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Dilbert Strider and Rolanda Lolande.
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Jan 6, 2012 09:58
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SubNat posted:Anyhow, Homestuck for the Holidays is the only album set up with All rights reserved, while the others are, under Creative Commons, allowed to be Shared and Remixed, so here goes. But what if I don't want flac?!? (jk everybody wants flac, thanks a ton for this) Tw1tchy posted:This morning and while SA I was down I picked up Famitracker and taught myself how to use it. I'd never made music before or transposed anything, nor actually read a sheet of music in over four years, but I think this turned out pretty neat This is absolutely  , I might have to start putting all these sweet unemployment hours to use learning how to do crap like this.
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Jan 6, 2012 12:43
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Tw1tchy posted:This morning and while SA I was down I picked up Famitracker and taught myself how to use it. I'd never made music before or transposed anything, nor actually read a sheet of music in over four years, but I think this turned out pretty neat  That reminds me, I did a NES version of "The Beginning Of Something Really Excellent"/Gardener a while back. I don't think I posted it here: http://tindeck.com/listen/gbmf
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Jan 6, 2012 13:03
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Paul.Power posted:Nice job Awesome  Is there any resources I can read on to help me compose music? I want to make happy little chiptunes but I can never make music that sounds anything that isn't a random bunch of notes. I understand chords and minor scales and stuff but I don't understand how to compose a solid line of notes to work with. I can't even compose my own drum beat. How do most people start with stuff like this? With drawing, some people start with a scribble and work from there. How can I do the same with art? I've never been a creative person in life, and have devoted a lot of time to maths and programming instead, but I want to learn to make music, since it would really be a cool talent to have. Jewel fucked around with this message at 13:12 on Jan 6, 2012 |
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Jan 6, 2012 13:09
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Thanks . It's an interesting question, because writing melodies is my weak point too: I've got pretty decent at writing rhythm sections (i.e. bass, chords and drums, although I need to improve my drums) but still struggle to find actual tunes to lay over the top of them. I think I learnt a fair bit by finding as many MIDIs as I could and opening them up in things like Microsoft DirectMusic Producer and Anvil Studio to just look at them and see what makes them tick. Wikipedia can also be a handy resource for learning about things like blues scales and so on. But then again I'm no expert, so this might not be great advice. I dunno. Paul.Power fucked around with this message at 13:28 on Jan 6, 2012 |
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Jan 6, 2012 13:26
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Paul.Power posted:Thanks Hm, I was going to try opening as many midis as I could find and check for distances between notes and whatnot. I guess I'll try that. But yeah, if anyone has any help or resources or ways they learnt (looking at you WellManicuredMan  ), please, share if you can!
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Jan 6, 2012 13:29
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I'm actually pretty surprised that the Musician's Lounge doesn't have a thread for that. There's primers on specific instruments and stuff at the top (most of which boil down to "find a teacher") and a thread on sound replication, but nothing I can find about composition. Actual advice wise, listen to more music like you want to make. Like, a lot more. If you try to think of a tune and can only come up with deliberately random notes or an existing tune you heard somewhere, you probably aren't listening to enough. Eventually it should all just sort of blend together in your head and you'll be able to think of something that sounds a little bit like all the stuff you've been listening to, but isn't exactly any one of them. (Disclaimer: I am not a music man, just another person like you with creativity problems. I've found that "shove a bunch of stuff in your brain, set to 'puree', pour out result" is a pretty generically applicable method for 'faking*' creativity or inspiration for anything that needs those things, at least for getting some ideas to start with.) *pretty sure this is how it really works for everyone though, and I'm just a sperg for not being able to do it subconsciously
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Jan 6, 2012 13:59
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Lady of the Beech posted:my conjecture is that the purpose of the game is ultimately to create itself, which is a condition it cannot lose. If that's the case then I feel compelled to imagine that originally there was just one universe, and sburb and the multiverse are the product of an experiment conducted by time professors to see if exponential complexity can be achieved through recursive time loops. It's not even a very good experiment with like grant money and university backing or anything, just two late-20somethings with masters degrees doing something kind of interesting, but really everyone already knew it would work because of course it would.
