Welcome to VR's Music School of Remixing! If you've ever found yourself wanting to learn how to become a Remix Artists and create your own remixes of music just like your inspirations then you have found the correct place, my friends! Here, you will go down the path of learning the basics onto more advanced skills and techniques of the popular music DAW program: FL Studio (we encourage you to either have version 9 or 10 as they are more recent editions and contain the features we will be using without any compatibility issues).
Don't like FL Studio and would prefer to use another program instead? Currently the alternate programs we have available are: FamiTracker and Mario Paint Composer (still in question for a MPC teacher atm).

Instructors:

• FL Studio: LugiaDialga
• FamiTracker: SyracuvatTenlii

• Octave: Key C4 would become key C5 an Octave Higher, and key C3 an Octave lower.
• Measure: 4 Beats per measure (4/4) are displayed in FL Studio's Piano Roll.
• Staccato: Short, quick notes.
• Lagotto: Longer, slower notes.
• Mixer: The mixer panel where you control all volume levels of connected instruments and add various effects
• Sequencer: This is where the piano roll of every instrument is, where you'll be working the most
• Playlist: You place all your patterns from the sequencer here and add automation clips too
• Percussion: Kicks, Snares, Cymbals, Hi-hats (closed and open), Claps, Impacts, etc.
• Genres: Trance, Dance, Hardstyle, Orchestral, Pop, Rap, Electro, House, Dubstep, Drumstep, DnB, Breakbeat, etc.

1. Basic beat making
2. Connect channels/instruments to the Mixer/basic EQ settings
3. Add instrument variety
4. Change notes of the song (add personalization)
5. Using patterns & playlist
6. No midis
7. Velocity
8. Carry the mood via instrument choice
9. Advanced EQ
10. Original Content

1. Post here saying a bit about what you currently know about music, your program and about how long you’ve been working with music. Include at least one example of your works in your post if possible and what type of music you want/already do work with (ie. Electronic, Orchestral, etc.).
2. Say what you would be most interested in learning. This helps us decide what we should specifically have you do here in the school so you may have the most enjoyment as well as improvement in your music adventure.
3. Do you need assistance of any sort during your lesson or need to take it to a PM with us? That’s fine, just say yes and we shall come to you. Note that all completed works WILL be posted HERE for judging rather than a PM to show that you have completed the task.
4. Last but not least, post either a minimum of either three Songs or Games that you would like to work with during your applied course. This way we have some variety during the lesson if we should have to use more than one song. Post Game choices if you’re indecisive of the individual song. If you’re going to choose a song though, make sure you have a midi: www.vgmusic.com

1. Post here that you wish to take the instructor test. (you may use the forum above for normal lessons)
2. Select your song. It can be from any game but choose wisely as you’ll be giving it a major facelift.
3. Do NOT just replace the instruments! You will be required to have some sort of Intro (if it works with your song style), a nice ending and/or outro, changes to the main melody or added original parts, REmix the song in a different style and make it your own!
4. Make a fine finished sound, use EQ and anything else you have up your sleeve to keep things leveled out and utilize panning and stereo separation to really make your sound quality score higher!
5. Post the finished product MP3 for judging! (use the form below)
6. Enjoy creating your work of musical art~!

If you wish to be in the Basic FamiTracker class for "8-bit" remixes, please note the following...

What you should know first
Basically what you should know for the FL Studio class when it comes to Music Theory, although not quite as much. This class will require different kinds of skills in working with music editing software from FL, however. However, in the end hardly any skill is required to be successful in working with FT. If you think you may not be quite ready to work with 09243978y9we87ry934 different channels of remixing, you should come over to the FT class and start with learning how to use only 4 different channels.

Enrolling:
If you do decide to enroll in the FamiTracker course, please begin by stating your experience with "8-bit" remixes and/or FamiTracker itself. Based on that, you will be placed in one of the following courses...

A. "What IS that?"

1. Melody

2. Harmony

3. Bass

4. Percussion

B. From Score to Grid

1. Melody and Harmony

2. Bass

3. Percussion

C. Writing by Ear

1. Melody

2. Harmony

3. Bass

4. Percussion

5. Put it all together!

D. Remixing by Ear

1. Harmonic Creativity

2. Rhythmic Creativity

3. What do you get now?

E. The Original Composition

1. Melody

2. Harmony

3. Bass

4. Percussion

5. Put it all together!

F. Exam: 1 remix and 1 OC, you're on your own now!

Hi! I am enrolling with LD today :3

Current abilities: Umm... I have been in Advanced Choir and Band for about 4 years now and so I know terms and such, but that is mostly for classical and written music (which is what I would normally do). As you know, I have been doing some remixes with your help with you guys at the Music Studio. You also know that I haven't done it that long. So I am still a beginner.
Interests: Well, there isn't anything specifically I want to learn. I am interested in becoming a better remixer, and musician. So I will starting at the beginning and building up.
PM Guidance?: Not really, I will probably see you in the Music Studio if I need it. But I can ask a few people if it is just something small.
Songs/Games: The games I like to remix are Kirby, Mario (mostly Mario Land), and a few old Pokemon games (like 1st 2nd and maybe 3rd. Maybe 4th but hopefully nothing 5th). As you know, I have done a Metroid one before, I did like that one. So if you assign me one from those genres and I haven't listed it, I will trust your opinion. For genres, I dont like electronic as much as Alternative, Alternative-Pop, Alternative-Rock, R & B. (which I haven't seen remixed that often. I bet you can tell that Alt is my favorite )


Edit: I just wanted to be honest and tell you that it is sort of hard to navigate those two posts without spoilers.

Count me in. I want to learn.

Chosen Instructor: LugiaDialga (FL Studio 9.1 XXL Producer Edition User)

Current abilities: I can remix a song mostly by ear, but would prefer a MIDI if I just can not figure out the melody of a song I'm remixing. I made a few tracks (including some original work) over the last year and I think they're listenable. Towards the end of 2011, I made a remix of "Party Rock Anthem"...which, IMO, is my favorite song I've made.

