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FamiTracker
[url=http://dl.dropbox.com/u/992948/famitracker/second%20truth%20from%20the%20left%20other%20version.ftm]Here is a public dropbox link to the .ftm that will be updated as I work on it.
Original post below.
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I started messing around in Famitracker a couple of weeks ago so I'm still pretty new at this. This afternoon (on a whim that quickly became an obsession) I started doing a cover of my favourite piece of music from the SoM soundtrack.
[url=http://soundcloud.com/a_sleepy_company/second-truth-from-the-left/s-VQC6Y]Soundcloud Link for convenience
I've done the first 2 (or maybe 3) intros* so far. I was wondering if anyone could offer some constructive criticism before I get too far. I was also wondering if anyone had any advice about making my drums a bit more powerful.
(I realise that there was never a Famicom that ran at 54Hz but it was the only way I could get the tempo I wanted and avoid the dreaded uneven row syndrome. I don't mind that it wouldn't be this speed on real hardware.)
[quote=Im_a_Track_Man]THE USE OF SO MANY DELAY EFFECTS, NO EARRAPING DISCORD, USAGE OF CUSTOM ENGINE SPEED, AND A KNOWLEDGE OF RATIONAL TEMPO?
You are either:
1. A GOD
2. Someone who has been lurking the forums for years
3. VERY experienced with the tracker, or music overall.
This is honestly INCREDIBLY good.[/quote]
Damn, my cover has been blown! I must return to Asgard forthwith!
No, not really... I've been lurking on the forums for about the time I've been messing around with FamiTracker, maybe slightly less. A couple of weeks at the most.
I'm not great with music, I've just been very meticulously deconstructing the original in a DAW. :P
(I had to use lots of delay effects because it uses so many goddamn triplets. ;o; I started doing it with speed at four and 6 rows per beat but then I hit a bunch of demisemiquavers...)
But thank you! Nothing you can think of that I could improve?
[quote=kinkinkijkin]Most of it = OCT 3+
What I mean = NEEDS MOAR BAYSSSSSSSS[/quote]
Ah, in time my good man! The bass is just about to come in where I've got up to. I had no spare tracks to devote to an extra bass part (I had to drop or merge tracks here and there as it is).
I have been pondering how I'm going to manage slap bass...
[url=http://soundcloud.com/a_sleepy_company/second-truth-from-the-left-1/s-wXs97]Soundcloud again
Gave up on trying to do slap bass for now and just did it on the triangle channel.
The kick/snare and hi-hats are now taking up two of the SNES's channels so there are only 6 melodic channels. This means I don't have to cut or merge anything!
Two channels on the SNES were playing in unison so I've merged them in one instrument and then made up a sort of bass harmony for the spare channel, kinkinkijkin should be a bit happier hopefully. :P
Also improved the drums by:
1. Discovering RJDMC (is 1.02 the latest version by the way?) and reconverting my samples and
2. Resetting the delta counter to 7E on every sample instead of 40. I realise I'm essentially clipping the first half-cycle of the sample... but if it sounds good then it is good!
EDIT: I intend to finish this, but there are some pretty scary bits coming up... the slap bass solo for example.
I'm with kin on this: needs more bassline after the intro Everything is so hiiiiiiigh
Other than that I'd say it's very good. You seem pretty comfortable with the program already.
Also, welcome to the forums!
EDIT: Forgot to mention, RJDMC is most useful if you're using ppMCK or another compiler that doesn't have a built-in WAV>DMC converter (which Famitracker does).
EDIT2: Attached a 60Hz version of your tune, with moar Fxx abuse~~
[quote=jrlepage]I'm with kin on this: needs more bassline after the intro Everything is so hiiiiiiigh
Other than that I'd say it's very good. You seem pretty comfortable with the program already.
Also, welcome to the forums!
EDIT: Forgot to mention, RJDMC is most useful if you're using ppMCK or another compiler that doesn't have a built-in WAV>DMC converter (which Famitracker does).
EDIT2: Attached a 60Hz version of your tune, with moar Fxx abuse~~[/quote]
That's still part of the intro really, it kind of has three intros (the slow building chord, the staccato bit and then the fanfare with the 4/4 kick). Did you listen to the most recent version (at the bottom of my last post)? Once the drums come properly there's a real bass line (and a baritone harmony part that I wrote while feeling a bit manic).