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Jan 6, 2012 14:07
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Renaissance Robot posted:I'm actually pretty surprised that the Musician's Lounge doesn't have a thread for that. There's primers on specific instruments and stuff at the top (most of which boil down to "find a teacher") and a thread on sound replication, but nothing I can find about composition. Hmh. I listen to music pretty much all the time, but yeah, I'll try doing that and not just listen to it but study the note patterns as said above. I've had no creativity in life, constantly failed english, never was able to draw, but I've always been good at recreating things with vectors and programming, so learning something creative is a little difficult. I like how I don't ever have problems with technicalities though due to the way I think. I learnt the entirety of how to use Famitracker, my first tracker, in a day, just like I've learnt almost entire programming languages in a day. My mind works really mechanically as it seems yours does (well you are a robot~ ), and that's most likely the reason I've never been too creative, because I try and break everything down into logic or mathematics. I'll try all this out and hopefully have something to show for it one day  Edit: I suppose I should also mention I have a piano keyboard and I was trained in super basic piano about.. six or more years ago, so while I don't quite remember how to play, I can still read notes, which is nice. I might get it out and screw around with it some time, also maybe try and learn some homestuck songs! Edit2: vvv And that's where I fall through. I can get technique right all the time. I even give people tips on how to draw properly and shade properly and how to learn new skills, even though I don't know these skills myself, and the advice almost always works, since it's based in logic. I don't know how to force myself to think creatively, and that's why I'm asking for resources. I can't take that first step and view the world in a new way after being grounded like this for so long~ Jewel fucked around with this message at 15:43 on Jan 6, 2012 |
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Jan 6, 2012 14:19
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Creativity and logic go hand in hand. Technique is grounded in logic and self-awareness. Technique is almost mathematical at its apex. Creativity is taking that skill, that logic, turning it on its head and expressing it in a totally new way.
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Jan 6, 2012 15:21
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I'd suggest musictheory.net but that doesn't really help much for creativity problems. Coming up with original melodies is hard for everyone, and that's probably why I do so much Homestuck fan music. If you're desperate, you can take your chord progression and your scale and plop down notes on them and rearrange them until you get a melody. But when it comes to me, sometimes I end up thinking, "I've heard a melody that goes kind of like this before, but what if I play it on horns instead of strings, maybe with a different countermelody, and change up this phrase in the middle?" Creativity is about taking things you've heard or seen before and thinking of a new way to realize them. I have to second "listen to a lot of the music you want to make." As long as I've been interested in music I've been listening to primarily film, video game, and anime soundtracks and it's pretty much defined how I approach composition. When you've given an active listen to the genre you're interested in you sort of get an innate feel for how to build something that sounds like it, even though soundtracks encompass an enormous range of styles. Oh and speaking of music, I've had an idea bouncing around in my head for a song about the Signless based on modifying and rearranging the melody of the Soviet Union's national anthem, and I think I might finally get to work on it so I can enter it into the contest.
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Jan 6, 2012 16:08
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dik-dik posted:Yeah, no kidding. The first book covers Act 1, which is about 250 pages. If we assume each book will be about that long, that means we can expect 18 books to get us up to the most recent update.... (From a few pages back, but I always seem to miss the stuff I can actually answer) So far, the draft of Act 2 is about 100 pages longer than book 1, and the Act 3 + MC Intermission draft is roughly 100 pages longer than Act 2. I haven't started on it yet (still working on refining the drafts for 2 and 3), but I suspect Act 4 will be around the same size as 3, so as long as Andrew feels 1-3 can each fit in a single volume, 4 should as well. 5 is where it'll get interesting, but based on the current trend, I'm guessing that the total amount of books will end up closer to 10 than 20.
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Jan 6, 2012 16:23
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Since the first book is out it may be too late for this, but if you've got any say at all on the outside cover, can you do one of those things where the spines, set next to each other, form a picture? Because ten books is enough for a pretty decent picture.
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Jan 6, 2012 16:26
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Well Manicured Man posted:I'd suggest musictheory.net but that doesn't really help much for creativity problems. Coming up with original melodies is hard for everyone, and that's probably why I do so much Homestuck fan music. If you're desperate, you can take your chord progression and your scale and plop down notes on them and rearrange them until you get a melody. But when it comes to me, sometimes I end up thinking, "I've heard a melody that goes kind of like this before, but what if I play it on horns instead of strings, maybe with a different countermelody, and change up this phrase in the middle?" Creativity is about taking things you've heard or seen before and thinking of a new way to realize them. Thanks! Also, I shut down, got in bed, then remembered I needed to ask you a question. Where in the world did you get all your instrument samples (I need to get my hands on all of them), and what program do you use?