Interests: I'm not only looking forward to learning all you have to offer, but also to test what I know about my DAW.

I know some beat, synth and EQ tricks...But, I'd still like to go through all the lessons to see if I know how to do everything.

There are two self-imposed drawbacks here: I've no real fondness for Pokémon music (although I would like to give remixing it a big shot...to excuse the admittedly lame pun), and I've little to no skill with Soundfonts, which I should be able to learn in about a month or two.

PM Guidance?: If I need you...I'll PM you.

Songs/Games: I have a big list. I've never remixed video game music, but I'm enrolling here because I want to try it out. I would like to work with music from a total of 7 video games through this course; 3 Pokémon games, and 4 non-Pokémon games.

I'm interested in music from the following:
*Pokémon Red/Blue/Fire Red/Leaf Green
*Pokémon Gold/Silver/Heart Gold/Soul Silver
*Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire
*Pokémon Diamond/Pearl
*Pokémon Black/White
*Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 (Optional)
*Contra
*Castlevania
*Street Fighter II
*Final Fantasy III/VI
*Kirby's Dream Land 3
*Star Fox 64
*Beatmania IIDX 19 Lincle (The...well...19th in a series of Japanese rhythm games. I like some of the songs from this franchise, and I have the OST for most, if not all of these games)

Question for LD: OP is giving me the urge to make a Tindeck account...but is it okay if I upload everything to Dropbox (I have an account there, and I don't feel like spending any money on extra space)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by teamplasma Hi! I am enrolling with LD today :3 Current abilities: Umm... I have been in Advanced Choir and Band for about 4 years now and so I know terms and such, but that is mostly for classical and written music (which is what I would normally do). As you know, I have been doing some remixes with your help with you guys at the Music Studio. You also know that I haven't done it that long. So I am still a beginner. Interests: Well, there isn't anything specifically I want to learn. I am interested in becoming a better remixer, and musician. So I will starting at the beginning and building up. PM Guidance?: Not really, I will probably see you in the Music Studio if I need it. But I can ask a few people if it is just something small. Songs/Games: The games I like to remix are Kirby, Mario (mostly Mario Land), and a few old Pokemon games (like 1st 2nd and maybe 3rd. Maybe 4th but hopefully nothing 5th). As you know, I have done a Metroid one before, I did like that one. So if you assign me one from those genres and I haven't listed it, I will trust your opinion. For genres, I dont like electronic as much as Alternative, Alternative-Pop, Alternative-Rock, R & B. (which I haven't seen remixed that often. I bet you can tell that Alt is my favorite ) Edit: I just wanted to be honest and tell you that it is sort of hard to navigate those two posts without spoilers.

• Create a new percussion/drum beat
• Don't ignore Cymbal Crashes! They help add a big bang to your song
• Utalize at least Kicks, Snares, Hi-hates (open and/or closed) or Cymbals

• Pokemon GCS: Johto Gym Battle
• Pokemon GCS: Dragon Cave
• Pokemon RBY: Cinnabar Island
• Pokemon RBY: Trainer Battle

Load up a Drum Loop sample in Slice-X to make your own percussion kit from there.

FPC has loads of percussion you can load into it and it can generate a drum loop for you as well.

Then there is the basic pattern that you can send to the piano roll.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTP_NickSkyline Count me in. I want to learn. Chosen Instructor: LugiaDialga (FL Studio 9.1 XXL Producer Edition User) Current abilities: I can remix a song mostly by ear, but would prefer a MIDI if I just can not figure out the melody of a song I'm remixing. I made a few tracks (including some original work) over the last year and I think they're listenable. Towards the end of 2011, I made a remix of "Party Rock Anthem"...which, IMO, is my favorite song I've made. Interests: I'm not only looking forward to learning all you have to offer, but also to test what I know about my DAW. I know some beat, synth and EQ tricks...But, I'd still like to go through all the lessons to see if I know how to do everything. There are two self-imposed drawbacks here: I've no real fondness for Pokémon music (although I would like to give remixing it a big shot...to excuse the admittedly lame pun), and I've little to no skill with Soundfonts, which I should be able to learn in about a month or two. PM Guidance?: If I need you...I'll PM you. Songs/Games: I have a big list. I've never remixed video game music, but I'm enrolling here because I want to try it out. I would like to work with music from a total of 7 video games through this course; 3 Pokémon games, and 4 non-Pokémon games. I'm interested in music from the following: *Pokémon Red/Blue/Fire Red/Leaf Green *Pokémon Gold/Silver/Heart Gold/Soul Silver *Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire *Pokémon Diamond/Pearl *Pokémon Black/White *Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 (Optional) *Contra *Castlevania *Street Fighter II *Final Fantasy III/VI *Kirby's Dream Land 3 *Star Fox 64 *Beatmania IIDX 19 Lincle (The...well...19th in a series of Japanese rhythm games. I like some of the songs from this franchise, and I have the OST for most, if not all of these games) Question for LD: OP is giving me the urge to make a Tindeck account...but is it okay if I upload everything to Dropbox (I have an account there, and I don't feel like spending any money on extra space)?

• Create a song remix focused more on the drum beat
• Give the song some life with the beat, don't use just one simple drum beat, add variety
• Don't worry so much about any other music aspects such as making it an original remix; we're just taking a little test round here to see where your abilities lie remember

• Pokemon RBY: Gym Leader Battle
• Kirby's Dream Land 3: Zero
• Final Fantasy III: Battle theme
• Castlevania: Level 1
• Starfox 64: Starwolf's Theme

or

You you dont want me to add anything new to the original piece?

I'm going to be applying for LD's class. ^^

Current abilities: I can pick up on and write OSTs by ear without a MIDI.
Interests: I'd like to be able to actually "remix" the themes without simply switching up the instruments and style.
PM Guidance?: Likely not necessary. Same as tp.
Songs/Games: Pokemon, Mega Man, Mario Tennis, and just about any Nintendo game, really.

