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
From the time I've been here, I haven't heard anything that reminded me of an old Famicom game as much as these first few songs have!(By the way, that's a good thing)
I'll listen to the rest, but I can say that I like the simplicity of the music, in general. Easy to listen to. Some pieces sound like they might be lacking in direction, a little, but it's nothing jarring at all.
Keep up the good work, and welcome to the FamiTracker forums!
_______________________
Thanks for listening!
-Linker2A03
I really like these! They're simple but charming and unique-- like Linker2a03 said, they really do feel like old vgm. Really nice stuff! Welcome to the forums from a fellow newcomer
nos4v222.ftm shows me that your understanding of intervals is weak. My understanding of intervals was hopeless when I had only months of experience too, so let me go over them:
Rule zero: We must learn the rules of music, before we can break them - the following rules apply because they make songwriting simple and easy. But when you want to do something the rules do not allow, do it, but know why it breaks the rules.
Rule one: A song, at any point in time, is in exactly one key. What key you are in is determined by looking at two things:
1) What is the root? E.g., what note on the bassline do we resolve to at the start of each little loop of the song?
2) If we look at the notes of the song, arrange them in order and count semi-tone gaps, what are those gaps?
2 2 1 2 2 2 1 indicates major. E.g. C D E (one semitone gap) F G A B (one semitone gap) C.
2 1 2 2 1 2 2 indicates minor. E.g. A B (one semitone gap) C D E (one semitone gap) F G A.
(There are other scales, such as the egyptian scale: 1 3 1 2 1 3 1, but major and minor are almost all you'll see in western music)
Yes, even though they have the same notes in them they are different - A minor resolves to a minor chord on root. while C major resolves to a major chord on root. Whether you resolve to major or minor helps determine how 'happy' the song feels.
But more importantly: While you are in a key, rule 1 is to stick to the key, and only use notes outside of the key if they are passing notes, never sustained.
Rule two: When two notes play at once, how clashy (dissonant) or supporting (consonant) they are is determined by the semitone gap between the two.
---Most consonant---
0, 12 ('unison/octave')
5, 7 ('perfect/power chord')
4, 8 ('major')
3, 9 ('minor')
2, 10
1, 13, 6
---Most dissonant---
The reason why some intervals sound better than others is purely mathematical. The simpler the ratio between the two frequencies, the less clashing there is and so the nicer it sounds. All the intervals are listed here: [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_(music)#Size_of_intervals_used_in_different_tuning_systems]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_(music)#Size_of_intervals_used_in_different_tuning_systems
The reason why I bring these things up is because:
-You can't decide if F#, G or G# is in the key (you sustain on all of them at different times). It looks like it should be A minor, which would make F# and G# outside of the key.
-Many times you sustain on odd intervals, such as F#/G (1 semitone) which you don't want to do unless you want a SUPER unsettling tension.
Interval usage is a staple of NES music, and is seen in almost every soundtrack for the console (all the megaman games, shatterhand, super mario brothers 1 just for starters). I recommend that to get an intuition for how this technique works you
1) get a bunch of nsfs, such as from [url=http://www.zophar.net/]http://www.zophar.net/, of soundtracks where the technique is used
2) load them into NSFPlay Synthesia or NSF Importer
3) For each song, identify what the root of the song is (what does it resolve to on bass + if you were to hum just one note, what would it be), what key it is in (don't be confused by passing notes that can be outside the key - also don't get confused by songs that change key half way through - and finally don't expect creepy sounding songs to entirely be in one key) and then start to record what the intervals it uses to bolster its lead are. You should notice two things: 1) That the higher of the two notes is what your ear identifies as the primary pitch, and 2) There will be a mix of intervals, not just one interval, and it will be done to fit the key AND to provide the desired feel.
