Gruber

Semitones & the Chromatic Scale (Noob Theory 1/10) – Pico-8 Music Tutorial #37

Here’s the first tutorial in a 10-part series about music theory and composing in Pico-8!  

For now, this is Patron-only content. I’m looking for feedback. What do you like? What would you improve? Are they easy to follow? Can you think of a better name than “Noob Theory!?” :)

In this tutorial you’ll learn:

• How the computer keyboard maps onto the piano keyboard
• How to input notes using the computer keyboard
• What a semitone is
• H...
  2018-09-06 15:59:00 +0000 UTC View Post

Pico-8 Tutorial Series Update!

Hello Patrons!

A quick update:

So far, I’ve written about half of the 10-part tutorial series. The plan is to finish writing them this week and start 'filming' them NEXT week. If everything goes to plan, the first tutorial will be available to Patrons mid next week. 

I’ve slightly changed the tutorial topics. #7 is now a tutorial dedicated to analyzing some popular video games songs that are theoretically relevant to everything learned up to that point. 

• S...
  2018-08-29 01:57:21 +0000 UTC View Post

$100 Goal Reached!

This is great news, thank you thank you!

This means I get to start producing more tutorials, specifically on writing music in Pico-8. The primary goal of these tutorials will be to give you a rudimentary understanding of music theory and hopefully a foundation for writing music that uses more than the pentatonic scale :)

I’ve been thinking about the best way to structure a 10-part series and this is what I came up with.  Each tutorial will also include some composing and creative ...

Importing Drums Sounds - Getting Started with Chiptunes & MilkyTracker (Part 4)

This is the last video tutorial of a four-part introduction series to MilkyTracker. I’m experimenting with a tutorial structure where I introduce a concept, explain how to achieve it, write some music and show creative uses.  

I want to make these tutorials as helpful as possible so feedback is appreciated! What do you like about them, what would you improve? Etc..

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By the end of this tutorial you should be able to:

• Import samples into MilkyTracker
...
2018-08-13 14:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Editing Sounds with the Instrument Editor - Getting Started with Chiptunes & MilkyTracker (Part 3)

By the end of this tutorial you should be able to:

• Adjust volume in the instrument editor
• Create and edit volume envelopes
• Loop & sustain volume envelopes
• Copy/paste envelopes

When you’re first starting out, the easiest way to find expression in a sound is by playing with volume envelopes. 

In this video you’ll notice that most of the time, I’m playing the note on the keyboard while moving the envelope points. ...

How to Make Sounds with the Sample Editor - Getting Started with Chiptunes and MilkyTracker (2/4)

By the end of this tutorial you should be able to:

• Generate sounds using the sample editor
• Adjust a sample’s volume
• Apply fades to samples
• Loop samples
• Input notes using the keyboard

When creating a sample that’s being used for melody or harmony, I recommend it being 64 samples long, or a multiple of 64. Otherwise, the sample won’t be in tune. It’s possible to tune samples in MilkyTracker, but that’s best left for an interm...

New Chiptune/MilkyTracker Tutorial Series (Part 1/4)

Patrons!

I’m very excited about starting this new tutorial series. 

Over the next month, I’ll be releasing a four-part series called “Getting Started with Chiptunes & MilkyTracker.” These videos will be for Patrons only, until I make them public (in about a month). They’ll also all be accompanied by a written post. Once these videos are public, I’ll be creating more intermediate tutorials for $5+ patrons.  

The reason for this is to get your feedbac...

How to Write a Shepard Tone – Pico-8 Music Tutorial #36

I figured out how to write a shepard tone in Pico-8.

If you don’t know what a shepard tone is, it’s an aural illusion that gives the impression that a tone is infinitely rising (or descending). Here’s an example, with a good visual of how it works. 

Basically, you have multiple pitches, all an octave apart. The highest pitch gradually fades out as the lowest pitch gradually fades in.&nb...

Athletic from Super Mario World (Pico-8 & MilkyTracker)

It was pretty much unanimous on Twitter - everyone preferred the Pico-8 version of Guile’s Theme over MilkyTracker.

So what if I imported Pico-8 samples into MilkyTracker? That was the goal for this one - to make them sound identical. Can you hear the difference? There IS a difference, but you have to listen closely :)

Project files and sheet music are attached! 

Athletic from SMW is a fun, ragtime inspired piece. The sheet music is a transcription from the actual game and i...

Pico-8 Music Tutorial #35 - Using Sequences to Create Sound Effects

About a year ago I inputted all of the music and SFX from Super Mario Bros. into Pico-8 (You can listen to all the music here).

I’m not an expert in this, but I BELIEVE that when it came to designing sound effects for retro games, designers would often use sequences. By ‘sequences’ I mean a certain set of rules to determine an order of events. When writing code, or using trackers, it�...

Guile’s Theme (Pico-8 & MilkyTracker)

Sheet music and project files attached!

Thanks to Brian, who requested hearing some music from another tracker. Working on this made me realize how much I missed working in MilkyTracker. It’s much more complex, especially compared to Pico-8, but once you understand the interface, controls, flow, it’s alot of fun. 

One of my favourite things about MT is not needing the mouse. Sometimes you can go many minutes without touching it - there’s a keyboard shortcut for just about ever...

Journey to Unknown Cells (Original Composition)

Another track produced using Ableton. Mp3 attached!