Go Here.

I'll apply for Syra's cause I'm already a bit of a FamiTracker guy.
Current abilities: Uhhh, not many. Unless you count playing by ear as an ability, because that I can do easily. I prefer to not use MIDI files but instead the MP3s on my iPod (I have many) or the actual song from the actual game. I can also make a pretty sweet bassline.
Interests: Err, I don't know exactly what to put here, but I'll say I wanna be as good as Rushjet1 or Danooct. Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36CxEsRRyBk (No, I do not expect to ever use the add-ons they have. Or be that amazing. Maybe a quarter as good as they are)
PM Guidance?: Umm, I don't think so, I've already got some basics down and I've made 2 songs. Both BW2 spoilers, so I'm doing Fight Against Culex if you want to see my lack of skills. I won't hesitate to PM you if I feel I need it, though.
Songs/Games: Well, any game I've ever played that's on my iPod. I'd only do game music because everything else has words or is really complicated for only 4 channels. Here's a list with the series I like/have songs I'm planning to do.

Mother 

Super Mario RPG (Paper Mario series)

Mario and Luigi RPG

Pokémon (ALL of it, that means the spinoffs)

Kirby

Zelda

Rhythm Heaven

Sonic (I don't normally do guitars. I can't understand chords)

I am using this as an attachment, so I dont know if it will work. i am dong it this way because DropBox hate me XD.

Battle Theme.mp3

1 attached file

Battle Theme.mp3

Is it ok if I just leave a compliment for now as well as my opinion? This is a really nice idea teaching folks how to remix music. As it is I use FL Studio all the time. I must recommend FL Studio in any remix session and it is a great tool to teach people how to make their own. You've got my thumbs up for this folks and if I decide I need more training I'll run to you folks. In the meantime I'll share a remix here instead of in my own thread. It's a rather old remix but still a great example of what others can do once they learn what I have. I've since got better than this remix though (I would think) however.

Pokémon Black & White1 Credits Remastered

Coming in for Syra's FamiTracker stuff, seeing as I probably would start to get overwhelmed... FL Studio is too complex from my use.

Current abilities: Zilch. I forgot all my piano lessons!
Interests: Just wondering whether I'll be able to make something good out of a remixing attempt, and not like the half-finished hackjobs that I've done in the past... that has never really seen the light of day.
PM Guidance?: Sure, I think I probably need it anyway. More like, I'm going to need all the help I can get, as I'm probably tone deaf at this point.
Songs/Games: I like the current gen Pokemon games. I have a soft spot for the SNES-era Final Fantasies, too. I've noticed that I freaking love Call Me Maybe for some reason. And a certain not-quite-old Chinese pop song called 簡單愛, too. And BRODYQUEST

Note: I'll be using my SkyDrive account for everything, seeing as I have essentially 25 GB of space there. Better than having to micromanage more accounts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SyracuvatTenlii I'm going to be applying for LD's class. ^^ Current abilities: I can pick up on and write OSTs by ear without a MIDI. Interests: I'd like to be able to actually "remix" the themes without simply switching up the instruments and style. PM Guidance?: Likely not necessary. Same as tp. Songs/Games: Pokemon, Mega Man, Mario Tennis, and just about any Nintendo game, really.

• Create a new percussion beat to a song
• You may use any percussion as you wish, beat sure to at least include a Kick, Snare, and Cymbal (any)

• Pokemon RBY: Route 12
• Legend of Zelda Seasons: Windmill Song
• Megaman: Yellow Devil/Dr Wily stage 4
• Mario Tennis: Main Menu

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTP_NickSkyline Already finished. It took me 45 minutes to make 75 seconds. And I threw in a ride as well. Materials Used: reFX Nexus (3 instances) Toxic Biohazard (2 instances) Pokémon Diamond/Pearl Soundfont

Quote:

Originally Posted by teamplasma I am using this as an attachment, so I dont know if it will work. i am dong it this way because DropBox hate me XD. Attachment 3347 EDIT: I changed the percussion a lot... Is that good? Or bad?

• Change the percussion up however you wish
• Add the following: Bass Kicks, Snare, Cymbals (any)
• You may use Drum Loops
• You may use FPC (or soundfonts if you have them) instead of just midi instruments

In the Piano Roll, there are 4 beats per Measure. This is the most common but effective Bass Kick beat you can use, usually seen in most "techno" songs. Just a simple kick beat to keep things flowing.

Oh, yay, I get the two Turtwigs. ^^

TurtwigX
Allllllllright, so you've expressed interest in learning a little bit more about NES Remixing in general. First of all, seeing that you know just about everything you need about music for now, we're going to skip Units A and B and move right along to Unit C.
Unit C: Writing By Ear
Lesson 0: The Interface

Now, I see you've been working on a remix of your own of Fighting against Culex. That's fine and all, but I want you to pause your progress on that project and start with these lessons. The Unit Test will be the project you're working on. For now, we're going to learn a little more about the structure of FamiTracker.
First of all, making the project into one long line is a little more complicated than it seems. You have these things called Frames, each one of which can hold up to 256 rows; each row has the capacity to play 4 different sounds: 2 squares, a triangle, and noise. The first square will be where you put the melody. You've probably already figured this out, but in order to play any sound at all, you need to create a new instrument, but one thing you should also realize is that one instrument in the end is not going to make your remix sound all that great, nor is it going to let you have one file last more than 256 rows, which is not as much as you might think. How do we fix this? Well,. it has to do with multiple frames. 1 frame will hold 256 lines, but 2 frames will hold 512 lines, and 4 frames hold 1024 lines! That sounds nice, right? But what happens if you write the first part of a song in frame 1?
It copies onto the rest of the frames...It's good for repetition, but that's not what we're looking for here.
How do we fix it? Well, what you need to do is make each frame use a different instrument. In the frame editor, set frame 00 to read only instrument 00, 01 to read 01, and so on. Then, when you write music in frame 00 with instrument 00, it will show up only there. Now, in the frame editor, we'll go ahead and set it to change the instrument readings of all of the channels for the time being, but be ready to revisit the frame editor to add even more instruments for the purposes they serve. For now, however, here's your preliminary assignment...
Assignment 0
I want you to simply create 4 frames that will each play something different, and send me a screenshot of your frame editor showing that each frame will play a different instrument.

