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1

Look what I made! / First try in creating a mellow atmospheric mood - "Into the Dawn"

« on: December 28, 2009, 22:28:11 »

Heya all,

Last few days I've been working on this piece, as a part of my effort of learning to use VSTis as well as getting a break from fast dance tracks and thus creating something more mellow.

The idea behind this was a calm "mood of sunrise" or such (that's what I was imagining while composing. I also threw in a couple of effects to make it more spectacular and moving.

I think this is a big leap forward and would be glad if I could hear what YOU think about it.
You can get it here:

http://home.ooijer.com/ags/Into%20the%20Dawn.mp3

Enjoy, and leave a comment if you want
Thanks 

2

Look what I made! / My latest production - three syth/dance pieces

« on: September 19, 2009, 23:42:58 »

Hello there.

So after almost a year I gave it another shot and I was surprised how better my new tracks are in comparison to the "old" ones.  

But I'm not here for bragging of course. I'm here to share them. I made these two songs, "KRM" and "Fever" shortly after one another and they are the latest (and IMO best) things I've done so far, Fever being the newest. I have to say I'm pretty much addicted to the melodies appearing in Fever   "Cruncher" is a bit older - and uses pretty low quality samples, but I still like the sound it has.

I would be very grateful for any feedback you could give me, be it positive or negative one.
Here are the links:

Cruncher:
http://download.modplug.com/uploads/files/125339599202%20-%20Cruncher.mp3

KRM:
http://download.modplug.com/uploads/files/125339580503%20-%20KRM.mp3

Fever:
http://download.modplug.com/uploads/files/125339522904%20-%20Fever.mp3


Please, tell me what you think!  

3

Tracking / The ultimate SONG DURATION question!

« on: September 11, 2009, 22:18:41 »

Hiya there fellows.

I'll get straight to the point:
I still have hard time choosing the right amount of repetition of my songs.

I can come up with some ideas, but the problem arises in either of these two cases (most of the time):

a) I want to make the song at least the standard 3-4 minute length and don't really know if I have enough ideas not to make it sound repetitive, or if it's actually better to repeat a bit. I simply don't possess the right "feel" how much is right, how much is too little and how much is too much.

b) I absolutely love some section/sound and tend to overuse it, because I just want to listen to it again and again.

I noticed that some of my most favourite songs (e.g. Reptile & Sky modules) are only about 2 minutes long; however I tend to hate short songs and that contributes to the overrepeating issue.

Do you have any similar problems? Do you have any tips on how to solve it? Any "mental guidelines" how to repeat in a healthy manner? Or is it only experience? You know, I hate to ruin a good track just because a stupid issue that the (in other aspects good) idea repeats too much.

4

The Lobby / A poem...

« on: February 14, 2009, 14:22:50 »

I guess this crappy piece of wordcount does not need any comment. I was a bit drunk and bored when writing that, so keep it in mind, please 
Anyway, I felt like sharing:


KINGS OF SOUND

Tandy, AdLib, Ultrasound
are no more in our machines found.
Frequency modulation - that is now just history.
Now we are trapped in DSPs and wavetable misery.
Now we have no education of that lost sound mystery.

Back in the late 80s, with Sid and Paula being best,
there was no space for IBM, niether for the rest.
With Tandies beeping, schreeching loud,
a company came and became proud.

OPL2 was the thing, in the glorious AdLib used,
Its unique sound is unmatchable and cannot be confused.
Only two waves - it may sound small.
But at the time of release, it has beaten all.

Maybe 9 channels too little seems,
but with that FM yamaha chip, it could create dreams.
Be it Monkey Island, Descend, Silpheed or Space Quest,
Back in 1987, AdLib was the best.

What begins, also ends
and so did AdLib, my dear friends.
GameBlaster was little cheat, you have to admit.
And with pricey LAPC you could nowhere get.
But then 1990 came and AdLib was dead.

Long awaited sample playback hit our lonely shelves
in form of crappy market-hurried early SoundBlasters.
With crackling noisy pointlesness,
but with sample playback, more or less.

Buggy, noisy, outdated, nevertheless successful.
It plays digital samples, but still it's kind of dull.
Pro version in '91, that wass little better.
OPL3 on board, not just change in little letter!

No big deal though, until Gravis showed their wares.
The big red monster - Ultrasound - even today demosceners scares.
Hardware mixing, that was great! 32 voices, 16 bits!
In the demoscene, this one was a total blitz!

Then, in 1992, SoundBlaster 16 jumped in and came through.
Cheating in their marketing, with only 12 real bits,
AdLib Gold with its 16 above this one really sits.
But then this was unproven and SB16 sold just well.
AdLib made their last farewell - thanks to Creative's cheat smell.

Another pricey option you've had in hand.
With another HW synth you could you PC expand.
Yes, it was Roland again, with their SCC-1 piece.
Prized at about $500 and being rare enough - Roland hardware, rest in peace!

Meanwhile came in Creative and brought us a merged card.
SB16 with Wavetables, nothing new was found.
AWE32 was the result, cheap enough it was,
although still carrying that little dose of flaws.

