beginning of the bassline, rather than the short silence the NES version has.

Paperboy 2 (NES)

Paperboy 2 (NES)

Arranger Nick Eastridge Programmer Nick Eastridge Released 1992-04-?? Length 3:10 (NTSC) / 3:11 (PAL) BPM 120 Format NSF Loops Yes

The NES version of the song only contains the bassline and lead melody, as well as a simply drum beat that plays every second beat.

The PAL version changes the drums on the intro and plays a half-step flat, but other than that, matches the NTSC version in terms of speed. However, the slight change of the intro drums causes the song to play a second longer than the NTSC version.

Paperboy 2 (AMI)

Paperboy 2 (AMI)

Arranger Nick Eastridge Programmer Nick Eastridge Released 1992-??-?? Format UNK Loops Yes

Similar to the DOS version, the game features no percussion and only one instrument, which appears to be a sine wave. However, unlike the DOS version, this version lacks the backing electric piano part.