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FamiTracker
ive gotten all the basics down and am pretty good with the drums and bass, but i can't seem to even begin to get good lead and rhythm sounds on the sqaure channels. does anyone have some suggestions for getting different sounds? i messed around with the appegiator a little which sort of worked. can anyone post square instruments so i can import them and see how its done? how do you get all those good lead tones like the ones in the nes games?
First off, octaves are important. If you're trying to create a lead tune using the two square channels, I suggest using the 2nd octave on one channel & the 3rd octave on another (or the 3rd & 4th octaves, respectively).
Secondly, harmony is also important; when you use one channel at a different octave than another, you'll really need to know what pair of notes go together hand-in-hand (especially depending on the mood of your tune, which you should know from your bass in the Triangle channel).
Thirdly, syncopation is a must. Syncopation is what gives your tune variance; modifying a note here & there will cause your tune to change entirely & can let you switch from one mood to another within the song.
Lastly, effects. They're not as important, but they add a certain degree of syncopation to the song (such as echo production, vibrato, tremolo, etc.).
Since this post may be a bit long, check out the next post for other info (including the instruments).
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Technology: the one thing that's hated & cursed at by all engineers, technologists, scientists & technicians!
The perfect example (as far as I can see) is Mathew Valente's rendition of the Mega Man 10 soundtrack.
All the songs in the Mega Man series are renown for their syncopation & varying effects (especially the Mega Man games released for the Super NES). As a result, many trackers (including Mathew) create their own instruments to achieve certain effects. As a matter of fact, all the songs in the series are so well-done that they don't even require the use of the DPCM channel for drum & bass (they use the noise channel instead).
However, that's not the only thing they use; they also use at least one effect column in each sound channel (if not, they add more columns for different effect combinations).
Just check out the attachment; it's Mathew's FamiTracker project file for Mega Man 10. I recommend that you save the instruments from this project file as you need, but I really recommend that you slow down song 12 & mute all every channel other than the square wave channels. Then, listen to it carefully.
Note the different octaves in his square wave channels, the different effects in each instrument, the different effects in each column & how they all flow together. Note especially the syncopation (the note variations that allow the music to change from one sequence type to another).
And props to Mathew for his awesome tracking!
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Technology: the one thing that's hated & cursed at by all engineers, technologists, scientists & technicians!
When I think of "tone" on the NES I usually think of the duty cycle. You select the duty cycle of a square channel using V00 through V03. (Note that V03 is exactly the same as V01 except it's phase inverted; I haven't found a real use for this, but there probably is one.) Triangle and DPCM channels don't have this effect. The noise channel does, but it's completely different and I don't like its V01 sound anyway.
For squares, I usually use V01 by default and switch to V00 and V02 for variety. It may also depend on if I'm imitating any particular instrument; V02 is good for flutes and V00 is good for electric guitars, for instance.
In any case, I think the two most important bits of advice are:
1. Screw around
2. Listen to other people's music and see how they did it.
If I missed it, oops, but I don't see any mention of this: you can vary your lead sounds up some more by making a duty cycle envelope, looped or not - for example, you can have a lead intrument start with duty cycle 1 and then immediately switch to duty cycle 2, or vice versa. Also try this for drums!
Thanks, TechEmporium! The praise you give me is very appreciated, but most of the hard work in designing the instruments should be credited toward the capcom musicians. I only recreated them the best I could from ear.
Besides I think the Mega Man Medley would be a perfect way to study different instrumentation and such..(It does have 10 songs in one long medley after all..practically different instrumentation for every song it goes through, too ) It's attached to this msg, as well!
[quote=tssf]Thanks, TechEmporium! The praise you give me is very appreciated, but most of the hard work in designing the instruments should be credited toward the capcom musicians. I only recreated them the best I could from ear.
Besides I think the Mega Man Medley would be a perfect way to study different instrumentation and such..(It does have 10 songs in one long medley after all..practically different instrumentation for every song it goes through, too ) It's attached to this msg, as well![/quote]
Man! Those rapid speed changes almost game me seizures! :P
That, my friend, is 78 frames of epic talent... And the perfect combination of music to show how different effects, notes & instruments can be used.
[quote=Mr_Sprinkles]hey guys, thanx for all the posts. ive been busy, but i will get thru all the stuff you put up. they look like the answers i was searching for. [/quote]
No problem; that's what forums are on the internet for.
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Technology: the one thing that's hated & cursed at by all engineers, technologists, scientists & technicians!
) 
) It's attached to this msg, as well!