How to Use Famitracker (Part 2) - Instruments and Inputting Notes

[@verkcuos]

i know this series is 4 years old but i just wanted to say that this tutorial is actually really good at explaining things and i've been trying to figure out how to do this for years.

[@ben_burnes]

Thank you! I'm really happy to hear that the tutorial's working for you :)

[@kingofshadowzombies]

I am more interested in this than I am in my classes.

[@ben_burnes]

Hah well these videos will still be around when homework is done :P Glad you're enjoying the series though!

[@JULIONILSON]

The ONE KEY was The light for my ways!!! Thankyou very muchfor long time ago Dear Ben.

[@ben_burnes]

You're welcome! Glad you are enjoying the videos!

[@JULIONILSON]

@@ben_burnes You have any composer by Famitracker? So aready Thankyou very much

[@ben_burnes]

@@JULIONILSON I have made quite a few albums in Famitracker. at the end of the video series I share two project files from songs I've made. I hope that helps!

[@whatareyoudoinghere1431]

I'm rewatching almost te entire series as I haven't watched or tried to use Famitracker in a while. I just need to refresh my memory. This is by far the most in depth and helpful tutorial ive found on Famitracker! thanks!

[@ben_burnes]

You're absolutely welcome! I'm glad you found the series useful :)

[@Frustratedartist2]

+1

[@shaelynb1865]

just wanted to say thank you. I've wanted to get into chiptune for a while, but I didn't know how to go about it. I can probably pick this up pretty quickly now.

[@ben_burnes]

You are absolutely welcome! Best of luck on your Chiptune adventure and if you get stuck feel free to leave a comment, I'll do my best to answer it :)

[@ItsSkitty15]

What a legend, still responding to comments 6 years later on this video... Thanks for the series it helps

[@ben_burnes]

One nice thing about being a small channel is that I am able to see and respond to everyone :) I'm so glad that the tutorial is helping! Thanks for watching

[@bremlo1035]

Thank you for making this. I just need to learn music theory, I need to know what letters assign to which notes.. I've found music theory to always be so intimidating. Its definitely my biggest roadblock in this hobby that I love. Thanks for the awesome videos!!

[@ben_burnes]

Heya! I'm glad you're getting something out of the series! :) This is a really old link, but it goes into detail how got a basic grasp of music theory on my own time. Some of the links might not work any more, but hopefully it helps :D btothethree.tumblr.com/post/121187177662/how-i-learned-music-theory

[@3OHT.]

I just want to say, this is a very professional and well done tutorial. I used this a few years ago, and I'm just coming back to it now. Great work.

[@ben_burnes]

Thanks so much! I'm happy that you've gotten a lot out of this series! :)

[@eniolotero8808]

I'm already overhyped. The final excersise sounds amazing, and the tweakings you can do with the effects are very cool. Thanks for sharing this :)

[@ben_burnes]

Aw heck yeah! Good luck on your journey, feel free to reach out if you get stuck along the way :D

[@eniolotero8808]

@@ben_burnes thanks a lot man! I'm already checking out the rest of the tutorials. I really appreciate it :)

[@ventana6588]

This will be my first approach to famitracker as a composer, thank you so much for these tutorials.

[@ben_burnes]

I hope you get what you need from the videos, best of luck in your composing journey :D

[@ventana6588]

@@ben_burnes thank you !!!

[@emptyorchestras]

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST HELPFUL VIDEOS I HAVE EVER SEEN

[@ben_burnes]

I'M GLAD YOU THINK SO :)

[@MonsieurALG]

THIS is the Famitracker tutorial I've always wanted, THANK YOU!!!

[@ben_burnes]

You're welcome, I'm glad I could help out! :)

[@aaronbarber6238]

This software is super cool, I'm definitely going through the whole series of videos. I was stuck in a musical rut, but I feel a vacation from Ableton's piano roll is exactly what I need. Keep up the awesome work, you've earned my sub!

[@ben_burnes]

That's great to hear! As an Ableton user myself, I completely get where you're coming from. I love how different the workflow of Famitracker is. Hope you enjoy the series and let me know if you have questions, I'm happy to help :)

[@franco9571]

You are the GOAT all the resources and explanation really makes it easier to get into this thank you very much

[@ben_burnes]

I'm really happy to hear that you got something out of the tutorials! Thanks for watching :)

[@bobbymcbobface]

Thankyou, i watched these videos a year back when i was learning famitracker but quit as i needed to learn coding before i learn the other aspects of gamedev (music,art) and i'm coming back today and the tutorials are more helpfull then ever :)

[@ben_burnes]

Glad you are getting some use out of the tutorials! :D

[@vazzaroth]

Very good tutorial series, I'll be sticking with this one. Not just helpful for the app, but learning all trackers (I got lost in a few other more advanced ones previously and gave up) and also music theory with these simple but great sounding examples. Laying down and discovering that bass track was very inspiring!

[@ben_burnes]

Thank you! I'm really glad you're getting some value out of it :) Working with trackers is a WHOLE world of difference if you are used to using piano roll, but I think it is a really cool and interesting way of writing music

[@flintl0ck79]

I've been using FamiTracker to add some chiptunesy flavor to recordings for a few years but never really spent the time to learn all the ins and outs of the software. These videos are fantastic and super helpful, thank you!!!!