Twiggy
I can see you're in a completely different boat from your Turtwig friend, so I'll keep things simple to start with. We'll be jumping right in with Unit A...
Unit A: "What IS that?"
Lesson 1: Melody
I understand that you'd be intimidated to try out FL Studio right now, I'll admit to being a little nervous about it myself.
Before we being, though, there's one important thing you might already know, but nevertheless should realize. This is NOT "8-bit" remixing. 8-bit is a common misnomer for this kind of soundtrack, when it doesn't characterize the sound at all, but simply the type of processing the system is capable of. It's called 8-bit simply because it's mostly associated with that type of processing. But now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's move on.
First of all, the Melody is a term you've probably heard before. By definition, the melody of the song is the predominant sound that leads the songs. If you find yourself whistling or humming a tune you've listened to, you're 99 times out of 100 recounting the melody of the song, while leaving out all of the rest of the parts that make it a song. In the case of FamiTracker, it's usually best to develop the melody of a remix or an OC, after which you can work on the rest of the song.
Now, what is the melody on FT, and how do we make it? Well, to understand this, you should understand how a tracker works. A tracker consists of rows and channels. The channels are what's providing the sound, and the rows represent increments in time. These rows are counted in double-digit Hexadecimal form (00, 01, 02, ... 0D, 0E, 0F, 10, 11, 12...) and go up to FF, making a total of 256 rows you can work with (for now...).
How do we put the melody on the tracker? Well, the first thing we need to do is add an instrument to even MAKE sound here. All you need to do is go to Instrument at the top and click "Add Instrument". Now, anything you put on the Square channels will create one particular sound, what you put on the Triangle channel will make a different sound, and what you put on the Noise channel will sound like crap, but we'll fix that later.
Assignment 1
Before I set you off on your first assignment, I want you to make a quick change very quickly: Go to Instrument and click "Edit Instrument". Now, in the volume section, click the + button to make the volume have a size of 7. Now, in the text box, type "8 8 8 8 8 8 0". You'll find out what that does later. Also, you'll want to go to Duty, make it size one, and in the text box simply type "2". Now that you've gotten that taken care of, set the tempo to "100", click on the slot at the very top left of the tracker grid and enter this pattern of keystrokes...

"E E Down E Down Q E Down T Down Down Down B Down Down Down , Down Down B Down Down C Down Down N Down M down J N Down B E Down T Y Down R T Down E Down , Down . M"
Next, highlight the section from 10 to 30, copy it, and Ctrl+V at Row 30.

And that's it for your first assignment. It probably won't sound quite right, but for the time being, it'll work.
Now, for mid-unit progress checks, instead of a sound-file, I'll simply want you to save the FT File and upload it here. I'll download it and look it over myself. Thanks ^^

That didn't take long at all~ Goodie~
Also, how would one upload the FT file? It says invalid file whenever I try to attach it.

1 attached image

So I did this one off Oak's Lab. It was easy of the sense that I made it easy. I gave it a simple snare and kick beat. With a little crash cymbal.

I changed it up little.

 Oak's Lab Drum.mp3

1 attached file

Oak's Lab Drum.mp3

I would like to enroll in the fami tracker class please

TurtwigX
Assignment 0 Results: PASS (no score)
Unfortunately, you cannot attach a FamiTracker file. You're going to have to upload it through a different medium, but mid-unit assignments should nonetheless be uploaded in that form so they can be more closely inspected.

Now, here's your first lesson:
Lesson 1: Melody
As I told Twiggy in his lesson, the melody is what you can pick out to be the dominant line of music in a song, but I'm sure you knew that already. Do take note that the melody in many OSTs has a way of shifting around instruments. During one part, it'll be played by strings, during another, it's the synthesized trumpet. Whatever it is, you'll want it to go in the first column of the tracker so as not to confuse yourself.
Assignment #1
This assignment consists of 3 tasks.
1.) First of all, I want you to pick out the melody in the first Overworld Theme of Super Mario 3-D Land, and put it into a single column of FamiTracker.
2.) Do the same thing, but with the battle theme of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum
3.)CHALLENGE: Pick out the melody in the Nighttime theme of Hyrule Field in LoZ: Twilight Princess

Twiggy
Assignment 1 Result: PASS
Good job. I hope you see how the tracker works with that. You might think that the keyboard just seems to assign random keys to random...keys...but that's actually not the case. See, the bottom 2 rows and the top 2 rows both act as piano-roll keyboards. It seems a little confusing, but figuring all of this out is where Unit 2 will come in. Unit 2's goal is to give you some knowledge on Music Theory, but for now, let's move on to the next lesson...
Lesson 2: Harmony
Now, obviously, if a song only consisted of a melody, it'd be a nice solo piece for a dramatic ost, but that's not going to cover more than at the MOST 1 ost in an entire game. What you need, as well as a couple other things, is something that can compliment the melody's pitch by either paralleling its motion, contrasting it, or just simply adding its own rhythm to make things interesting. This is what we call Harmony. If it doesn't quite make sense from what I'm telling you, maybe it will after this assignment...
Assignment 2
So, you remember what you had to do for your last assignment, right? Well, this time, instead of training your cursor on the top left of the tracker, you're going to want to train it in the same wide column, but in the column labeled "Square 2" (make a new file for this, please). Add a new instrument as before, make it's volume map Size 26, and input this in the text box: 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 8 7 5 4. Make it's Duty/Noise map, again, Size 1 Value 2. Make the tempo 80, make sure it's 120 rows long, and enter the following keystrokes...
N Down Down N Down N N Down Down Down N Down Down B Down H
Copy this segment (00 to 10) and paste it at row 10. Highlight the entire thing, then press CTRL+F3 Skip down to row 20 and enter these keystrokes...
D Down Down D Down D D Down Down Down D Down Down S Down X
D Down Down D Down D Down D Down S Down X D
Now, make a new instrument. This time, make its Volume Map Size 8 with values 7 7 7 6 4 2 1 0, and make the Duty Map Size 1 Value 2 again.
Now for the fun part. Enter these keystrokes...
6EM6EMUM53M53MUM
Copy this strand and paste at row 50. Then copy from Row 50-57, and paste that at Row 60. Now for the final part...
LEYE5M(Down)56MLEMEU6
*puff*puff* Aaaaaaand tell me if you recognize what the harmony's from, kthxbye *passes out*

