Thanks for the feedback, @evocurio — writing "unrealistic" material is definitely a consequence of having never played any brass, and thus not having an internal sense of how the instrument actually functions. That particular part was heavily inspired by the sax parts on this track (as well other material by their saxophonist, Erik Nilsson):
And the sound you're hearing on Dialogic Architecture is a Kalimba, otherwise known as the "thumb piano", though played with tiny little mallets to achieve that quasi-vibes sound.
With regards to your goal of writing BGM, hopefully you'll keep posting material as you progress. I'd be curious to hear what you produce with a specific image or narrative context in mind.
Over the past year I've tried my hand at making electronic music, investing in a little Korg Volca FM synthesizer and playing around with fl studio.
I'm still shit at mixing, but here goes
A piece straight from the shower into Reaper. Part of a project, experimenting with short motifs akin to the ocarina melodies from Zelda. Let me know what y'all think!
@metaghost that's a dope track by Gruvis Malt, gonna have to check more of their stuff out.
@m3nace yo that's sounding good! I'm just getting into mixing as well, so much to learn. Roboy's got some cool grooves, but it sounds like you really loaded up on that low-midrange and it's coming out as one big ball around @1:35-1:50. I'd explore with a slightly bigger spread between the bass and the synth.
Today I've brought some odds & ends, as I wanted to talk briefly about a pair of (related) common issues that I confront when composing in a purely digital context.
In the absence of using a professional studio for production or having actual project deadlines, the nigh-unlimited potential offered by the typical DAW (Digital Audio Workspace) means that the only constraint I have when writing is the amount of time I'm willing to invest in a project. That can be extremely inspiring, but it also lends itself to projects that look like this:
Which is to say that:
1. When access to a given instrument is always "yes", a project's instrumental palette often expands uncontrollably
2. When performance is not a priority or expectation, a project's structural coherency often diminishes
3. Past a certain threshold of instrumental palette and structural coherency, project burden becomes too great and will soon be abandoned
Now, I wouldn't expect that everyone would fall victim to the above pitfalls — I have both a stylistic inclination towards "maximalism" and a desire to write music that changes frequently and contrasts genre dramatically. However, even should you be the most minimalist of Krautrock devotees, it's important to recognize that the freedoms afforded by DAWs are not always a boon.
So, that said, here are some things:
As I recall, my intent one day was to figure out various Castlevania songs by ear and try to make a collage of them. But then I got distracted on youtube and eventually I just made this (and other) goofy not-quite-chiptune things. That happens.
This next thing was part of the previously posted track "Dialogic Architecture"; as with all art, always be willing to revise and excise content. The disjointed groove fading out at the end is possibly one of my favorite things I've composed, but none of this was positively contributing to the overall song.
And finally, this is a song for which I sadly deleted the projected file while drunk. Such are the dangers of not developing a habit for backing up one's work.
It was explicitly written under restrictive conditions, inspired by the chopped-and-screwed style of inebriated Trap music once popular.
@Rothgarr Its a little repetitive for me, but I'm not crazy into pop stuff. You should post more if you have it!
Thanks for the comment. I agree that it's a little repetitive -- I write all my songs with the assumption that some day there will be lyrics/singing so I frequently structure them that way and leave room for voice.
Not sure what kind of music you usually like, here are a few more:
This is the heaviest/rock/metal song I created:
This one reminds me of Trent Reznor's early materials (think Pretty Hate Machine). Wrote/recorded this 15 years ago:
This one is sorta soundtrack-ish? Wrote/recorded this one back in 1999/
@Rothgarr yo Sponge is DOPE. The build up was kinda long, but worth it. The mixing sounds really well done for that one too (from a layman's pov, I don't know much about it atm). I'm also really digging Razor, especially near the opening and end (I can definitely hear the Reznor's influence in the latter section).
