Russellian
Offline
Harrisonburg, Virginia
VCMG wrote:

To do some pure Gameboy ambient music you could try stuff like layering arpeggios over each other to get a nice pad. Only thing is that it'd probably take up all 3 channels and leave no room for anything else. Still, you could probably make some nice tracks just taking the pad and slowly changing and evolving it.

I want to get this same sort of sound and, though I did accidentally fall on this sort of sound, I forgot about it. Now, though I kinda wanna experiment with this sound. Could make some really interesting songs with evolving soundscapes and solos and things layered in gradually. :3

Downstate
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shanghai

slow tempos. delays. reverbs. i dont think its gonna sound nice and ambient-esque without post processing really. Because the DMG sound is kind of to raw. But there are some songs by Failtron or whatever his name is that have that epic spacey shoe gaze vibe done perfectly.  Id definately suggest recording some stuff and then playing about with processing the sounds after with either software (cheaper) or hardware effects. But i know some people want to keep shit really pure which is cool. but for me, i dont think people should be so afraid of post processing their shit. Can be awesome and adds a whole new creative element to stuff. Nothing better than a recording to tape, soaked in reverb and delay and slowed down to a crawl : )

Victory Road
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Gosford, Australia

i'm definitely okay with post processing btw :>
i just feel like the less that i have to do the better (i.e. i'm still open to having effect levels obnoxiously wet)

viciousitaly
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西安
Downstate wrote:

i know some people want to keep shit really pure which is cool. but for me, i dont think people should be so afraid of post processing their shit. Can be awesome and adds a whole new creative element to stuff. Nothing better than a recording to tape, soaked in reverb and delay and slowed down to a crawl : )

Amen. My take on the 'pure' thing is that I keep coming back to the tactility of hardware - I could conceivably do everything, start to finish, in software but it's just somehow more fun and more "real" not to. I'm thinking about trying to build some effects boxes/pedals to get a unique sound and have something I made myself to use for post/fx.

Tangent: fuck yeah Shanghai; I need to visit again

MONODEER
Offline
the Netherlands

@Downstate:

About Aron's (Failotron / Kanagawa) recording & production process, I remember him saying:

"I recorded with a reverb I decided I wasn't satisfied with. So I rented a church."

smile

Adhrast
Offline
Victory Road wrote:

i'm definitely okay with post processing btw :>
i just feel like the less that i have to do the better (i.e. i'm still open to having effect levels obnoxiously wet)

This. Nothing against external effects, really, it's just that, if possible, doing everything directly in LSDJ would be much better smile that said, I'll probably try the effects road and se what I come up with big_smile

Jellica
Offline
England

its easy enough making pretty floaty sounds on a game boy, people probably just are not trying hard enough, put the tempo right down low and have crazy long groove settings and fuck all that fast game boy shit filling in every single last space with some crappy random note, play with volume envelopes in tables, the wav channel at slow tempos can sound great.

You could always fuck the fucking game boy right off and use a c64 which has filters so can make very nice pretty floaty sounds.

Last edited by Jellica (Mar 6, 2013 1:12 pm)

Victory Road
Offline
Gosford, Australia
Jellica wrote:

its easy enough making pretty floaty sounds on a game boy, people probably just are not trying hard enough

nah it's not so much this

fuck the fucking game boy right off and use a c64 which has filters

as it is this

BUT i think maybe i should try harder anyway because that would be a good idea for anything really

breakphase
Offline
Earth

You can get a softer sound by doing fast pulse width changes. But not too fast. Like W12 W25 W50 W75 W50 W25 H00. But the tempo of the song will affect it. Also HF vibrato is soft. Of course slow attack is a good choice.

Last edited by breakphase (Mar 6, 2013 6:44 pm)

µB
Offline
A gray world of dread
MONODEER wrote:

@Downstate:

About Aron's (Failotron / Kanagawa) recording & production process, I remember him saying:

"I recorded with a reverb I decided I wasn't satisfied with. So I rented a church."

smile

I like this. Using environment to soften the sound is a nice idea, even if you can't afford to rent a church smile

egr
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Abandoned on Fire

Wav channel with lots of overtones has always sounded reverby to me.

defPREMIUM
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this is a great thread! so many great ideas!

chunter
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Brunswick, GA USA

I got bored of lack of dynamics in LSDJ works and mostly abandoned DS-10 for reasons already mentioned. My suggestion is to use the volume pot to introduce a softness that game boys can't make without also introducing noise.

defiantsystems
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.FILTHadelphia

Build better envelopes in your tables.

Downstate
Offline
shanghai

how come no one commented 'just smoke a spliff and go to town'

Jansaw
Offline
Canada

Soft/warm arpeggios done in WAV, coupled with higher arpeggios in pulses...
I find it's best to have a very simple pulse lead, maybe 50% duty cycle. Personally, I believed it's all in the arrangement, programming and musical knowledge you possess.
Here's an example:

http://chipmusic.org/jansaw/music/alone-in-space