I did your assignment before I got a start on mine, and I have to say I've never heard that song before, but MAN did the whole feeling change at Row 40.
On to my question, I'm not the guy who does Internet file sharing unless it's zipped stuff in Emails, what site should I use?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wulf Cines You've got my thumbs up for this folks and if I decide I need more training I'll run to you folks.

1. ReMixing in FL Studio via Midi
2. Recording with NCH WavePad to Capture Sound from my Soundcard with Cables
   2.1 For a fast, professional recording rather than using FL Studio's long-winded, time-consuming MP3 Export function (shortens how much time it takes me to produce a track)
3. Silencing and Unmuting tracks in a Midi
4. Adding Echo/Depth For A Surround Feel (via the Convolver)
5. Using Soundfonts and VST Plugins
   5.1 Native Instruments FM7 (VST), Merlin Gold (SF), Mega Drive/Genesis (SF) are good examples of what I use
6. Pitch/Tempo Change (separate of the other)
7. Panning a midi track left/right/center
8. Creating a riff via macro (I don't typically do this however)

1. Creating an original score
2. Creating an extensive drum track that melds into the whole song and isn't entirely the same the whole way through.

Quote:

Originally Posted by teamplasma So I did this one off Oak's Lab. It was easy of the sense that I made it easy. I gave it a simple snare and kick beat. With a little crash cymbal. I changed it up little. Spoiler     Attachment 3353

• Add all instrument channels to an indivudual spot on the mixer
• Change the volume of at least one instrument via Mixer
• Add at least one effect on a channel via Mixer (Suggestion: Use Fruity Compressor on your percussion, then lower it's volume. This will enhance the sound and make it have more "oomph".)
• Remember percussion

Nick Skyline - "Simon Belmont, Vampire Slayer"

Okay, here you are. I accidentally saved over the SM3DL one, so if it sounds messy now, it was out of anger. And I just added in a messy bit of the insanely fast part I wasn't trying to hard for in the D/P one to show it was part of the melody. Wasn't too serious with that because it requires sheet music. And Twilight Princess... you just had to pick a song from one of the few Zelda games I've never played. No matter, it was difficult, but I put what I think was the melody.
Also John-li signed up for your class, don't ignore that.
And I'll email you the FTM files later and stuff.

3 attached files

Super Mario Land 3D Melody.wav

D&P Wild Battle.wav

Twilight Princess Hyrule Field Night.wav

john-li
Welcome to the crew, john. First of all, I'd like you to answer a few questions...
1. What's your experience in music trackers?
2. What do you know about remixing music?
3. How's your skill in music at all?


Okay, right now, Turt and Twig, I need you to check my first post in this thread (that is, if I've got it edited by that point in time) to see the grading scale for your assignments...

TurtwigX
Assignment Results...
1. SM3DL
A little short. -2
Last little part didn't quite sound accurate.
= 7/10-- Fix
2. D/P/P
Rather short. Misses a lot of the main melody. -4
Last little part again. Not really accurate. -1
= 5/10-- Service
3. Twilight Princess
Volume control is great. +2
Misses a small part that is actually kinda the main theme of Hyrule field. -3
Higher part doesn't start on the right pitch, which kinda derails the whole thing. -2
Challenge Bonus: +1
= 8/10 Good
FINAL SCORE: 20/30 = Fix a few things
First of all, I need you to finish the job on the first too songs. When you remix a song, it's really best that you take all of the song into account, not just a small section. Then, you should listen a little more closely to the melody of the song compared to what you wrote on the tracker. I think you might notice a couple inaccuracies. Don't bother working on the Twilight Princess one, that's a challenge, and I don't expect you to make a masterpiece of that one, so you're A-OK there. But in the end, I do need you to look over your first two songs again , touch them up a little bit, and then actually finish them before we can move on to the next part.

[COLOR="Lime"]Twiggy
SCORE: Service
First of all, the instrument you made for the first part is off. That might be a little more my fault than yours, but here's what you should do to fix it:
First of all, delete a few of the 10s on your Volume box and make sure to also shorten the length of that whole track. We're trying to get it to sound like it cuts off before it gets to the next note, which it doesn't quite seem to do. Again, probably my fault, not yours.
Second, the second half's...all screwy. I think you should look over my instructions again. If this is how I told you to put it down, let me know so I can tell you where I went wrong. Otherwise, you may have misread something.
Third, once you've pulled it together, try to figure out what classic soundtrack it's from. See me if you need a hint about that.

well I am not a remixer I want to learn how I do play instruments and I do use a matrix synth some times

SM3DL I can patch up and extend no problem. It can be done by Friday. Monday actually.
D/P... Umm... I don't think I'm too good with the extremely fast part... It takes me like 10 minutes to get a single note. Maybe if I had something to slow down the song.
...Hyrule Field has a main theme? ...I don't know what that is.

Assignment 2 file overwritten. You should be able to access the same copy with the previous link. (If not, I'll reupload it)

Thoughts? The OOMPH sound was hard... Not sure if I did it right...