[@ben_burnes]

You're very welcome! I'm glad you're getting some valuable info out of them. Feel free to ping me if you ever run into problems or have questions :)

[@Rakned]

is this a rickroll this better not be a rickroll Edit: Not a rickroll. Great video, though! Thanks for the help.

[@ben_burnes]

Haha, nope, no rickroll throughout the entire series, I promise :)

[@ashdariz6727]

you should just make another final video thats just a rickroll

[@retrokid104]

Thanks so much! I was really confused and had honestly no idea what I was doing. This helped a whole lot!

[@ben_burnes]

You are so welcome, I'm happy that these lessons have helped :)

[@XPlats]

thanks so much!

[@ben_burnes]

You're welcome! I'm glad it was helpful :D

[@sloopygoop]

Thanks for making this, it's really helpful!

[@ben_burnes]

Thanks for watching! I'm glad that you're finding it useful

[@fendas123]

Thank you so much! It was my dream to be able to make 8-bit music a year ago, and now, with only 2 of your videos, I finally can. Thank you.

[@ben_burnes]

Hi! You're very welcome, I'm glad that you're able to get going making stuff :) Feel free to send me some songs that you made, I'd love to hear 'em!

[@shivkarj1456]

Great video. It's so cool that programs like famitracker are free, as well as the amazing tutorials for it.

[@ben_burnes]

Yea! I was so excited when I saw that Famitracker was free to use :D

[@shivkarj1456]

@@ben_burnes thank YOU so much for the amazing tutorials!!

[@alexmattheis]

Thank you, always wanted to create own sound effects as a programmer.

[@ben_burnes]

Awesome! Happy to help :D

[@snek5385]

Thanks for the sharing!

[@ben_burnes]

Thanks for watching :)

[@mrkathooloo5711]

This is super helpful, thank you so much!

[@ben_burnes]

You're welcome! :D

[@pierre-aureliensp5458]

Awesome video thank you ! You got my curiosity started and it was solid motivation to go on Famitracker and do it all !

[@ben_burnes]

You're welcome! Glad I could help get the ball rolling. Best of luck! :)

[@dorbacal]

Awesome, after watching this what before looked like alien gibberish to me is now kinda understandable. I messed around with the tune you gave, and right now I have 3 instruments: for pulse 1, pulse 2, and triangle. I had to make an instrument for triangle that just increases arpeggio because I just copied what you did in pulse 2 to triangle, and it sounds very cool. Great tutorial

[@ben_burnes]

Hey I'm glad it's making more sense for you! :) Keep it up!

[@PWBStudios]

Ben, this is Awesome! :D I'm still very new to chiptune, the reason I've been wanting to learn chiptune is because I really like the music style, so I've always been wanting to learn chiptune, thanks Ben :)

[@ben_burnes]

I'm happy to hear that! I hope the tutorial series helps get you started on your chiptune journey :D

[@PWBStudios]

@@ben_burnes I feel like i have a new hobby now xD And I've learned a LOT so far, your tutorials helped me a lot, it feels like i discover something new every day!

[@wiidlbeetle3857]

Very helpful video!

[@ben_burnes]

Happy to hear it :D

[@hahahalala-i1x]

hey aurthur, thanks so much for the video. Im your biggest fan

[@HE360]

Wow, thanks for the video(s). I could now start on my journey and try to make Nintendo music that rivals Sunsoft, Konami and Capcom. And who knows, maybe one day I could make music for their games lol.

[@ben_burnes]

You're very welcome! I hope they teach you a bunch and launch you on your journey :D

[@JoeyMerryfield]

Did the pattern (11:40)! it really helped me on what notes are sharp or not (I now can understand the sounds better and I can remember what correct note like z=C or d=D#).

[@ben_burnes]

I'm happy to hear that! :) Glad I could help you out

[@ThatOneHandsomeGamer]

I see your room flipped after part 1. Very impressive

[@ben_burnes]

I was still learning how to record video way back then :D

[@amobiusu]

Thank u for tutorial! 💞💕💞💕💞💕💞💕💞

[@ben_burnes]

Thank you for watching! I'm glad it helped

[@stardustmotion]

for european fellows out there with windows and azerty, you can install an english input keyboard in windows settings => Time and language => region and language when installed alt+shift shouuld toogle between qwerty/azerty

[@ben_burnes]

That is great info thank you for sharing!

[@stardustmotion]

@@ben_burnes i should be the one saying that

[@fallacy08_shrine]

I never knew azerty existed :/

[@JYarmosh8bitMusic]

Hi, Ben! Please give me advice. How to learn to UNDERSTAND how to make some instruments by every parameter. Maybe there is some kind of guide about? Or maybe there is some archive with ready-made instruments and i can see it and understand how it was made? Thank you!