@Iruka thanks for the listen, man. I'm hoping to revisit the short clips once they've had a chance to fade from my memory, and creating larger pieces from the ones that still sound good. Hopefully Healing Word is one of 'em
Here's my latest:
"giant" is a hip-hop beat I'm experimenting with, I'm pretty happy with the drums, but looking for ways to fill out the piece without intruding on the atmosphere
"Speak With Dead" another form the D&D spell series. I'm definitely feeling the potential for more content in this piece
@evocurio Thanks for your comments! I appreciate any feedback I can get.
I really like your stuff (All the D&D snippets you've been posting and your hip hop beat). Did you program/play all the beat components in Giant? Is it a loop/pattern?
@Rothgarr Feeling the same here, I'm glad you enjoyed my tracks Yeah i started from ground up for giant, manually programmed each note lol. I think it was that three note synth line in the beginning, then threw in the kicks, hi-hats, then snares (in that order) and looped it to see where it went. Bass came last. Hey I listened to sponge again, and I was wondering what you used to get that futuristic synth sound ...it's very megaman-esque that I'd love to get my hands on. BTW UO's hella fun, eh :d
@Rothgarr Feeling the same here, I'm glad you enjoyed my tracks Yeah i started from ground up for giant, manually programmed each note lol. I think it was that three note synth line in the beginning, then threw in the kicks, hi-hats, then snares (in that order) and looped it to see where it went. Bass came last. Hey I listened to sponge again, and I was wondering what you used to get that futuristic synth sound ...it's very megaman-esque that I'd love to get my hands on. BTW UO's hella fun, eh :d
That's really cool (that you programmed each note). Having taken piano lessons for many years as a kid and almost playing keyboards in some capacity my whole life I feel like I'd be cheating if I didn't play every note of every track regardless if it's keyboard, drums, guitar, etc. So yeah, on that topic, in Sponge, every note played note for note.
The sound you are asking about, do you mean the very first sound that you hear? Hmmm... I made it using Reason, was an old version -- I'm sure I don't have the files any more -- but it was a patch either using the Subtractor module or the Malström module. (I really think it was Subtractor). And it's going through one or two delays and some reverb.
Hah! Yeah, UO is my favorite game of all time -- can't remember the last time I played (must have been a few years ago on a player-run server). I still think it's the best MMORPG ever developed. (I'm assuming I mentioned it somewhere in one of my songs or something).
Reason's too rich for my blood, I was hoping it was a VST of some sort...ah well, I'm sure I'll run into something similar if I keep looking.
Yeah i was browsing through your site and saw a mention of UO. I'm with you in regarding it as the best MMORPG, no other experience quite compares. The log-in screen theme and peacemaking tune still rings clear in my head.
I have to admit -- when I read "Garage Band" and "Acid Studio" I was expecting a bunch of layered loops and stuff. But this all sounded very original.
Nicely done!
Thank you! There was one track that was created out of loops in Acid Studio and that is the dub style track Quilt of Broken Nations but I did a lot of tweaking to the loops. We basically just used Garage Band as a DAW.
So, how do you do that? I read your profile and you use a calculator to get the notes? What do you start off with?
I enter formulas (for example: sin(x^2-x)+4/(1+x%5) ) into a text file, then the mathemodeon reads that file and loads the formulas into itself. There are at least one formula per note parameter (I'm using pitch, length, velocity and legato). It then calculates notes for as long as the piece isn't complete (the condition for the completeness of the piece is written in the text file (it's a time duration or a number of notes)). The notes are then written to a MIDI file.
So, how do you do that? I read your profile and you use a calculator to get the notes? What do you start off with?
I enter formulas (for example: sin(x^2-x)+4/(1+x%5) ) into a text file, then the mathemodeon reads that file and loads the formulas into itself. There are at least one formula per note parameter (I'm using pitch, length, velocity and legato). It then calculates notes for as long as the piece isn't complete (the condition for the completeness of the piece is written in the text file (it's a time duration or a number of notes)). The notes are then written to a MIDI file.
Wow, that is really creative! What a cool idea.
