Beginner who wants to make remix-need help and advice

[Fellowroot]

First, since I’m brand new to the forums. I’ll introduce myself.

I grew up playing video games as a kid, now that I’m older, I still find myself playing those same games back on the SNES, Genesis, NES and more. I have listened to OC remixes for several years and I have a great appreciation for video game music.

For a long time now I have really wanted to make some of my own remixes of some video game songs. Whenever I get an idea for a remix, I get out my digital camera and sing or beat-box the tune that I want to express. The problem is that I have no idea how to turn those songs recorded on my camera into professional remixes that I can submit to the site.

As far as equipment and instruments goes, I have a decent computer, Sony Vaio Quad Core (1.73 GHz). I have a piano at my house but that’s it. Now at my parent’s house (different house) they have, bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, a keyboard and other equipment that I probably don’t know what it is or what it does. I have no formal training on the guitar or piano but I played cello in my school orchestra for 6 years. I have no music programs on my computer.

So basically, I have made some remixes, but they are in a very crude format, me just singing them on tape, only my voice. I want to bring these songs and ideas to life and turn them into high quality remixes that I can try to submit to OC remix. The songs are already there, I can hear them inside my head. I know exactly how I want them to sound but I do not know how to make them. I have tried reading tutorials on the net, but I am a beginner and have no idea where to start. If anyone would be kind enough to offer advice or help me get started I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

For example, here is a song I would like to make a remix for.

Super Mario Kart: Special Ending

Me singing the version of the song that I want to make.

Again thanks.

[eilios]

First, since I’m brand new to the forums. I’ll introduce myself.

I grew up playing video games as a kid, now that I’m older, I still find myself playing those same games back on the SNES, Genesis, NES and more. I have listened to OC remixes for several years and I have a great appreciation for video game music.

For a long time now I have really wanted to make some of my own remixes of some video game songs. Whenever I get an idea for a remix, I get out my digital camera and sing or beat-box the tune that I want to express. The problem is that I have no idea how to turn those songs recorded on my camera into professional remixes that I can submit to the site.

As far as equipment and instruments goes, I have a decent computer, Sony Vaio Quad Core (1.73 GHz). I have a piano at my house but that’s it. Now at my parent’s house (different house) they have, bass guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, a keyboard and other equipment that I probably don’t know what it is or what it does. I have no formal training on the guitar or piano but I played cello in my school orchestra for 6 years. I have no music programs on my computer.

So basically, I have made some remixes, but they are in a very crude format, me just singing them on tape, only my voice. I want to bring these songs and ideas to life and turn them into high quality remixes that I can try to submit to OC remix. The songs are already there, I can hear them inside my head. I know exactly how I want them to sound but I do not know how to make them. I have tried reading tutorials on the net, but I am a beginner and have no idea where to start. If anyone would be kind enough to offer advice or help me get started I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

For example, here is a song I would like to make a remix for.

Super Mario Kart: Special Ending

Me singing the version of the song that I want to make.

Again thanks.

The single hardest thing musically is turning an idea from your head into reality. It takes a lot of practice. As for actually making professional quality remixes, you'll need better equipment and a DAW to record into if you want to record anything, or if you want to make electronica, a DAW and some synths. It would really help us if you told us what kind of style you're going for in the first-place, though.

[Rozovian]

Hi and welcome to ocr.

It takes about two years to get to ocr's standards - less if you've got a music background and a good ear for production, more if you don't bother learning stuff and practicing or just aren't musically inclined. Depending on the sound and genre you wanna remix in, there's different skills and resources you need for it, but the basics are this:

- DAW (cubase, mixcraft, reaper, FL...)

- virtual instruments (synths, samplers and samples... there's free stuff out there)

- recording equipment if you need to record anything (some instruments are still impossible to fake convincingly)

I'm working on a newb guide that's supposed to teach everyone the basics of it all. It's in progress, but the important bits are there. (feedback on it welcome, see thread)

[mickomoo]

I just started out about nearly a year ago, and I'm still very much so a beginner but here's some words of encouragement/advice (might be kinda long):

-Be eager but not over eager. I'd honestly wish I'd picked up music as a hobby much earlier, but because I couldn't remix a specific song, or play something a certain way I honestly just dropped the hobby. Music is something that requires time, from playing to composing to mixing. A lot of time to learn and practice especially at first >_<

-Don't get too caught up into one idea, in other words it might actually be best that you not try a remix first, or at least not a remix for OC remix. Remixes are good because by covering an existing song you kind of learn the feel of composing with out going too far out on your own, but more or less it might be better to "cover" songs before remixing. The very first thing I wrote was not a remix, it was actually an accident. When making a remix of music from pokmon battle music I created a rift and eventually made my own song. It wasn't until 8 months later did I even attempt to remix a song and it still wasn't oc quality. I'm still trying to master my skills, mixing and rhythm. Music for me honestly is more of experimentation and serendipity than it is skill. You will always have ideas coming to your head some sound awesome and it's disappointing when you can record or capture them the way you want, but honestly it gets better the more you start to pick up writing and playing. Your ear will improve as you listen to music while simultaneously trying to write your own.