[@ben_burnes]

Heya! I did some searches on finding some other example instruments and honestly it might be better to find songs that already exist that people recreated (Mario, Metroid, etc) and pick apart the instruments from that perspective. Making the instruments can be a bit daunting at first, but once you get a bit more familiar it's where a lot of the creativity shines with Famitracker too. I'd suggest downloading existing projects and seeing how they work :)

[@JYarmosh8bitMusic]

@@ben_burnes Did you mean an NFS modules or FTM? IS there a place with famous games`FTM-modules? Or you talk about NFSimport?

[@MrMetalclay]

Thanks your video is helping a lot.

[@ben_burnes]

Thanks! I'm really glad to hear that :)

[@muttman12]

awesome video, thanks for making these.

[@ben_burnes]

Thanks for watching, let me know if you get stuck anywhere :)

[@amberharris6214]

Very nice and helpful tutorial. Thank you so much. I have bookmarked and have added your "How to Use Famitracker" playlist for my reference If I get lost.

[@ben_burnes]

Glad you like them! :D

[@swagman8719]

What's funny is that I'm in Band, so I know how to read sheet music, which I can kinda count as an advantage. I really like this tutorial series, and im glad that i found it!

[@ben_burnes]

I hear ya! I played trombone when I was in school so I can read sheet music reasonably well. It can be a big advantage, especially if you're practicing using Famitracker by transcribing other music. I'm glad you found the tutorial series as well! Let me know if you run into any problems or have questions :)

[@swagman8719]

I Play the Trumpet in band. I guess we're from the same family xD I was wondering if you knew of any software that could possibly make 16-Bit music? I am also surprised that you replied so quickly, not a lot of KZbinrs do that, so I thank you for that!

[@ben_burnes]

Shadow2456 heya! was never good at trumpet, couldn't make any noise with the tiny mouthpiece :P as for 16-bit... you might be better served getting a traditional DAW like Ableton or FL Studio and downloading the SNES or Sega sound packs. I think in that era it was more traditional midi. I don't know if there is a better way of going about it. best of luck!

[@swagman8719]

Ok! I tried a FLStudio before, so I know a tiny bit about it. I couldn't play the trombone because I have dinosaur arms :P I might just stick with FamiTracker for now and then move up to FLStudio and so on. Thanks!

[@ben_burnes]

Shadow2456 you're welcome! FL is a great piece of software. if you are looking to learn it better I suggest checking out the channel seamlessr. he does more edm stuff, but also have some great basics tutorials on fl :)

[@doriakel]

im really new to this kind o program, and i like the idea tha ye actually let people put out all the notes to listen to wha yer showing instead o just putting it out and let people hear it on yer clip. ye have my thumbs up and my subscribe!

[@ben_burnes]

doriakel thanks for the feedback! I actually spent a long time making elearning software as my day job so it was fun to translate the tricks I knew to help people learn into teaching people something fun :)

[@gideonkupka4080]

great tutorial series. super appreciate it

[@ben_burnes]

Glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for watching and let me know if you have any questions :)

[@virtualjg1042]

awesome guide, man! i've been playing music since I was a kid (I'm 21 now) and really wanted to get into chiptune, so thanks for making these videos!!

[@ben_burnes]

Thanks! I'm glad you're finding the videos helpful. I grew up playing games on the NES myself (I'm an old man heh) so being able to help more people make music like this means a lot. When you make some cool songs, feel free to send 'em my way!

[@scrungle6521]

This was an amazing tutorial!

[@ben_burnes]

Thanks! Glad you are getting some value out of the tutorials! :D

[@꿈꾸는모험가]

유용한 정보를 제공해주신 Ben Burnes님께 정말로 감사드립니다 :) 더불어 자막을 제작해주신 으악이 님 덕분에 더욱 이해하기 쉽게되었어요. 감사해요 ^^

[@ben_burnes]

나는 비디오를 좋아해서 다행이다. (번역자를 통해) 시청 해 주셔서 감사합니다.

[@rennywaseaten]

dude thank you very much, that was useful.

[@ben_burnes]

You are welcome! Glad you're getting value out of the videos :)

[@thepaperkind]

Would love to see some more in depth instrument creation.

[@ben_burnes]

+thepaperkind I do talk about some instruments I've used in later lessons, especially when talking about effects and stuff. But I'll be honest that an additional lesson basically going through all the Instrument Effects and explaining how they work and what they sound like might be worth the time. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll put it on "The List" :)

[@thepaperkind]

Sweet, thanks! Diggin the vids, very helpful!

[@shakai47]

these tutorials are so helpful! thank you so much for continuing to answer questions people have had. i was wondering if there's some way to make shorter notes thank 16ths, like 32nd notes, with the arpeggio effect or if there's an easier way?

[@ben_burnes]

Heya! I'm glad they are helpful. There are two ways to make shorter notes. The first would be to edit the insturment's volume envelope (the thing i'm talking about at 3:00) so it's very short. The second would be to use the Sxx effect that you'll learn about in a later video!

