>>1165
awesome

>>1252
Spoiler

Oh my God I'm 90% done with this: >>318

This is my favorite song I've produced, and one I'd actually like to send to a label and see what they think.

Done. I'm going to ask some professionals what they think at some point.

>>1281
This is pretty beast man, I'm jealous.

>>1282
Thanks. I've been seriously making music since middle school, though.

I put this "piece" together today when I felt depressed.

>>1284
Guess Tohno doesn't like 96Khz ogg's. Hopefully this mp3 works.

Made this with FL and an old SNES soundfont (which is why the quality blows).

>>1285
This was alright until 1:27, when it suddenly got a pop rhythm that ruined the mood.
>>1287
I like this one. You should try remaking it with higher-quality sounds.

>>1288
Yeah I totally forgot that I still had to change that mistake. I'm still not that good at playing live at such slow speeds.

This was the first time I put something like this together though.

>>1288
Guess I'll use my better soundfont. Doesn't sound as game-ish, but the quality's a lot higher.

I've been experimenting with chiptunes recently. At 14 tracks, this has more than 3 times as many channels as a chiptune should have, but it's fun making something complicated with such simple sounds.

This is a remix I made just for the heck of it; I have a few original songs in the works, too.

My brother wanted me to make a song for someone's video game, so here was my attempt. This is basically my first try at an original chiptune, so I don't know what I'm doing! \o/

>>1325
Brilliant.

>>1326
thx \o/

One of the worst things I've done, actually. I'll upload some other (better) stuff once I get my laptop back, since it's all stored there.

Been messing around with Reason (and occasionally Logic for throwing in live guitar and vocals) for a good few years now.

I'd hope I've gotten a little better at it since my days of shitty joke bands in high school, but I have a nasty habit of getting writer's block mid-song, then abandoning the idea and starting something else, then getting blocked again, and so on.

What do people typically use to make chiptunes anyway?

I've given it a shot with just the Reason soundbank, but I'm betting there's at least some better methods out there.

>>1418
Famitracker and Modplug are the names I hear tossed around the most.

>>1418
http://www.ymck.net/magical8bitplug/index.html
http://www.geocities.jp/sam_kb/Chip32/
http://refx.com/products/quadrasid/summary/

Any synthesizer can make simple 8-bit sounds; when I need to do pitch-bending, I just use V-Station (a professional synth) because it's easier to control. However, I try not to use it that much because it's not as authentic.

>>1419
Famitracker is great, because it's meant specifically for chiptunes, though Modplug is just for making music in general.

>>1382

Love it. It kinda has that glitch music-y feel to it.

I listen to this guy on youtube's famitracker stuff pretty frequently, he has a tutorial that I assume could be helpful.

Good luck man.

OP here. Almost 10 months later and I still haven't even begun to make music. I'm glad others are using this thread to share what they've done, though.

>>1446
Why haven't you done anything?

I haven't music'd in a while.

New remix I will never finish.

>>1668
You son of a...
I had the volume up (I'm recording too, actually; hope to post some time soon).

So... while I greatly enjoy listening to everyone's music and am very thankful for the tips people have given, I am absolutely stupid when it comes to music. I would love to pick it up as a hobby, but even a tutorial for GarageBand basics is beyond my understanding. The vocabulary used might as well be Greek to me (compressors, duckers I think one was, I have only a foggy idea about what all that is). May I request a list of common words used in producing music with a computer?

>>1679
What kind of tutorial talks about those things right off the bat?

Compressors are mostly used to squash the peaks of the audio's volume so it doesn't go over the limit and get distorted. You really don't need to worry about that for now, though you probably should use limiters, which are basically super-compressors. Compressors turn down the volume when it goes over the threshold, but if you set the compression too low it can still go over anyway; limiters will not go over.

Ducking, also known as "side-chain compression," is when you set the compressor to turn down the volume of one sound when another sound hits the threshold. It's used in radio shows so that the music turns down when the DJ is talking, and it's a staple of dance music to make it pump on every off-beat. If you want to know how to do it, I can tell you, but it's really not important at this point.

>>1680
Thanks for explaining those two things, giascle. I had a friend walk me through the GarageBand interface and now it doesn't seem as overwhelming and esoteric. Any tips or things not to do?

>>1681
It's mainly experimenting for now; the only real advice I have is DO NOT let the audio go into the red. Every beginner does this (including me), and it can blow out your speakers.

Okay
Compression is oft misunderstood. Compressors narrow the dynamic range of the audiosource, both lowering the volume of the "peaks" and raising the volume of the "troughs". Compressors are typically used on individual tracks, whereas a limiter is usually applied to the master track, or during the mastering phase of recording. Limiters simply stop the audio from exceeding a specified level, and are used to make the overall track as loud as possible. While you'd do well to familiarize yourself with compression early on, don't worry about limiters until you're going to release a polished, finished product.
The advice to not let the levels enter the red is important, not because it will "blow out your speakers", but because it will cause clipping. It's good practice to mix with the levels very low, and then bring everything up during the final mixdown.
I don't really know what the best websites would be to recommend to you, but I've spent a lot of time on soundonsound.com, they have a ton of articles. Also, while the site is kind of cheesy, tweakheadz.com would be a good place for a beginner to start, as the site has a guide that starts from the basics and explains things pretty well.

