My own 8-bit music

[Lozjam]

Hey guys, I made some chip tunes, and I would really like feedback, on how to make myself better. So please listen to it. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CdwKhsr7rVc&feature=g-high-u, please give me compliments, complaints, constructive criticism, or anything. A million thanks to all of you.

 

[etecoon]

The melody feels pretty aimless for the most part, probably the most important part for most chiptunes especially with the limited polyphony that old game systems had(albeit you're not staying within those limitations here, people still generally expect a strong melody from a good chiptune). Actually forcing yourself to compose more within the limits of an actual NES or gameboy song can make your chiptunes more interesting, it forces you to use more arpeggios, riffs, and counterpoint instead of sustained chords and of course to work on the melody more. Try limiting yourself to 5 tracks, one triangle, 2 pulse waves, sample, and noise. Tasteful use of portamento and vibrato also help a lot, if you listen to some of the great chip soundtracks like MM2 or Pokemon RBY, there's a lot of expression in those square and triangle waves

I'd also highly recommend learning a more traditional tracker like famitracker or even just using samples inside modplug or [insert tracker here]. I tried using that program for a few minutes, it's really slow using a mouse based tracker, once you learn your way around the keyboard it'll be hard to go back. There's an added benefit that there are thousands and thousands of source files out there that you can look at, it's nice to be able to look directly at the data for some of your favorite songs. It's also just really cool, I love listening to music inside trackers and watching the lines of code fly by

 

[Lozjam]

The melody feels pretty aimless for the most part, probably the most important part for most chiptunes especially with the limited polyphony that old game systems had(albeit you're not staying within those limitations here, people still generally expect a strong melody from a good chiptune). Actually forcing yourself to compose more within the limits of an actual NES or gameboy song can make your chiptunes more interesting, it forces you to use more arpeggios, riffs, and counterpoint instead of sustained chords and of course to work on the melody more. Try limiting yourself to 5 tracks, one triangle, 2 pulse waves, sample, and noise. Tasteful use of portamento and vibrato also help a lot, if you listen to some of the great chip soundtracks like MM2 or Pokemon RBY, there's a lot of expression in those square and triangle waves

I'd also highly recommend learning a more traditional tracker like famitracker or even just using samples inside modplug or [insert tracker here]. I tried using that program for a few minutes, it's really slow using a mouse based tracker, once you learn your way around the keyboard it'll be hard to go back. There's an added benefit that there are thousands and thousands of source files out there that you can look at, it's nice to be able to look directly at the data for some of your favorite songs. It's also just really cool, I love listening to music inside trackers and watching the lines of code fly by

Thank you very much I just got famitracker. This will help me a lot

 

[SuperSmashTaters]

I could definitely hear this in a classic game if you wanted to create a mood of confusion or being lost but not too dark. It doesn't give off an overly repetitive, repeating riff which means I wouldn't mute it or get sick of hearing it over and over if I were stuck at a level. Etecoon gave great advise if you would like to create more catchy, memorable, or characteristic tunes that personalize your style to distinguish you from others.

 

[Lozjam]

The melody feels pretty aimless for the most part, probably the most important part for most chiptunes especially with the limited polyphony that old game systems had(albeit you're not staying within those limitations here, people still generally expect a strong melody from a good chiptune). Actually forcing yourself to compose more within the limits of an actual NES or gameboy song can make your chiptunes more interesting, it forces you to use more arpeggios, riffs, and counterpoint instead of sustained chords and of course to work on the melody more. Try limiting yourself to 5 tracks, one triangle, 2 pulse waves, sample, and noise. Tasteful use of portamento and vibrato also help a lot, if you listen to some of the great chip soundtracks like MM2 or Pokemon RBY, there's a lot of expression in those square and triangle waves

I'd also highly recommend learning a more traditional tracker like famitracker or even just using samples inside modplug or [insert tracker here]. I tried using that program for a few minutes, it's really slow using a mouse based tracker, once you learn your way around the keyboard it'll be hard to go back. There's an added benefit that there are thousands and thousands of source files out there that you can look at, it's nice to be able to look directly at the data for some of your favorite songs. It's also just really cool, I love listening to music inside trackers and watching the lines of code fly by

Thank you so much. And I am using famitracker this and I have released songs with it. I would love to see what you all hear and think about more of my songs.

 

[Lozjam]

I could definitely hear this in a classic game if you wanted to create a mood of confusion or being lost but not too dark. It doesn't give off an overly repetitive, repeating riff which means I wouldn't mute it or get sick of hearing it over and over if I were stuck at a level. Etecoon gave great advise if you would like to create more catchy, memorable, or characteristic tunes that personalize your style to distinguish you from others.

Thank you so much!

 

[etecoon]

Marked improvement, it still doesn't feel very structured(not that this is always bad either, Metroid II soundtrack...) but it is much more musically interesting. I like the fast bass parts with the running 16th notes, would've liked to have heard that bit more. Probably the weakest part is the few seconds where there isn't much syncopation, everything is right on the beat and very predictable(last 10 seconds and it is used earlier in the song too). Keep at it!

 

[Lozjam]

Marked improvement, it still doesn't feel very structured(not that this is always bad either, Metroid II soundtrack...) but it is much more musically interesting. I like the fast bass parts with the running 16th notes, would've liked to have heard that bit more. Probably the weakest part is the few seconds where there isn't much syncopation, everything is right on the beat and very predictable(last 10 seconds and it is used earlier in the song too). Keep at it!

Thank you, again!

 

[Lozjam]

Marked improvement, it still doesn't feel very structured(not that this is always bad either, Metroid II soundtrack...) but it is much more musically interesting. I like the fast bass parts with the running 16th notes, would've liked to have heard that bit more. Probably the weakest part is the few seconds where there isn't much syncopation, everything is right on the beat and very predictable(last 10 seconds and it is used earlier in the song too). Keep at it!

Also sorry for double post but I finished a new song today. This one is different, more so than any other song I have created