[@ajmendez4754]

This is Great! i like this Demonstration you did here! now i can finally get to know FamiTracker more better i also took notes on what you have explained too so i can remember all of it Apperently i Just got FamiTracker for my Laptop and its great so far! im now gonna copy the pulse wave sample you did at around 11:30 and put some Sick ass Beats on it (i will try to get the chance to put the PCM samples in my songs later) Thanks for the Demonstration ^^

[@ben_burnes]

Heya AJ! I'm really happy you are getting value out of the tutorial! Best of luck making blips and bloops and turning them into beats :D

[@ajmendez4754]

@@ben_burnes Hee hee thanks! ^^ and to you Too! Well ive actually been messing around with the VRC7 module lately. Have a Nice Day! ^^

[@PabbyPabbles]

7:22 lol that default no parameter pulse C3 is exactly the first note of Tim Follin's crazy Solstice theme edit: oh nvm it had a bit of a fadein :P

[@drewlogan1419]

I've been watching and listening for over 2 weeks now, carefully going through your steps and writing down notes. I haven't been through your entire tutorial but I am trying my best to reinvent Chiptune music with deep, dark basses and drops. I can't help but wonder, can this program create virtually any sound that could be produced on the NES? I am currently using Fami and some NES emulation ROMS that produce sound effects/music (such as Cajones or PR8) Great video, will continue to go through the tutorials!!

[@ben_burnes]

Sounds really interesting! Once you start putting music out there I'd love to hear what you come up with. To answer your question: I believe so, this is an emulator for the NES soundchip, so it should be able to do anything that could be produced to the NES (you can export these files to be played directly on a NES console even :) Best of luck with the tutorials, let me know how it goes :D

[@drewlogan1419]

@@ben_burnes I've actually found a VST synth for the NES and am trying it out now. It seems like I can get the sounds off the VST as well (Assuming it has all the variables that Fami has, but it seems pretty basic) kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5i9Y4ekpZWiia8

[@LeReubzRic]

thx :)

[@ben_burnes]

You're welcome :)

[@karsonson1717]

Hi. How do I input certain notes on famitracker without a piano keyboard, and just the computer keyboard?

[@ben_burnes]

Heya Karson, I cover that in this video around 7:50 :)

[@karsonson1717]

@@ben_burnes Alright thanks!

[@wavvy94]

I'm supposed to be working on my research project but instead I'm obsessing over these series of tutorials lmao, and I have no musical background whatsoever 😭

[@ben_burnes]

Well this video has been around for 8 years, I guarantee it'll be around when you're done with your project haha. Famitracker is a fascinating way to make music :)

[@beaumaureen8366]

8:25 is where the image of the "piano" typing keyboard

[@ben_burnes]

Hi, it's in the video description :) imgur.com/ChkXCPx

[@quemaster4803]

You are so cool!

[@ben_burnes]

I do my best 😎

[@quemaster4803]

@@ben_burnes OMG YOU REACTED ME IM A FAN

[@Nekonesse]

what exactly is a note cut? i hit the 1 key and nothing happened, i tried searching it up too and it also doesnt come up and ive looked at the wiki for the shortcuts and nothing either.

[@ben_burnes]

Are you hitting the 1 key on the keyboard and not the num pad? Also, you can find where this is configured by going to File->Configuration and in the general tab it'll let you change the Note Cut shortcut :) Hope that helps!

[@Nekonesse]

@@ben_burnes ive tried both! i also cant find note cut in the shortcuts either!

[@Nekonesse]

ok i was dumb and thought you meant going to the shorcuts apparently you meant the general tab and i found it. but it still doesnt work.

[@Nekonesse]

like it doesnt pop up and it doesnt cute the notes off.

[@Nekonesse]

ok i admit it im super dumb i forgot to hit record but thanks anyway

[@maplesights]

not sure if you are still replying to comments, but do you think I should learn some basic music theory before attempting to create a song? I'm going into this program as a complete novice, so I've just been using my ears to kind of gauge what it would sound like

[@ben_burnes]

Heya! Here's my hot take on music theory: You TECHNICALLY don't need it to make music. You can bumble along and do things by ear and can still make great things (I did for nearly a decade). However, if you know theory, you will have the knowledge to fix issues in your songs. Instead of being like "This chord sounds bad and I don't know why!" you'll be able to create a thing that sounds good and interesting. Music theory is tools for your toolbox. They don't necessarily make you a better craftperson, but they make you more efficient and flexible when it comes to overcoming creative issues. Hope that helps! :D

[@maplesights]

@@ben_burnes Yes that makes sense. I may dabble in some music theory if I ever get stuck on a composition then. Thank you so much for the advice!

[@ben_burnes]

@@maplesights Absolutely! Happy to help :)

[@Salvo_Z_Mix]

Would there be a way to change configurations for the keybindings of the keyboard? That might seem kinda helpful, or do you need an Actual keyboard to do this fully??.

[@ben_burnes]

Famitracker does have MIDI support, I think if you go into the configuration you can define how Famitracker reads notes and inputs :)

[@Salvo_Z_Mix]

@@ben_burnes I kinda don't have a keyboard... If you need that for MIDI support . .'''

[@ben_burnes]

@@Salvo_Z_Mix Sorry! A computer keyboard and a midi keyboard having the same name gets confusing. As far as the individual keys on a computer keyboard being reconfigured, it doesn't look like it. There is an expansion to Famitracker called 0CC that might be able to offer more flexibility on that front, but honestly I don't know. Sorry I couldn't help more!

