Chaza
Offline

I'm very new to LSDJ and I'm basically after ways I can push my usage of the software to become properly proficient with it. I've got a few tracks I've written, and I'm happy with my arrangement, but I'm after ways of developing more interesting sounds. I think tables are the way to go with this, as I've only made sparing use of them so far. I understand the basic principles behind them but I'm having trouble making interesting, usable sounds with them. Anyway, if you could have a listen to my tracks and let me know what could be improved, I'd very much appreciate it.

Also, I'm recording on an unmodded Gameboy Color, and I've heard this could be affecting the bass of my tracks? Does the DMG-01 have more in the way of low-end?

EDIT:
Derped a bit and forgot to add the links to the tracks. Here they are:

https://soundcloud.com/charlie-w-wright/retrothruster

https://soundcloud.com/charlie-w-wright … -chip-tune

Last edited by Chaza (Nov 7, 2013 11:59 pm)

VCMG
Offline
California

Do you have a link to the songs? I think you might've forgotten to include it.

Chaza
Offline

Blimey, that's a bit of an oversight. They're here:

https://soundcloud.com/charlie-w-wright/retrothruster

https://soundcloud.com/charlie-w-wright … -chip-tune

Sorry!

Victory Road
Offline
Gosford, Australia

what's your recording setup like? i like the reverb but it sounds like it's been played out of a little guitar amp into a 57 - basically i'd just like more lows  (and you can get plenty of low end out of a GBC with the right recording setup)

anyway retrothruster is the better song, reminds me of roboctopus with those chords and chromatic bass runs. nice stuff!

tables are great! use the transpose to create more complex arps/"chords", e commands to control the envelopes more tightly or simulate compression, p commands for really tight percussion etc. if you don't want a table to keep looping you can stick a H0x command at the bottom (where x is the step after the last command you put in). experiment and stuff!

Last edited by Victory Road (Nov 8, 2013 12:21 am)

VCMG
Offline
California

Yeah, the bass is pretty lacking in these songs. Prosounding a GBC does help quite a bit, but iirc DMGs have the richest sound of all the gameboy models.

As for the music, it's sounding pretty good so far and I can't really find any really obvious improvements that could be made. Maybe change it up a little more in each song? I don't mind it that much, but I know others will find 2 minutes of basically the same melodies and sounds a little repetitive.

Other than that, the best advice I can offer for learning how to take advantage of tables and getting more interesting sounds is to just experiment and mess around with the commands and instrument settings until you find a sound that you like. Set an instrument to run a table, then start putting stuff in and see what it does, then put some more stuff in, take some out, repeat until you find something you like.

Oh and also, read the manual inside and out if you haven't already. There's lots of features that took me months to even find that were all written about in the manual.

Last edited by VCMG (Nov 8, 2013 12:23 am)

Chaza
Offline

@Victory Road

Hey, thanks. I'm going from an unmodded GBC straight into my laptop's mic port. The reverb is applied on Logic. Hoping to get hold of a DMG for slightly more low-end.

Any reason why retrothruster is better? I feel like its the stronger song myself, although I can't really place why I feel that way.

Thanks for the advice on tables, some of the stuff with complex arps and chords looks very powerful, guess the best thing to do is experiment, like you said.

@VCMG

Yeah, I'm currently hunting for a DMG on eBay at the moment, think that'll provide an instant boost to the quality of the low end.

Thanks for the advice on tables, seems the best way to get a grip on them is to just experiment. I suppose that's the most fun way as well.

I have read the manual, but I might print it out and have it as a handy reference when I've next got access to printer though. Its been a while since I've read it, so I think I'll give it a reread.

Cheers!

Last edited by Chaza (Nov 8, 2013 12:46 am)

Dire Hit
Offline
Seattle, WA

Volume control helps you get bassier sounds. The pulse and noise channels are much louder than the wave channel, so don't let your pulse and wave instruments get much louder than 9 except for maybe certain percussion noises. Noise fills are also your friend, it tends to help a song be more cohesive and make transitions smoother.

Chaza
Offline

@Dire Hit

How do you get bassier sounds with volume control? Drop pulse/noise channels in volume so that the wave channel sounds louder by comparison?

Limitbreak
Offline
Arizona

Well you're certainly on the right track. My advice would be to read/watch as many tutorials as you can, research some .sav files that are floating around the internet, look over instrument patches that people have posted on forums like this...

It's all a process but so far so good.

Limitbreak
Offline
Arizona
Chaza wrote:

@Dire Hit

How do you get bassier sounds with volume control? Drop pulse/noise channels in volume so that the wave channel sounds louder by comparison?

Thats exactly how its done.

Chaza
Offline
Limitbreak wrote:
Chaza wrote:

@Dire Hit

How do you get bassier sounds with volume control? Drop pulse/noise channels in volume so that the wave channel sounds louder by comparison?

Thats exactly how its done.

Awesome, I'll give that a whirl on my next track!

Dire Hit
Offline
Seattle, WA
Chaza wrote:
Limitbreak wrote:

Thats exactly how its done.

Awesome, I'll give that a whirl on my next track!

Sorry that I didn't make that clear.

Chaza
Offline

Managed to rerecord Retrothruster with a DMG-01, and it sounds vastly better to my ears. https://soundcloud.com/charlie-w-wright … 1-rerecord