What I mean by the desired feel is... First, some names:
3 semitone gap: minor third
4 semitone gap: major third
5 semitone gap: perfect fourth
7 semitone gap: perfect fifth
8 semitone gap: major sixth
9 semitone gap: minor sixth
First, note that 5 semitones apart and 7 semitones apart are inverted intervals - they sound 'the same' because all that's different is one note is an octave higher or lower. Obviously there's a difference but it's a lesser difference compared to the specific consonant feel it is.
Similar for 4 and 8 and 3 and 9. So if you want the feel of an interval but to swap out the notes you can try the inverted interval instead or drop/raise one note an octave.
Now, the different intervals have different 'feels' - from minor to major to perfect, the amount of harmonic information added 'decreases'. What I mean by that is, a minor interval changes the feeling of the note playing alone most, compared to just doing an octave or perfect interval over it, which makes the note stronger (why it's called a power chord!) without changing what note it 'feels' like. So if you're picking intervals to bolster a lead, you both try to stay in one key and pick the intervals for the feeling you want.
(Also, the reason why they're called thirds, fourths, etc is because in degrees of the key, the note you're on is the first, the next note over in the key is the second, etc)
Thank you very much everyone for your feedback! Very nice to hear that you liked! It gives me more motivation to make new songs =)
"nos4v222.ftm shows me that your understanding of intervals is weak"
Maybe I shouldn't have posted that really incomplete song. I just made some quick second pulse channel to get more filling into it without thinking much about intervals. But as I said the songs are not ready yet. There are some things that should be different. Anyway I have really many years of experience of music so I know exactly what I'm doing with the intervals.
Also I know about .nsf files. I have thousands of them. In my opinion Foobar2000 is the best player with Game Emu Player plugin. It plays all my .spc and .gbs files too.
The only new thing for me is FamiTracker music making. I haven't used any trackers before. And of course there is always something new to learn about music making in general especially because I haven't done any music for ages.
Oh pfffff. Well, doesn't matter since I had a lot of fun writing that post :D
I like the melodies in e4v1.ftm
I like the bassline in joo5sxx.ftm
Good complexity in the end of b7.ftm
I guess my question now would be, is the instrumentation you are doing now in Famitracker the kind of instrumentation you want to be doing? Or is there some technique you are interested in picking up still?
It's good that you wrote it because it reminded me that I should think more about it.
I don't know much about the instruments. I haven't tried much to change them.. or maybe I have, but haven't made any good sounds. I would like to get some Mega Man stylish instruments. I should learn to use better some effects too and everything.. then it would sound so much better. In yyymix2v2.ftm i copied some instruments from some random MegaManInstruments examples folder. Probably would help if I try to examine more others songs and instruments.
Yeah, there's a huge number of varied sounds that you can make just by varying so simple parameters. Examples
1) 2-4 frames of increasing volume up to the peak volume, instead of starting at the peak volume. 'late attack'
2) One frame of duty cycle 2 then duty cycle 0 afterwards. 'guitar'. Lots and lots of variations of these, like 2 1 0, 1 1 0 2, 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 2, 0 2 2 1 1 1 0...
3) One or a few frames of arpeggiation at the start of a note - 0 12 0, 12 0, -12 0, -12 0 12 0... (also works great on triangle, since triangle has no easy to use volume control)
4) Guitar style pitch bends and vibratos. Often bending up into a note, occasionally down into a note, vibratoing bits of sustained or short dramatic notes, simultaneous pitch bends downwards and fadeouts, 'predictive' early bends towards the next note, etc can all contribute to a cool lead.
5) In addition to vibratoing long sustains, sometimes changing duty cycle during a long sustain can be a cool sound.
6) Having both pulses play the same note at a very slight pitch offset (e.g. P81 on one of them). Causes the tone to 'phase' in and out. Works best with duty cycle 2. Can increase the offset to make it phase faster.
7) Making one channel be the echo of the other OR making a channel be the echo of itself in gaps between notes (ctrl+a, ctrl+c, move three rows down, ctrl+m, change the volumes)
