Anyone making chiptunes with PCE or TG?

[touko]

It's very cool, but why don't make a tracker for Pc, and exporting to pce format..
you will not be limited by pce memory..

Yes the sound generated is an approximation, but it will be more user friendly, IMO ..
I think that a famy tracker like is the best way.

Squirrel is very good too, but you need to be musician and programmer to make musics, and for the moment is absolutely not easy to compose music without a strong background in mml.

[Arkhan]

and for the moment is absolutely not easy to compose music without a strong background in mml.

Thats incorrect.

Like I said, you can convert MIDIs to MML files and place the data in a file and be good to go.  There are a few videos of people who aren't MML experts that produced tunes with squirrel.

So you could just track in whatever you like, save a MIDI, and then get the MML...

[alexsduo]

That sounds really cool!

[touko]

and for the moment is absolutely not easy to compose music without a strong background in mml.

Thats incorrect.

Like I said, you can convert MIDIs to MML files and place the data in a file and be good to go.  There are a few videos of people who aren't MML experts that produced tunes with squirrel.

So you could just track in whatever you like, save a MIDI, and then get the MML...

I have tried that, and for non musician is very hard to recompose the true music .
for me "do,re,mi, fa, sol" it does nothing understandable :-p

But i appreciate the musics composed with your mml library .

[Arkhan]

and for the moment is absolutely not easy to compose music without a strong background in mml.

Thats incorrect.

Like I said, you can convert MIDIs to MML files and place the data in a file and be good to go.  There are a few videos of people who aren't MML experts that produced tunes with squirrel.

So you could just track in whatever you like, save a MIDI, and then get the MML...

I have tried that, and for non musician is very hard to recompose the true music .
for me "do,re,mi, fa, sol" it does nothing understandable :-p

But i appreciate the musics composed with your mml library .

you arent getting it.

You can make a song in a tracker, export that to a .MIDI, convert it with midi2mml programs, and place in squirrel file.  Done.   MODplug for Windows can export MIDIs.

If you go that route you barely need to know MML.   The basic how-to in the provided .txt will get you far enough to be able to copy paste.

You can use a tracker instead.  Those seem to be what the majority of people have raging erections for.

[touko]

Ooooh, i 'll try this 

Thanks ..

[TheOldMan]

You know, arkhan, you really ought to start a "how-to" thread here and show people how it's done. Or maybe two, one for 'tracker folks' and one for 'music notation' people....

The tricky part of the whole thing is getting the right envelopes and waveforms. Your songs might not sound -exactly- like they do in a tracker...

[Arkhan]

You know, arkhan, you really ought to start a "how-to" thread here and show people how it's done. Or maybe two, one for 'tracker folks' and one for 'music notation' people....

The tricky part of the whole thing is getting the right envelopes and waveforms. Your songs might not sound -exactly- like they do in a tracker...

I've thought about it, and maybe I finally should.  At one time I converted a MIDI to MML and had it playing on the PCE in <3 minutes.


Keranu timed me.

[alexsduo]

I would love to see some stuff...

[nodtveidt]

You can use a tracker instead.  Those seem to be what the majority of people have raging erections for.

...only because MIDI composition software tends to cost an arm and a leg, and MOD composition software only costs time and a monthly copulation.

[Bonknuts]

You can use a tracker instead.  Those seem to be what the majority of people have raging erections for.

...only because MIDI composition software tends to cost an arm and a leg, and MOD composition software only costs time and a monthly copulation.

 Tracker and MOD are not mutually exclusive terms. Plenty of trackers nowadays that aren't MOD format or hardware type related. Chip (PSG/etc) trackers, tracks for real synth chips, etc. There might be some people that use XM tracker in placement of MIDI+synth software setup (pro entry level compositions, if you will), but I'd imagine it's more to do with some specific advantage they're used to having/using. Case in point: I know Madbrain used a tracker for the OPL3 synth chip specifically because he could create high frequency triggered macros for instrument sounds that you could never get out of the chip via MIDI composition software. But that's the whole point of a tracker, it can be specific to the hardware on the lowest level. AFAIK, MIDI cannot.

 I can't imagine the MIDI file retaining the FX types of the popular tracker formats, for exports/conversions (maybe some volume envelope timing/data position if you're lucky, though non that I've seen yet). You just end up with simple notes relative to timing (from my experience anyway, going back and forth between formats and midi). If that's the case (tracker->midi->mml), might as well do it all in MML to begin with (unless it's a conversion of someone else composition and you're just ripping the notes). Just bear down and learn MML. If that's your target format. I've directed a few people that do chiptunes in mml, asking about PCE, to Squirrel's site. Dunno if anything came of it.

[Arkhan]

Tracker and MOD are not mutually exclusive terms. Plenty of trackers nowadays that aren't MOD format or hardware type related

Yeah, but some people still just call it all MOD software.  welcome to slang.

But that's the whole point of a tracker, it can be specific to the hardware on the lowest level. AFAIK, MIDI cannot.

Protip: Use SysEx messages

Did you know FFVII's soundtrack is MIDI?

I can't imagine the MIDI file retaining the FX types of the popular tracker formats, for exports/conversions (maybe some volume envelope timing/data position if you're lucky, though non that I've seen yet). You just end up with simple notes relative to timing (from my experience anyway, going back and forth between formats and midi). If that's the case (tracker->midi->mml), might as well do it all in MML to begin with (unless it's a conversion of someone else composition and you're just ripping the notes). Just bear down and learn MML. If that's your target format. I've directed a few people that do chiptunes in mml, asking about PCE, to Squirrel's site. Dunno if anything came of it.

Ripping MIDIs to MML is a great way to learn MML.........   you can figure out how to recreate the effects later.  They're generally not that hard.  Its nice to have working examples of songs if you're new to the whole thing. 

also having MIDI and MML representations of a song makes the song more useful.  MIDI is like universal musical magic.

Hint: Insanity was done with MIDI first, MML second.

The entire chiptune soundtrack for Insanity was produced in one sitting, in under 3 hours.

[spenoza]

I assumed as much. The composing was decent but the music itself didn't actually sound all that great. Sounded like poor MIDI playback.

Did you know FFVII's soundtrack is MIDI?

[alexsduo]

Maybe a bit off topic, but do any of you have or know where to locate a bunch of sound effects from turbo grafx / PCE games?  I made a song about turbo grafx/ video games a bit back, and I was hoping to find a ton of cool sound effects...

alternatively, I cannot remmeber if there are any games that have a "sound test" or whatever like bayou billy for nintendo, where you can play specific sounds, and record them...

http://www.myspace.com/illegaldata/music/songs/video-games-the-library-5264009

please don't make fun of me,

[alexsduo]

I was thinking of getting one of these new fangled USB PC enginge/ TG cards, to see if someone can put a similar MIDI software like the Midines, where I can control saw, wave, noise and pulse from the NES, but from the TG.  Like using a usb card, but with midi out, that would be milky chocolate tits.

I just got a TG-33 by Yamaha, so I am in a very musical mood...

http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/790/pc-engineturbografx16-music-for-beginners/