timaeus222

I would prefer a combination of the two. VST plugins combined with a MIDI keyboard. The MIDI keyboard can be used for improv, idea fleshing, and idea forming. VSTs can allow you to get the sound you want, and you can master everything virtually.

This "life skill" is essentially just saying what you mean in such a way that you can make it humorous and helpful at the same time. For example: "Your song needs some work here and there. Actually, you know what, it needs a lot of work. Take this crit seriously, but assume it's constructive and considerate because I'm just too tired to say nice words right now." = ironic, humorous.

The main problem I have is that I want to someday sequence a realistic electric guitar, but without pitch bends it won't work so well. I can kind of imitate fret slides, but not anything close to whammy bar effects. I do know how to automate pitch bends with non-FL VSTs that have pitch control in them, like Zebra and Massive, but Spicy Guitar is my best free option so far for an unamped acoustic guitar, and it has no pitch modulation option for automation, unfortunately.

Well, I had to. >_> Any musician who has taken lessons probably has had to.

Yes. It has no effect.

I updated the remix and removed the phaser! https://www.box.com/s/7b056a8c3417d31bae5c - 192 kbps (v2) https://www.box.com/s/51902283176a34f60bbe - 224 kbps (v2) I'm submitting this at this moment (anyone is still free to tell me what they think! ).

It does. At this point I only know to automate pitch when the feature exists in the VST itself.

Maybe I should have mentioned this. I'm thinking of non-FL plugins when I'm asking about pitch bend. The normal pitch bend method works for FL plugins, but when I try it with stuff like Spicy Guitar or Zero Vector, it doesn't go past +/- one half step.

Well... I know how to pitch bend in FL, but is there a way to increase the pitch bend range? So far it only works for +/- one half step. I want to do stuff like fret slides or something at some point.

I agree with chimpazilla. Try having some more high quality synths in there. If you want the 8-bit sound, be creative with glitchy effects or something. The drums, however, don't have to be 8-bit drums. Neither do the synths. You can still have expressive synths for 8-bit songs. Just add vibrato and maybe some pulse width modulation.

That made me laugh. No, seriously, best post I've seen all week. xD I'd suggest Meteor Mic. I believe it was $60 or something. You can find it in Best Buy, last I checked.

Well, I'm hearing bongos, various brass (maybe a trumpet), pianos, shakers, and a picked bass.

SnappleMan was just being sarcastic. Somehow I can just tell. I'm kind of like him because I don't use MIDIs and I just compose by ear, but vgmusic can be a good source of starting MIDIs.

Weird, I didn't get the Zebra guide when I got Zebra, but I got the guide for Filterscape and Uhbik when I got those. I'll use this thread to post my own video guides then.

I shall post my own video guides here, generally related to music production. The newer ones are at the top. Ear Training: Detecting Overcompression from Fruity Limiter (and handling it) Ear Training: Using Shreddage 2 to get a realistic lead guitar sound Ins and Outs of Reverb (ft. ArtsAcoustic Reverb) Trying out Super Audio Cart: Retro Game Samples (includes making 2 presets!) How to Record MIDI CC into FL Studio 11 10 Tips and Tricks You May Find Useful In FL Studio 11 and Above Making a Gritty Bass Sound in Zebra2

On tindeck, "DL" really means people who have clicked the link, so it's misleading. Anyways, I use FL, so I could help on the techniques you asked for. - A tremolo can be done with the piano roll manually. That's the easiest way. Right click to the left of the velocity half of the piano roll and click Channel Volume. Hold Alt and drag your mouse and you can make smooth curves to edit the pattern volume. Another way could be to automate the volume of the channel. Right click on the volume knob next to the channel (knob on the right) and click Create Automation Clip. Look on the timeline for the pattern clip. Right click to add new points, and right click on the new points to choose the type of curve you want between points. If you want tremolo, you should use "Wave" because you can left-click on the open circle in the middle of every two points to change the period of that curve. If you right click the open circle, it resets to how it was. Explore with that, because automation opens you up for really cool stuff. - If you want a long, non-repetitive arrangement, try planning it out first. Listen to the source and think about how you want to arrange it before you try it, or try it at the same time with only the melody. If it's too hard to think of what to do at that point, try a different source until you are ready to come back to the other one. If you already have a song and you want to figure out a better arrangement, try clicking on the timeline, pressing Alt+T, and making tabs to organize your song to how it currently is. That way you have a picture of what it really looks like in terms of organization so far. - Well, a lot of stuff is cooler than 3xOsc. Try out Sytrus or Harmless and teach yourself how to use them. I like Sytrus's 3o3 arps and Harmless' basses when routed to an ampsim I have. - Zircon made a mastering tutorial in the Tutorials section. Try checking that out!