I imagine the results can be either pleasing or not depending on the formula. You ever think of layering two formulas? Like, one for melody and one for percussion using a general midi percussion layout? I'm sure the percussion could be a random assortment of sounds, but you never know.
I once accidentally copied a melody track I created to a device set to a general midi layout and the results were actually REALLY good. I was happier with the percussion than if I have specifically created a drum track for this song.
Here's a track I wrote in 1990 as a wedding gift for my sister. I performed it at the wedding reception. But I never actually got around to recording it until 2002. And I only uploaded it to Soundcloud yesterday...
@Rothgarr I'm loving the Bridge on the Wedding Song, great build-up. As a whole, it seems to draw on a very 80's pop sound, especially that guitar tone at the end; I'm definitely getting some "Died in your arms tonight" vibe in there! There's a familiarity to the harmonies, but the unexpected turns keep it interesting. How'd your performance go?
To answer your question, the tracks aren't specifically for any games atm. I love me some VGM, so I'm hoping to build a portfolio to qualify me for projects like that in the future. So far they're soundscapes based on typical environments I've ran into in RPG :d
I should stop posting WIP's, but I think it's healthy to get some feedback in the early stages to make sure the piece is going in the right direction. This lil piece is intended as a theme to be played on a game's opening screen, and cuts right off before the main theme takes place (thus the divergence near the end).
@Rothgarr I'm loving the Bridge on the Wedding Song, great build-up. As a whole, it seems to draw on a very 80's pop sound, especially that guitar tone at the end; I'm definitely getting some "Died in your arms tonight" vibe in there! There's a familiarity to the harmonies, but the unexpected turns keep it interesting. How'd your performance go?
To answer your question, the tracks aren't specifically for any games atm. I love me some VGM, so I'm hoping to build a portfolio to qualify me for projects like that in the future. So far they're soundscapes based on typical environments I've ran into in RPG :d
I should stop posting WIP's, but I think it's healthy to get some feedback in the early stages to make sure the piece is going in the right direction. This lil piece is intended as a theme to be played on a game's opening screen, and cuts right off before the main theme takes place (thus the divergence near the end).
Oh wow thanks! The 80s is and always will be the greatest decade. The performance went well. This was back in 1990. At the time I only lugged a 76 key Roland D-70 keyboard with me and plugged into the band's PA. I gave a short speech and then played my song. It was MUCH leaner, just piano and that fake 12 string acoustic sound. No accompaniment. I felt like a rock start afterwards :P . Over the next few years I would write two more wedding dedication songs -- one of these days I'll post those as well.
I love hearing your work -- some don't even sound like works in progress, but finished pieces. I love how you have them for every mood and setting. Reminds me of my favorite game of all time, Ultima Online. Every city had its own theme, the music would change when you were in battle, etc. I loved all music in UO. What hardware/software do you use to create your compositions?
Hey music thread! I got an old HD up and running and dug up some artifacts of my youth. I was thinking about writing a long post documenting a lot of random things that demonstrated the various stages of my musical experiments, but doing so might take a while.
So, until then, I thought I'd share one of the many jams from high school band. Make no mistake, we were kids making noise and just having fun in a basement, but it might be interesting just as a reference point for comparison in relation to the other work I've posted in the thread. If memory serves, this was recorded onto a Roland BR532 Digital 4-Track, using one SM57 behind the drummer and then another pointed towards the amps.
Hey, everyone. Really glad I found this thread. I've actually been using the forum since 2005, but I can't get into my old account anymore.
For the past few months I have been playing around with making music in earnest. I finally broke down and decided to learn Logic for real, this is my first little sketch so far using mostly the built-in instruments and plugins. The Koto sound you hear is actually from Korg M1 Le. I love the sounds of the M1, so I will definitely grab the full version sometime.
The track started on Logic 9, and near the end I got Logic Pro X, so I have many more toys to play with next time.
