nickyflowers
Offline
Chicago, IL

hi! i'm new here and new to producing chiptune, though i've been an avid listener for many years. my usual sound/workflow started to get stale and learning LSDJ has really inspired me.

this is my first full track; it's for a concept album about a fake video game about my fursona who is a horse who plays baseball (hold your applause).

i'm happy with the composition but i feel a little out of my depth in terms of programming dynamic instruments and mixing. what do you think? https://soundcloud.com/user-924898979/dead-arm/s-K30VO

defensem3ch
Offline
Indianapolis, IN

honestly this is really good! my only criticisms would be that i think it starts to run out of steam around 1:25 where i wish the bassline was switched up a bit cause you kind of keep the same B-F#-B pattern with the same rhythm and it starts to sound a bit stale. you might also try messing with the wave synth a bit and vary the sound. for mixing, the pulse arps in that section sound good but you might lower the volume a bit so they don't eat your other pulse lead.

for more dynamic instrumentation, imho the keys are using W commands in the pulse channels (and you can experiment with putting them in tables for the instruments too) and also to use P and L commands to make notes more legato. i think those couple things will make a world of difference. you can also experiment with E commands in pulse and noise channels including the rising volume envelopes like E39 - E3F.

noise programming is good and i dig your song structure too! keep up the good work!

nickyflowers
Offline
Chicago, IL
defensem3ch wrote:

honestly this is really good! my only criticisms would be that i think it starts to run out of steam around 1:25 where i wish the bassline was switched up a bit cause you kind of keep the same B-F#-B pattern with the same rhythm and it starts to sound a bit stale. you might also try messing with the wave synth a bit and vary the sound. for mixing, the pulse arps in that section sound good but you might lower the volume a bit so they don't eat your other pulse lead.

for more dynamic instrumentation, imho the keys are using W commands in the pulse channels (and you can experiment with putting them in tables for the instruments too) and also to use P and L commands to make notes more legato. i think those couple things will make a world of difference. you can also experiment with E commands in pulse and noise channels including the rising volume envelopes like E39 - E3F.

noise programming is good and i dig your song structure too! keep up the good work!

oh thank you!! yeah, honestly the more i go over the track the more the bass stands out as something that needs work. i appreciate the feedback and i'm looking forward to experimenting with your suggestions in mind smile

amateurlsdj
Offline
New York

it sounds awesome! i think you should try to aim for more variability in the melody and see how you could make minor alterations throughout to keep it more intriguing. other than that, i agree with what defensemech said and it's a great track!