This is sounding really nice right now! The only things I would suggest would be: Maybe add some sections where the bass slides from one note to the next, kind of like a fret slide. Sometimes, you could replace the reverb sidestick with a reverb clap.

Well, at ~0.8 dB there usually isn't any sound overload. Limiters are meant to prevent that, and it's good to check back at what each mixer track is doing against the limiter's response. That way you can determine what's causing the clipping. Other advice I might add would be to EQ out any frequencies that are overlapping so that you can make room for other possibly better instruments. Of course, like chimpazilla said, these are just suggestions.

Okay, here's what I got: 0:00 - 0:21 - you should gradually raise the volume on the drums with some automation, starting off at about 20% volume. Maybe add a mild high pass, and you can automate to fade out the high pass when you approach 0:21. 0:09 - 0:21 - you should decrease the resonance on the phasered panning synth just a tad. 0:22 - 0:34 - you should EQ the bass so that its higher frequencies are not so dominant. That may help with your later leads. Do so in general as well, and that may help compression. You can use other synths for harmonies. 0:54 - 1:10 - the flangered formant bass (?) playing the melody could be a bit softer to make room for another layer of backup synth, maybe an arp or something. 1:10 - there could be a leadin sound that sweeps the spectrum, maybe no drums there for about 1 second. What I had in mind would have a phaser effect on it and kind of a cutoff increase automation effect at an "e^x" curve. 1:23 - 1:31 is kind of lacking in mid frequencies. Try adding some saw wave harmonies or something. At about 1:40, a leadin sound comes in and increases in pitch. Maybe layer on some white noise increasing in cutoff frequency? It seems like you were building up to 2:04, but there was no dynamic variation. Try adding some slow crescendo from 1:40 to 2:04. 2:18 - 2:24 - try adding a dynamic arp in there to keep things energetic even without drums. 2:23 - 2:24 - try subdividing your leadin snares even more to add some more energy there. In general, the rides and hi hats should have a mild low pass at about 18-20 kHz. Those have too much tail and they're clogging up the soundscape. Also, put the limiter to about -0.8 dB; that should be a good standard to keep it at. Good luck!

Haha, right, I almost forgot, thanks for reminding me. xD - Mirror 1 - Mirror 2Yeah, that phaser part was meant to be a leadin, but I was also thinking of refining it again.

https://www.box.com/s/7b056a8c3417d31bae5c - 192 kbps https://www.box.com/s/51902283176a34f60bbe - 224 kbps This is an ambient, possibly synthpop remix of "Hell Freezes Over" from Jazz Jackrabbit 2. Tell me what you guys think! I'm submitting this soon. - Mirror 1 - Mirror 2

Disc 1 (Meh) - $1 or more Disc 2 (Worth it) - $1 or more Disc 3 (Epic and worth it) - $1 or more Listen for free, or feel free to donate $1 or more to download the entire album disc, along with the bonus tracks that come with each disc! $1 is a bargain! Better to spend it on good music than on McDonalds! Genres: Electronica, Retro, Metal, Jazz, Classical, Chiptune, Psychedelic, Eclectic, Ambient, Hard Rock, Synth Rock

Okay, thanks! Is there anyone else who wanted to say something?

It would have been nice if the choir synth was more balanced with the piano, but it sounds good so far.

I find requiems more religious than dirges. However, it seems your song is still a WIP because you took it down.