Leaderboard

My new Undertale Remix. Hopes and Dreams this time ^^

In general, yes. The idea with the dummy instruments is laying down the harmonic foundation and figuring out how the track will progress on a larger scale. I'm not looking to find the perfect instruments at that point, just figuring out what chords I want to use and probably chunking out some melodies to be molded as I go (it's almost never perfect the first time, so iterate!). It can be easy to get overwhelmed by feeling like you have to make all the right choices right off the bat. So don't! Don't worry about it until you've put down the basic notes you want. Instrumentation/orchestration and voice leading can come later. If this is still difficult, I recommend simplifying even further. Try writing chiptunes and imposing most, if not all, of the limitations of the hardware on yourself. If you can't/don't want to emulate things exactly, that's fine! Remember, the goal is to get more comfortable with laying down notes and get a feel for structuring a track, not to write a perfect chiptune. By purposely limiting your options for production and instrumentation, you'll have a much clearer focus on the composition and an easier time learning about harmonic relationships.

That was a great comment, man! Thanks so much for that! It's made me feel more human and less broken. I always feel guilty if i'm not working on something, and i always assume that it's because i'm lacking passion/it's not for me. But there are just some days where i really don't want to sit in my box room for hours. That YT channel looks like something that could be very helpful too, so i'll be sure to check it out. What you said about adding a dummy wave to test things in your projects, that's something i'm going to really have to wrap my head around. See, i've being studying in more of a sound design focused field, so i've always put the sound itself over the composition. I find it hard to imagine how a musical passage could eventually sound if i was to make it enitrely out of pianos or simple waveforms. Is a triangle wave enough to let you know that it will sound good no matter what suitable instrumentation or synth patch is used in the end?

If you're having trouble focusing your learning process, I can relate - I have minimal formal theory training as well, and it can be especially hard to know where to start when you don't really know terms. Here's the resource that's helped me the most lately: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZLO2VgbZHeDcongKzzfOw/videos If you're having issues with composition specifically, I'd particularly recommend any of his videos that talk about utilizing motifs. There's a Dark Souls vid and a Zelda: Link's Awakening vid that talk about motif use and transformation pretty thoroughly, and it's really made a huge impact on my writing lately. Aside from that, the best recommendation I have is to transcribe. A lot. Even from your own tracks. If you find a chord progression you really like, throw down a dummy instrument (my go-to is a simple triangle wave), write it out and examine it isolated. Or if you like the interplay the chords had with the melody, put down another dummy for the lead and look at the relationships between the two. When you find something you like, even if it's from someone else's work, try emulating it. Don't feel bad about borrowing elements from music that inspires you, especially when you're learning something new! Adding techniques to your repertoire will make you a much more effective composer when it comes time to write to a client's specs, and I find that the more comfortable you get with a new trick/technique (even if it's "borrowed"), the easier it is to implement it into a track with your own spin to make it sound more unique. It's not necessary to rediscover every composition technique for yourself, only that you can use it effectively. The chord/lead dummies also translate into my own originals and arrangements, not just transcription. Blocking out a new section can help you determine how well it flows with the preceding material, and it really helps me avoid wasting time fleshing out an entire section only to find it won't work structurally. I also have to echo Timaeus that if it's possible, make at least a little time for music stuff almost every day, whether it's starting a new tune, transcribing one of your favorite game tunes, or making a new synth patch. But don't beat yourself up if you miss a day and definitely take a day or two off if you need it. The mind needs time away from conscious processing to recombine novel information and let what you've learned solidify. It functions a lot like a muscle; overtraining is more detrimental than it might seem on the surface, so if you find that it's too stressful doing X number of days per week, back it off a bit and make sure to focus on enjoying the process. Maybe even just pick a few days of the week to purposely be away from music, or schedule out what you want to work on for which days - it's the consistency that's most important rather than the sheer quantity of time you spend with music. Hope that's helpful

Possibly Imposter Syndrome? No one is a harsher judge than themselves.

@halc: It would have definitely helped if we would have had the actual track and could have actually contacted you. It's always sad to have to drop a track for reasons such as that; I'd rather have more good music on the album than less. Hit me up with your track, and we can take things from there!

this is one of the most noteworthy songs on this site nails the style, to a capital T. and I disagree with anyone complaining about the vocals. they are perfect exactly the way they are this song is amazing.