Newbie Needs Feedback

[Silverpool64]

@Dextastic

This is what you said in your PRC354 vote.

Quote

Silverpool - Your samples are poor and stuff is out of tune. This has been a consistent problem in your submissions.
Please post your workflow setup (DAW, plugins, instruments, etc) somewhere so we can give you some feedback to help you improve.

Thank you so much for offering some feedback, I'm starting a thread so I can receive some help as you suggested.

I'm a 17 year-old ReMix fanatic, and I love listening to video game music. (Especially Sonic!)

My parents bought me FL Studio 12 about a month ago, so I don't really know how to do anything, except import a midi file, change the instruments, move some sliders, and export it.

As you can hear, I don't have any experience with making music. I'm really looking forward to getting some feedback on how to do a harmonious ReMix.

[Dextastic]

Ok, so you have FL Studio, which is a pretty popular choice. I don't use it myself but I know several people here use it so they should be able to give you some feedback on how to use it better. We can all help you better if you can give a little more info:

What instruments are you using?

What sliders have you been playing with?

What musical background do you have? (Do you play an instrument, have you studied music theory, etc)

Also I suggest you post a link to this thread in a PRC thread and an MNP thread to which you've made a submission. I think you'll get a lot more views and people willing to help that way.

[Silverpool64]

On 8/16/2017 at 0:20 PM, Dextastic said:

1. What instruments are you using?

2. What sliders have you been playing with?

3. What musical background do you have? (Do you play an instrument, have you studied music theory, etc)

1. I have access to everything that comes with the Producer Edition of FL Studio (you can find a complete list here), but I mostly use the Sytrus synth. Plus, I have bLiNd's sample drum pack.

2. I'm playing with some of the volume sliders/dials on the mixer and channel rack, and I've been experimenting a little with automation.

3. I'm taking piano lessons, but I have not studied music theory. I also have a Casio WK-240 digital keyboard that supports midi.

[HoboKa]

Do you know how to load up 3rd party VSTs and layering samples to one group (the latter is beneficial when using a ton of one-shot .wav files)?  Image-Line also has some really great YouTube tutorials on the basics like that.  

Alchemy Player  - I couldn't find a reliable download, so I uploaded mine into mediafire - CamelAudio is no more, sadly. 

As for other FREE and Pay-To-Use stuff, try out KVR https://www.kvraudio.com/

Plugin Boutique is a nice one too http://www.pluginboutique.com/

Native Instruments https://www.native-instruments.com/en/

IK Multimedia http://www.ikmultimedia.com/

EDIT

Also, hunt down ProtoPlasmTSM and AnviliaFree - they're pretty decent Pad synths that are free. 

[AngelCityOutlaw]

On 8/15/2017 at 11:29 PM, Silverpool said:

As you can hear, I don't have any experience with making music. I'm really looking forward to getting some feedback on how to do a harmonious ReMix.

Learn music theory; specifically "functional" 4-part harmony to solve the issue of your music not being "in tune".

Learn the 7 basic triads that of the diatonic scales (Major and Minor) that are applicable in all twelve musical keys.

It might seem a little complicated at first, but it's actually really simple; you could probably get the hang of it in less than a week's time and you'll know how to effectively harmonize a melody and voice chords. All you need to know is seven chords, how to effectively change chords (voice leading) and just one scale. You should be well on your way in no time.

As for the samples, all you can do is become more experienced using them until you hit a brickwall (and you will) of what they're capable of and will have to purchase "higher-end" or otherwise "superior" samples that suit your needs.

[Silverpool64]

@HoboKa
Thank you SO much for these resources, especially the Alchemy plugin!
To answer your questions:
1. Yes, I do know how to load VSTs.
2. Do you mean layering as in making it so I can play, for example, 5 drums sounds at once? Or do you mean grouping channels together in...groups.
I haven't experimented with the first one too much, but I do know how to group channels.
(Thanks to zircon's amazing tutorial!)

