129 Reply by BetaSynapse

(164 replies, posted in General Discussion)

15:26 Dweeble: ancient things are harder to destroy
15:26 infradead: if its old enough take just take it apart real quick
15:27 infradead: if it has the old round kind of handset, you can unscrew the microphone cover and take out the mic
15:27 infradead: people call in and they can't hear you.  cause the mic's gone 
15:27 BetaSynapse: It would be so much easier if I worked the evening shift
15:27 BetaSynapse: It;s like me and one other person and no one comes in
15:28 Dweeble: lmfao "steal phone from work...make epic song"

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130 Reply by BetaSynapse

(21 replies, posted in Releases)

It's scary and unpleasant and all I can do is recommend that people wear earplugs in loud places and not be stupid like me. Otherwise you might find yourself on a forum being dressed-down by 8GB, Pseudo, Peter Swimm, and Bit Shifter for being tone-deaf.

Oh snap! No way we're slanting you man! You need to learn to accept criticism.

But DEFINITELY you have to wear earplugs. Sometimes I wear them when I play too, certain audio systems are fucked, specially booth monitors. Don't be ashamed to take care of your ears, specially if you are a musician.

Haha, I wasn't slanting you man, just trying to offer some advice IF it was the case. wink To be honest, I haven't even listened to the tracks yet as I'm on a computer with no speakers right now.

Man, I should wear earplugs with my rock band. Tiny room + Energetic drummer means everyone else turns WAAAAYYYY up. I'll regret it when I'm 40 for sure...

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131 Topic by BetaSynapse

(0 replies, posted in Bugs and Requests)

Er... Apologies to Natty for pic-ing his post, but it was the most obvious example at the time.

I'm using IE 7. This happens on every single post. My eyes can't take it anymore. O_O

Actually, it's fine on FF which I use at home. I'm usually using the college computers and they are running IE 7. Maybe it's just the old IE version that's screwy. =/

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132 Reply by BetaSynapse

(21 replies, posted in Releases)

I swear I've had a program once that would automatically tune the frequencies of all your samples to the same note (or at least a proper musical note...), but I believe it got lost in a computer crash and now I don't remember the link.

Not particularly helpful, but maybe someone knows what I'm talking about to give him a hand.

Also, although I just started messing with LGPT less than a week ago, I find it very helpful to play a note on my keyboard while playing the sample and keep changing it until it matches. There's also some simple free online keyboards you can do it with as well. Here's one, not particularly great, but I'm too lazy to really do a proper search.
Online Piano

But if you really are tonedeaf, it might take a bit of practice to get it right. Or it just might be the particular samples you are using.

Hey, this post wasn't quite as useless!

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133 Reply by BetaSynapse

(38 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Wow, 4mat, That is extremely helpful! Will definitely mess around with that.

Harhar akira, I was trying to keep the title short. I guess I could have used "chiptune artist" instead. >.>

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134 Reply by BetaSynapse

(38 replies, posted in General Discussion)

BitPop wrote:

To answer your question. You seem to have everything you need, except perhaps the cart for the GB.

You mention a laptop and the lack of MIDI.  If you want to sync up you will need a MIDI interface and a LSDJMC^2 or Arduinoboy.  These also work without MIDI for synching two GBs together.   But if you're not planning on syncing to the laptop/sequencer or other outboard or another GB, then this is an unnecessary step.

Hope that helps, have fun smile

p.s. some people are a bit precious when it comes to chip music, gear etc.  My advice : Just ignore, get help where you can and get on with it big_smile

Speaking of which, back in the studio this weekend  - w00t!

This is what I was wondering. I guess I want to make chipmusic using wavform manipulation and not just samples. I could just do that in FLStudio easy...

Gonna look up some tuts for it soon. Thanks for this, it really helps!

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135 Reply by BetaSynapse

(38 replies, posted in General Discussion)

@ dexter

Haha, thanks, but I doubt it.

@z-z-z-butt

Well, I could've just used modplug then. That's what I used to use before. My problem has always been trying to come up with cool samples. Does anyone have a link to a waveform generator? I remember seeing one ages ago that let you mix various frequencies of different wave forms, but I have had no luck searching for it. Any hints for samples?

Also I've picked up piggytracker for windows. Pretty sweet program. And my computer makes LSDJ sound like crap. >.<

@nickmaynard

Yeah, I've never done midi stuff before, I'll probably pass on it. And some of the prices for GBs that have backlights and prosound mods are ridiculous! It's only like <$20 for parts to do it yourself...

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136 Reply by BetaSynapse

(38 replies, posted in General Discussion)

ant1 wrote:

No, just saying that gear is not important compared to results. Maybe you need a guitar to make rock music, but not an expensive guitar.

I personally very much enjoy tracked chiptunes and such for the PC (more than Game Boy music, actually), but it's a matter of taste. I think you are focusing too much on what you gear you 'need' or what gear you can buy, rather than the music, which is 100% the most important thing. I know some people are "gear-aholics", but this isn't retroconsolesandcomputerscollecting.org, it's about music. I'm not trying to be unfriendly or discouraging, but I wouldn't want anyone to think that spending money will help them make better music. smile The bottom line from me is:
don't buy anything else, you don't need it.

You are completely right.

