High quality videogame sound?

[ILG924]

Sorry that this is a very broad question, but I'm wondering if someone can help me figure out how to achieve a higher quality sound with my music. I'm self taught, not great with music theory but I know enough to make a song (though i mainly rely on my ear), and my mixes get the point across but aren't anything special. My inspiration to write music came from videogame music, so I started writing with soundfonts from videogames to get better. I've got a decent library of VSTs to play with, and even though I'm trying not to, I find myself going back to soundfonts just to get some ideas out. The instruments in the soundfonts were already picked out and used in a song so I spend all the time writing rather than looking for the right VSTs. This usually ends in what i see as a more interesting composition, but less interesting sound, and I have a lot of trouble replacing the soundfont with decent sounding VSTs.

I'll link to my latest soundfont song so you guys can get an idea. I wrote it with a soundfont from one of the Castlevania games on DS (portrait of ruin I think, can't remember)
http://picosong.com/SRtb/
No mixing, no effects, and in my head that's the mostly finished song; I can't find any similar sounding instruments to replace them with. For example, I spent nearly an hour looking through everything I had for a similar sounding organ, I only found one from a royalty-free soundfont that sounded similar but had a heavy tremolo on it. I need something less realistic sounding to fit this song, or maybe there's a way to transfer everything to a realistic sound without sounding bad, I don't know. All I know is every attempt I've had hasn't sounded very good, I can't seem to balance the sounds as well as the soundfont does.

There's a lot of profressional sounding stuff here so I hope one of you guys can help me out

[timaeus222]

If you've often found yourself writing music with specific instruments, and then later wanting to replace them, you should find that the notes you wrote for those instruments suits those instruments, but may not suit other instruments. That's normal. What would really help is if you learned how to adjust your partwriting and adapt it to the new instrument. To do that, I would suggest you learn the capabilities of the new instrument---know what it can and can't do, and how you should write it so that it sounds natural, logical, or "flowing".

 

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For example (this is completely general and might serve as a starting point), after writing a melody on piano, it will not work if you simply swap out the piano VST for a violin VST without doing anything else, no matter how good the violin was sampled. You would have to at least check the note overlaps to see where the phrasing sounds more natural with overlapped notes, and where it sounds more natural with a re-bowed (not-overlapped) note starting a new phrase. You would also have to incorporate a variety of articulations that a violin has but a piano does not---writing a short note for violin using a legato sample doesn't make it act like true staccato, but writing a short note for piano using a "standard" sample is closer to true staccato, for instance. Another example is that violins can do a portamento, sounding almost like a pitch bend (but not quite), but pianos sure can't pitch bend in real life (even though they can still do portamentos, those sound different from violin portamento).

 

Here is an example of a pretty cool piano melody (I know context matters, but I want you to be able to hear all the details of the instrument):

https://app.box.com/s/b3iw29h1iropynzqmpk8hshejn1iqt09

 

Here it is with the piano VST replaced with a violin sample library (untouched MIDI notes, removed delay):

https://app.box.com/s/gpc7il9sup09scuginr44re0tym5tpha

 

Hear how disjointed and awkward it sounds? Surprisingly, it's not terrible on the fast runs because of the bow-switch legato triggering on note overlaps, but it's not good either because of all those messed up notes wherever there were harmonies for the piano. Coincidentally, the highest note is actually outside the range of the violin as well. Now here it is adapted to the violin sample library using the suitable reverb, (mostly) better notes and rhythm, and the proper articulations (re-bowing, slurs, portamento, etc.) and MIDI CC automations (CC1 for vibrato, CC11 for expression+volume, CC14 for vibrato speed):

https://app.box.com/s/8roeaysu4q5zd5jno1qjsihdn4oziyyx

 

It's not perfect, but it's much better than what you get from doing nothing to it. It's actually got the slurs, vibrato, staccato, and portamento that were previously missing.

 

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For you, what I would suggest is trying to decide on your sounds/instruments as you go, rather than after you finish your arrangement. Whenever I write music in general, I often find that the first sound I pick is important. That's because whenever I pick sounds, I try to think of whatever sounds match it best, and then use those. That means if all goes well, then I'll have a track of cohesive sounds, and so the aesthetics of the first sound determines the soundscape of the finished track (at least for me it does).

 

Furthermore, since I write parts for my sounds as I pick them, they tend to fit those sounds when I'm done. If I went through my old music that is already done and satisfactory, and I swap out some instruments for something else, it would be hard for me to pick new sounds to replace them, and I would almost certainly have to rewrite some of my notes to adapt to the new sounds (yes, even if it's a synthesized sound replaced with another synthesized sound).

[Rozovian]

Those soundfonts are already processed to have a cohesive sound when used together, and they'll fit a less realistic aesthetic anyway. The more realistic you make things, the more you have to worry about sounds fitting together. Some people can tell when you're using different reverbs on different instruments, and this would be a problem for them listening to an otherwise realistic piece, but one made of soundfonts won't bother them as much because it's not trying to be realistic.

 

Maybe a soundfont aesthetic is what you should be shooting for. Maybe you should sketch out your ideas with a single instrument (I use a Rhodes sound for my sketches).

 

If you're looking to construct higher-quality sounds, look at the spectrum of a single note, and try to recreate that. Look at the waveform. An organ sound could probably be recreated with an additive synth. I would probably try Absynth, if I didn't find any good sampled instruments to work with. I could also look at the waveforms available in ES2 and try a combination of oscillators in FM8, even make something out of Pianoteq that resembles that kind of organ. But first I have to know the component frequencies of the sound, and that's best seen with a good spectrum analyzer looking at a single note. Comparing that single note and a single note from your replacement instrument will be very useful in getting the balance just right. Then you'd have to match other qualities of its sound, such as envelope, resonances, and reverb.

 

Though the idea of making a synth sound realistic might seem super difficult, it's actually not as hard as it sounds... depending on the sound. Strings, especially solo? Very difficult. Woodwinds? Easy. An organ isn't that different from a woodwind, it just has more component frequencies.

 

If the idea of component frequencies is too foreign for you, know that they will most likely be multiples of the note's fundamental frequency. If that's 100Hz, the next frequency is (assuming full set of harmonics) is at 200Hz, the next at 300Hz, the next at 400Hz... Am I making it too complicated? In an additive synth, you'd likely have this series listed in order, and you'd see an ascending set of frequencies in the spectrum analyzer, too.

 

For the organ, I would probably synthesize it. Other sounds I might find in sample libraries. Some sounds I might not find or be able to make a similar instrument of, but could swap it out for something with a different sound that still sounds okay in the mix. You get used to the sound you've got. That's why I don't use low-quality sounds to sketch out my music - I don't want to get used to that sound and struggle to break away from it, as you now do.

[ILG924]

Interesting, so I should learn to adapt the song to the new instruments, or become more familiar with modifying sounds myself. I definitely need practice with synths so I'll try an additive synth.
I was thinking transferring low quality sounds to something better was just a problem with me, so it's good to know you have the same feeling Rozovian. I'm used to how it sounds now and changing it is difficult. I've made a decent amount of stuff starting with high quality sounds just so I wouldn't have to go through the trouble of switching sounds around later, but I always go back to soundfonts every once in awhile to get something out quickly and without as much effort.

I wasn't aware of the name, but I have noticed the component frequencies in organs, that was something I was trying to match when I was looking around for an organ before. I found something pretty close but it being from a high quality soundfont made it hard to modify to fit perfectly. I'll try my best with an additive synth to match the organ, I don't think I'll have too much trouble matching the other instruments.

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll take your advice and start with the high quality sounds first from now on. All I need is some practice with synths and effects