Actually, this composition has gone though many different iterations, including an acoustic version by my jazz trio Myriad3.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ1w2Qez64M)

Inspired by Mats & Morgan band, Squarepusher's Journey to Reedham, and Steve Reich, the tune starts with a rhythmic figure in 9/4.  But the drums play half notes, so the p...

Poll: Your Favorite SNES Games:

Vote on your TWO favourite SNES games!

Arranging SNES music in Pico-8 will be more interesting and challenging than music from NES, hence the topic of this poll!  I picked what seemed to be the most popular games, except for A Link to the Past, because I already arranged all of those. If you have any specific tune requests, let me know!  

Btw, would anybody be interested in arrangements that AREN’T made in Pico-8?

I’m really enjoying these mi...

Forest Firefly (Original Composition)

This song is featured in Counterpoint, but was originally composed years ago in Ableton.  I'm working on my music production skills so I thought this would be a good song to revisit and polish. 

I plan on keep up all the Pico-8 covers and tutorials, but you'll probably see more music like this in the future.  Mp3 attached!

Fortnite Club Music (Pico-8 Cover)

I chose this for a couple of reasons: 

First, I wanted to arrange a Pico-8 cover that’s NOT originally from the NES. 

Secondly, considering the popularity of Fortnite, I thought it’d be interesting to see how it performs on Twitter and Youtube – a little social media experiment! I may try arranging one of the title tracks too. 

Lastly, it’s a cool tune! It’s harmonically straightforward (Dm7 to Dm6), but the 6:4 polyrhythm is pretty interesting, and got my ...

Pico-8 Music Tutorial #34 - 4 Tips for Developing Compositions

I'm hoping this is especially useful for people who are stuck with a short sketch, and don't know how to make it sound better or how to make it longer. 

(I might make this a regular series, where I take other people's compositions and suggest ways they can be improved and developed.  Message me if you're interested in this!)

When you're writing, there are many paths you can take to develop the music, and the path you DO take, often forks and keeps on forking. So...

The Legend of Zelda – Overworld Music

Pico-8 carts and sheet music attached! Thanks to Egor Dorichev for the request!

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Writing in triple time isn’t very elegant in Pico-8. 

Each SFX is 32 rows, so it takes three SFX to make 66 rows (divisible by three). 

This means subdividing anything by three requires using either extra resources, or a time keeper SFX (which restricts you in other ways). 

The overworld theme from T...

Pico-8 Music Tutorial #33 - Advanced Delays and Echos

@relsqui had the idea on stream of using the instrument editor to create more precisely timed echos.  This is me trying out that idea!

Basically, you create an instrument starting on the 2nd row of an SFX (1st row is blank).  Using the SPD values, you can lengthen and shorten the duration of the 1st blank row, which means you’re adjusting the delay of the 2nd row.  

Super Mario Bros. 2 - Overworld Theme

Attached is the sheet music and the Pico-8 cart (thanks to Trasevol_Dog for the request)

My goal for these has been to try and make them sound as close to the original as possible. Most NES music has a 4-channel texture, so porting it into Pico-8 is fairly straightforward (though triplet subdivisions are never very elegant) .

It would be interesting to try arranging music from more contemporary games. I'll probably ...

Super Mario Bros. 3 - World 1 / Hammer Bros.

I noticed that most of the music in SMB3 is very short.  Most of the themes have one section (A) and only a few of them have multiple sections (AB). 

This is in contrast to the original SMB theme, which has four sections, and is arranged to make an extremely long form.

So, I thought I'd include two tunes from SMB3. The World 1 theme, which is probably the most recognizable, and the Hammer Bros. theme, which is one of my favourites :)

Attached is the Pico-8 cart, and the s...

Pico Mix - Project Files

Here's an updated link to my entire discography.  It now includes my new album, Pico Mix AND all of the carts.  

Unfortunately, Bandcamp doesn't have an elegant way to offer my discography for free, to Patrons.  So this is my solution.  Let me know if you ever have problems downloading it (I update the link frequently)

New Release! - Pico Mix

I just released Pico Mix - a collection of Pico-8 compositions I've written over the last two years. It features alot of stand alone music, but also music from games by @matthughson, @relsqui and @krajzeg

Artwork by Egor Dorichev

The music is free to listen and download on Bandcamp.  

5$+ patrons can download the project f...

Poll: Favourite Retro Mario Game

Working on Mega Man 2 was lots of fun. I’m going to try and do these every week or so.  

Please vote on your favourite retro Mario game!  I’ll transcribe a tune from the winner, upload the sheet music, and make a Pico-8 arrangement.  I’ll stream the whole thing too, in case you’re interested in the process. 

Suggestions for specific tunes and future polls are always welcome!

Mega Man 2 Intro & Title Music

Mega Man intro & title music is complete - thanks for your votes!

There are three things attached to this post:

The pico-8 cart - The music uses about 95% of the SFX slots!

Sheet Music - A sketch of the music, in case you read music, or want to learn. It includes chords, and the main parts.

Stream video - A roughly edited video of the stream (I mostly removed all the chatting) You can watch me transcribe and arrange all t...

Poll: Your Favourite NES Music!

Trying something new:

Instead of posting works-in-progress, I’ll be hosting polls to determine what music I’ll remake. Every poll will have a theme (console, year, genre etc.). Suggestions for themes are welcome!

So, here’s the first one - I'll remake an NES tune in Pico-8 from the winner (and likely stream the whole process). Comment below to include your favourite tune from the game.  Final products will be posted on Twitter/YouTube. Mp3s and project files will be available ...