I apologise for the sound quality - I did this with some pretty bass-heavy headphones and the track could be louder as well. I've chalked it up to inexperience. :P
@hemmelight — I really enjoy that and the tonal balance sounded fine on my laptop speakers. Overall it reminded me a lot of disasterpeace's soundtrack for FEZ, albeit a bit more "present" as opposed to being intended as background music. Part of me would have liked some more defined percussive elements at points, but I also wouldn't want to disrupt the languid feel of the composition by introducing a dense rhythm section. Keep up the good work and I hope to hear more from you!
@metaghost - Thanks for listening! It's funny that you mentioned the FEZ soundtrack as I was listening to that pretty heavily when I made this. You're right about the percussion, as well. I wanted to add something to the high-end so I threw in the sleigh bells, for lack of something better. Perhaps some snare next time!
I like your 'Imperial Sea' track, too! It really reminded me of some Liquid Tension Experiment tracks that a few of the guys from Dream Theatre did in the late '90s. Three Minute Warning is the name, I think.
I like that song, @hemmelight. It kinda reminds me of some Erasure-esque type stuff. (I love Erasure). Maybe even a little Depeche Mode (Waiting for the Night to Come)
How are you liking Logic Pro? I do all my stuff in Reason, but I've always had a curiosity for both Logic Pro X and Pro Tools.
@Rothgarr - Thanks! I must admit I've never heard Erasure before but I'm a casual fan of Depeche Mode, for sure.
I'm really enjoying Logic Pro. I've dabbled with things like Reaper and FL Studio many years ago, but Logic seems to make the most sense to me so far. The built-in instruments and plugins are so good, it's a ridiculous value. Makes me wish I bought it years ago.
I really appreciate the clean look, as well. I'm still on the 'old' Logic X GUI as my machine is too old to upgrade. I'm stuck on Yosemite until I upgrade to a new mac. Slightly put off by Apple's obsession with flattening all GUIs forever, but I'm sure I'll get used to the new look.
Reason always seemed intimidating but the sound design possibilities look killer! Maybe I was scared off all those years ago by the rack view. lol! 8-)
@Elaro — While I can't say that it's particularly listenable, I appreciate the intent. I'm not sure what your musical ambitions are, but I think it'd be interesting to hear what you could create if you were to edit and elaborate upon these fractal skeletons. From a compositional perspective, a lot of music is already likely to incorporate structural behaviors akin to a fractal (like a fugue), so you might enjoy searching for various musics that could inspire a more refined expression of the maths that are inspiring you.
Posts
Over the past year I've tried my hand at making electronic music, investing in a little Korg Volca FM synthesizer and playing around with fl studio.
I'm still shit at mixing, but here goes
@metaghost that's a dope track by Gruvis Malt, gonna have to check more of their stuff out.
@m3nace yo that's sounding good! I'm just getting into mixing as well, so much to learn. Roboy's got some cool grooves, but it sounds like you really loaded up on that low-midrange and it's coming out as one big ball around @1:35-1:50. I'd explore with a slightly bigger spread between the bass and the synth.
In the absence of using a professional studio for production or having actual project deadlines, the nigh-unlimited potential offered by the typical DAW (Digital Audio Workspace) means that the only constraint I have when writing is the amount of time I'm willing to invest in a project. That can be extremely inspiring, but it also lends itself to projects that look like this:
Which is to say that:
1. When access to a given instrument is always "yes", a project's instrumental palette often expands uncontrollably
2. When performance is not a priority or expectation, a project's structural coherency often diminishes
3. Past a certain threshold of instrumental palette and structural coherency, project burden becomes too great and will soon be abandoned
Now, I wouldn't expect that everyone would fall victim to the above pitfalls — I have both a stylistic inclination towards "maximalism" and a desire to write music that changes frequently and contrasts genre dramatically. However, even should you be the most minimalist of Krautrock devotees, it's important to recognize that the freedoms afforded by DAWs are not always a boon.