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Jan 6, 2012 16:48
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Right now I'm using Reaper. It's technically free and doesn't have a very steep learning curve at all, and it's also a 64-bit program which makes it a lot more efficient than FL Studio. As for samples I'm using EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Silver Edition, which is one of the cheapest Soundsonline products and still costs around $200. Before that I used a few of FL Studio's DirectWave sample CDs which, though it pains me to say it, aren't really that good. If you have any additional questions feel free to PM me!
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Jan 6, 2012 17:47
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Bobulus posted:Since the first book is out it may be too late for this, but if you've got any say at all on the outside cover, can you do one of those things where the spines, set next to each other, form a picture? Cover art's up to Andrew, of course, but I can at least suggest this to him. Might be tough to plan, though, since the exact book total is still up in the air.
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Jan 6, 2012 18:11
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Electric Pope posted:If that's the case then I feel compelled to imagine that originally there was just one universe, and sburb and the multiverse are the product of an experiment conducted by time professors to see if exponential complexity can be achieved through recursive time loops. It's not even a very good experiment with like grant money and university backing or anything, just two late-20somethings with masters degrees doing something kind of interesting, but really everyone already knew it would work because of course it would. I think that there never was a time when there wasn't Sburb, and that if anybody's going to create it, it's going to be at least some of the eight kids when they grow up. I think some of the kids may literally grow up to be guardians in the opposite universe. @ NES Beatdown: That's fantastic! I love when people make stuff like this. This reminds me that I need to get back to my piano covers of, well, anything.
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Jan 6, 2012 18:24
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Mortal Sword posted:Cover art's up to Andrew, of course, but I can at least suggest this to him. Might be tough to plan, though, since the exact book total is still up in the air. I imagine this could be something done for a special anthology release down the road, like a Sburb logo on the spines or something. Either way, books look awesome so far and I'll definitely buy all of them eventually. Just can't justify throwing around that much cash right now.
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Jan 6, 2012 18:39
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I suppose I should throw my hat into musicchat. I use FLStudio because it was the first music thing I learned how to use like 4 months ago. Reaper is probably better but I'm too lazy to make a switch, at least right now. I'm a poor high school student so as far as sounds go I'm only using free soundfonts I have online, and tweaking them as best I can, or recording some samples on my own and using those (I did this a lot in Silence and Pulse, and the echoing sound in the back of Rays is me tinking a glass bottle) All of my poo poo is very makeshift, and I hope to one day find some cheap things that don't suck rear end, because the instrumentation and samples are one of the number one things I don't like about my music. With creativity, I pretty much second or third or fouth or whatever "listen to songs you like." It's like cramming for a test. Choose what you want your final song to sound like, listen to a bunch of stuff in that genre, and just regurgitate all that information and structure you remember onto a screen and tweak it a bit to make it sound good and unique. I'm still learning structure myself, and I struggle to make a song last past 2 and a half minutes without getting dull. That's pretty much it, I don't have nearly as much experience as most of the others out there, so I guess this is kind of "new guy to newer guy." If you're up to it, practice a bit then send something into the contest. Use the contest as incentive to try out some new things and get better.