Can you explain the clever thing you've done with the Fxx effect? I understand it's changing the 'speed' value but I don't understand how it's not resulting in irregular length rows...
Actually, don't listen to the one at the end of my previous post, listen to [url=http://soundcloud.com/a_sleepy_company/second-truth-from-the-left-3]this one.
It's pretty complicated, but here's the gist of it:
As you know, the NES works at 60Hz. That's 60 updates of the audio engine per second, or 3600 updates per minute. In Famitracker, 1 bpm = 4 tracker rows, so 3600 updates / 4 rows = 900 bpm, which is the absolute fastest speed you can track at.
The formula for tempo is as follows: (6 * tempo) / speed. With tempo = 150, that gives us (6 * 150) / speed, or 900/speed. Hence, you'll notice that when tempo is set to 150, then the 'speed' value represents the number of audio engine updates per tracker line.
Setting any other tempo than 150 means you get an uneven number of frames per row (since the NES can only update so many times per second), and worst of all, you get no visual cue to let you know which rows last longer than others. This is where Fxx manipulation comes in handy: by alternating between different values of Fxx (if tempo = 150, naturally), you're effectively creating an uneven tempo in much the same way as if you were using a non-150 tempo, except the value for Fxx lets you know how many engine updates take place on that row, which helps making things like instrument arps and Gxx delays (since Gxx means delay this row by xx engine updates) much easier.
I realise this is a pretty long-winded and complicated explanation; do let me know if there's anything you didn't get.
[quote=jrlepage]It's pretty complicated, but here's the gist of it:
As you know, the NES works at 60Hz. That's 60 updates of the audio engine per second, or 3600 updates per minute. In Famitracker, 1 bpm = 4 tracker rows, so 3600 updates / 4 rows = 900 bpm, which is the absolute fastest speed you can track at.
The formula for tempo is as follows: (6 * tempo) / speed. With tempo = 150, that gives us (6 * 150) / speed, or 900/speed. Hence, you'll notice that when tempo is set to 150, then the 'speed' value represents the number of audio engine updates per tracker line.
Setting any other tempo than 150 means you get an uneven number of frames per row (since the NES can only update so many times per second), and worst of all, you get no visual cue to let you know which rows last longer than others. This is where Fxx manipulation comes in handy: by alternating between different values of Fxx (if tempo = 150, naturally), you're effectively creating an uneven tempo in much the same way as if you were using a non-150 tempo, except the value for Fxx lets you know how many engine updates take place on that row, which helps making things like instrument arps and Gxx delays (since Gxx means delay this row by xx engine updates) much easier.
I realise this is a pretty long-winded and complicated explanation; do let me know if there's anything you didn't get.[/quote]
Thanks for the detailed explanation! I actually understood some of that already, hence using a custom engine speed to get near the tempo I wanted and avoid the uneven row problem.
I worked out that the correct 'Tempo' setting for 54Hz is 135 by 150/60=2.5 and 2.5x54=135.
I was confused because I thought you were saying that the Fxx trick avoided uneven rows. I realise now that it doesn't, it just means they're visible and more predictable.
I like my demisemiquavers to be exact so I think I'll stick with 54Hz for the moment.
[quote=Dwedit]I'd much rather have a nsf/ftm than a "soundcloud" version.[/quote]
Well it's still a WIP, I'll upload both when I'm finished. It seems silly to keep uploading .ftms because there'd be loads of different versions floating around. Also not sure what'll happen when I try to compile an NSF because of the weird engine speed...
[quote=SirPrimalform]I like my demisemiquavers to be exact so I think I'll stick with 54Hz for the moment.[/quote]
The main problem with nonstandard clock rates is that NSF export is very compromised. To my knowledge, only foo_gep (Game Emu Player for foobar2000) supports such NSFs... In other players either the tempo will be messed up, the pitch will be messed up, or both.
It's (in my opinion at least) a much better habit to just accept that the NES works at 60 (or 50) updates per second, and just work with what you have, using alternating Fxx commands to get the tempo that's closest to what you wanted initially.
Everything is so hiiiiiiigh