Battle Remix.mp3

1 attached file

Battle Remix.mp3

Sounds cool, I'd like to apply in LD's classroom !
I use FL Studio 10 producer edition,

Current abilities: I can make some parts of a song without midi (depending of which song), uuh, I think that I'm a great beat-maker if you look at my poor remix collection, I can link my instruments to the mixer and stuff, personalize a song a little bit, I however don't use patterns & playlist, I prefer to do my remix like a midi, because I usually use one, I know how to change the velocity, and to use the EQ ( but I'm not very good with it, so I'd not refuse a training ), and finally, I'm a noob with original stuff, but it interest me a lot !

Interests: I'm interested by learning DnB, Breakbeat, Drumstep and Hardstyle ( that's why LD's a good teacher ! ) and also interested by learning to use some VST like Massive and Nexus to make my own sounds ( I'm tired of those presets... ).
I have some basic knowledge of Music Theory and FL Studio, but I want to become a great remixer/compositor and bring some joy or eargasm to those who listen to my remixes ! ^^

PM Guidance?: Yes of course !

Songs/Games: Pokémon ( all of them ), Final Fantasy, and one or two songs from Kirby, that's all actually

If you have any question, feel free to ask !

john-li
Ok, john, I think I know where to start off with you, but please be patient here. I need to figure out how to do your lessons, but I'll get back to you soon.

Twiggy
SCORE: PASS
Alright, thank you for fixing that up. Now it's time for things to get down low...
Lesson 3: Bass
Oooooookay, Twig, so the 3rd and final pitched part of a basic NES tune is the bass. This part of the song carries the chord of the song. If a melody or harmony is off-tune, it sounds weird, but you can tell it's a mistake. If the bass is off-key, the whole song just doesn't sound right. As you can probably tell, the bass is pretty freaking important to get exactly right.
The bass shouldn't require much further explanation, so I'll just cut to the chase here and give you the assignment

Assignment #3
Okay, I need to go at this with a different approach, so here are your instructions...
1.) Create a new instruments. No new settings this time, just keep it default.
2.) Make the song 256 rows (maximum amount for one frame)
3.) Click the little icon at the top bar called "Settings" and set note cut to "-" and note release to "="
4.) Enter the following keystrokes at their respective rows...
00: G /// 10: C /// 1A: - /// 1C: C /// 1E: G
20: M; Ctrl+F3 /// 2A: S /// 2E: X
3E: V
40: G
50: C
60: X
76: - /// 78: X /// 7A: C
80: G
90: C /// 9A: - /// 9C: C /// 9E: G
A0: M Ctrl+F3 /// AC: - /// AE: S
B0: X
C0: G /// CA: - /// CC: G /// CE: V
D0: C /// DA: - /// DC: C /// DE: D
E0: X
F0: L

Okay, I've done Super Mario 3D Land once more. I extended it and fixed like 1 or 2 mistakes. D/P will come up shortly and I'll edit this post when that happens. Probably tomorrow after bowling.

1 attached file

Super Mario Land 3D Melody.wav

Here's my remix of this song: "YAKSHA" by Neulakyussra (alias of L.E.D.?). Here's the original song as a reference/proof that I'm not stealing anything.

This covers Lesson 2, but I think it goes all the way up to Lesson 9.

Modified the Amen Break's mixer channel equalizers to give the Amen Break that "oomph", when mixed with the kick, clap, ride, and other various sounds. I increased the treble a little, and layered a Compressor on top of Soundgoodizer. (Covers Lesson 2)

Eight synthesizers used (some of which are layered on top of one another), including five instances of Nexus. I use Albino 3 for my bass lines, if you're wondering. (Covers Lesson 3)

Personalized like crazy towards the end, because the orignal melody wasn't enough for me. (Covers Lesson 4)

22 patterns used...along with some Automation clips. The setup I have covers 11 tracks on the playlist. Also added in some sounds from VEC4 to personalize it a little more. (Covers Lesson 5)

I didn't have a MIDI to work from, so I had to remix this entirely by ear. (Covers Lesson 6)

I put in a couple of snare rolls, and a fade out on a hi-hat loop towards the end. I wonder if a Saw Pad layered on top of another synth with a low-pass/high-pass cutoff filter counts as something getting quiter or louder. (Covers Lesson 7)

Like the original, this starts on a dark, grim tone. Towards the end, the tone of the song changes to a much lighter one. Kind of like ascending to the Hall of Origin... (Covers Lesson 8)

I adjusted the EQ on some mixer channels to make them stand out, but also so I could hear everything that was going on. (Not sure if this covers Lesson 9)

I believe anything can make or break a song, and I'm pretty sure I did mostly everything right here. I'm not sure if I want to apply to be an instructor...I'll give it a few months.

Chosen Instructor: LugiaDialga (FL Studio 9.1 XXL Producer Edition User)

Current abilities: none i am horrible at remixing V.V

Interests: I'm looking forward to learning.

PM Guidance?: If I need you...I'll Pm you soon, as much as i can.

Songs/Games: POKEMON! i'd like to try Primal Dialga's music first. link me to FL studio!
I'm interested in music from the following:
*Pokémon Red/Blue/Fire Red/Leaf Green
*Pokémon Gold/Silver/Heart Gold/Soul Silver
*Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire
*Pokémon Diamond/Pearl
*Pokémon Black/White
*Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 (Optional)

Quote:

Originally Posted by teamplasma Thoughts? The OOMPH sound was hard... Not sure if I did it right... Attachment 3392

• Use multiple instruments of your choice
• Kicks, Snares, Cymbals
• Lower the volume via the Mixer on instruments that sound too loud
• Add at least one effect/plugin via Mixer

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaytwOST Sounds cool, I'd like to apply in LD's classroom ! I use FL Studio 10 producer edition, Current abilities: I can make some parts of a song without midi (depending of which song), uuh, I think that I'm a great beat-maker if you look at my poor remix collection, I can link my instruments to the mixer and stuff, personalize a song a little bit, I however don't use patterns & playlist, I prefer to do my remix like a midi, because I usually use one, I know how to change the velocity, and to use the EQ ( but I'm not very good with it, so I'd not refuse a training ), and finally, I'm a noob with original stuff, but it interest me a lot ! Interests: I'm interested by learning DnB, Breakbeat, Drumstep and Hardstyle ( that's why LD's a good teacher ! ) and also interested by learning to use some VST like Massive and Nexus to make my own sounds ( I'm tired of those presets... ). I have some basic knowledge of Music Theory and FL Studio, but I want to become a great remixer/compositor and bring some joy or eargasm to those who listen to my remixes ! ^^ PM Guidance?: Yes of course ! Songs/Games: Pokémon ( all of them ), Final Fantasy, and one or two songs from Kirby, that's all actually If you have any question, feel free to ask !

