The Pico-8 multi-sampler is out, files attached below!
What is a multi-sampler? It’s a group of samples, organized musically. In this case, I recorded and edited every possible note + instrument combination in Pico-8 and organized them so they can be triggered using a MIDI interface (like a keyboard). Overall, there are a total of 800+ .wav files.
Check out the video for a demonstration on how I created this.
Briefly, the process can be divided into 4 steps:
2018-04-06 22:24:14 +0000 UTC
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Download. Listen. Study. Edit. Mix. Share!
The tutorial on how I mashed all this music into this cart is here
2018-03-28 14:02:28 +0000 UTC
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Slipways was released last week!
The soundtrack represented a few firsts in my work with Pico-8, so I thought it deserved a tutorial. 5$+ Patrons can download the music cart here.
First, the music adapts to player progress. As your empire grows, so does the music. 2018-03-28 14:01:16 +0000 UTC
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(I’m still trying to find the best way to present WIPs. Sugg...
2018-03-25 14:00:01 +0000 UTC
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My best attempt at composing “horror ambience” in Pico-8 in about 20mins. Thanks to Grzegorz Dalek for the tutorial request!
(btw, I really like the idea of patrons sending me their music ideas/sketches and me showing ways you can expanding on them. Send me your carts! Would you prefer a video tutorial on something like this? Or how about a bi-weekly/monthly stream?)
--
One idea for composing “horror” music is to use unconventional sounds to create ...
2018-03-21 15:00:02 +0000 UTC
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A productive week!
The Bach portraits with Trasevol_Dog are almost done. I’m really happy with how they’ve turned out. Rémy is doing a great job bringing out the fun, goofy, cute, and surreal side of this project. The playlist is here. Five more to go!
The music for Slipways is now...
2018-03-18 20:38:57 +0000 UTC
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I’m really excited to try this new format of presenting my works-in-progress! The goal will be trying to keep these as concise as possible, but still rich in content. The videos will feature excerpts of things I worked on during the week, totalling no more than 5mins. Below I’ll write some explanations and ideas I’m playing with for each composition. When they’re complete, I’d be happy to release any of these pieces to patrons. Please let me know below if you’d be interested, a...
2018-03-11 22:07:33 +0000 UTC
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Using the Mario Overworld theme as an example, watch me reduce it from 4-channels, to 3 and 2-channels.
When I'm doing this kind of work, my goal is generally to preserve the essence of the tune as much as possible. Eventually though, it will start to take on a character of its own and sound Pico-8-ish (which is a good thing - embrace it!)
There’s a great quote by Clint Bajakian in Karen Collin’s book Game Sound. Clint Bajakian worked for LucasArts in the 90s, and was in...
2018-03-09 19:00:59 +0000 UTC
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The Pico-8 Bach inventions are complete!
I’ll release them soon on BandCamp. Trasevol_Dog and I are also collaborating on a series of music videos dedicated to Bach and these compositions.
Now that th...
2018-03-06 18:50:56 +0000 UTC
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2018-03-03 17:00:00 +0000 UTC
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2018-03-02 19:00:01 +0000 UTC
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My inspiration for this one:
2018-03-01 15:00:00 +0000 UTC
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So the main difference between this arrangement and the others is the lack of volume tails and expression in the two main parts (channels 1 & 3).
When I started this arrangement, I didn't have any idea what I was going to do. So I just went with the flow. The first step is finding the tempo, choosing a resolution (1 note per row, 2 notes per row etc) and then entering some notes.
After I filled channels 1 & 3 for a few patterns, I listened back and thought it sounded ...
2018-02-27 19:00:00 +0000 UTC
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2018-02-26 19:00:00 +0000 UTC
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I'm trying something VERY different in this one. Can you tell!?
2018-02-25 14:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Describing how I approached transcribing and arranging the Bach inventions in Pico-8. Need clarification on something? Let me know!
Thanks to Finn Ellis for the tutorial request!
2018-02-24 15:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Similar to #12, I have a one-hit instrument and a looped instrument with a volume tail. Except the 'right-hand' and 'left-hand' parts have their own, so there are four instruments in total.
The RH part is mostly using instrument 4 (pulse) and the LH part on instrument 3 (square). I don't think had never used them in this combination before and thought it sounded really cool.
There are also some instruments that have a kind of 'ticking' sound which I thought work...
2018-02-23 19:00:02 +0000 UTC
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Warning: MUSIC THEORY AHEAD!
One of my favourite chords is the Neapolitan bii. To my ears, it's a very dramatic chord - it's quite a departure from the harmony you might expect, especially music from the 1700s.
As it turns out, the Neapolitan appears in invention #13. Funnily, I didn't hear it because it happens really fast. It wasn't until I was entering the notes into Pico-8 ...
2018-02-22 19:00:01 +0000 UTC
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I’ve finally added some Patreon goals!
I really like the idea of setting symbolic goals, and then offering a community reward to say ‘thanks.’ It took me some time to think of rewards that I thought would be interesting for me AND the community, hence the delay. But here’s what I have so far. Feedback welcome!
$100!
If we reach this goal, I’ll produce a 10-part tutorial series on composing music in Pico-8. The focus will be learnin...
2018-02-21 17:28:56 +0000 UTC
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My favourite part about this one was arranging the section at 0:26. There's something nostalgic happening there, but I can't quite figure out what :)
2018-02-21 15:00:02 +0000 UTC
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2018-02-20 16:00:05 +0000 UTC
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2018-02-19 15:00:00 +0000 UTC
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For each new arrangement, I try to think of a new way to build the instruments, use effects, and structure everything differently.
For #12, I was playing with the fade-in effect (4). Use different SPD values, you can change the speed of the fade-in. Instrument 0 is a 'one-hit' instrument:
Instrument 1 is a looped instrument with a volume tail. I used both of these to emul...
2018-02-18 19:00:01 +0000 UTC
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2018-02-16 19:00:00 +0000 UTC
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We're still working away on creating a text-to-speech converter for Pico-8.
I explained "formants" in my previous write up. When you say a vowel, formants are the prominent frequencies that give that vowel it's characteristic sound. Each vowel has three (F1, F2, F3)
We decided that in order to transition between formants and vowels, it'd be best to create these transitions using code. This requires having a map of all the frequencies in Pico-8.
So attached is a Pico-8 frequency cha...
2018-02-16 13:37:14 +0000 UTC
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2018-02-15 19:00:01 +0000 UTC
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I may still adjust some of the volume levels on this one, but it's mostly done.
Went for a maximalist, "more-is-more" approach for this one. The instruments are chosen randomly (which means me finding different ways to type numbers between 0-6).
Often I would mis-type a number in the effect column... I tried to turn these into happy accidents as much as possible.
2018-02-14 15:01:01 +0000 UTC
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1. Through compose. It’s more work, takes up more space, but you’re guaranteed to get the time signature you want.
2. Subdivide 32 differently. We’re used to it being divided 8-8-8-8…. so why not 7-6-7-6-6?
3. Create a time-keeper SFX, as explained in the video. Make sure the non-time-keepers are looped, otherwise it won’t work!
Thanks to Finn Ellis for the tutorial request!
2018-02-13 15:01:00 +0000 UTC
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This one was fun. I used the instrument editor to created multiple arpeggio effects.... then applied arpeggios to THOSE.
2018-02-12 15:59:59 +0000 UTC
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2018-02-11 20:00:59 +0000 UTC
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