Gravis then had their last word,
with Ultrasound Plug'n'Play, the flooded the world.
195 instruments, a hell of a wavetable,
their closed their business in sound cards and bid their farewell death fable.

In '95 this era ended, leaving these behind.
When we mention AdLib today, no one can remind.
Let this be a memory on these memorable things,
on the piece of history, on the vintage sound kings.

5

Tracking / How often do you track?

« on: January 15, 2009, 16:50:21 »

Hi again, lads.

I am just wondering how often do you do your module music. Sometimes I don't touch a tracker in months and that's making me mad sometimes. So I just fire up Milky or Renoise, play my unfinished tracks and come with no expansion, no ideas. So I close them again. And then my consciense keeps on telling me that I'm wasting time doing this and that when I could be tracking instead.

How often do YOU really track?

6

Tracking / A little dip into the old-school tracking

« on: December 11, 2008, 07:28:48 »

Hi lads,

I am pretty much familiar with the methods of modern tracking and its techniques.

However, even after some intensive search, I am still missing some points about the old-school tracking:

I love the C64 music. I tried to search for some C64 VSTis so I could use them in Renoise, but these had usually only some "partial functionality" or how to say it.
Is there a way to re-create the C64 music? Which software to use? (PC only, sorry)
Or am I just half-dumb saying that these VSTis have half-functionality? Are there any of them that can be used to create fully-flegded C64 music? I simply don't believe that the VSTis and samples is the way to do it.

What about Amiga?
Same things there, how to re-create the sound? Through samples, VSTis, emulators? What to use?

Maybe some of you know the old adventure game called Beneath a Steel Sky. It was available for DOS (on floppys, later the talkie version on CD32) and for Amiga. The music in them was a bit different (PC music in itsounded pretty different than Amiga music). For me, this is the second best soundtrack (after Turrican series) and would love to know some more info on how it was created. (If I am not mistaken, the Amiga music was made by Dave Lowe and the PC one by Dave Cummins)
Anyone? Do you know anything about it?

This info is pretty much hard to find by me, hence I was born in 1990, so I have pretty much no first-hand experience.
I hope someone can tell me more.

I really appreciate your effort.
Thanks in advance.

7

Tracking / ...when not too creative.

« on: November 06, 2008, 21:41:41 »

Hi again.

I have a question (again). I just want to ask you more experienced ones how do you make your approach to a song when you don't get any good ideas. I mean, sometimes it goes all easy like hell at its own and sometimes I can't get anything out of my head. In the latter case I usually cease tracking and go do something else. But it also happens that it's something in the middle. There are no ideas that suddenly strike me, but I can create something if I try. And that's sometimes difficult to reach. How do you try? I mean, I am in a good tracking mood, I have piles of samples and I want to do some music. But how should I start? More accurate question would be better: How do you start? Do you get also this kind of feeling? I have the experience that when I can get over it and for example when I find a nice sample, I get a small idea that I can evolve. But it takes some work. It's not going easy, nor hard. Something inbetween. The question is, how to help yourself to get those ideas flowing?

I hope I made myself clear. If not, just let me know and I'll rephrase it.
I would be really glad having this cause clear, please share your thoughts.

8

Tracking / VSTi basics

« on: July 20, 2008, 15:03:24 »

Hi there,

I just wanted to ask where to find some useful info on VSTi usage. There are marvelous pieces out there, but every time I open one, I can tell you how it looks, where is the ADSR and LFO located and that is where my knowledge ends.
When I go to KVRaudio, I just see plenty of VSTi types out there without knowing what do they mean. Additive synths? Ring modulation? What?
OK, I told myself, just open one up. I opened it up, it came with no manual. 50 knobs and buttons popped out and I was stunned and unable to do anything with it.

I tried looking on the web, but I have found no basic VSTi usage instructions.
I need a guide how to learn using them.

Can you please give me a hand here? I would be so happy to use the VSTis to their full extent, but now, I grinded to a halt.

Thanks in advance

9

Tracking / How do you choose samples for your song?

« on: March 01, 2008, 15:13:23 »

Hi there!

I am pretty new to this, and I have a difficulty choosing the right samples for my track.
I have like hundreds (or even thousands?) of samples, and I just don't know how to start choosing them. I hope you get what I mean. How do you do it? Do you have the song in your head and then you just roam around your collection and play them all until something rings a bell in your head? Or have you an exact sound in your head that you are looking for?

Thx in advance.

10

The Lobby / Oliwerko - introducing myself

« on: February 07, 2008, 16:15:42 »

Hi there!

I am totally new to tracking (hence, I'm 17!  ) and I just discovered this small but powerful group of traker artists.

I am from Slovakia and currently spending all my free time trying to figure out what to do to learn tracking.  I am amazed of how good music you guys can make and also astonished how powerful the tracker software is.

I have some lame beginner questions to ask, so I'll do it here (I am not lazy to look for FAQs and tutorials, but you have much more experience than I have and there are not much of tutorials available):

1.What tracker do you recommend for me as a beginner? Milky impressed me, but I am open for suggestions.
2. How do you make own samples? I know it isnt easy but I read here and there that people do their own samples but I just dont get how they are made? What do I need?
Where can I learn more?

See you around!