Best Technique for Chiptune Tracker Beginners

[@PegmodeChiptune]

The point you bring up at the end on converting tracks is a huge skill for beginners to tracking. It's not only good for becoming more comfortable with tracking but also in composition and especially sound design. When I first started with trackers, I did a lot of 1:1 transcribing of old OSTs to a tracker format. In doing so I learned a ton of techniques that are more specific to trackers. It's a good method to put yourself in the head of whoever wrote the track and learn why certain things are done a certain way.

[@MatthewIvic]

Absolutely! Converting music is a complex skill, too-especially if the music is dense or polyphonic. This teaches you arrangement and problem solving within the context of a tracker. When you develop those skills ahead of time, you don't have to worry about technique as much when inputting your own music. Can't recommend it enough. :)

[@livvy94]

Well-said! I've made SNES chiptune for years now and I arrived at the "plan in a DAW, translate to hex" workflow on my own. It's a lot more efficient!

[@MatthewIvic]

Great idea to use both like that!

[@gutsberserker5476]

Tracks are difficult for me feels like maths, and this tutorial felt like a uni lecture

[@countriescomparisons74]

Same, DAWs are so much better

[@carl.wunsche]

thank you for reminding me i should stop diving aimlessly into DAWs and software and start actual composing

[@MatthewIvic]

Glad it helped! The no DAW composing experience is pretty fun too.

[@carl.wunsche]

Thank you @@MatthewIvic for your time in making this video. Yeah I mean I still love working with DAWs, but it's so much fun when you already know what to do :) Simply put, I interpreted this video as advice on escaping "tutorial hell" and actually start doing shit! The thing is, it's even more evident when working with trackers, isn't it? Maybe? With daws you can get away with it and compose something eventually, but trying trackers without a plan... I failed miserably LOL

[@InnerMotionMusic]

Great advice! I used the Bach two part inventions as my crash course in learning FamiTracker. The first thing I did was figure out how many frames and rows I needed by counting the bars of the piece and figuring out phrase structure - and since there were only 2 voices, I was able to spend a lot of time getting familiar with the sound design. Now when I compose my own pieces, the planning phase is just second nature.

[@MatthewIvic]

Great to hear. Bach is best.

[@mx676]

Famitracker/Furnace user here! Thanks for the video. MIDI is the fastets way to get your ideas out of your brain, then transcribe to a tracker. Solid tips!!

[@MatthewIvic]

Glad you enjoyed it! Anything that gets you making the music you want is the best.

[@ThatOneSaltyFilipino]

Basically I got my start doing 8 Bit Covers via ear training. Usually I find the material I want to transcribe to chiptune form on KZbin. I set the speed to 0.75x, 0.5x, or 0.25x depending on how complex the piece is, so that I can discern more finer details. Also, use a metronome and do trial and error for all pieces. Sometimes, the listed tempo on online websites is wrong and you have to manually do it yourself. I recommend metronome tools that go into decimals. There's also the groove calculator by Damian Yerrick that helps with making the tempo more accurate. Note that the Groove Value corresponds to the Value of the Fxx Effect on Famitracker (the software I use). Also, for most compositions, you change the First Highlight to 4 and the Second Highlight to at least 16, though you can change this value higher to 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048... to have more precise tempo values. That's some of the experience I have with transcribing stuff on trackers.

[@MatthewIvic]

Nice extra tips. I enjoy your covers, too. :)

[@videoman4658]

this is super helpful- thanks!

[@MatthewIvic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@blissfu_lee8522]

For me it's just that I suck at the general structure aspect of composing music, I've only ever used trackers since I find them somehow more understandable than DAW's. But usually the structure of my song is strange and meandering and I can't seem to convey the right/coherent feeling throughout the music. Although, this video has got me thinking about how I might use planning ahead to help myself with this.

[@MatthewIvic]

I hear you. It really helps to deliberately state how your piece will go ahead of time. Try starting small, too. Like 30 seconds of music or less. If you can keep a short segment coherent sounding, then it's only a matter of expanding on the subject matter. Also, glad you found the video somewhat useful. Good luck!

[@net_alone]

I love these ancient memes. Ancient memes for ancient music

[@MatthewIvic]

Lost memetics for a forgotten time.

[@UltimatePerfection]

4:40 What if you can't read sheet music?