@AngelCityOutlaw
Thank you for the specific topics for me to learn, this is part of what I've been missing!
Khan Academy has a music course that I can check out, and maybe Lynda.com. Do you have any other resource suggestions for learning music theory?

[AngelCityOutlaw]

@Silverpool So I'll try to provide a bit of an explanation and link to some resources.

You're a pianist, so that will make things much easier to explain.

I assume you know the notes on the instrument? Here is a chart.

• So all of the white keys, going from C to B, form the "C Major Scale". This gives you 7 notes to work with. A distance of two tones, counting the black keys too, is a "whole tone" or "whole step"; a distance of only one key between notes is called a "semi tone" or "half step." Since "C" is what we're using as the basis to create the scale, we will refer to C as the "tonic" or "root" note. Notice that between E & F as well as B & C, there is only a half step but no "sharp" black key. As such, there is no B sharp or E sharp. The distance between two notes is referred to as an "interval".

• The formula to create the major scale, in any key, starting from the root note, is: Whole step - whole step - half step - whole step - whole step - whole step

• Starting from any note you choose on the keyboard, this formula will give you the major scale for that key.

• Now, if you count three keys down from the "root note" of your major scale, you will get the minor equivalent. In the case of C Major, counting three keys down, the note is "A". So, all of the same notes as the Major scale, but instead is "minor". It has a different sound, trying playing all white keys from C to the next C note; then, try playing all white keys from an A note to the next A note, and you will hear the difference in sound.

Congratulations, you now know the musical scale used to create ostensibly all of western music!

But why is one major and the other minor, you ask?

The answer has to do with "triads" (three-note chords) that can be built from the "root" of the scale.

To form a "major triad", start from your root note, and count up four keys. This will give you the "third" interval of your root note; a "major third" specifically. From this major third, count up 3 more keys, and you will get the "fifth" of the root note. In C, this gives us C, E and G.

To form a "minor triad", start from your root note, and count up 3 keys. This will give you the "minor third" interval of your root note. From this "minor third", count up 4 more keys to get the fifth of your root note. In "A", this gives us A, C, and E — an "A minor chord." So, you count "4 - 3" to form a major triad, and "3 - 4" to form a minor triad. Easy, right?

• If we apply this formula to all of the notes available to us in the scale, we can form 7 basic triads. Starting with the root in C Major, we get:

C Major, D Minor, E Minor, F Major, G Major, A Minor.

You will notice that this is only six triads. The reason that the B triad is omitted, is because it is a "diminished" chord. If you use the counting formula, you will notice that F# is the fifth of B and NOT simply F. F is a half step lower; a fifth that has been lowered by a semi tone is considered "diminished" and a diminished triad sounds "dissonant" or unstable.

• Melodies, the "tune" of the song, are constructed from the scale as well. To harmonize a melody, all one must do is match the notes of the melody to chords they belong in. For example, a melody note of "C", in C Major scale, could be part of a C major triad, an A Minor triad, or an F Major triad, as the C note is present in all of them.

To practice this, try coming up with a simple melody using only quarter or half notes. For each note you play, play a matching chord with your left hand.

The practice of changing chords to a specific rhythm, is called a "chord progression" and certain chords "prefer" to move to certain other chords.

• Once you are comfortable with this, you can move onto more advanced subjects.

Including:

Creating basic chord progressions

Using notes not found in the current chord in your melodies

The harmonic series, or why you should use wider intervals in the lower register and closer intervals in the higher register.

How to smoothly change chords by using "inversions" (the notes of the triad played in a different order)

Extended chords and harmonies created by combining different intervals to create more complex chords

The seven church modes

and how harmony works when "fifth" and "fourth" intervals are stacked to create chords instead of thirds.

 

Hope this helps!

[Dextastic]

Here are some vst's to check out.

Free symphonic samples: Sonatina Orchestra rompler http://bcvsts.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-sonatina-orchestra.html

VSCO2 rompler (not as good as Sonatina IMO) http://bcvsts.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-vsco2-orchestra.html

There's a lot more good stuff at this blog if you look around.

