anyone here make retro game music, have any tips for learning how to ? could be music for any of the older consoles from the 8 , 16 bit era's
Have you tried ie. Deflemask + tutorials? As for tips, well just try to look at some modules, see what effects tracker supports, experiment with your own ideas. It's just it. Here's something to read, google more if you need.
Can you play a piano/keyboard? Old video game music comes from programmable sound chips similar to the ones found in synth keyboards - The chip generates sound waves based off the instructions you feed into it. I'm sure you've had the chance to play with a cheap Casio keyboard that has presets like 'strings', 'vibes', 'marimba', 'shotgun', or drums. You press a button to hear the sound you want to hear, and it plays a different sounding note. In a certain sense, that's how a NES plays the music from Super Mario Bros (E4, E4, E4, C4, E4, G4, G3) - There's just no keyboard between you and it's sound chip, so you have to use some programming to feed the chip it's notes and hear the song you want to hear. In some of the more sophisticated cart systems like NES, SMS, GB, Genesis, TG16 - you had multiple channels to play with so you could layer several tracks into one song. Some, like SNES, were sample-based (easy results). Others, like the Neo Geo and Sega Genesis, were synth-based (requires more expertise to get good results). Both have their advantages. You also have to take into account things like the duration of each note (sustain) - it would sound really weird and soulless if each note had the same sustain. The octave range. 0 is closest to infra-sound (earthquakes) and each succeeding number gets you closer to ultrasound (mariah carey). If you are really interested, I'd recommend you start out with a $10 keyboard or some music software to get the jist of how to play simple melodies and what you only know how to play in your head. I also strongly recommend Petit Computer for DSi or SmileBASIC for 3DS for practice. Easy to pick up, easy to make 8-bit sounding game music with, and there's loads of tutorials to get you where you need to go when you're lost. The advanced stuff makes a lot more sense once you nail down some practice with an instrument. Next time you hear a song you know start to end, try to take it apart in your head. Listen for things you may not have paid attention to like the bassline, backup vocals, rhythm guitar, some cool drum trick, etc. Good luck!