[@으악이-l2l]

Hello. Your famitracker video is very helpful. I'm not sure if you know my country Korea. But, anyway, In korea, there are lack of like this education - thing video. So, I wanna translate this video script into korean, and make my friends watch these viedo. If you read this message, I hope you help me to do this. Just, can tou change these videos's setting that i can make subtitles please? Thank you.

[@ben_burnes]

Hi! Thanks so much for your interest in the series and being willing to help spread the knowledge to more people. If you could do me a favor and confirm that this video is open for CC contributions, I will go through and open up the rest of the videos to allow contributions as well. I haven't done much with CC before and I want to make sure I did it right :)

[@으악이-l2l]

Thanks. I can check this video is open for CC. But, here in Korea it's 1:33 AM now. So, I think I can going to sranslate after I sleep. Thanks for quick respond.

[@ben_burnes]

김성훈 Absolutely! Take your time and please let me know if there is any way I can help :)

[@으악이-l2l]

Hello again! I just finish translating this video and make a subtitles, i hope you check my work.

[@ben_burnes]

Thanks for your work on this! I'm not seeing your addition to the CC panel in the editor, but let me look around a little bit more. Could you confirm that you have uploaded the CC to this video?

[@lennysmileyface]

When I input notes it doesn't make a sound and I have to press play to hear it which is rather annoying. Any thoughts?

[@ben_burnes]

I'm not sure right away, there may be a setting about note previews that got unchecked? I'd look through the program settings

[@deoxysoverlord8710]

There are certain notes I want to input in my computer keyboard to make a song, but such notes do not exist on my keyboard, although they exist when I am testing notes with the onscreen piano keyboard while making an instrument. So please tell me. How do I fix this, and make it so that I am able to input any note I want, regardless of my keyboard's limitations? Please I hope there is a way, so that I don't have to spend hundreds on a real piano keyboard.

[@Nickydigit]

Hi Ben ^^ I discovered this really well made tutorial a week ago and I really enjoyed the fact that even if I'm not playing an instrument I can make music! But when I look at this video, it seems that it's not really true... So could you pls tell me if I need to have some "music basics" like solfeggio in order to watch and understand this tutorial and more importantly to make music thanks to Famitracker. You can tell after reading this message that I don't know a single little thing about solfeggio and that I'm not English ^^' (actually I'm French)... So I hope that you can understand me and forgive me too :)Thank you by advance :D

[@ben_burnes]

Hi Nicky! I can say that you can certainly write stuff in Famitracker without knowing a lot about music, but I will also say that it'll be a MUCH more difficult. I recommend taking the time to learn basic music theory. Like notes on a piano, scales, simple chords. I think that'll help you quite a bit moving forward.

[@Nickydigit]

Ok thank you for your quick answer ^^ One last question if you don't mind : do you have some web site or method that you can share with me? It will help me a lot because I don't really know where I should start ^^'It will be very kind :)

[@ben_burnes]

Heya! I have a blog post on resources on how to learn Music Theory. This can hopefully get you started :) btothethree.tumblr.com/post/121187177662/how-i-learned-music-theory

[@Nickydigit]

Thank you so much ^^Keep it up with all the good work Ben! Your channel is really well made. New subscriber there :) Thank you for all ! :D

[@dafoozlady7467]

Oh dear... As someone that learned to tune to A (440) in school for a viola, is there a cheat sheet or relatively simple method for moving back & forth between A & C as the default tuning note? The image showing the 'keys' on the keyboard is great, but I'm running into the problem of I've never really used C as my tuned note. :-(

[@ben_burnes]

Hm, I don't think there is an option like that. I looked through the preferences and settings and didn't see anything there for retuning. You could look into an expansion to Famitracker called 0CC (hertzdevil.info/programs/) that might have something like this, but I'm honestly not sure. Best of luck! :)

[@oppy2510]

Please help, my keyboard notes were normal, and now they are different (like the keys i press play different notes than normal for some reason, each row of keys are a chromatic scale)

[@swagman8719]

You might have to check the configuration. File > Configuration. Hope this helps!

[@ben_burnes]

Like Shadow suggested you can check your configuration and see if something got switched around there. Otherwise, since Famitracker doesn't require an installation process, you can just download a fresh copy and put it in a new folder and try using that. Might work :)

[@MaximZhuravlevYT]

Good tutorial, though I have something to say about the trackers in general: The only thing I can't like in them (especially FT) is lack of piano roll mode (at least the vertical one). I'm one of these who can't stand this letter-and-number chaos in notes. Why should I be forced to literally *program* my chiptune music? I want to *see* my note's pitch visually, not to *guess* it by its code (which is hard for me to do)! It's a shame there's no such tracker-compatible piano roll interface. And I will never understand people who say that piano roll is garbage and trackers' letter-and-number chaos is canon. This pisses me off a lot, really.