-You don't need to have a musical background, but you should become more musically observant. Listen to things within the a genre that inspires your or that you want to write. Notice what "voices" (instruments, whatever) tend to play together, and the general feel each voice/instrument's notes add to the song. Music is about what sounds nice together and you can learn a bit from existing songs. Also notice patterns and pattern changes that can occur in songs. In addition to listening to each instrument/voice pay attention to the role each instrument plays. From experience you know that rock music uses guitars as a lead, for many genre's it's apparent, but on a song by song basis see how each role's notes and rhythm shape the song.

- Pick up an instrument, have someone teach you or self teach. Though it's not necessary but it may help. I wasn't a stranger to music when I started writing, but honestly I wish I kept up my piano lessons from when I was younger, I can't play in rhythm to save my life. Also keep in mind that composing your own music requires 3 skills. Composing (not necessarily writing, just knowing what sounds good together), playing (assuming you're going to use a DAW with a midi keyboard, even if not playing can help), and mixing (mastering and creating a true final product) Each with it's own general skill set.

With regards to equipment you have a laptop all you need is a DAW (digital audio workstation). If you own a mac, they should come with garageband right? if not there's a "freeware" windows equivalent called mixcraft. Mixcraft is literally plug and play, it's what I've been using, though to mix mp3s after 2 weeks you'll probably wanna buy it it's only $80 which is fairly cheap for DAWs, and honestly I don't know any free ones. The thing is of course when you get your feet wet and you're well grounded, you'll probably wanna move on to a better DAW, logic cubase, hell even pro tools if you're feeling confident. DAWs run Vsts or virtual instruments which are either synths (sounds very commonly found in modern/pop music) or sampled (actually recorded from an instrument that has a player). I'm bringing this up because you can actually buy libraries of virtual instruments, and a good DAW should be able to run ones outside of the program's initial library (mixcraft can, but fyi it can get laggy depending on your comp, more powerful DAWs have no problem usually).

In addition to a DAW you'll probably want a midi keyboard/controler. If you're family has any electric pianos or keyboards they should plug up to your computer. If not, keyboards can be fairly cheap especially if you're just starting out. If you're really bold though you could just use a computer mouse and computer keyboard lol. Anyways, I know it's a lot of info but good luck with everything. Finding feedback or getting questions answered can be tough, but if I ever see you around I have no problem answering anything, lol if I can. Also, like Rozo, the guy above me said, read his guide. It's a bit more in depth in terms of arranging/hardware stuff.

[SJM]

I'm still quite new to music production, too, and so I thought why not share my experiences as well - if it helps.

If you're working in a DAW, you'll mostly work on arranging your stuff on a timeline - track by track: so each instrument will get a row and measures the columns. On these tracks you have the parts in which either MIDI files are (->notes, that don't have any sound themselves) or audio files (->only sound). It really explains itself, if you expermient with it.

I don't know what kind of music you want to produce, but especially if you want to produce electronical stuff and work on synthesizers, you'll spend quite some time choosing and tweaking your instruments (which will mostly come in VST format). If you take a look at for example the well-known free synth Synth1, you'll probably be rather scared

Instead of learning how this all works from the "front side" I think it's a lot easier to explore synthesis from "behind the scenes", for example with SynthEdit (http://www.synthedit.com/) - you can download a free version and use it unlimited I think and SynthEdits help files contain a nice tutorial which will immediately show you what ADSRs, LFOs and whatnot mean You can export the synths you build into VST files, so you can use them as instruments in your DAW (or use them insinde SynthEdit, if you're not yert sure about your DAW). You want to add some modulation, you add it to your synth. It's quite direct and you don't need to see which of the hundreds of knobs in Synth1 does what

Of course, after some time, you will know how it all works and then you'll want a faster workflow and a better looking and better sounding synth. And if you now open up Synth1, you'll know, what this all means. Well okay, not everything, but the basic principles.

After experimenting with Synthedit and some obscure DAW called MULAB I tried Reason. In Reason you can wire your modules quite freely, too (which is great for understanding how all this music production routing works, because you have an "authentic" rack) but sadly it's quite expensive and doesn't support VSTs, so you'll rather skip this and make a cold dive into a professional DAW.

I don't know anything about Mixcraft, but it looks quite good, so you'll probably want to start there using your SynthEdit VST and Synth1 plus some other nice free VSTs (there are a few nice threads in this forum ). But I wouldn't pay for it, because as soon as you're ready, I'd switch to REAPER (http://www.reaper.fm/). Powerful, resource friendly, extremely customizable (which is the biggest disadvantage here), but also great developer contact and a nice community (Sorry for being a fanboy here ). REAPER will cost only $40 for you (probably) and you have an entirely unlimited demo.

I hope anything of this here helps

[Fellowroot]

I got the keyboard. It is a Yamaha PSR 3 but it’s pretty old. Does anyone know how to connect it to a computer? It has two plugs on the back, headphones/aux out and dc in. Is this keyboard good enough to use with a DAW?

I sat down with the keyboard and came up with a short song. Here is the video.