>>1683
At their core, compressors only lower the volume of the peaks. They can also raise the overall volume if you add makeup gain, but that isn't always necessary; I never use gain if the sound is being side-chained, for example. I don't know where you heard that limiters don't go on individual tracks, because I see people do that all the time. Many compressors even have limiters built in. While it is incredibly difficult to blow out your speakers, it is possible, and I tell people that because it hammers the message in.

And yes, Tweakheadz is a fantastic site.

Post edited on 18th Nov 2011, 9:40am

Is there a way for me to apply an effect on, say, half a selected region rather then the whole track in GarageBand? Also, I'm suffering from horrible writer's block. 4 days later and I can't so much as figure out what instrument I should add to help me move past the intro.

Post edited on 22nd Nov 2011, 2:31pm

>>1688
You mean a track is playing, then it has an effect on it for a bit, and then the effect turns off again? You can automate that.

http://www.ehow.com/video_2372689_advanced-automation_-garageband-tutorial.html

Hello all. I'm trying to learn to make music because I think it might be something I want to do. So I bought a MIDI keyboard, and I bought Reaper. What do I do now?

Post edited on 4th Jan 2012, 10:39pm

>>1734
Do you know anything about theory, composition and production yet?
In case not, I'd recommend what I always recommend: Music Theory for Computer Musicians by Michael Hewitt. It's not overly formal or specific (I used it without being a "computer musician") and goes down from the very basics of what are notes, how sound works and all that. And read your DAW's documentation, of course.

Heheh, I just got a little bit of motivation to tinker around with Reaper and my MIDI. It was so so fun much, just playing with the pitch bend and the preset vsts. I was giggling like an animu school girl.
>>1735
I know enough music theory to get by I guess. Thanks for your post.

So, I've been writing an album's worth of songs for almost seven months now and no one (except my poor neighbors) has heard any of it. I feel like I could use some outside perspective at this point, so here's a rough recording of one of the songs.

>>1797
From my impression I'll say htat there's a slight problem, and it's your voice. With some goodwill it could work in a setup with alot of stuff going on, but there's just you and your guitar (in this song at least). I wish I could give you some tips on how to work on your voice, but I'm no better as a singer myself. Your guitar tunes sounded melancholic, I like that. Good luck with your music.

>>1798
Thanks!
Believe it or not, I've actually been practicing daily with a well-regarded home study program for singing for the last six months.
Was there something specific that you didn't like about the vocals?

>>1799
What I think you need is a more refined style of vocal presentation. Know what, I think you'd be good doing something alike to that of Ian Curtis of Joy Division. Though now that you say that you've actually been working hard on your voice I feel bad for ctiticizing your vocals.

>>1800
No need to feel bad at all, I posted it looking for criticism.
It's interesting that you mention Ian Curtis. I recall recording and uploading some things elsewhere last year and a couple individuals compared my voice to his. After spending a few hours yesterday digging up all the informational articles and videos I could and doing vocal exercises in front of a mirror, I'm certain that I'm forcing my larynx too low while singing in my lower registers and trying to eliminate nasal resonance altogether, which is exactly what Ian Curtis did most of the time.
I actually want an at least somewhat unrefined sound; all of my favorite vocalists have a raw, emotional, kind of unhinged style.
Thanks again.

>>1801
>I actually want an at least somewhat unrefined sound; all of my favorite vocalists have a raw, emotional, kind of unhinged style.
I respect this sentiment ever so much, believe me. It's not for me if it sounds too clean, or clinical if you will. I favor vocals with a raw and unforced sound all while being capable of conveying the most obscure of emotions. I'm a believer that you can posess a refined style with an unrefined sound, where every impurity can come off as intentional. Though at this point I think we're talking about artists with insanse ammounts of artistic integrity.

I think you are indeed spot on with your points on your larynx and nasal resonance. Confirmation from third-parties is nice, but I think you pretty much know what to do in order to step up your music at this point. I can but acknowledge the talent and willpower you present - both in and behind the music itself.

>>1797
I'm finally getting vocal takes that I'm okay with, so I went back and listened to this older version for the first time since I uploaded it. And while I'm far from getting complacent, I'm genuinely surprised at how much I've improved.
My initial goal was to have the album completed by October, which will put the entire project at a year, and while that still seems realistic I think my hopes of finishing it early are a bit over-optimistic.

>>1916
Though you're admittedly going for a very low and gritty sound, I heartly believe you must re-tune up yourself with the guitar; cause even if your vocals and accompaniment have sense by themselves, you are hitting not one single note of the scales your chords should be contained in, thus preveting us from hearing any organic relation between what you play and what you sing...

Recording quality is ok.

Post edited on 27th Jul 2012, 10:48pm

>>1931
While I certainly appreciate you commenting, I'm going to have to disagree with the bit about "hitting not one single note of the scales your chords should be contained in". There is only one inharmonic note in the vocal melody, a G sharp, and it coincides with the chord shift from E minor to E major, so it's only inharmonic relative to the song's key and not to the chord that it's harmonized with.
Perhaps the vocals are just so bad that they give the impression of being off-key?

>>1931
This is ancient history now, but I still want to apologize for this >>1932 super-douchey, defensive reply. My pitch on that track was all over the place.