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Post by brianLED on Nov 24, 2008 15:30:58 GMT -6
It's another one of these little open-ended question polls. Big topic: How do you go about composing a song? Do you use a MIDI? Do you do things in a particular order or pattern? Do you / How do you handle high tempos and dynamics? What makes things work in your pieces?
I'm curious to compare and contrast people's responses to this question with mine. Generally, when I compose, I have iTunes open to the song I'm doing, Creative Prodikeys open so I can use the little piano on my keyboard if I'm not sure of a pitch, and, obviously Composer itself. If I'm using a MIDI (about 20% of my compositions reference MIDIs), I'll have that up, too.
First I try to figure out any part that has a repeated pattern. For example, if it's a pokemon theme, I'll always do all the bass first, since that's usually just 8th notes and it's predictable. Sometimes, I do percussion first, but usually I wind up doing percussion last.
I generally work melody second-to-last, unless the piece requires a lot of the low A rest note glitch. In that case, I get melody out of the way immediately.
High tempos -- I usually won't go into a high tempo unless it's clearly necessary. If I do, having the predictable bass line helps enormously since it pretty much labels the measures. As for dynamics, several of my pieces have specific echoes. A lot of my echoes are calculated mathematically, and they are pretty much always consistent throughout the piece. Echoing took some time to perfect. I also use the play back A LOT because I'm paranoid about a certain note or a certain measure.
That's pretty much how I handle things; how do you compose in Mario Paint?
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Post by eataninja on Nov 24, 2008 15:46:12 GMT -6
I use midis and notation software for pitch and the actual mp3 of the song for sounds. I usually try to figure out the nesessary tempos, basic dynamics, instrument choice, and where eachsection ends. Then I lay down the notes to see whether I'm going to keep pursuing the project.
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Post by Admin on Nov 24, 2008 16:59:48 GMT -6
I use MPC for pitch-finding.
I tend to use midis (without notation programs, just opened in WMP) because they provide a really basic sound, allowing me the ability to more easily pick up musical parts than if I listen to a true master recording and have all kinds of sfx and the bloody singer's voice.
Most things I do are from 16 or 8 bit games, anyway, so midis are the obvious choice.
Dynamics tend not to be an issue for me, because I don't do much real music -- and when I do, volume control tends not to be on my list of priorities. In that respect, I am eclipsed by 90% of the people here in terms of skill, because I have yet to release a dickspeed song (I keep trying to get to work on finishing the Saffron City piece, but I'm stalled at 3 text files) and because I, again, don't modify volume very much.
Part priority is as follows (highest to lowest):
1.) Percussion 2.) Bass 3.) Rhythm (think the planes in my Storm Eagle theme) 4.) Melody/Vocals (depending on medium) 5.) Extraneous stuff (in most of my current works, adding a low-volume string sweep or the like)
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Post by blueheat127 on Nov 24, 2008 17:37:40 GMT -6
(I know this post will probably not be taken seriously, seeing as I haven't posted any of my compositions on YouTube, but truthfully, I have about 20 MM compositions)
Well, first thing first, I whip out the Evolution audio Lite MIDI thing, and the MIDI of the song. Then I usually open up the MP3 and listen to it a couple times while composing, just to get the feel of the song.
Once that is done I layout the instruments in this order
1) Bass 2) Percussion[Unless it is crazy fast this usually comes second] 3)Melody 4)Counter-melody[If there is one]
Then I listen to it at least 10 times, doing some tweaking, and some comparisons with the MIDI, often this is when I choose the tempo. Then as the final step I do a side by side comparison with the MP3.
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Post by Guru on Nov 24, 2008 17:41:50 GMT -6
Well... *thinks*
I start at a place that I find the easiest and work outwards from there, normally taking everything at once (but starting with the main melody). I choose the tempo by listening to the actual song, and the percussion will be added if there is enough room on the stave and if I can recognise it properly.
I don't really use a very systematic method... I charge at it head first and see what I make of it XD
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Post by _ on Nov 24, 2008 18:17:57 GMT -6
I usually do 2 measures at a time. I start each measure with whatever is the easiest way to start with.