[@3pd724]

What's up, I had a problem, I already tried all the notes with the keyboard but none of them comes out c-1, according to the image you gave us as a reference in the description, it should come out c-1 with the "Q". However, I couldn't write that note in the app, help me please :c Note: when I press q it comes out c-3 and when I press "," it comes out c-3 too :c

[@ben_burnes]

Heya! There is an octave drop-down at the top which will allow you to change which octave you are inputting notes in. So if you are in octave 3, Z will be C-3 and Q will be C-4.

[@3pd724]

@@ben_burnes ohhhhh right :D thank you very much

[@octopuswindow]

nice

[@Gumpasia]

11:13 So I copied exactly what you did but it sounds a little off-tune for me even though the notes are exactly like yours. My ears detect that something is not right. The octaves are right though. I did pay attention to that. ???? I don't know Edit: nevermind I noticed that I confused notes like "C#3" with "C-3". My bad!

[@ben_burnes]

glad you got it sorted out! wish I had recorded the Famitracker side a bit bigger so it's easier to read the stuff :)

[@thermon6945]

Help! I downloaded this on my Macbook using Winebottler and, I don't really know if this is cause and effect, but I made an empty instrument, input a note at Pulse 1, with octave 3 and everything, but the note sounded nothing like in this video! It had a kind of gross buzzing sound.

[@ben_burnes]

Thermon Boi hmm. I'll be honest I don't know much about Macs and wine. I would check out Google or the Famitracker forums and see if someone else has had that problem. Sorry I couldn't be more of a help with this.

[@thermon6945]

Sure. Thanks for the tutorial and reply

[@ben_burnes]

Thermon Boi you're welcome, good luck and hopefully happy chipping :)

[@blueshot333]

Sir, What are the basics i need to know before learning about famitracker?

[@ben_burnes]

Hi, what do you mean by that? I cover most of what you need to get started in episode 1 and this one. If you need knowledge on music terms and theory, there are plenty of videos that cover that kind of stuff on KZbin :)

[@ciscokidd7164]

What key did you press for A1? I'm pressing everything and it doesn't show A#2.

[@ciscokidd7164]

Nevermind, I figured it out!

[@ben_burnes]

You're too fast for me :) Glad you figured it out!

[@jadsunemiku]

I have an Azerty keyboard, does it affect the placement of the notes or not ?

[@ben_burnes]

That's a great question, I believe it does but I honestly am not sure. There may be a mod or something that would change the keyboard layout in Famitracker, but you'd likely have to go on the Famitracker forums to find something.

[@jadsunemiku]

@@ben_burnes Well it does change the placement of the notesbut all I have to do is press Alt + Shift to change into Qwerty Anyway, thanks for the extremely fast response

[@sniffyflakes4771]

I am having a little problem with Famitracker. When I use note release, the note just plays indefinitely and I am not using ImpulseTracker as the edit style. Can anyone tell me the way to fix this issue? And thanks in advance!

[@ben_burnes]

Huh that's really weird. So you're putting that note release dash into the row and it's not turning the note off? I've never encountered that before.

[@sniffyflakes4771]

@@ben_burnes Oh. Then I will try downloading another version of Famitracker to avoid the bug then. Also, your tutorials had helped me a lot in learning how to use famitracker and making music. Thank you very much!

[@jackbaradog]

how do you make a note cut and still have a note directly after it? like if i want to do 2 of the same note on consecutive lines it always just bleeds into the next (like one continuous note for those 2 lines), but if i add a note cut in between them there's too much space

[@ben_burnes]

You might be interested in the effects in lesson 3 :) The Sxx effect allows you to cut a note off mid-row.

[@jackbaradog]

ok thanks, haven't made it that far yet lol

[@ben_burnes]

jackbaradog hah yeah, let me know if you have questions after that one :)

[@pinggwindev]

I used to produce RnB beats, but i don't know anything about music theory and all that. I find that following along with this tutorial series can be intimidating :( but I really love to learn it, even in the hard way, i definitely give it a try because I want to be an indie game developer (as an indie knowing a lot of skills can help you heaps). Please Ben, is there anyway that i can learn music theory to get up to speed? I love your channel and wanted to make my game's music by myself :) thanks in advance buddy.

[@ben_burnes]

Heya! I'm glad you're enjoying the series. Learning music theory can definitely be intimidating, but there are tons of resources online to get started. I actually wrote a blog post about a year ago about my journey for teaching myself theory using a bunch of online resources. It might help get you started. btothethree.tumblr.com/post/121187177662/how-i-learned-music-theory Best of luck with your game development and getting some of your own tunes in there! I hope this helps :)

[@pinggwindev]

+Ben Burnes That was a quick reply and thanks for all that stuff :D I'll check out the link! Again, thanks Ben! You're awesome! I'll ask if I need help, cause you're simply helpful! ^-^

[@ben_burnes]

Vin Chau You're welcome! Good luck :)

[@DRC.Producciones]

How to use the release? Although I set it it does'n works, or this option doesn't works? The notes always sticks toghether.

[@ben_burnes]

"1" is the note stop, like I mentioned in the video using "\" is the note release button, which I think I mention in a future video :) As for the notes sticking together, I'm not entirely sure on that front.

