arnquist Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Hi, I've been having fun messing with Mad Tracker and various free VSTs and sound samples for a while now. I've got a bunch of random ideas for songs posted on youtube.com/user/stephenarnquist, nothing very well developed, but I'd appreciate any feedback. Composing question. I've been reading a bunch of stuff about music theory, but I'd like more specific information or advice about song construction. Does anyone know of a good book or online resource for that? Instrument question. Sometimes I'll hear an electronic instrument in a song that I really like and want to duplicate or at least approximate. It seems like a really powerful synth like Reason or Helix (I use Helix cuz I'm cheap) could make just about about any sound if you knew how to manipulate the sound waves, LFOs ASDRs etc. Does anyone know of a good book or online resource for that doing that? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robotaki Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 In terms of the music theory stuff, I don't know much in terms of which resources to look for because I learned (and I'm sure many others) learned through classes or private lessons. The basic thing I follow on is if the chord sounds nice use it but understandably there needs to be some background before that chord can even be constructed. For learning how to tweak with sounds, I think zircon's guide here is quite a good explanation of the basics for tweaking envelopes and filters on oscillators. (The VST, Synth1, is also renowned for its simplicity and ability to create some pretty crazy sounds so IMO it'd be a good one to start with.) Hope I could help a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yoozer Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Composing question. I've been reading a bunch of stuff about music theory, but I'd like more specific information or advice about song construction. Does anyone know of a good book or online resource for that? Composing depends on the genre, really. There's a rather clearly defined set of - well, call it "ingredients" for pop music. When you're doing classical-like stuff, there's other rules and concepts - things like A, A', B (the theme, variation on a theme, different theme), counterpoint, call-response, and there's of course the orchestration which plays a big role. Instrument question.Sometimes I'll hear an electronic instrument in a song that I really like and want to duplicate or at least approximate. It seems like a really powerful synth like Reason or Helix (I use Helix cuz I'm cheap) could make just about about any sound if you knew how to manipulate the sound waves, LFOs ASDRs etc. Does anyone know of a good book or online resource for that doing that? Thanks. The ultimate (and huge) guide for this is http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/allsynthsecrets.htm Start at the bottom, work your way up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robotaki Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 The ultimate (and huge) guide for this is http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/allsynthsecrets.htm Start at the bottom, work your way up. Holy smokes dude, that's awesome. O.O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zephyr Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Get synth1, great free vst and synth. It may not look like much but it's powerful enough to emulate most of those sounds, even though it's pretty simple to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Yay madtracker! But seriously, use more than two or three channels. A tracker song should at least look like this: You've started down the right path though, and you've got a good ear for melody. You just need to work on using more channels, possibly find better samples somewhere [short of pirating.... maybe], and fill out your songs with at least drums and some bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnquist Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 Thanks for the responses everyone, good info. Hmm... Renoise looks nice, I've been looking for a new tracker actually. Did you used to use Mad Tracker? Is there some way to convert my mt2 files into something I could use in another program like Renoise? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 mt2 files? Nope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnquist Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 well, I just figured out I can export to midi, so all I have to do is reassign the instruments since I haven't been using any fancy effects yet. Coolness =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnquist Posted June 9, 2008 Author Share Posted June 9, 2008 Well, I've made a few more songs since I switched to Renoise, so please check them out and let me know what you think, they're at youtube.com/user/stephenarnquist I think I'm getting better, but I'm still frustrated when I try to move on to the "B" part of the song after the first part and a little variation. I keep making B parts that just sound like a completely different song :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverCoat Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 I have made another one see the light Hey! I think you're going in the right direction with something like "Undersea." You still have emptiness issues though, like you probably need a bass part, plus that high synth is kind of annoying. Hmm... post your stuff in the WIP forums and I [and others] can probably give you more critiques for specific songs. For now, if you give me the .xrns file for Undersea I can take a look at it and show you what you can do with a piece like that. Whenever I get the time anyway, heh. Also, if you have IRC, feel free to drop by #renoise on irc.esper.net. I'm an op there and there's a lot more people who can help you with Renoise-specific things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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