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Post by kacelano on Nov 24, 2008 22:18:37 GMT -6
I normally listen to the song a few times, then I find a midi, which I put through Noteworthy Composer, and calculate the tempo, normally by multiplying by 16. Then I start with the first measure, with the main melody first, then the choir/string cords, rhythm, bass, and percussion, and make sure all of the instrument choices are correct by playing it back a hundred times. From there I take it one measure at a time. However, this time I go choir/string cords, rhythm, bass, main melody, counter, and finally percussion. After each measure, I make sure to standardize all of my volumes.
When choosing where each of my instruments goes relative to the bar lines in MPC (this is as of late): On the line: main melody, counter, and bass 1 space behind the line: the rhythm because it normally needs a bit of volume agustment 2 spaces behind the line: the choir/string chords, they normally appear once a measure at a quieter volume 1 space in front of the line: percussion, it seems to need more and more boats and 'shrooms
Then I do that for each new file each time playing the whole song, using the arranger feature, over and over and once more until I am sure nothing is out of place. However, by this time, some errors that I make are overshadowed by my desire to be right and finished.
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Post by Colin Comard (Delay) on Nov 24, 2008 23:33:49 GMT -6
I just go along with the song, instead of laying out one part at a time, I do it all at once. But look where that led me XD
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Post by cypher8301 on Nov 25, 2008 0:10:44 GMT -6
I only have 3 videos out, but I thought I'd add my 2 cents.
#1) Creating Custom Soundfont for Each Piece First, I pull up the piece I am doing in YouTube. Then, I listen to it over and over, writing on a piece of paper all of the instruments I can hear. Once I am sure that I have every audible sound, I search the internet for high quality samples of the instruments I need. Then I open up Viena, and play along with the keyboard, figuring out the notes. I start editing the soundfont, for each instrument, sound, and variation needed. This is the longest process of trying to get a matching instrument to what is in the piece.
#2) Dynamics I control 95% of the dynamics on individual instrumental basis by making variations of the same instruments in Viena. Sometimes I will have 4-6 instruments for 1 real instrument. For example, Violin Slow, Violin Fast, Violin Vibrato, ViolinC4, ViolinC5, Violin Loud... you get the picture.
#3) Composition Process I work in phrases 1 instrument at a time, i.e. in my Final Fantasy Prelude, I'll do all the harp line in "Final Fantasy Harp Line 1", then do the choral, then the strings, then the brass, etc. Then I move to the next phrase. A phrase is any good stopping point, or key change.
#4) Tricks If needing more than 5 sounds on 1 beat, I prefer using multiple windows and video editing rather than speed, so people can see what is going on. The only time I will speed up tempo is to get triplets etc.
#5) Problems with Composing by Ear If a piece is to fast or low in pitch for me to pick out easily, I will take it to the piano, improvise and write out a score for what makes sense to me for what I can't figure out.
That is pretty much my standard process.
Cypher
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Post by RehdBlob on Nov 25, 2008 0:43:38 GMT -6
Well, I tend to do it this way: 1. Percussion/Rhythm, since I pretty much fail at the timing of the rest of the song if I don't get this right. This is the point in which I decide what tempo to use.
2. Bass, because it's a part that not many people would notice right off the bat in most songs, but plays a big part in making songs sound good.
3. Main melody/instruments. Obvious reasons.
4. Other lesser melodies in the songs, because they make the song sound nice too.
5. Dynamics, which seems to take on an "exaggerated volume rape" (see theEvilGrimace's SMW Castle Improved comments) if I want lots of expression.
6. Stuff that I missed when working on the above 5.
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Post by winterbourne2k on Nov 26, 2008 16:46:19 GMT -6
I google the game I want to get midis from (now I just need to go to vgmusic.com for all my NES midis). I then open up Noteworthy composer and upload the midi so I can study the notes. The tempo of the midi corresponds to the tempo I'm setting for MPC. ie: My Megaman compositions go at a tempo of 150 on the midi, that equals to 620 on Composer, which sets the proper speed I need to begin with the song. Because a majority of the midis I've acquired have 16th notes, I set the speed according to the 16th notes. With 32nd notes, I simply double the speed, in this case, I double the tempo to 1240 so I can have 32nd notes without any problems. I like combining two notes together to create a different sound. Mixing the Star with Mario, Gameboy, Flower creates something new. I can also use the pigs to position them to create a different type of sound effect. I'm going to avoid using soundfonts for my compositions since I'm sticking to the traditional set that's available. While it's challenging, it's not impossible. To each their own .
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