Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
ghostofbox
Aug 17, 2014

Obfuscating Elucidator
(Yes, I know most music has time signatures, unless it's in free time or something.)

Preamble: Hello, SA. I've been searching for a music forum for a while now. The only place I've ever had luck at was a site called Mortigi Tempo, but it has pretty much died out as far as community goes. Plus, I don't listen to pretty much anything that my real-life friends do, so I currently have no-one to talk to about music. Hoping to fix that here.

I make electronic music. I also make non-electronic music, but we're not talking about that right now. It started in school band when I played a piece by David R. Holsinger which used different time signatures for rhythmic effect; ever since then I've been hooked. I'm posting here because I very rarely get criticism or comments about my music, despite trying to post it in many places (music forums, Reddit, YouTube, 4ch). My friends don't listen to it unless I ask, and when I post to other forums I'm met with either "that was good" or "I don't normally listen to this." Which is cool, but doesn't really get me anywhere. Also, a lot of people don't understand the theory parts of it and just call it weird. Which it is, but that's irrelevant.

What follows are examples of my work, followed by some remarks about what makes them interesting to me at the moment. My music is currently held on YouTube because I started there and never switched. I understand some people may not be able to access YouTube due to various reasons, so I will look into alternate hosting, but for now this is the best I've got. For anyone interested, Count+Step has existed since at least 2007. Not everything has survived the years, though.

1. "It's Raining Again". (2012).
No, don't run away! I know the title is in Japanese. I like languages and I also name things off the top of my head; unfortunately, this got stuck with a non-English name. Anyway, it's in 7/8. It was made using Propellerhead REASON when I had access to it. To me, it seems pretty laid back. It's not chill by any means, but I can be a lot more aggressive at times. Just a quick introduction.

2. Applied Physics. (2012).
Written in 4/4+3/8. The first notes are part of a pick-up 3/8. This was also created with REASON utilizing some soundfonts/samples it had with it along with the regular synths. I started out using soundfonts, so I've always ended up including them in some way. The basic riff of this song was written back in high school, but it took me six years to finally do something with it.

3. I'm a Fish. (2013).
Mainly written in 11/4 with a 7/4 section. I used a lot more effects and intentionally tried to make parts sound dirty. This was made using Reaper with various VST(i)s.

4. Lock-On. (2011).
Written in 13/8+11/8. Pretty sure it starts on the 11/8 just to mess with you, but the main theme comes in at the right spot.

5. Grasshopper. (2012).
5/4 five-to-the-floor dance song. I don't actually listen to dance or many of its forms, but I decided to try some elements from it in this song.

These are just some selections. I don't really know how to expose people to my work, so I'm probably picking all the wrong ones. Especially since music is extremely subjective. I welcome all feedback- that's why I'm posting.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Cool Buff Man
Jul 30, 2006

bitch
You sound like a dickhead

ghostofbox
Aug 17, 2014

Obfuscating Elucidator
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off that way. Thank you for taking the time to read it, though.

Cool Buff Man
Jul 30, 2006

bitch

ghostofbox posted:

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off that way. Thank you for taking the time to read it, though.

Now I feel bad.

ghostofbox
Aug 17, 2014

Obfuscating Elucidator
What? Don't feel bad, that makes me feel bad.

I'm sorry if I came across too aggressive in the original post or something like that; writing about myself isn't something I like to do, so I just tried and apparently failed.

Don We Now
Apr 18, 2005

For those of you who don't habla espanola, "El Poptart" is Spanish for.... The Poptart.




it sucks :thumbsup:

ghostofbox
Aug 17, 2014

Obfuscating Elucidator

Thank you for your feedback. Could you elaborate on what parts you don't like? I know it can be easy to have an immediate reaction to something you don't like, but if you tell me what exactly you don't like about it, I might be able to learn from that and get better. I'm studying Entertainment Technology right now, so I'm trying to focus on getting better at mixing, but anything can help.

Popcorn
May 25, 2004

You're both fuckin' banned!
These guys are being jerks. You're just in the wrong forum. You should ask for feedback in the Musician's Lounge instead, or ask a mod to move this thread.

ghostofbox
Aug 17, 2014

Obfuscating Elucidator

Popcorn posted:

These guys are being jerks. You're just in the wrong forum. You should ask for feedback in the Musician's Lounge instead, or ask a mod to move this thread.

I checked the sticky about this and it said I could post in this one if I wanted to. When I looked around in the Musician's Lounge I saw that some people were saying stuff like "electronic music isn't real music" which scared me off from it. I also play instruments, but they don't know that.

If it needs to be moved though, that's fine.

Popcorn
May 25, 2004

You're both fuckin' banned!
There are a huge number of electronic musicians and threads about electronic music in the Musician's Lounge forum, so you can ignore anyone saying that, assuming they're not joking.

I guess posting your own music in this forum is OK, but it's a less sympathetic forum full of hip music jerks, so you've kind of thrown yourself to the wolves. I listened to the first track and thought it was neat chiptuney business.

ghostofbox
Aug 17, 2014

Obfuscating Elucidator
Thank you, I am inspired by a lot of chiptune music, so I use those sounds a lot.

And thank you for the advice. You're saying you think I'd get a better reception in the subforum? I'm fine with either one, since if I get a bunch of people telling me they don't like it, I might learn some reasons why. But I don't know this community yet, so I'm learning towards "I should probably move it."

Popcorn
May 25, 2004

You're both fuckin' banned!
Listened to the whole thing now, and your stuff definitely doesn't suck, so those other guys are definitely mega jerks. The time signature changes all work really nicely, keep the whole thing on edge.

e: I know this is a trite and obvious thing to say for the chiptune genre, but this stuff would work really well for a video game, and you could probably get some work on an indie game project if you wanted more exposure.

Popcorn fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Aug 17, 2014

ghostofbox
Aug 17, 2014

Obfuscating Elucidator

Popcorn posted:

Listened to the whole thing now, and your stuff definitely doesn't suck, so those other guys are definitely mega jerks. The time signature changes all work really nicely, keep the whole thing on edge.

Wow, thanks! I'm glad you like it. I was afraid the mixing or chiptune sounds would put people off regardless of content. I don't have anything finished from this year since I've been busy and had an artistic block, so I had to choose from the past, but I've been working on expanding my palette of sounds.

I don't know if they were being jerks or if they said what they really thought, but if they paid $10 to tell me I suck, then I assume they meant it. I was hoping to learn from what they said, though.

Popcorn posted:

e: I know this is a trite and obvious thing to say for the chiptune genre, but this stuff would work really well for a video game, and you could probably get some work on an indie game project if you wanted more exposure.

I've posted ads on GameDev before, but I usually just get spam. I think I just got unlucky with the timing. I think I would be good for a shmup or some kind of action game. I don't do orchestral or slow pieces very well. Thanks for the idea, though!

Popcorn
May 25, 2004

You're both fuckin' banned!
They weren't saying what they thought, they took exception to your nicey-nicey tone. We're all tough kids round here.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

ghostofbox
Aug 17, 2014

Obfuscating Elucidator
I wasn't really sure how to write on here. I read the rules, and I've heard things about the community, and after all that I still had no idea how to write it up. I then just wrote it and posted it. I guess I was trying to be nice since I was talking to a forum of people I didn't know and asking them to do something for me. If that rubbed people the wrong way, I apologize; all of this has been a learning experience so far.

  • Locked thread