SeanBOOM
Offline

Ive been into chiptunes for a good several years,
but ive never been able to start making any on account of being poor and unable to Afford the equipment, lol.
and i just recently got nanoloop on my ipod touch, i understand how to use the program, ive spent the last few days figuring it all out and messing around making random 5 second beats and stuff.
Im hoping to find a job soon and save up here an there to get at least a modded dmg and nanoloop or lsdj. And eventually build up, so i figured nanoloop on itouch would be a good place to get started with composing and at least get my feet planted in the understanding of it all.

So what the main point of this rabble is: does anyone have any advice for a novice? Im not trying to make a symphony or anything, lol. Just some beep boop tch tch to call my own. Lol

noisewaves
Offline
Michigan

awesome. welcome to the community buddy.

ok for starters, one of the best things about composing chipmusic is that if you have no money...no problem!

if you own a computer there are TONS of trackers available to make music on for all sorts of different gaming systems, most if not all of them are FREE.

theres a list of them at: http://woolyss.com/tracking-trackers.php

personally, i use a program called famitracker, which makes music for the NES.

have fun! good luck!

Kris k
Offline
BK

Get the lsdj demo from the website, emulate it, and see if you like it. Do the same with the nanoloop rom. That way, before spending any cash on hardware, you can see if one piece of software better suits you than another.
Also, noisewaves is right - there's lots of ways to make chip on your computer without paying a cent.  Definitely check those out as well.
There's a myriad of ways to create chip music, it's all about finding out what works best for you. 
One thing to remember, though, especially in this community - people are helpful, but for the most part they love seeing that you've put the time in to look up things for yourself before coming to them.  The internet has all the information you need to make chip music, so make good use of it!
Best of luck to you.

SeanBOOM
Offline

Lol heres where the problems come in. tongue
i dont have a computer xP, haha
ive only got my ipod touch atm.
So ive got nanoloop, and 8bitone for it.
I did use famitracker a little bit back when i had a computer.
It worked out for me pretty good. I was just having problems really putting songs together, finding notes and drum lines and such that worked.
Which is my one main issue now. Haha.
I shoulda pointed that out in the begining tongue my bad.
I just cant seem to make parts that fit good together.
They usually end up not mixing right.

mk
Offline

How about a cheapass old pc notebook from craigslist which does fm stuff? I'm sure someone can point you in the right direction...

infradead
Offline
Tacoma WA

don't buy a modded gameboy

save your money for now.  they are nice, i guess.  but not necessary.

practice ask questions and most importantly have fun!

oh and don't post the first song you make.  it will be really embarrassing for you in a couple of years.

arlen
Offline

If you're having trouble with notes, learn a bit of music theory.

A little theory never hurt anyone.

chunter
Offline
Brunswick, GA USA

You'll definitely need some kind of instrument to start, as mentioned above, it doesn't matter what it is as long as it is yours. (That means a jailbreaked iPod Touch running an emulator is okay!) If you like making music enough, you will learn to compose and get better, and if you don't, I hope that you'll still enjoy listening to others' music from time to time.

The spirit of this music, at least for me, is that you don't need to work three jobs for six years and buy gear, and that is a major advantage over those that aspire to play, for example, drums or electric guitar.

nickmaynard
Offline
rochester, ny

you could buy a used gameboy from a video game store for like 15 bucks. a 64 ems cartridge costs like 40 bucks. lsdj rom costs 2 bucks. total cost: 57 bucks.

Cityscape, Go!
Offline
Grahamstown, South Africa
infradead wrote:

oh and don't post the first song you make.  it will be really embarrassing for you in a couple of years.

True. Though it is nice to see how much artists grow!

Analog
Offline
Ciudad de méxico, MX

SUNVOX

Decktonic
Offline
Westfield, NJ

Make dubstep. You'll be instantly popular.

Cityscape, Go!
Offline
Grahamstown, South Africa
Decktonic wrote:

Make dubstep. You'll be instantly popular.

ITS A TRAP!

smiletron
Offline
Nashville, Tennessee
Decktonic wrote:

Make dubstep. You'll be instantly popular.

yeah, its easy.

Last edited by smiletron (Feb 5, 2011 2:18 pm)

Rei Yano
Offline
California
nickmaynard wrote:

you could buy a used gameboy from a video game store for like 15 bucks. a 64 ems cartridge costs like 40 bucks. lsdj rom costs 2 bucks. total cost: 57 bucks.

if you have a little extra try out a gameboy advance SP. the screen is backlit and the sound is ok (you will also need one of these http://tinyurl.com/4o3ynf2 ) plus there is a rechargeable battery inside so you dont have to worry about double A batteries. it would add about 20 - 30 bucks more to that price tag though since they go for anywhere between 30 - 50+ but overall the sp is pretty convenient. I would say it is my most ideal method of composing with LSDJ.

Last edited by Rei Yano (Feb 5, 2011 3:19 pm)

SeanBOOM
Offline

Ive read all your responses, but i dont have time to reply to them all.
But thanks,
i MIGHT be getting a pc in a few weeks but i have no idea.
I did think of learning some theory, i could get some books at the library an practice and see where that takes me. Lol

ill prolly stick with my ipod/nanoloop for now and mess around with it.
Thanks to all you guys that responded