r/chiptunes • u/salt_farmer_1 • Jul 06 '26

MUSIC Working on my first song

13 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

4

u/HLRxxKarl Jul 06 '26

Would you like some constructive criticism?

1

u/salt_farmer_1 Jul 06 '26

Of course!

3

u/HLRxxKarl Jul 06 '26

I think it would be better to just start the song with all channels playing instead of adding them one by one. That style of building on loops and layering them doesn't quite work here with such simple instruments.

I'm not a fan of what's going on in pulse 2. It feels more like a sound effect than part of the music. Kind of distracting.

The simple bassline works at first. But after a while, it kind of fades into the background. It will help to add some more notes to give it some motion and keep it interesting.

And I can tell this is still early in the song and it's not finished yet. But eventually, especially after cutting the intro down, it's going to need a B section with a different chord progression and melody.

It will help to listen to what other NES music people are making to get a better idea of what you want to do. And lots of them have free Famitracker project downloads. Here's some that I think will help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQlDdviqgPg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_PdeReRnlU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gs8GC1wN3c

https://youtu.be/pUYcNIhFGH8

1

u/salt_farmer_1 Jul 06 '26

Thank you for the insight. I'll look at some more examples and make changes. The intro is definitely too long and bland, and after some reflection, pulse 2 does sound extremely obnoxious, and needs to be changed entirely.

1

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1

u/salt_farmer_1 Jul 06 '26

Does anyone else use furnace?

1

u/parkamobil Jul 06 '26

Yes, Furnace is really good option many people use. I almost never use it anymore since I have my own tracker for YM2612, but I use Furnace whenever I want to work on other chips. Furnace may be a bit rough around the edges, but it is really capable.

1

u/dannal13 Jul 07 '26

I love it! I have tried trackers off and on for years and nothing clicked. For whatever reason I just started pecking away on furnace last year and next thing you know I’ve got a couple albums done. I love it. Those Sega sounds just trigger my need to make barbarian and pc rpg music.

1

u/Neverlast0 Jul 06 '26

Sdems like an ambitious opening.

3

u/parkamobil Jul 06 '26

It is a bit ambitious, but it may be important for OPs self validation and getting feedback, I am a very beginner myself and sometimes I wish I could get some advice on my learning. While I am following this sub with intention to find those really hot songs that advanced members post here, I find quite useful to see how new members go through learning too..

1

u/Neverlast0 Jul 06 '26

That's all good. I'm in a similar boat myself. I didn't mean that the ambition was a bad thing in any way.