I’ve also been looking at keyboards on craigslist in my area just in case that keyboard that I have can’t be used. My price range is about $100.

Here is a few that I found.

http://houston.craigslist.org/msg/2384221390.html

http://houston.craigslist.org/msg/2395836778.html

But I really don’t even know what I’m looking for. I don’t know what’s good or bad or even what I need.

I downloaded the trial version of Reaper. But I really don’t know how to use it yet. I’m currently watching tutorials on youtube to help me familiarize myself with it. The full version is also in my price range $40 is something that I can afford.

Also I’m reading the guide that Rozovian wrote and plan on reading it all the way though.

So anyway, that’s where I’m at. Thanks for the comments guys. I’m trying.

[DarkSim]

But I really don’t even know what I’m looking for. I don’t know what’s good or bad or even what I need.

I find that before you spend any money, make sure you've reached the limitations of your current setup. You've only just started, so play around with REAPER, get to know it, and see which parts are holding you back. You'll probably find that in a month or 2 you'll have a better idea of where you want to go, and what you need to accomplish that. Spending money blindly on gear won't help you, and may even discourage you if you try to move too fast and regret purchases!

I started with Garageband, got as far as I could with that (after starting out about as musical as you've described yourself), then moved on to Ableton Live after about 6 months, before I started seriously thinking about remixing. I still don't use a MIDI input device - just my computer keyboard!

It's a long process, but stick with it, and don't try to go too far too fast.

Be eager but not over eager. I'd honestly wish I'd picked up music as a hobby much earlier, but because I couldn't remix a specific song, or play something a certain way I honestly just dropped the hobby. Music is something that requires time, from playing to composing to mixing. A lot of time to learn and practice, especially at first.

Quoting for emphasis

[Kidd Cabbage]

You need a keyboard that can send MIDI data, either through a MIDI port, in which case you'll also need a MIDI interface, OR a keyboard that sends MIDI data through USB.

[mickomoo]

if your keyboard is new enough it should have a usb port, if not then definitely a midi cable (the port should say midi out), though honestly if you do get a new keyboard more than not it should have a usb port Reaper will auto detect it.

edit: re-reading your post, it seems that that keyboard is too old to use with a comp... I think, it needs to have one of the above mentioned ports. Also the song, it's good. If you want to you could use it as a template to create your first mix lust for practice in your daw. I'm assuming what you played was a melody, you could then add a bass part (what came into my head was a low sounding instrument playing on every 1st beat) then a counter point or just a supplementing melody.

[Anorax]

I got the keyboard. It is a Yamaha PSR 3 but it’s pretty old. Does anyone know how to connect it to a computer? It has two plugs on the back, headphones/aux out and dc in. Is this keyboard good enough to use with a DAW?

I sat down with the keyboard and came up with a short song. Here is the video.

I’ve also been looking at keyboards on craigslist in my area just in case that keyboard that I have can’t be used. My price range is about $100.

Here is a few that I found.

http://houston.craigslist.org/msg/2384221390.html

http://houston.craigslist.org/msg/2395836778.html

But I really don’t even know what I’m looking for. I don’t know what’s good or bad or even what I need.

I downloaded the trial version of Reaper. But I really don’t know how to use it yet. I’m currently watching tutorials on youtube to help me familiarize myself with it. The full version is also in my price range $40 is something that I can afford.

Also I’m reading the guide that Rozovian wrote and plan on reading it all the way though.

So anyway, that’s where I’m at. Thanks for the comments guys. I’m trying.

How long does the free trial of Reaper last? I know there are some programs that will shut themselves down in 20 minutes if it is a demo.

Relax, we're all trying. In fact, I'm still trying to make a somewhat decent remix. Yeah, Rozo's guide helps, but I can't wait for it to be in a .pdf (but that's for another thread).

Just don't give up hope.

Ont thing you might want to do is grab a few free synths to work with. Depending on what OS you're using, you can use VST (.dll) or a Mac-only synth (not sure what the file extension is...). When you have a small arsenal of instruments, you can then play around with voice layering and automation.

Not that I could help you with that- I use Mixcraft, and have never touched Reaper.

[Fellowroot]

Well, it has been a while since my last post but I saved up and upgraded to some better equipment.

Got an Alesis qx49 midi controller keyboard

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Alesis-QX49-Midi-Controller-106670714-i1795209.gc

and got Alesis M1 active speakers.

It came with a version of Ableton that I've been trying to mess around with and I'm working on getting this set up with Reaper too.

The hardest part for me now is understanding how to use the music software programs.

Anyway, I just got this set up yesterday and everything is new to me but I wanted to post an update because I really want to make some high quality music and one day complete a video game remix.

[Calum]

For me, the best way to make progress with music software is a good balance between experimentation and just having fun with it and knuckling down to read/watch tutorials online and hopefully get a lot out of them. The free instrument option is a really great one - there are some real good soundfonts and free synths. And there are probably a lot of hidden gems within your DAW as well.

Mac format is .component i think.

[Anorax]

It came with a version of Ableton that I've been trying to mess around with and I'm working on getting this set up with Reaper too.

ReWired. Makes things fun.