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Jan 6, 2012 20:32
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Tw1tchy posted:Awesome Like everyone else said, listen to a ton of music. That will give you ideas and give you a sense of how proper music flows. If you want to get good at composition, though, you're going to need a solid understanding of musical theory. The Homestuck music team does great work, but you can still tell who has a solid grasp of theory and who is more or less going by ear. As far as resources go, you can grab the Kent Kennan book on counterpoint; it has a lot of good advice on constructing melodies. You could also try the Warburton "Melody Writing and Analysis," but I've never used it so I'm not sure how it is. For chords and harmony, Kostka and Payne's "Tonal Harmony" is an excellent book that will take your understanding of functional harmony to a new level. You'll also want a solid understanding of musical form, or else you may find your compositions lacking cohesiveness. Any music theory textbook or online resource would help, but the two volume Benward "Music Theory and Practice" is pretty decent, and if you want a book just on form, get the Berry "Form in Music." Each of the above tends to run from $80 - $100 new, but should be able to find old and used editions of these for a hell of a lot less. You don't need these to compose obviously; it just depends on how good you want to sound. Knowing the details of why and how music works will let you get out the realm of someone who messes around with music and more onto a serious amateur level. Also, you get better by doing. Write a ton of music. Most of it will end up sitting on your hard drive, but eventually you'll start coming up with a piece here or there that has some potential. e: Since I'm in teacher mode, I'll keep going. When you listen, don't just passively hear the music, actively pick it apart with your ears. Listen for melodic contour: where does the melody rise? Where does it fall? Is it moving stepwise or by leaps? Listen for structure: what is the form of the music? What are the repeated sections? Are they the same each time, or are there variations? How would you map it out - if you call the first section A, the second B, and so on, what would it look like? ABABA? ABCBA? ABA'BA? Also listen for dynamics. Where does the music get louder, and where is it softer, and to what effect? Go ahead and take notes, and as your understanding of music theory deepens, revisit songs you've listened to and see what new things you can hear. Loden Taylor fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Jan 6, 2012 |
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Jan 6, 2012 21:15
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Skimming your last paragraph, for a moment I thought you said to get good at composing music you should listen to a lot of ABBA.
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Jan 6, 2012 21:45
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Hey music team, please make an album version of And It Don't Stop. Thanks in advance.
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Jan 6, 2012 22:24
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Lady of the Beech posted:I wonder if Colonel Sassacre will become at all relevant. He already is?? He was married to Betty Crocker, his dog was Halley (as in Harley, as in part of the genetic code for Bec), and he was Nanna's adoptive dad, then killed by Grandpa. And I'm pretty sure that his giant book has been implied to have killed Jaspers.
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Jan 6, 2012 22:56
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Not very explicitly - there's a page way back in Act 1 before Jaspers ever even showed up where John looks at it and the narration says "Good grief this thing is huge. It could kill a cat if you dropped it." I don't think it's ever mentioned again in connection with Jaspers or cats. For what it's worth, John and his copy of Sassacre's book landed directly on Nanna, so the book is kind of responsible for at least one death. I like to think post-scratch John killed Sassacre when he landed, too, because getting squashed by a copy of your own joke book falling inexplicably from the sky with a baby riding it has got to be the perfect death prank.
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Jan 6, 2012 23:44
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Omnomnomnivore posted:Skimming your last paragraph, for a moment I thought you said to get good at composing music you should listen to a lot of ABBA. You should listen to a lot of ABBA as a matter of course anyway.
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Jan 7, 2012 02:52
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100 HOGS AGREE posted:Hey music team, please make an album version of And It Don't Stop. Oh god, yes. If there is to be any justice in this world, this needs to happen.
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Jan 7, 2012 02:56
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Loden Taylor posted:e: Since I'm in teacher mode, I'll keep going. When you listen, don't just passively hear the music, actively pick it apart with your ears. Listen for melodic contour: where does the melody rise? Where does it fall? Is it moving stepwise or by leaps? Listen for structure: what is the form of the music? What are the repeated sections? Are they the same each time, or are there variations? How would you map it out - if you call the first section A, the second B, and so on, what would it look like? ABABA? ABCBA? ABA'BA? Also listen for dynamics. Where does the music get louder, and where is it softer, and to what effect? Go ahead and take notes, and as your understanding of music theory deepens, revisit songs you've listened to and see what new things you can hear. Hahah, last thing I'll say on the matter for a while, since you guys gave me more than enough information (Thanks so much!) but I accidentally did this last night before I read your post. I say accidentally because I was laying in bed TRYING to sleep but music just kept drifting into my head and forcing me to analyse it a little. I ended up not being able to sleep until 3am :T I'll definitely check out a book or two if I can find them, and also WellManicuredMan, thanks for the suggestion on the EQWL. I'll check if a friend has it (I've never really known what I was specifically looking for, so I couldn't ask) for me to play around with, and if not, I might get it when I'm a bit better in a few months time.
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Jan 7, 2012 03:28
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I don't even know if I'm making GBS threads up the thread with drafts but if I am I'll stop. Here's what this Auto Responder thing is turning into. I don't think it really flows well between the two melodies but I hosed around with it a bunch and it turned into this. Again, my problems with the general sound persist, but I did the best I could with free poo poo. EDIT: Nobody replied so I took the time to make a better draft, here you go. 
