new game, new music, no experience

[DarkeSword]

Moving this thread to ReMixing, as it seems you're looking for technical feedback. Feel free to post up some samples of your work so that people can gauge your skill.

As for the folks in this thread posting about their anger, bitterness, and frustration, please refrain from posting about it in the future and make more constructive use of your time. Thanks.

[Yoozer]

It seems to me you're blowing things out of proportion. No one, especially not this guy, NEEDS Stylus RMX, Atmosphere and EWQL plug-ins to make music.

Exactly. You only "need" this when you have 24 hours left and it should sound mindblowing and stuff.

pcmus1c's software collection sounds pretty good already; just don't use GarageBand and ReWire Reason, and Logic Express is pretty full-featured already, too. It's not like he's starting out with a shoestring, a paperclip and a 386 left by his aunt or something.

Just focus on learning one thing at a time; Logic Express, in this case, because it handles audio tracks properly. 6 months is an ocean of time; compose on any keyboard that's not connected to a computer and record your sketches to anything (Audacity is sufficient) - then, start to orchestrate the sketches. You learn the program at your own pace, and you won't have to worry anymore about composing the songs.

Reason comes with a capable orchestral library that may not be hyperrealistic - but it'll do the job.

[anosou]

it's not like he's starting out with a shoestring, a paperclip and a 386 left by his aunt or something

Enter: MacGyver-composer

[pcmus1c]

wow....

first of all, let me apologize to everyone involved in this thread for causing such a mess. let me set a few things straight...

I am not working for any major (or minor) video game company. I was not hired to compose the soundtrack to final fantasy 14 here... a friend of mine gave me this opportunity and there are 3 people involved: a programmer, an artist, and myself. you will probably never hear of this game. i will probably not make very much money if any. regardless i want to put my best effort into it, because they definitely are.

i came here to do research specifically about music tech programs and to see if my setup was good enough to get a start. i'm not asking or expecting any of you to teach me how to use these programs, or to tell me how to compose music. i apologize for not being clear about that in my first post.

i sincerely appreciate all of the feedback, as even those i pissed off still gave advice. if i offended you i apologize, and i hope this message can give everyone a little peace of mind. i'll try to post some of what i'm working on (if you still care) so y'all can rip into it and tell me how much of a nub i am. peace

[dannthr]

Pcmus1c,

Hey man, welcome to independent game development.

As the audio man (or woman), there are some considerations you'll want to take and some responsibilities you'll need to realize.

First of all, deadlines, sounds like you have one--that's ace. Indie games and pet projects with no deadlines are as good as dead, so make sure that your responsibility number 1 is to complete.

It sounds like you're going to have a lot of discretion on how the audio is going to sound, that's great, but it means you'll need to consider how your music and sound effects will weigh in on the final product. Since you have a small team, and assuming you guys can hang out face-to-face, you're doing fine, make sure that you guys meet once a week (minimum) and make sure everyone is a good sounding board for your ideas and vice-versa.

The most important aspect of your development for this profile of game is coherent style. You will want to make sure that the sounds you produce will gel well with the art and game design style. This will require close collaboration and a lot of common sense.

Question number 1: Have you given yourself a budget, any play money, that you can use during this development?

If so you're going to want to use this money to fill in the gaps where your current setup is lacking.

This could be buying some Reason Refills or some small general sound effects library or as much as buying some plug-ins or hiring a live player, etc, etc.

How you manage your resources will be your true learning experience.

The time you have to create and work and the money you have to make up for what's missing--these are your resources. You will want to use them very wisely.

You will need to manage your time as best as you know how, and perhaps even better than you currently know how. Knowing as early on as possible what kinds of sounds and music you'll need and how they'll be implemented by the programmer in-game is very important.

Don't sweat the small OR big stuff. Honestly, game development is a wacky biz (for-profit or not) and you may work hard on something that never sees the light of day.

I did some work on a major title that was supposed to release at the end of March, but didn't. Not even a whisper from the publisher.

It happens.

The important thing to remember is that when you work, especially with indies, that you work for YOURSELF as much as you work for them.

You want to make sure you walk away from this little gig a "bigger man," so to speak, one who is ready to take on the NEXT challenge and do EVEN better than last time. You want to make sure that you walk away from this project with something YOU can be proud of, even if it doesn't make a big splash (or even a little one).

So good luck, god speed, never be afraid to ask for advice, even if people are bitches.

Feel free to email me any time.

[Arcana]

i came here to do research specifically about music tech programs and to see if my setup was good enough to get a start. i'm not asking or expecting any of you to teach me how to use these programs, or to tell me how to compose music. i apologize for not being clear about that in my first post.

In any case, Logic Express and Reason are enough to get you started. You should still provide us with some details about what style of music you want in the game. Electronic dance music? Orchestral? Synthy? The platform might help as well; maybe it's a Nintendo DS homebrew game, which has a different sound than an iPhone game or a PC game.

Posting MIDIs and early "samples" are definitely helpful, and people are usually quick to respond to direct inquiries here (ex: if you ask "How do I make _effect_ in _program_?")

[DarkeSword]

first of all, let me apologize

Don't. You have nothing to apologize for.

[Gario]

i'll try to post some of what i'm working on (if you still care) so y'all can rip into it and tell me how much of a nub i am.

Frankly, I don't think anybody should rip into you for posting anything, here. Your asking for help in order to better yourself as a musician. What people should do is give you some constructive criticism on your music if you post here (particularly the production portions), not 'rip into you' in any way other than that. At least, that's all I'll do with it when you post .

First of all, deadlines, sounds like you have one--that's ace. Indie games and pet projects with no deadlines are as good as dead, so make sure that your responsibility number 1 is to complete.

I'm going to vouche for this - Seriously, I've been on a project that didn't have any deadline, and that's how it turned out... indefinitely out of commission. Before I was just saying if the people you were working with would be willing to give any sort of extension if you needed it. If you could then you could take some time really learning the programs you have better.

I would've been more active on this forum, except I didn't know it was moved to the Remixing section. I wish you luck, and I'll do what I can to help whenever I can.

By the way, DS is right - you have nothing to apologize for, here .