baudtack
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I have two lsdj tracks so far and would love some comments on both or either of them. The chiptunes subreddit can be a bit low on commentary sometimes, so I figure it's better to try here. Anyway.

https://soundcloud.com/baudtack/short-word

This one is my first track that I felt even moderately happy with.

https://soundcloud.com/baudtack/blue-waste

This one I just posted. It's still a work in progress, but I needed to get it out of my gameboy and out into the world and move on to other stuff for a while.

Thoughts? What can I do to get better?

my.Explosion
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Finland

I'm really not the right person to say this because I frequently do this myself, but I'd say: try to keep the melodies more "breathable"... Like, you should be able to hum or whistle your melodies effortlessly. Therefore if the melody has very rapid changing notes you might want to consider making it more spaced sort of. Otherwise they sounded pretty OK. smile

baudtack
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Thanks! I was kind of thinking the same thing.

Kris k
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BK

Hey Baudtack,

It sounds like you're pretty new to LSDJ sound design- I would start by defining the drum sounds (make a separate instrument for each piece of a drum kit- ni hat, snare, kick, crash, etc) and use that to reign in the drum pattern.

Also, try experimenting with some tables for your pulse instruments- one of the marks of a newcomer to LSDJ is using straight square sounds without any motion or complexity to them. Even a simple octave leap or pulse width shift at the start of a sound can work wonders.

I do like that opening resonant WAV sound at the start of blue waste though.

Keep tracking, keep practicing, write as often as you can, and definitely study the sav files of others- I'd recommend the Danimal Cannon savs, which you can pick up if you buy his album.

baudtack
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Kris k wrote:

It sounds like you're pretty new to LSDJ sound design- I would start by defining the drum sounds (make a separate instrument for each piece of a drum kit- ni hat, snare, kick, crash, etc) and use that to reign in the drum pattern.
.

Soo much a noob heh. i've spent more time modding dmgs than playing with lsdj heh.

What specifically do you mean by reign in the drum pattern?

Kris k
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BK
baudtack wrote:

What specifically do you mean by reign in the drum pattern?

Well, right now the drum pattern doesn't really sound like a drummer. Most drum patterns, even if they're on electronic instruments, follow most of the rules that a human drummer does (though this ins't universal).Having more defined sounds for each drum element will help greatly in distinguishing them. So like I said before, work on getting your snare to sound like a snare, your hi hat to sound more like a hi hat, etc. and it'll come through more clearly.