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FamiTracker
So I was bored today, and decided to make a song. This is the result, yet I have no idea where to go from here. I also don't want this to become one of those dead projects that sounded good at first, but either grew terribly or the Inspiration Sucker got to. I do not want this to be one of those songs. If you could help, that would be great,
I agree with the previous poster, but I thought I'd attach this tiny edit: I copy/pasted the pattern a few times and changed the noise channel's rhythm in the last 2 patterns. Very catchy stuff indeed!
If you are having trouble writing, it might help to know that this song is in F Minor, so you'd (generally) use the following notes in this scale when writing the song:
F
G
Ab(G#)
Bb(A#)
C
Db (C#)
Eb (D#)
Alternatively you can use an instrument [url=http://puu.sh/hvjdM/b1b593298d.png]with an arpeggio of -4, then use the white keys (On your keyboard that scale would be typed as:
N M Q W E R T Y
Try to write the bass and melody at the same time, but try to have a beat going before you do!
EDIT: Another thing I need to mention about writing the beat. Try saying "boots and cats and" several times out loud. You might find it easier to write a beat if you make sure you at least have the "boots (kick)", as well as the "cats (snare)," in your beat. (Despite that, I love what you did in this FTM, and I advise keeping the intro like that~)
I attached a second FTM demonstrating a simple kick/snare beat, then throwing extra filler stuff in-between them. Later in the FTM I double the tempo so I can add even faster fillers between the kick/snare to make the beat more interesting.
I only touched the surface of this song, so I hope this helps. Good luck! I'm excited to hear what you come up with with these tips in mind!
Hey, this is a pretty good revision! I think there are a couple of things I want to point out in this new version though:
- Make sure you have that kick/snare beat going in your song! I noticed that some patterns (particularly Noise pattern 00, which plays a lot throughout the song) doesn't have the kick/snare beat about halfway down the pattern: It becomes snare/kick, and throws the rhythm off!
- Remember that you can add extra kick/snare/hihat notes in-between to keep the percussion interesting! Also, try to change things up for all your drum frames, from rows 60 through 7F (Like what you did in pattern 0B, for instance, but it could be drum fills instead of silence!)
- Try to vary up your chords more! I noticed throughout the song the bass keeps emphasizing the "F" note throughout the entire song! It's good to go back to "home" every now and then, but it can make the song sound bland fast if you aren't moving it anywhere! Consider re-writing the bass, and try to keep a melody in mind as you pick new bass notes! This could be hard at first, but with practice you can write some serious stuff with that knowledge alone!
- Try putting the effect Z00 on every single DPCM note you play, because it adds a nice "popping kick" sound to your DPCM drums! (Also feel free to make your noise drums/melody louder if you need to)
- I know I've said that 9-A are good volume levels for pulses, but when I say that I refer to 2A03, which is 2 Pulse, Tri, Noise and DPCM. The problem is, you're also using MMC5, which adds two other pulses. Therefore, I would advise using a new volume level of 4-6 for all of your pulses and noise (well okay I like punchy drums so I kept it loud, haha), so the Triangle and DPCM stand out. (this applies to VRC6 too)
I've attached an incomplete example to demonstrate all of this. (I didn't fill the skeleton, but I'm hoping it helps you understand what I mean.)
I can hear the improvement in the drums! Though, I noticed that pattern 02 has several DPCM notes without the Z00. In addition, the noise channel still has an inverted snare/kick rhythm going on in the second-half. Can you modify those?
I also feel that there was a misunderstanding from my previous post. I mentioned that your lowest melodic pitches (the bassline, which is the triangle channel in this song) plays an "F" throughout the entire song. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can make the song stale if you don't change it up every now and then. Try to change the pitches in the bassline from time to time (particularly, whenever you have a kick playing from your drum's skeletal structure.)
I've attached another FTM to emphasize what I'm referring to. Hope it helps!
Don't know if ya mind, but I kinda ripped the bassline from your demonstration into Bloody Bits. This isn't to say I didn't learn anything from your most recent post, it is just I'm too lazy right now to come up with my own. I can simply take it out if you don't mind, but otherwise, here is the new FTM.
Sorry, I still think there is a misunderstanding. The bass and melody are supposed to help guide you to write the other channels. The "F" notes aren't a bad thing to do, and I would recommend keeping it emphasized in the intro so the listener gets accustomed to the tonal center of the song, being F Minor. By the time the melody comes in, I would recommend changing up the progression entirely, and the bass is probably the most effective way to do that. The best way to get better at this is to keep experimenting and find out which bass/melody progressions work better than others!
I've attached another demonstration to show you what I mean.
Pretty cool! I think the variety definitely helps, though there were a couple of things I noticed:
- I think the chord on the first row of Frame 06 is missing a C#, though. Do you think you could add that?
- I also noticed frame 07's chord plays an F on all of the channels, making it confusing to tell what kind of chord you wanted to convey until the Triangle Channel's bass plays an A#. Do you think you could make the chord there play {A# [on the bass], C#, F} (at the same time)?
I was hoping my melody-bass suggestion would come naturally, but instead I think it might help if I outline the chord progression from my previous FTM. I've attached a version of my FTM with the chord progression outlined. The melody is very quiet in the FTM so you can hear how the chords relate to the bass of the song. Remember that this is meant to be a "skeleton" to work off of, so it's easier to compose around, so it basically becomes a game of madlibs!
Try to listen for these patterns in some of your favorite songs as you make arrangements of them! I think you might pick up on them faster through covering your favorite songs!