• Create a remix with a new percussion track/beat
• Add at least kicks, snares, and cymbals
• Feel free to add what you wish to, this lesson is just to see where your skills currently lie at

• Final Fantasy X: Seymour Battle theme
• Pokemon GSC: Burned Tower or Tin Tower
• Kirby 64: 02 Battle Theme
• Pokemon RBY: Title Screen Theme
• Final Fantasy VII: Mako Reactor
• Kirby: Gourmet Race

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReshZek200 Chosen Instructor: LugiaDialga (FL Studio 9.1 XXL Producer Edition User) Current abilities: none i am horrible at remixing V.V Interests: I'm looking forward to learning. PM Guidance?: If I need you...I'll Pm you soon, as much as i can. Songs/Games: POKEMON! i'd like to try Primal Dialga's music first. link me to FL studio! I'm interested in music from the following: *Pokémon Red/Blue/Fire Red/Leaf Green *Pokémon Gold/Silver/Heart Gold/Soul Silver *Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire *Pokémon Diamond/Pearl *Pokémon Black/White *Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 (Optional)

• Take a song and add a new percussion track/beat to it
• You may use any percussion methods, but include at LEAST a Kick and a Snare
• Don't worry about anything else at the moment just the percussion but choose new instruments other than midi instruments (IF you use a Midi that is)

or

Like I said before, I'm actually in France ( holidays ), I'll do my lesson as fast as I can, I promise !
I think that I'll try 02 or Seymour battle theme, but I'm not sure about that...
Well, I'll see !

john-li
So...Twiggy's almost up to your level in the classes, and since it'll be my first time doing something like that, it'll be easier if I just have to come up with a single assignment for both of you, so hang tight just a little longer.

Twiggy
Assignment Result: FIX
Excellent work following the instructions, Twiggy, but I would like you to do something extra before you move on to the next assignment: Can you identify what this baseline is from?

Anyway, that'll be an addendum to your next and final assignment, but here's the lesson to go with it:
Lesson 4: Noise
So, you turn on the TV and it's for whatever reason on an unresponsive channel. What do you hear? Noise. Specifically, I believe this is referred to as "white noise", but don't quote me on that. Either way, it's loud, it's obnoxious, and yet, it's somehow used by game companies to make a percussive beat to an NES tune. How? Well, we're going to find out in...
Assignment #4
STEP 1) Make a new instrument
STEP 2) Set this instrument to Volume size 3, values "15 15 0"
STEP 3) Make another new instrument
STEP 4) Set this instrument to Volume size 8, values "15 14 13 10 7 5 2 0"
STEP 5) Press "I" in the Noise column on the following rows:
00, 12, 14, 16, 18, 2A, 2C, 2E, 30, 42, 44, 46, 48, 4E, 54, 5A, 5D
STEP 6) While all of these are assigned to instrument 00, set lines 00, 18, and 30 to instrument 01.
STEP 7) Guess the tune this percussion track comes from

Sorry for the waiting, I was on holidays, but now I'm back, so I did it in a hurry, and so it's probably not fabulous but... Yeah, whatever, I'll do something better next time...

Your Lesson’s goal: Mhhh... I tried to do a drum beat with a soundfont ( I usually use Slicer and a sample ), and to keep a structure... And like I expected, I miserably failed.

Your finished MP3: Here it is !

I was thinking about doing it DnB-style, but like always, I had my lack of creativity and a bit of laziness, so it's just a MIDI with some synth/soundfont on it. :/

1 attached file

Vs Seymour Omnis.mp3

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaytwOST Sorry for the waiting, I was on holidays, but now I'm back, so I did it in a hurry, and so it's probably not fabulous but... Yeah, whatever, I'll do something better next time... Your Lesson’s goal: Mhhh... I tried to do a drum beat with a soundfont ( I usually use Slicer and a sample ), and to keep a structure... And like I expected, I miserably failed. Your finished MP3: Here it is ! I was thinking about doing it DnB-style, but like always, I had my lack of creativity and a bit of laziness, so it's just a MIDI with some synth/soundfont on it. :/

• At the beginning, isn't there supposed to be some sort of high-pitched synth melody playing here?
• Maybe the bass line could be brought up an octave.
• At 0:21, the drums are mixed too loud for a few seconds.
• Maybe it wouldn't hurt to play with panning/stereo sound, even a little.

To be honest, that was not my first remix, but the lesson's purpose was just to "make a beat", so I did. ^^'

The synth before the fade out : I just put a fade out at the moment where I was too lazy to continue, in fact. The fact that the fade out come just after the synth is just a coincidence, that was not my intention.

For the high-pitched melody at the beginning : Yep, but I didn't found a decent VST presets/soundfont on my computer, so it would have been worse if I had put it.

But I totally agree with you for the rest. The fact is, LD gave me a lesson to do like 1 week, so I did this in a hurry, but I admit that even if I had had more time, it wouldn't be much better than this.