[@MatthewIvic]

Few options: 1) Study other modules/demo songs 2) Try to copy music by ear 3) Learn to read sheet music! It's truly worth the time investment if you love music. I promise.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

​@@MatthewIvic abdullahajeebi has a better idea - use a midi file

[@minebrandon95264]

0:23 this image is extremely accurate, but as someone who has never used FL studio or similar programs, I doubt that they're any easier to learn.

[@MatthewIvic]

Yeah, music can be complicated; learning production and software stuff on top of that is demanding. It's worth the time investment if you love it, though.

[@0mniyoutube]

how do i make songs longer?

[@MatthewIvic]

There are plenty of different ways, but a simple way to start is to add a contrasting section. For example, if you have a fast paced rhythmic section, try adding some contrasting lyrical music. It helps if the contrasting section uses material from the first section to tie it together. Another easy way is to try and maximize the material you're using; that is, don't create a contrasting section, but rather try and keep expanding on the first section's material. Take the example of fast paced rhythmic music. Instead of transitioning, try developing the rhythms you start with. Arrange them in different ways, create permutations, try them in different harmonic contexts. Plenty of stuff to do. Lastly, listen to lots of music to get ideas. Try to guess what's going to happen as you listen. Compare and contrast what you think will happen to what actually does. Pay careful attention to what surprises you and the emotion the piece evokes! Could write forever on this, but hope that helps a bit!

[@FrostyLosty]

How would you do a grace note in Deflemask? Because to me it seems like you can only go as small as 32 notes / rows in a bar, but what if you wanted, say 64? I just bought Deflemask yesterday so I am still learning how to use a tracker :P

[@MatthewIvic]

I would either use the previous row with the delay function, or if you want the note on the beat, create a grace note instrument with a small subdivision! Hope that helps.

[@crimson-foxtwitch2581]

Me: *doubles the song’s BPM instead*

[@N3Selina]

i don't know why but using a tracker is as natural as breathing by now. i actually tried to use a "superior" DAW and... it was painful

[@MatthewIvic]

Yeah, there are definitely some things that are more difficult to do in DAWs than trackers...details in particular.

[@devpoodle]

very informative!

[@MatthewIvic]

Thanks, DevPoodle! Trying to crunch down information into more digestible bits.

[@OPdbx]

I once watched a stream where Jake Kaufman was writing a tune for shovel knight on famitracker and before he began composing he already had a bunch of instruments premade that he could just select and immediately start writing with. I thought that was a good idea so yeah def plan ahead 👍

[@MatthewIvic]

Great advice! You can save and export instruments in most tracker programs, so that's a big plus.

[@kmilonfire990Garudo_Nexastus]

Hello! I have a question. Is humming some random tunes already planning ahead? Best regards! ^-^

[@MatthewIvic]

Sure. In my opinion, having any material/concept/whatever before sitting down to compose is a good start. At least for me, I find that to be more effective then endless noodling. :D

[@srb2er]

minor question. how do you transcribe music exactly? I wanna make chiptune covers (ig) but idk how to transcribe them :(

[@MatthewIvic]

Big question! That would probably take me an entire video to explain. Here's a short attempt: Transcribing is the process of translating what you hear into standard notation. For beginners, one method is to pick a part you can hear most easily (usually the melody or bass) and try to convert that first. Count the beats to understand the subdivisions. Listen to the melody's intervals to get a grasp of it. Once you have the melody/bass written down, you should have a good skeleton of the piece's layout. From here, add the harmony or anything else. Hope that helps a bit...

[@srb2er]

@@MatthewIvic I think my problem is trying to realise how to tell the difference between 2 notes :/

[@MatthewIvic]

@@srb2er Keep at it. Ear training, transcription, and music is a life long journey. You can do it!

[@MatthewIvic]

Punitive measures will be planned against me for my punishing potent puns.

[@jakdaboi]

that's great, but where's the download link?

[@Dev-gm1mc]

wow

[@abdullahajeebi]

If I were to convert a piece to tracker format, I would've used a MIDI instead of sheet music.

[@thewhitefalcon8539]

Good point

[@LavaCreeperPeople]

Me, a noob, casually making the worst, most ear piercing music you'll ever hear in your life:

[@MatthewIvic]

The most ear piercing music community challenge...

[@LavaCreeperPeople]

@@MatthewIvic xD