So, that said, here are some things:
As I recall, my intent one day was to figure out various Castlevania songs by ear and try to make a collage of them. But then I got distracted on youtube and eventually I just made this (and other) goofy not-quite-chiptune things. That happens.
This next thing was part of the previously posted track "Dialogic Architecture"; as with all art, always be willing to revise and excise content. The disjointed groove fading out at the end is possibly one of my favorite things I've composed, but none of this was positively contributing to the overall song.
And finally, this is a song for which I sadly deleted the projected file while drunk. Such are the dangers of not developing a habit for backing up one's work.
It was explicitly written under restrictive conditions, inspired by the chopped-and-screwed style of inebriated Trap music once popular.
Guess I'll throw my latest creation here, too -- wrote this one this past weekend. Probably the "poppiest" sounding of all my songs.
Watch my music videos
@m3nace I listen to a lot of chill out beats and that actually pretty well into my shit. Its got nice progression.
@Rothgarr Its a little repetitive for me, but I'm not crazy into pop stuff. You should post more if you have it!
@metaghost Shit, I really like the one you deleted, of course.
Thanks for the comment. I agree that it's a little repetitive -- I write all my songs with the assumption that some day there will be lyrics/singing so I frequently structure them that way and leave room for voice.
Not sure what kind of music you usually like, here are a few more:
This is the heaviest/rock/metal song I created:
This one reminds me of Trent Reznor's early materials (think Pretty Hate Machine). Wrote/recorded this 15 years ago:
This one is sorta soundtrack-ish? Wrote/recorded this one back in 1999/
Watch my music videos
@Iruka thanks for the listen, man. I'm hoping to revisit the short clips once they've had a chance to fade from my memory, and creating larger pieces from the ones that still sound good. Hopefully Healing Word is one of 'em
Here's my latest:
"giant" is a hip-hop beat I'm experimenting with, I'm pretty happy with the drums, but looking for ways to fill out the piece without intruding on the atmosphere
"Speak With Dead" another form the D&D spell series. I'm definitely feeling the potential for more content in this piece
I really like your stuff (All the D&D snippets you've been posting and your hip hop beat). Did you program/play all the beat components in Giant? Is it a loop/pattern?
Watch my music videos
That's really cool (that you programmed each note). Having taken piano lessons for many years as a kid and almost playing keyboards in some capacity my whole life I feel like I'd be cheating if I didn't play every note of every track regardless if it's keyboard, drums, guitar, etc. So yeah, on that topic, in Sponge, every note played note for note.
The sound you are asking about, do you mean the very first sound that you hear? Hmmm... I made it using Reason, was an old version -- I'm sure I don't have the files any more -- but it was a patch either using the Subtractor module or the Malström module. (I really think it was Subtractor). And it's going through one or two delays and some reverb.
Hah! Yeah, UO is my favorite game of all time -- can't remember the last time I played (must have been a few years ago on a player-run server). I still think it's the best MMORPG ever developed. (I'm assuming I mentioned it somewhere in one of my songs or something).
Watch my music videos
Yeah i was browsing through your site and saw a mention of UO. I'm with you in regarding it as the best MMORPG, no other experience quite compares. The log-in screen theme and peacemaking tune still rings clear in my head.
Watch my music videos
http://thebloodyoranges.com/album/the-paranoid-watchers-of-the-universe
This one is an experiment in dirgey improv psyche. I play drums on these tracks.
https://witchkids.bandcamp.com/track/collapse-of-medium
I really like it!
I have to admit -- when I read "Garage Band" and "Acid Studio" I was expecting a bunch of layered loops and stuff. But this all sounded very original.
Nicely done!
Watch my music videos
Watch my music videos
Thank you! There was one track that was created out of loops in Acid Studio and that is the dub style track Quilt of Broken Nations but I did a lot of tweaking to the loops. We basically just used Garage Band as a DAW.
