I've been trying to teach myself how to Music on and off for a few years. Here's some of the stuff I've worked on! Where possible, I'll share the program I use, as well as early drafts and WIPs, so you can get a peek into my process, hear how the songs evolve over time, or whatever. I'll try to keep them sorted into categories in the OP, and will post updates with new songs or revised versions in-thread. Feel free to leave comments or critique; I dig feedback! Also, if you had a request or theme to pitch my way, go for it; I can't promise I'll do 'em, but if I have the time and it catches my interest, I'd love to practice on a few requests.
NOTE: I'll be uploading from a backlog of songs for a bit yet, but here's some stuff to kick things off:
Thanks for the kind words! This was definitely inspired by your thread, Justice Watch. Also, I figured Dates would be a good way to remind myself of how often I've practiced, and to chart my progress... and it also helps explain why my old stuff is relatively rougher and more formulaic! ><;
Anyway, here's a handful more songs! Still working through this backlog:
I also wanted to share a tool I like to use when composing; a chord progression cheat sheet, that helps me know what keys to stick to, as I create looping chord progressions for a song, or a smaller progression for a passage of music. It's not a complete chart at all, but it can create chord progressions for all kinds of cultural styles or genres of music; Orchestral, Jpop, Bebop, whatever. If you ever find a Chord Progression recommended online, you can probably find it in this chart! >_o
Here it is, copypasted into my current FL Studio BackgroundShow
Note: I didn't draw FL-chan, but she was very cute and it was important to include her too!
Chord Samples: https://clyp.it/g3q4cr5p - These are some VERY CONDENSED 3 and 4-part Chord Progressions made using it, to get a sense for how the progressions made using this chart can feel.
How to Use: (This gets a little Music Theory-y and I'm not an expert, but I'mma try explaining in accessible terms. If you wanna use it and are confused, just pester me for clarification!)
Start your song by picking any Major Scale you'd like to be your Home Key/Scale (that's the 1 at the bottom of the chart). Then, whenever you write a passage or want to create one repeating chord progression for your song, you can start from any Key/Scale on the chart (including Home).
To resolve a passage, follow the arrows until you get to your Home Key again; you can stay on any Key as long as you like, and can even skip over a Key as long as you follow the arrows. You can also reach Home, and jump to another key again within the same passage. But ultimately, you need to end on your Home Key before starting a new progression (or repeating the same progression), in order to make that passage feel concluded. As a general rule, the farther you jump from Home, the more the feeling of tension will increase for the passage as well; that tension will decrease as you move closer to the Home Key.
The number in each section tells you what notes to use while in that section of the chart. The number is the Interval between your Home Key, and the new Key you're progressing to; "Interval" is Music Theory for "how many notes you go up in your Home Key's Scale, to find the first note in the new Scale you'll be using for this section". Green Keys are Major Keys, while Purple are Minor (hence the little m). Grey Keys are also Major, but are used less often because they can sound complex or be tricky to make into a good-sounding progression.
It's not a comprehensive chart, but it's the quickest and easiest-for-me-to-understand reference for The Circle Of Fifths. Like all art guidelines, you can feel free to bend the rules if you think it sounds good; change a Major to a Minor Key, bump one of the notes in your scale up or down a half step, whatever you like.
I’ve never seen it put that way, but it makes perfect sense. The whole “circle” thing is great and all, but it doesn’t emphasize the importance of “home”.
When I was learning improvisation, the most frequently repeated recommendation is that you can go directly anywhere from home, but once you’re at 5 you’re basically in the garage, and once you’re at 4 you’re basically in the driveway. And maybe you like to do a burnout into your garage (5^7), because you’re just that sure. Granted, that’s more for accessible tunes that don’t shy away from authentic cadences and stuff, but back when the MSPAF were up that’s what people were asking how to make anyway.
sea had swallowed all. A lazy curtain of dust was wafting out to sea
For reference, the game takes place in an apocalyptic world, where the crew of a refurbished tank venture across a monster filled desert, on a quest to find the ocean. Got 2 more weeks to work on it, and a few more songs I need to work out, but here's hoping I can finish it!
I've been behind on updating this thread. Here's a few new tunes from recent months!
◦ (Feb. 2018) Battlestations! - (FL Studio | Vehicle Combat Theme from Redlanders)
◦ (Aug. 2018) Groovy Jelly - (FL Studio | Theme from Gel Break)
◦ (Oct. 2018) Crossing - (FL Studio | Arrangement of a Theme created by CSJ for Elsewhere)
I'm just really bad at regularly updating this thread! Here's some songs I wrote for Ludum Dare 43. These were done in an afternoon because of the time crunch, but I think I'm getting a little better at whipping these things together quick-like.
If curious, here's a bonus version of the Castle Theme with the tracks exploded out, then slowly relayered, which I put together for post-mortem reflections on the game jam, and our various processes: Castle Theme (Exploded Tracks Version).
(10-27-2018, 01:55 PM)Reyweld Wrote: »I really like Groovy Jelly, it reminds me of a shop BGM from Disgaea if it were more spooky cool.
I was playing the Disgaea series at the time, and I'm pretty sure it's influenced my instrumentation choices and stuff. I'll take it!
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