The problem with me is that I can do some good stuff, but only when I am motivated, it's random... Some evenings, I feel hyper ambitious and stuff, and I do a good work. But apparently, it doesn't apply to this evening ^^'

( By the way, even if you're not my teacher, you can give me a note for the lulz )

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTP_NickSkyline I'll admit, I'm a bit lazy at first when it comes to remixing something; I tend to plop the MIDI of all the various melodies I'm given into each separate channel, and then work a drumbeat or various samples around it. But, here's the thing...when I get my groove on, I never stop until I'm completely satisfied with what I've made. I know I'm not your teacher, and therefore can't give you a score. But, the melody of the battle with Seymour Omnis in FFX is awesome indeed, and the drums sound nice enough, even though Fruity LSD was involved (seeing as this is your first lesson, I'll let that slide). And the synth that comes in before the soung starts to fade out...that sounds a bit cliché, yet I find it's one of "those", that you just have to follow in electronic music production. You can't have just a beat, a lead melody and a bass melody. Otherwise, the next single you produce might sell like Pluto Nash's Box Office reception. That said, this isn't that bad for your first remix, and I kind of like it. I'd like to point out a few problems that I have. At the beginning, isn't there supposed to be some sort of high-pitched synth melody playing here? Maybe the bass line could be brought up an octave. At 0:21, the drums are mixed too loud for a few seconds. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to play with panning/stereo sound, even a little. These are just my two cents. You should feel a little proud of yourself that you made something someone found halfway decent, even though you thought it was worse than "Meh". I always say to myself when making something in FL Studio: "I know this is okay, but I can do a heck of a lot better than this." Honestly, it could have been worse.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaytwOST To be honest, that was not my first remix, but the lesson's purpose was just to "make a beat", so I did. ^^' The synth before the fade out : I just put a fade out at the moment where I was too lazy to continue, in fact. The fact that the fade out come just after the synth is just a coincidence, that was not my intention. For the high-pitched melody at the beginning : Yep, but I didn't found a decent VST presets/soundfont on my computer, so it would have been worse if I had put it. But I totally agree with you for the rest. The fact is, LD gave me a lesson to do like 1 week, so I did this in a hurry, but I admit that even if I had had more time, it wouldn't be much better than this. The problem with me is that I can do some good stuff, but only when I am motivated, it's random... Some evenings, I feel hyper ambitious and stuff, and I do a good work. But apparently, it doesn't apply to this evening ^^' ( By the way, even if you're not my teacher, you can give me a note for the lulz )

• Create a new percussion beat

I apologize for taking so long with my classes' assignments, and unfortunately, I'm going to need to ask for more time. This week's looking pretty busy, but the good news is that once it's over, I should probably have some great lessons ready for Unit 2. Until then, hang tight guys.

Your Lesson’s goal: This time, I used a drum loop, and tried to not put a lot of Amen Breaks, and I succeeded ! I also used the mixer to enhance my instruments/VST and used the EQ. The drum beat is also more structured
Oh, and last but most important : I tried to not be lazy. Man, that was hard...

Your finished MP3: Tadaaaaa !

PS: I don't know why, but I have the feeling that the exported files from FL are worse than when I listen to them in FL...

Yeah I know, my resolution is too big... 

1 attached file

Vs Zero Two.mp3

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaytwOST Awww that hurts xD I admit that in the middle/ending part, there's a lot of repetitions, you're right... I could make an other version with a drum beat who sounds more like the beginning. ( except if you're talking about the whole song? )

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaytwOST Nah, I'm using the default output/input in the settings, I only use ASIO4ALL when I have to record something with my microphone or with my USB Keyboard

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaytwOST Lawl xD I guess you're right

• To get you used to FL Studio for remixing
• To vastly improve your general music production skills
• To experiment with different genres to help you find what genres of music you like to produce the most

I'm dead... I won't give up my project, but I'm slowly loosing hope.. I tried to remix and I still have nothing... I don't know anything but audio editor and editing sound files. I also downloaded Lavender Town so I can remix it, but I'm not sure it's going to be soon when it's actually worked on.. i'm just that suckish. Maybe if I understood WHAT to do, even though I read the instructions 20 times, I'd finally get it... I'm just so dissapointed in myself for not being able to even remix when that has been what I've wanted to do... I've wanted to follow in LD(LugiaDialga)'s and PRS(PokeRemixStudio)'s remixes... and also NS(NickSkyline)'s.. Cat333Pokemon is who I want to be like in 8-bit music remixes. I'm trying out stuff now, but people are learning faster than me, and I'm seriously discouraged... I've tried to check out FL again and it's still seeming hopeless.

I could help you out with 8-bit remixes if you would like. I know Reuniclus has wanted some help with those as well.

If this is still going I would like to enroll.

I'll work with FL studio.

Current abilities: Have 5-6 years of general music knowledge and classes and self-taught guitarist, but have only spent the past 6 months using FL studio, again mostly self-taught. Some original composition attempts are on my soundcloud page: https://soundcloud.com/sonix431

Interests: I hope to learn how to do more complex drum patterns, how to master songs and how to create more complex synths. Any knowledge that LD feels that I may also need is appreciated. Final goal is to hopefully make better OC and remixs.

PM Guidance?: If at any point I need help I will try and remember to ask for it. (Something that I need to work on)

Songs/Games: Pokemon is a primary series that I would like to learn, usually the battle themes from the various generations. Other classics such as Zelda, Megaman and the like, and any tracks that LD will think are appropriate for me. As for genres that I would focus on, primarily I want to learn Happy Hardcore, but also DnB, House and other electronic genres.

Current abilities: I was in concert and marching band for all of middle school and high school, so I know basic music theory. I downloaded Linux Multimedia Studio a month or so ago (because it is very easy to work with) and made a remix for Dark World from A Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I decided that I love making music so much that I told my friend I would make the soundtrack for a beat-em-up flash game he's working on. The first level of his game takes place in the city. I pictured it as taking place at night, so I came up with City Jam (For my music, there were no pre-recorded interval samples like automatic arpeggios or anything like that; each note you hear was hand-picked on a piano roll, including the intervals you hear in the percussion near the end of Dark World).

Interests: I would like to learn Famitracker.

PM Guidance?: Sure, why not! I'll take all the extra help I can get.

Songs/Games:

Skyway - Mega Man X Corrupted
Final Boss - Sonic 3
Magus Theme - Chrono Trigger