What Instruments Were Used in Banjo-Kazooie?

The Banjo-Kazooie games are so whimsical and charming, and much of that is thanks to Grant Kirkhope’s amazing score. For many fans, they easily rank among the best soundtracks in gaming history.

If you’re curious about the original instruments used in Banjo-Kazooie, we’ve got you. Thanks to research from the VGM community, almost all the original sounds have been found.

In this post, we’ll show you the original instruments, synths, and sample libraries Grant used to write the music. We’ll also show you modern alternatives that are easier to find. 

Guh-huh!

Quick Look: The Original Instruments Used in Banjo-Kazooie

E-MU Proteus FX

The Proteus FX was a rackmount synth created by E-MU Systems. It repackages and updates many samples from other instruments in the Proteus line.

Here’s a partial list of prominent Proteus FX samples used in Banjo-Kazooie:

• Bari Sax
• Celeste
• Church Organ
• French Horns
• Muted Guitar
• Tuba

The Proteus line were go-to instruments for composers and electronic musicians back in the day. So they’re relatively easy to find on the used market.

Modern Alternative: E-MU Proteus Legacy

E-MU Systems had a long history of acquisitions and mergers, and the company has since been dissolved. But thankfully, you can get software versions of their instruments thanks to Digital Sound Factory.

The E-MU Proteus Legacy pack is a Kontakt instrument with samples from seven classic E-MU products. Specifically, it has the Proteus 1 and Proteus 2 libraries, both of which were in the Proteus FX.

Roland JV-1080

The Roland JV-1080 was an incredibly popular synth that helped define the sound of ‘90s pop music. It housed hundreds of electronic and acoustic samples.

Many of Banjo-Kazooie’s sounds came from this beautiful instrument, including the titular Banjo. Here’s snapshot of other sounds that came from the JV-1080:

• Banjo
• Fiddle
• Harmonica
• Theramin
• Trombone
• Miscellaneous Drums

Modern Alternative: Roland JV-1080 Software Synthesizer

These days, Roland offers digital versions of their legacy synths. In other words, you can get a VST version of the legendary JV-1080 with all the same incredible sounds as the original.

Roland Expansion Boards & CD-ROMS

Long before digital sample libraries and VSTs were a thing, Roland created hardware expansions for their synths. They also released CD-ROMs filled with instrument samples.

First, let’s talk about the expansion boards. The SR-JV80 series could plug into synths like the JV-1080, expanding their capabilities. 

Two of them were prominent in the Banjo games: the JV80-02 Orchestral board and the JV80-05 World board.

SR-JV80-02 Orchestral Expansion Board:

• Bassoon
• Clarinet
• Harp
• Marimba
• Sustained Strings
• Tight Pizzicato Strings

SR-JV80-05 World Expansion Board:

• Pan Flute
• Steel Drums
• Tribal Vocals

Grant also sourced a few sounds from Roland’s L-CDP series of sample CD-ROMs. 

Most of them were miscellaneous percussion sounds used in various tracks throughout the game. Those all came from L-CDP-01 Drums & Percussion and L-CDP-04 Orchestral Percussion.

The one exception is the orchestral flute, which came from L-CDP-05 Orchestral Winds.

Naturally, these CDs are out of print and fairly hard to come by. It’s possible the sounds were reused in later products. But to my knowledge, nothing’s been confirmed.

Modern Alternatives: Roland SRX Orchestra and SRX World Software Synths

Roland tends to recycle sounds into new products. In this case, the SRX expansion boards eventually replaced the SR-JV80 boards. Today, you can get those SRX series products as VST plugins.

Miscellaneous Sound Effect Libraries

Many sound effects used throughout the game came from various stock libraries. And to add to the ambience, many of those sounds were incorporated into the compositions themselves. For example, listen to the bird squawks in Click Clock Wood or the frog croaks in Bubble Gloop Swamp.

Beyond that, samples from these packs were used for miscellaneous sound effects and character voices throughout the game. Here are all the known libraries used for Banjo:

• Hollywood Edge The Premiere Edition 1 — Church bell, bird squawks
• Sound Ideas Cartoon Trax — Frog croaks
• Sound Ideas Hanna Barbera Sound FX — Bees buzzing, misc. animal noises
• Sound Ideas Lucasfilm Sound Effects Library — Camel sounds
• Sound Ideas The General Series 6000 — Wind blowing, misc. animal sounds

Original Samples & Recordings

As with any great composer and sound designer, Grant Kirkhope provided his own samples to help make the soundtrack memorable.

Chances are there weren’t many satisfying kazoo samples available at the time. So Grant recorded his own sample and used that in the game.

Grant also provided voice clips for Mumbo, Klungo, the Jinjos, and a few other characters.

What About Banjo-Tooie Sound Sources?

One of the few new samples worth mentioning is the Zaghrouta (vocal trilling) which plays in Wumba’s Wigwam. This sound also comes from the SR-JV80-05 World Expansion Board.

Other than that, Banjo-Tooie used the exact same sound palette as the original Banjo-Kazooie.

Find More of Your Favorite Video Game Sounds

We’re huge fans of video game music around here. So we’ve done some digging to find sounds from our favorite games.

• Super Mario 64: What Instruments and Samples Were Used? — Explore the sample libraries Koji Kondo used to create the N64’s other platforming classic.
• GoldenEye 007: Tracking Down the Original Music Samples — Grant Kirkhope also composed the soundtrack to this legendary shooter. Discover what sounds he used for that game.
• Zero-G Ethnic: The Sounds Behind Zelda and Other Classic Media — We explore the sample pack used in classic games like Ocarina of Time, Crash Bandicoot, Half Life, and other media.