Deprecated: mysql_connect(): The mysql extension is deprecated and will be removed in the future: use mysqli or PDO instead in /storage/content/49/145849/famitracker.com/public_html/forum/classes/dbHandler.php on line 29
FamiTracker
I've always loved this song, so I decided to cover it like if super metroid were on the NES. I'm still new to Famitracker, I'd like to hear some input, even if its what I did incorrectly. thank you!
One of the more important lessons of Famitracker is learning to make your instruments sound like things. Playing a tone at a constant pitch, volume and duty cycle is boring. All of these can be varied with effects and instrument envelopes. I kept your note data almost the same while making the sounds more interesting.
Changes made:
1) The melody in Pulse 1 I think was slightly wrong. Please let me know if my ears are broken :D
2) I made a new instrument for Pulse 1 - I called it 'pluck' because it sounds like the plucking in the SNES version of the song. It has a duty envelope of 0 1 2 (because 50% square waves sound the most like plucking to me) and a volume envelope that decreases slowly over time in a roughly exponential shape - since strings that vibrate follow this kind of volume progression.
3) I made a new instrument for triangle. This is a trick I learned by looking at NES tracks like Solstice's Intro - the 'triangle bass kick'. If you pick a note somewhere between C-3 and C-4 and descend over the next few pitches, it sounds like a bass kick - and by making it higher and lower, sharper and shallower, you get a range of kicks from soft to clubby. This roughly emulates the 'thoom' at the start of each bass note in the SNES version of the song. It could be made more explosive, perhaps. In addition, I gave the triangle bass a slight vibrato with '441'.
4) I revamped Pulse 2 a lot. If you listen to the SNES version of the song, it's a flute that starts at a very low volume and climbs to its peak - I give it a duty cycle envelope of 0 1 (because 2 is taken by pulse 1!) and make it slowly ramp up with volume changes over time. I also give it vibrato '482' and tremolo '742'. This helps to keep it less static sounding.
I left some things undone for you to look at:
1) I didn't touch the noise drums. (Arpeggios are possible and sound quite nice on the noise channel. Or maybe all it needs is the right pitch and volume envelopes...)
2) I didn't touch the ending of the song.
3) The choir 'aahs' in the SNES song aren't replicated still. You might think 'but I'm out of channels! How am I going to fit in such a thing?' Two ways -
a - Make a wav of the choir hit, import as DPCM sample, bam. Just be aware that the DPCM delta counter will make the noise and triangle channel quieter the higher it is - open the 'Tracker' menu and tick 'Display DPCM state', and use the 'Zxx' effect to modify this value directly
b - Multiplex the instrument onto one of the channels. Notice that the flute is very quiet when the choir aahs tend to play - That means if you DROP the flute and resume playing it afterwards, it's not that big of a deal. If you go this path, you'll have to think of a way to distinguish the timbre of the choir hit from the timbre of the other two pulse instruments - like, say, using an arpeggio of | 0 12, | 0 0 12, | 0 0 7 7 12 12, ... Or you could cycle through all the duty cycles, e.g. by doing | 0 1 2 or | 0 0 1 1 2 2...
Anyway, I just spent more time writing this than I did looking at the file, whew. I hope this gives you the insight you're after into making SICK COOL TOONZ in Famitracker, and I hope to see more of your works around!
