ectogemia Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 song is here: http://soundcloud.com/ectogemia/cloud-five-1 tl;dr is below Today is my 5 year anniversary with my girlfriend! She's not much of a gamer at all, and she's not really into my kind of music, but she does think chiptunes are "cute", and she loves Kirby and a fair amount of NES music. So I thought I'd put together a chiptune that sounds as NES-y and Kirby-y as possible without using a tracker because fuck those things... seriously. Well, I broke the NES "tetraphony" rule, and it only sounds like Kirby songs in a couple of passages. Oh well, I like what came out besides the intro section and the shoddy transitions. Too late to fix any of that, though she gets her present in the morning. I hope you enjoy it despite its lack of polish. How'd I do for my first full-length chiptune? Any feedback is appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambinate Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 how'd you make this without a tracker? i don't know a damn thing about chiptunes, to be honest. i've always been curious about how to make them... but anyway, this sounds great, dude! for a first attempt this feels really natural and well-developed, what with all the flourishes and stuff. you've got a good grasp on the style and a good focus on memorable melodies and harmony. i really dig it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ectogemia Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 First thing's first, you have to get the peach, triforce, toad, and magical8bit vsts. You can use 3xosc to make some chippy waves, but they don't sound quite like NES instruments. It's also a good idea to listen to a lot of NES songs and figure out which waves tend to fall where in the music. Low squares and triangles are usually basses, 25% pulse is usually a lead, squares are often arps or leads, etc. I didn't use any effects except stereo separators/enhancers or EQers. Any "delays" are just repeated notes with lower velocities. The only automation I used was to change volumes between parts. This was kind of an artificial limitation because you can automate on trackers, but I wanted to focus on creating interesting music with the piano roll alone for this mix. Then, the next step is to think like a NES To make little flourishes, you have to make short notes (usually 1/4th step or smaller, usually) and pop 'em in between notes or wherever they would sound best. You can "glitch" the sounds by adding in unusual, short and stabby notes. It's essential to control the velocity on these stabby notes or you can get kind of a nasty drill sound. In fact, I did a ton of velocity tweaking all over the place. Delayed-onset pitch LFOs are good for leads, but I didn't use any. Hah, that's not much of a guide to chiptunes, but as always, you have to experiment, analyze, and get inspired. Think like a NES, obey the limitations to some degree, and it'll come. ... it's also helped that I've chilled with chthonic and halc a few times. I've learned a lot from those fine young gentlemen. A++++++++++++++ dudes, too. Would recommend. By the way, I just listened to your EP. Very nice! There's not nearly enough downtempo business in my library. Time to add 4 more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambinate Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 thanks for all the information, dude! i'm actually on a mac running logic so i can only use magical8bit of the ones you listed, but even that is really fun to use so far and i'm sure i can find some mac plugins to complement it. i spent some time messing around with it and, using the guidelines you posted, was able to make a few basic chiptunes to get the feel of it. still super simple stuff but it's a lot of fun and i'm looking forward to spending some more time with it. By the way, I just listened to your EP. Very nice! There's not nearly enough downtempo business in my library. Time to add 4 more ah shit, man, thanks a lot! i really appreciate that. i remember a while ago you posted about looking to collab with people, so if you ever want to try and write something, just let me know. cross-platform stuff might be kind of a pain in the ass but it might work maybe sorta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ectogemia Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 i remember a while ago you posted about looking to collab with people, so if you ever want to try and write something, just let me know. cross-platform stuff might be kind of a pain in the ass but it might work maybe sorta !! Rainmain alert: that was in August, my friend, haha. I'm still very interested in doing collabs, though. We could do it cross-platform... there'd just be a lot of .wav rendering and so forth. Hell, let's do it. PM me, and we'll see what we can come up with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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