[@DRC.Producciones]

@@ben_burnes Oh man, thank you. I could not watch the entire video by lag. Now I can make my tunes. XD

[@PastaImposter]

did you flip your camera or move your room furniture around??

[@ben_burnes]

Many years ago when this was recorded, my desk and studio was against the opposite wall, so the second one :)

[@Rapphire20XX]

Oh and also, I have another question, how do I add extra notes in the same line AND in the same channel/pulse? One of my remixes requires extra notes, so if you have any tips, that’ll be great!

[@ben_burnes]

There's no real way to do that aside from adding an expansion channel (talked about in a later lesson). Each column is monophonic, meaning it can only play one note at a time. You can overcome this by arpeggiating the note (talked about in part 3 I think) by creating the impression of a chord by playing the notes very quickly :)

[@Rapphire20XX]

Ben Burnes oh I see, Wait so I can clone channels?

[@Rapphire20XX]

Ben Burnes btw thanks for the tip

[@beattherapydotcom]

Is it just me or is tracker music coming back? 🎧💙👍

[@ben_burnes]

I think so! The release of things like NESMaker really helped bring things back around too :)

[@Generalbrosif]

I ran into a problem, I can't hear the notes when I put them in the track and also when I try to play it, do you know how I can fix this?

[@ben_burnes]

Hm. That's definitely an odd one. I when you input notes and stuff does that green bar at the top of the instrument channel go up indicating that Famitracker is TRYING to output audio? After that I'd look into maybe driver issues or Windows settings. Or look at Famitracker settings to see if it's outputting to the right sound driver. Or maybe check your Windows audio mixer to see if something got muted. That's a tough one to troubleshoot across the Internet :)

[@Generalbrosif]

Ok I forgot to mention that the green bar indicating the note is being played isn't popping up when I put it down and play it, but ill be sure to make sure everything is working properly. Thanks.

[@ben_burnes]

Generalbrosif Best of luck! It's likely an audio signal routing issue. My first step would be checking what Famitracker is outputting to and if that seems correct, following thing chain from there. Also make sure your speakers are on :P

[@Generalbrosif]

Ya, I can't figure out how to do it, I even downloaded previous versions and nothing worked.

[@Generalbrosif]

+Ben Burnes Just noticed the two 00 next to the note is red when it should be green.

[@mattspng]

Can you use a MIDI Controller to add notes?

[@ben_burnes]

I believe you can, yes. You should be able to assign it in Famitracker's File->Configuration->MIDI menu.

[@astrograph7875]

I don't know if you already did this in one of your videos, But can you give us a example video on how to create a nes song using sheet music on famitracker?

[@ben_burnes]

That's an interesting idea. While I show sheet music a little bit at the end of this video, I don't really go into detail on transcribing from sheet music. This might be something better served from a more serious music theory lesson, but the basics might make an interesting video. Especially since the best way to learn Famitracker is to just make stuff.

[@astrograph7875]

I thought that too. Right now I am trying to make bein' friends from earthbound beginnings on famitracker.

[@ben_burnes]

Matt blacker Cool! Good job jumping into something right away :) I'll have to check out that track since I don't think I'm familiar with it.

[@astrograph7875]

+Ben Burnes if you ever need sheet music for a video game song there's a popular website called Ninsheetmusic. It's where I get the sheet music for my songs. Here's the link www.ninsheetmusic.org/

[@ben_burnes]

+Matt blacker great! i will check it out. not sure when I will have time to record another one of these videos, but I will put it on the list :)

[@leviquincy4577]

There's only one thing I don't understand. How do we know when to switch octaves? And what happens when we do? I'm sorry if it was in the video, I probably missed it.

[@ben_burnes]

+Virus Brightblade Well the scales on the keyboard only go up so high so when you can't put in the notes, it's time to change octaves :) I am kind of thinking about creating a Part 2.5 where I talk about keyboard shortcuts and octaves and stuff.

[@leviquincy4577]

Ben Burnes Oh, that makes sense. Thanks! And I think that would be a great help.

[@ben_burnes]

+Virus Brightblade Heya, I made a video on keyboard shortcuts :D kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5TEdYKMbbeUZpI

[@leviquincy4577]

Ben Burnes Oh thanks! It helped a lot!

[@iancox2745]

is there an octave swap key that I can press if I don't have a num pad?

[@ben_burnes]

I believe you can rebind those keys in the options menu if you like. I'm not sure if there are any non-numpad defaults.

[@robak3844]

i need little help. how can i set lower notes? because i would like to make bass from some samples and the lower note what i can set is C-3

[@ben_burnes]

Hi there, I think I talk about it in part 1, but there is a dropdown menu at the top of Famitracker that lets you set your octave. There is also a keyboard shortcut ( the / and * keys on your numpad) that raises and lowers the current octave as well. Hope that helps!

[@robak3844]

Ben Burnes thanks! you're best!

[@ben_burnes]

You're welcome, happy to help! :)

[@ben_burnes]

Well you can use Audacity, which is free audio editing software, to record and export audio to WAV. Also, you can use something like bfxr.net to create your own sound samples to import as WAV and import into Famitracker. I talk about the using DPCM channel in part 7 :)

[@robak3844]

well, I actually finded way with audacity on my own, but again thanks for help!

