This looks like a really nice hands-on guide. Does anyone have recommendations for similar lightweight music production tools?
In the article http://boscaceoil.net is mentioned. But this is a flash tool that quits immediately when hitting escape. It would lead to a lot of frustration on my side.
Speaking as a simpleton I don't like software with too many twiddly bits. So for music I really like Bosca Ceoil by the lovely Terry Cavanagh (http://boscaceoil.net/).
For sound I've used BFXR as well (http://www.bfxr.net/).
Bosca Ceoil (by Terry Kavanagh) is a very nice and easy to use chiptune music tracker: http://boscaceoil.net/
Regarding the SNES games themselves, IIRC the music weren't technically "composed" but rather "programmed": the SNES uses a custom chip dedicated to music (Sony's SPC-700), and game developer of the time had to "program" this chip in assembler so it produces any music.
I can't tell you the best, but here are two I've seen that are on the quick-and-easy but without a ton of features end of the spectrum:
BeepBox is an in-browser chiptune editor that's easy to get instantly up and running.
And Bosca Ceoil is a free tool made for game jammers to quickly and easily produce some 8-bit type music.
Bosca Ceoil is a pretty basic free option with a bunch of instruments. BeepBox is good for simple chiptunes and easy to use for non-musicians.
There's a lot of great royalty free music available out there though, just make sure to check the licence.