So yeah, I have always wanted to actually use a gameboy and not make fake-bit, but I just can't for the life of me get into trackers.
I have always been much more comfortable in a piano roll situation. So is there something like that out there that you guys know of?
I would just really love to stay with the format I'm comfortable with, but impose the limitations that make it truly chip.
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Memphis, TN
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Abandoned on Fire
You could try Pocket Music or Pocket Music Advance. They're like a scaled-down MTV Music Generator if you remeber that from PS1/2.
There's the GBC version (does not work on DMG):
And the GBA version:
They are mostly sample-based (I think the GBA version is all samples?) but the GBC version does use the pulse and noise channels in a limited way.
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Abandoned on Fire
Get nitro's patches for the gbc rom from here: http://blog.gg8.se/wordpress/2013/12/17 … n-gba-fix/
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Honestly, don't force yourself to use something you don't actually like when you have an alternative that you're already comfortable with.
On the other hand, if you really want to use trackers, then just stick with it. Keep practicing. You'll get it in time. Just focus on one tracker to get comfortable with, and maybe try doing really simple covers of songs to learn the basics instead of immediately trying to write your own.
The only person stopping you from imposing chip limitations in a modern DAW with a piano roll is yourself, and you're also likely the only person who's more worried about the process than the end result.
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California
If you're more comfortable with DAWs you could try building an LSDJ MIDI interface if you still want to use a Gameboy: http://www.firestarter-music.de/lsdj/
I don't know too much about it because I don't use it myself, but there are probably others here that could help you with it.
Edit: you can buy premade ones here apparently: http://www.komaku.com/muscat1b/categories/31659/
Last edited by VCMG (Mar 1, 2014 6:16 pm)
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Chicago IL
Just hunker down and learn how to use trackers. It'll open up a world of possibilities.
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Dallas, Texas
It's not gameboy, but you could also try out MSSIAH for the Commodore 64. It's a native piano roll style sequencer with a ton of power. Also has MIDI and SID2SID support.
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Detroit, MI
I compose my songs in FL Studio then transpose them into LSDJ. It feels like a more fluid option when I'm not exactly sure what I want to make, where as if I know what I'm going to do, I'll start in LSDJ (or any tracker, really). If you feel like its "fakebit", limit yourself. I only let myself use four "channels" in the playlist editor, use a single-shape waveform in the most basic synth (3xOsc) and compose the drums with the kits I exported from LSDJ into wav files. Its close enough to where I can make something easily and not be stuck with figuring out how I'm going to get it to work in LSDJ later.
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Memphis, TN
Thanks guys for all of the feedback.
@egr That look's pretty promising, I might want to pick up a copy of Pocket Music for my GBC.
@Vaina Moinen It isn't so much as I really want to get into tracker, although I suspect it would be a good experience, so much as I want to use the limited hardware to see what I can produce, and to truly get a chip sound. And I have limited myself before, by like using only 3xOsc in FL Studio, but I still feel like I would get better results from the true experience rather than attempting to self emulate something I have never actually done.
@Nursey Thus far that's what I have been doing as well with FL Studio as far as using only 3xOsc for chip, but I have just been exporting it from FL.
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Alabama
The tracker vs. piano roll thing is all a mind game. (IF you use LSDJ) Turn your Gameboy screen sideways, and boom, you have a piano roll. The thing is, each channel is basically monophonic, so rather than waste a bunch of space with a piano roll you simply stamp your one voice along the ticks and decide what the note is. Turn your Gameboy rightside up.
If you think of a channel in a tracker as a rhythmic pianoroll going down instead of right, you will be just fine.
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Sweden
MaxDolensky wrote:
The tracker vs. piano roll thing is all a mind game. (IF you use LSDJ) Turn your Gameboy screen sideways, and boom, you have a piano roll.
No, a piano roll represents pitch by positioning the note events differently.
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Dallas, Texas
Piano roll is different no matter how you tilt it. The roll is a visual representation of where the notes are and how far up or down the scale they live. Trackers only list the note's letter in order on a timeline.
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Nottingham, UK
I hated LSDJ when I started. But I played with it on and off for a couple of months and eventually got my head around it. It's frustrating because you're used to being at a certain level, and suddenly you're in a situation where you can't. I honestly think the best course of action here is to stick with it. Don't worry that you're not making roboctopus level tunes yet, just practice and have fun toying with it.
Sucking at something is the first step to being kind of good at it. You can't bypass that without influencing your future capabilities drastically. The fact that the first few months is a bit of a slog is only more of a reason to get your hands dirty as early as possible. If you want to make GB music something you do a lot, I think a decent grasp of LSDJ is pretty much an investment you'll never regret.
Last edited by ForaBrokenEarth (Mar 2, 2014 6:34 pm)
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Alabama
boomlinde wrote:
MaxDolensky wrote:The tracker vs. piano roll thing is all a mind game. (IF you use LSDJ) Turn your Gameboy screen sideways, and boom, you have a piano roll.
No, a piano roll represents pitch by positioning the note events differently.
Way to not include the next sentence.Which provides a proper explanation for that. My point still stands though - the whole "I can't do trackers" thing is a bullshit mindgame that takes a bit of effort to conquer.
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NC in the US of America
Nursey wrote:
use a single-shape waveform in the most basic synth (3xOsc)
Gameboy actually has 4 shapes on the pulse channels alone. 12.5%, 25%, 50%, and 75% pulse wave. Wave channel can do all kinds of neat waveform tricks. It's a tough thing balancing the "limitations" of a vintage console/computer sound chip with the vast possibilities available when imitating them in a full-featured DAW.