NO LISTEN TO ME fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Jan 8, 2012 |
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Jan 8, 2012 03:19
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I actually like this! I think you said you used FL Studio, right? The biggest issue I have with this song if any is the fact the instruments used are fairly obviously from FL Studio, if that makes any sense. Like that clap. But the melody itself is great! Keep at it mayne, you're improving. As for the comic, I'm psyked for the upcoming 100 page per day updates. Real excited.
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Jan 9, 2012 03:22
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The sudden influx of updates will cause Homestuck to prematurely end before the end of the month. Then Hussie starts And It Don't Stop 2 and everyone rejoices. edit: vvvv How do you do the things you do~ NO LISTEN TO ME fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Jan 9, 2012 |
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Jan 9, 2012 04:13
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I figured I'd better make some progress on my contest entrant Homestuck starts up again and I lose all my willpower. It's not fully mixed and mastered yet (as you can tell), but I've got the general composition down pat. It's a song about John. You can tell it's a song about John because its title is a pun on "heir". Also because it almost quotes a few lines from Showtime and Doctor, but I tried to make them subtle.
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Jan 9, 2012 04:19
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Well Manicured Man posted:I figured I'd better make some progress on my contest entrant Homestuck starts up again and I lose all my willpower. It's not fully mixed and mastered yet (as you can tell), but I've got the general composition down pat. Also, you just reminded me. Even if you somehow manage to not get a place in the contest (or even if you do), you should try and talk to the homestuckgaiden.bandcamp people and see if you can get your own fanalbum up some time! It'd give you a lot more of a fanbase and a greater chance that you'll maybe even be able to sell some non-homestuck albums a lot easier after homestuck is finished! Edit: vvv That'd be fine; as long as you keep linking them here! I don't have a Tumblr because I have too much to worry about than checking yet another social networking site every few minutes, so I can't follow you on it. Jewel fucked around with this message at 07:20 on Jan 9, 2012 |
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Jan 9, 2012 05:02
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Tw1tchy posted:Also, you just reminded me. Even if you somehow manage to not get a place in the contest (or even if you do), you should try and talk to the homestuckgaiden.bandcamp people and see if you can get your own fanalbum up some time! It'd give you a lot more of a fanbase and a greater chance that you'll maybe even be able to sell some non-homestuck albums a lot easier after homestuck is finished! N... non Homestuck music? I'm not sure I understand your statement. Also, since I've put fifty songs on Tindeck now I think I'll change things up and get myself a Tumblr to put songs on from now on. Then when I upload a Homestuck fan song I can just link to it from here and people can comment/whatever it is people do on Tumblr (tumble?) on it without cluttering up this thread. I think that will make things much more convenient for everyone.
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Jan 9, 2012 05:11
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Well Manicured Man posted:I figured I'd better make some progress on my contest entrant Homestuck starts up again and I lose all my willpower. It's not fully mixed and mastered yet (as you can tell), but I've got the general composition down pat. Not bad! Although if you ask me, it could use more from Showtime, but I say that about pretty much every John song.
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Jan 9, 2012 10:07
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Well Manicured Man posted:I figured I'd better make some progress on my contest entrant Homestuck starts up again and I lose all my willpower. It's not fully mixed and mastered yet (as you can tell), but I've got the general composition down pat. I really like what I've heard of your work, and this is no exception. I'll be looking forward to the finished product. (Also bonus points for having an "heir" pun that wasn't immediately cringe-inducing.)
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Jan 9, 2012 13:34
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The only thing I want from the music team is another album of Strife!. Strife! was the best album.
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Jan 9, 2012 19:41
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I wouldn't mind a [GRIEF] album. 
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Jan 9, 2012 19:56
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbpvePUWG0M This is the exact reason why I hate this comic so much. I have a younger brother who got in this and right now, I have no idea how to break him out of his obsession. You took my brother away from me Hussie, and for that, I shall always curse your name now and forever.
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Jan 9, 2012 20:40
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Luckyellow posted:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbpvePUWG0M Y'know what Luckyellow, I don't care what everyone else says. I want you to keep posting, because your tears are so delicious to me Hang in there, kid!
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Jan 9, 2012 20:54
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The answer to your quandary, Luckyellow, is to remember that we all were terrible when we were teenagers and took stuff way to seriously sometimes. Basically, you're gonna have to 
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Jan 9, 2012 23:28
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