It's true that I'm trying to get into this with my own complete misconception of the chiptune genre as a whole. I was thinking of it as instruments instead of sounds. More like a traditional setting where the instruments limit you. While that's true to a certain extent, it appears nobody cares how the crap you made it as long as it sounds good. And I completely agree with having music come first, it's just that by approaching it from an instrument point of view, I instinctively scream HARDWARE and scramble to find "the best one".

But come on, if I had to get hardware, I'd make sure it's pimped out to show off to everyone. wink Aesthetics do play a part in this for me. Heck, I even factored it in when buying my guitar.

But since I don't need hardware, I'm going to wait on that. Or obsessively compulsively buy a GB anyways. ^_^

As an additional question, is milkytracker completely sample based? Either that or I'm stupid as to how to make waveforms. =/ Or should I just ditch it for Famitracker?

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137 Reply by BetaSynapse

(38 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Haha, and here I was thinking using VSTs and Computer Trackers was almost "cheating". And ironically, I just deleted an ancient version of Milkytracker last week without even looking at it, 4mat.

So I think I'll be messing around with trackers and the lsdj ROM, but I'll buy one flashcart and DMG in a couple weeks just because I like running around with physical hardware, even if it's more expensive. =P.

@ant1

Are you talking about how nowadays you can digitally simulate any instrument for any genre? Call me a purist, but hardware always sounds cooler than the digital version. *coughrockguitarscough* big_smile

@george

Yea, but I want to make sure I've got the right tools. I mean, heck, I could HUM songs through a crappy mic and call it lo-fi music. wink

@PlainFlavored

Er...Why?

@Reteris

Care to elaborate? I can't tell if you condone or dismiss using a tracker like this...

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138 Reply by BetaSynapse

(38 replies, posted in General Discussion)

Hmmm... in that case Ima just say screw it and buy Nanoloop 2.3, a flashcart for lsdj, two pockets, and a sync cable...

A question about LSDJ and the flashcart. Can I flash it myself to the cart after trying to experiment with MML?

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139 Reply by BetaSynapse

(81 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

Hmmm, pretty interesting sound. I'm liking the bass. So I'm guessing that since it's running on midi, you could sync this and another piece of hardware through the midi software? I'm thinking I could run this for Bass and some drums and background while playing a Gameboy for main melodies and all.

Blast 2 Level 7 is hilariously creepy. Nice voice acting. xD

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140 Topic by BetaSynapse

(38 replies, posted in General Discussion)

//I had a beautiful post written before until the site decided to log me out automatically and now I'm pissed. >.< Hitting preview shouldn't do that... On the bright side, this post is much shorter. (So imagine how long the original was...)//

Sup!

So I'm trying to get into chiptunes and have some questions on gear, setups, software. Btw, kudos to the people who answered some stuff on IRC the other day. I do not remember your names. =3

Okay, so here's my potential music making gear.

Gear

1x Gameboy Color (Heard these were crap for sound.)
1x Gameboy Advance
1x NES
1x Nintendo DS Lite
1x 4-5 yr old Laptop (No midi in/out. I'm buying a new one sometime this summer.)
1x Reverb/Delay Effects Head + Pedal Switch (Can do one or other at a time and non-adjustible while playing besides on/off.)
1x Spider Line 6 15-watt Amp
1x Mixer from the 80s (Discovered last week in a closet. Has four 1/4" inputs. All I know right now.)

Extra music stuff:

1x Electric Guitar
1x CRAPPY Keyboard. I think it's only got sound output.

I've also got a nicer keyboard/electric piano at home (Yamaha DX-500?), but I'm only counting on stuff I can take with me to college this fall. (Yes, I'm ridiculously young and immature. You can laugh now.) Also I'm looking for a setup that can fit in a Backpack. An Amp in one hand + Guitar case in other + Backpack on back is my travel setup. I'll have no car while at college. =P

Music Background

I know music theory, and I improvise by ear on guitar all the time. I also did some tracking a while back but only with ripped samples. =/

Oh and my price range for gear is no more than $150 MAX and $100 if possible. Less would be golden. big_smile And I technically can't use ebay due to some stupid law that says I can work under the age of 18, but not use ebay. >.> However, I do have a paypal for buying crap.

Questions

Sooo, what should I get to get started with chiptunes? ^_^ Pros and Cons please!

Specifically though:

I've been looking at getting gameboys. I've seen the NL and LSDJ pro cons, and was wondering if anyone exclusively does stuff with NL and if I could get linked to the music so I can hear the sound. Also, should I just learn MML (I have some limited prior experiance) and put it on a flashcart? What's the pros/cons for that. I have very limited info on it although I just downloaded XPMCK and will give it a go and run on an emulator.
Also just got my LSDJ e-mail today, and I've messed with NL for an hour. (LIsten NL)

Also, I was looking at getting a Midines, but apparently there's a bit of controversy with actually recieving one. Assuming I do get my hands on one: Do I need software like Ableton or FL Studio to run midi with? Freeware options? Do I need a nice Midi controller, or can I just hack something together?

Finally, any other cheap ideas? I only have nintendo systems at the moment, but if it's cheap to get something like say, C64, Atari, or Sega system, I'm up for it. I also heard mentioned something about a reidiculously crappy synth (Means good for lo-fi music) that can be bought for $30-$50 and programmed with MML. Any info?

Anyhoo, sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any suggestions. =3

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