Virtual playing orchestra http://virtualplaying.com/virtual-playing-orchestra/

Free decent acoustic drum kits: http://www.powerdrumkit.com/

and http://themetalkickdrum.com/

 

[Silverpool64]

55 minutes ago, AngelCityOutlaw said:

Lots of awesome music stuff.

Thank you so much! I have a ton of stuff to explore! This is awesome! I really appreciate the time you took to do this for me!
I've been practicing the major scales and am just starting to look at chords in more detail. This will help a lot!

@Dextastic
Thank you for the links! I'll check them out! I think I've heard of the Sonatina Orchestra.

I love this community. I have gotten so much help in the past 18 hours, I don't know where to start! I'm so excited!

[Dextastic]

Almost forgot.

Free acoustic guitar and bass: AGM lite and ABP lite from http://amplesound.net/en/download.asp

This stuff blows every other free guitar plugin I've tried out of the water.

[Severian]

I am completely new to mixing/remixing. So before I invested money in an expensive DAW I downloaded GarageBand and did a 21 Pilots Heathen tutorial I found on YT. My daughter suggested the song. I'm not hip to these current pop tunes. This was a priceless experience. When I was done it did not sound exactly right and many YT commenters said the same thing. This began the mixing/tweaking process which is what it's really all about. 

My final test is what I now call the "truck test". I noticed right away that what sounds good on an iPad or iPhone may not as good on my truck stereo system. So I do my final mixes in my truck! It's the best way to make sure bass isn't too low as is the case oftentimes on OCremix songs. It really helps to set the reverb ranges and track output balances. 

 

 

[AngelCityOutlaw]

6 hours ago, Severian said:

I am completely new to mixing/remixing. So before I invested money in an expensive DAW I downloaded GarageBand and did a 21 Pilots Heathen tutorial I found on YT. My daughter suggested the song. I'm not hip to these current pop tunes. This was a priceless experience. When I was done it did not sound exactly right and many YT commenters said the same thing. This began the mixing/tweaking process which is what it's really all about. 

My final test is what I now call the "truck test". I noticed right away that what sounds good on an iPad or iPhone may not as good on my truck stereo system. So I do my final mixes in my truck! It's the best way to make sure bass isn't too low as is the case oftentimes on OCremix songs. It really helps to set the reverb ranges and track output balances. 

 

 

 

Be careful with this.

The ipad's speakers are too small to reproduce the low-end frequencies, but a car stereo can easily give you the exact opposite problem — too much bass.

If you can, I'd recommend in investing in at least a good pair of headphones that will give you as "flat" as possible of a frequency response. I recommend the AudioTechnica ATH-M50x if you can't afford or don't have an ideal room for speaker monitors.

[Severian]

On 8/20/2017 at 3:42 PM, AngelCityOutlaw said:

 

Be careful with this.

The ipad's speakers are too small to reproduce the low-end frequencies, but a car stereo can easily give you the exact opposite problem — too much bass.

If you can, I'd recommend in investing in at least a good pair of headphones that will give you as "flat" as possible of a frequency response. I recommend the AudioTechnica ATH-M50x if you can't afford or don't have an ideal room for speaker monitors.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check It out. As it is, I'm using the iPad ear buds or my $20 speaker/monitor (or no monitor at all). Sometimes I like to record electric guitar without monitor then listen afterword and run the track through different GB amps. 

As for the truck as a sound lab, I'm in the very early stages of mixing. I've put together a few mixes of non VGM that I'm proud of, but I've spent my entire life as a solo guitarist so I'm trying to address very basic stuff like who gets more reverb, who gets low tone, etc. I've also had to learn drums which I NEVER CONSIDERED. 

There are a few OCremix tracks that I'm copying because I like the way they sound in my truck and it provides a baseline reference for my clone that I also check in the truck. 

[Ridiculously Garrett]

I agree with the car stereo problem, sometimes I mix things on headphones and it sounds fine and then I go to drive somewhere and say "Hey I'll listen to this just to see what else I can do" and then it's just BASS.