I enter formulas (for example: sin(x^2-x)+4/(1+x%5) ) into a text file, then the mathemodeon reads that file and loads the formulas into itself. There are at least one formula per note parameter (I'm using pitch, length, velocity and legato). It then calculates notes for as long as the piece isn't complete (the condition for the completeness of the piece is written in the text file (it's a time duration or a number of notes)). The notes are then written to a MIDI file.
Wow, that is really creative! What a cool idea.
I imagine the results can be either pleasing or not depending on the formula. You ever think of layering two formulas? Like, one for melody and one for percussion using a general midi percussion layout? I'm sure the percussion could be a random assortment of sounds, but you never know.
I once accidentally copied a melody track I created to a device set to a general midi layout and the results were actually REALLY good. I was happier with the percussion than if I have specifically created a drum track for this song.
Watch my music videos
Watch my music videos
Some WIP bgm
The indispensable home-town track:
What mysteries lie hidden beneath the bone-white sands?
What's the story behind your tracks? Are you developing a soundtrack for a game?
Watch my music videos
Watch my music videos
To answer your question, the tracks aren't specifically for any games atm. I love me some VGM, so I'm hoping to build a portfolio to qualify me for projects like that in the future. So far they're soundscapes based on typical environments I've ran into in RPG :d
I should stop posting WIP's, but I think it's healthy to get some feedback in the early stages to make sure the piece is going in the right direction. This lil piece is intended as a theme to be played on a game's opening screen, and cuts right off before the main theme takes place (thus the divergence near the end).
I love hearing your work -- some don't even sound like works in progress, but finished pieces. I love how you have them for every mood and setting. Reminds me of my favorite game of all time, Ultima Online. Every city had its own theme, the music would change when you were in battle, etc. I loved all music in UO. What hardware/software do you use to create your compositions?
Watch my music videos
So, until then, I thought I'd share one of the many jams from high school band. Make no mistake, we were kids making noise and just having fun in a basement, but it might be interesting just as a reference point for comparison in relation to the other work I've posted in the thread. If memory serves, this was recorded onto a Roland BR532 Digital 4-Track, using one SM57 behind the drummer and then another pointed towards the amps.
@metaghost very trippy, sounds very Police-esque from their earlier years.
Watch my music videos
Ha, I can hear that. Synchronicity and Television's Marquee Moon were definitely albums we were listening to at the time.
EDIT: Me and the guy drumming on that recording later recorded one of his songs, which was super-duper Television-esque:
For the past few months I have been playing around with making music in earnest. I finally broke down and decided to learn Logic for real, this is my first little sketch so far using mostly the built-in instruments and plugins. The Koto sound you hear is actually from Korg M1 Le. I love the sounds of the M1, so I will definitely grab the full version sometime.
The track started on Logic 9, and near the end I got Logic Pro X, so I have many more toys to play with next time.
I apologise for the sound quality - I did this with some pretty bass-heavy headphones and the track could be louder as well. I've chalked it up to inexperience. :P
I like your 'Imperial Sea' track, too! It really reminded me of some Liquid Tension Experiment tracks that a few of the guys from Dream Theatre did in the late '90s. Three Minute Warning is the name, I think.
How are you liking Logic Pro? I do all my stuff in Reason, but I've always had a curiosity for both Logic Pro X and Pro Tools.
Watch my music videos
I'm really enjoying Logic Pro. I've dabbled with things like Reaper and FL Studio many years ago, but Logic seems to make the most sense to me so far. The built-in instruments and plugins are so good, it's a ridiculous value. Makes me wish I bought it years ago.
I really appreciate the clean look, as well. I'm still on the 'old' Logic X GUI as my machine is too old to upgrade. I'm stuck on Yosemite until I upgrade to a new mac. Slightly put off by Apple's obsession with flattening all GUIs forever, but I'm sure I'll get used to the new look.
Reason always seemed intimidating but the sound design possibilities look killer! Maybe I was scared off all those years ago by the rack view. lol! 8-)
Watch my music videos
How is it?
Watch my music videos