[@_anthrax101_5]

I want to make a soundtrack for a possible SMB2 sequel. Can you reccomend me some instruments that resemble the instruments in the SMB2 soundtrack?

[@ben_burnes]

Honestly I'm not sure myself, but I would be surprised if someone already hasn't already made a Famitracker file containing some of the SMB2 music and sounds. I would bet Googling "SMB2 Famitracker" would get you somewhere :)

[@_anthrax101_5]

If I downloaded a SMB2 Famitracker file could I copy the instruments and paste them somewhere else? If so, how?

[@men5crumm]

how do i change the pitch of notes?

[@ben_burnes]

Part 3 talks about effects, if that's what you're asking.

[@TRDario]

Is there any way to swap the Z and Y keys? I have a QWERTZ Keyboard.

[@ben_burnes]

Hm, that's a great question. I know you can edit your keyboard shortcuts in File->Configuration, but I don't know if you have control over the actual NOTE shortcuts.

[@TRDario]

Huh, well, better get used to it then.

[@ben_burnes]

TheRealDario Yeah, unfortunately. You might be able to edit the base configuration files or something, but otherwise you might not have a choice :/

[@pylonbuffering8523]

5:19 no pun intended

[@glyde4145]

lol

[@justinball6969]

I was wondering if people actually buy these types of songs or is it just a hobby for everyone. Because I would like to make a chip tune album for people to enjoy. Thanks

[@ben_burnes]

I guess there are two answers to this question: First and foremost, if you are interested in doing something creatively, you should give it a shot because it's always cool to grow as a person. Two, there is DEFINITELY a Chiptune community out there who loves tasty new jams. I wouldn't expect to get rich off making Chiptune music but if you have the interest it's worth exploring!

[@justinball6969]

@@ben_burnes Thank you so much. I will give it a try.

[@kevenandsoki]

The sound of duty = Duty / Noise

[@davyion100]

How can you think of the sound lengths in comparison to real sheet music note lengths. It'd be easier for me if someone could explain this to me..

[@ben_burnes]

When working in Famitracker, I don't usually think in note lengths, but I added the comparison in there for someone who might. The easiest way to think about it is that each row in a default Famitracker project is the length of a 1/16nd note. Meaning that if you had a note that lasted two rows it would be a 8th note, and a note that lasts 4 rows is a quarter note (which is why there are yellow highlights every 4 rows). Does that help clarify it?

[@davyion100]

Kinda, im just trying to find the easiest way to get note lengths where I'd like them. Also, how do you add another pulse track?

[@ben_burnes]

Well I talk about delaying and shortening notes in the effects area (Part 3) by using the Sxx and Gxx effects. Adding another channel is talked about in Part 8 with Expansion channels :)

[@missionfailedkk]

It's so bad to watch this cuz the facecam occupates a big part of the screen. Why didn't he just put the monitor record occupating the whole screen? It's very hard to see what's happening on the screen...

[@ben_burnes]

A few reasons. First, some people absorb verbal information better through watching a face over a blank unmoving screen. And second, I (stupidly) wanted to show a full frame of Famitracker instead of the first 10 or so rows, which is where most of the action happens in these tutorials. Honestly it was a mistake on my part to lay things out this way, but I was still new to video editing so I didn't know any better, sorry it's so distracting!

[@missionfailedkk]

Oh, okay, i'm new on editing too lol

[@ben_burnes]

@@missionfailedkk It's all good. You aren't the first one who has complained about it and honestly I really understand the complaints. But I had my reasons back then. Would definitely do it a bit different these days :)

[@shhhhh3073]

How do you remove notes in famitracker

[@ben_burnes]

Use the cursor to highlight the note and then hit the delete button :)

[@glaysonmestre]

is possible load tab in this soft ?

[@ben_burnes]

glaysonmestre tab in what way? To skip columns? Honestly not sure I'll have to give it a shot.

[@glaysonmestre]

take site ciphers and load the program is it possible?

[@ben_burnes]

glaysonmestre you know I'm honestly not sure on that front.

[@MindfulMinun]

How do I add notes on a MIDI keyboard ?

[@ben_burnes]

that I honestly don't know unfortunately. i think it would be best to check out the Famitracker help files and see what they have on midi setup :)

[@moldycheese7717]

When I try to place a note it does not create it???

[@ben_burnes]

Hi there, did you arm recording by hitting the space bar or the red circle on the top? The row where your cursor is should be red if you are able to input notes. Otherwise, check your Octave drop-down menu at the top, if it's set at 7 you might not be able to input notes because they are too high pitched. Hope that helps! :)

[@チャンネル登録してね-t1q]

Can you explain more finely around 8:50 plz I cant running well. like moment beep.

[@ben_burnes]

Heya! I'm not exactly sure what's going wrong here? Are you not able to put in a note cut (the green line)? Or is it stopping the note too early? Let me know more info and I'll try to help out!

[@チャンネル登録してね-t1q]

thank you for reply. I can solved the problem.