{"author_name":"RobProductions","cat":"LD - Misc","comments":[{"author_name":"callidus","time":"February 5, 2012 11:54 am","epoch":1328460840,"text":"Thanks for taking the time to write this @RobProductions <img src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-includes\/images\/smilies\/simple-smile.png\" alt=\":-)\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" \/>","spam":"N"},{"author_name":"","time":"February 9, 2012 4:06 pm","epoch":1328821560,"text":"No problem. I actually could&#8217;ve taken more, but I was in a hurry, and I already had written a similar post on Noteflight.com (After it was accidentally deleted because of &#8220;Character Limit&#8221; <img src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-includes\/images\/smilies\/frownie.png\" alt=\":(\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" \/> ) I was worried all my writing would be dumped in the trash again, but I guess not! <img src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-includes\/images\/smilies\/simple-smile.png\" alt=\":)\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" \/> Thanks Ludum Dare system!","spam":"N"}],"epoch":1328213400,"likes":18,"metadata":{"p_key":"59866","p_author":"RobProductions","p_authorkey":"7405","p_urlkey":"95618","p_title":"How To Write Music For Video Games","p_cat":"LD - Misc","p_event":"LD22","p_time":"1328213400","p_likes":"18","p_comments":"3","p_status":"UPD5","us_key":"7405","us_name":"RobProductions","us_username":"someguy22","event_start":"1323993600","event_key":"8","event_name":"LD22"},"text":"<p><strong>So one of the most important parts of game development is getting the music to fit the game. In this post, I&#8217;m going to show you how to write your own music from scratch while still giving some tips for advanced composers.<\/strong><\/p>\n <p><em>This tutorial focuses mainly on Garageband users, so forgive me if some of the terms are incorrect for different programs. <\/em><\/p>\n <p><strong>Software<\/strong><\/p>\n <ul>\n <li><strong><\/strong>You don&#8217;t need costly software to write music, some of the most default programs can do the job.<\/li>\n <li>Garageband is recommended for Mac users.<\/li>\n <li>A good alternative is <a href=\"http:\/\/noteflight.com\">Noteflight.com<\/a>, which can write music the&#8230; professional&#8230; way. You can save it to a wav. file.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n <p>WARNING TO GARAGEBAND USERS &#8211; <strong>DO NOT USE MUSICAL TYPING FOR RECORDING<\/strong>, use the SCORE EDITOR<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/2012\/02\/02\/how-to-write-music-for-video-games\/garageband\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-107846\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107846\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Garageband.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"152\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Garageband-300x114.png 300w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Garageband.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n A &#8211; Region Name field: Type a new name for the selected region in the field.<\/p>\n <p>B &#8211; Region Pitch slider and field: Drag the slider to transpose the selected Software Instrument region up or down by up to 36 semitones.<br \/>\n You can also type the number of semitones in the field.<\/p>\n <p>C &#8211; Velocity slider and field: Drag the slider to change the velocity of selected notes.<br \/>\n You can also type the velocity value in the field.<br \/>\n A note\u2019s velocity reflects how hard the key is pressed when you play the note.<\/p>\n <p>D &#8211; Zoom slider: Drag to zoom in for a closer view or to zoom out to see more of the track.<\/p>\n <p>E &#8211; Graphic\/Notation View buttons: Click to change the editor to graphic view or notation view.<\/p>\n <p>F &#8211; Note Value button: Click to choose the note value for notes you add.<\/p>\n <p>G &#8211; Fix Timing button: Click to fix the timing of notes in the selected region, or notes selected in the editor, so that notes move to the nearest grid position.<\/p>\n <p>H &#8211; Beat ruler: Shows beats and measures for the area visible in the editor.<\/p>\n <p>I &#8211; Playhead: Shows the point in the project currently playing.<\/p>\n <p>J &#8211; Notation display: Shows the musical events of Software Instrument regions in standard music notation.<br \/>\n You can move notes to adjust their pitch and where they start playing, and change how long they play.<\/p>\n <p>K &#8211; Scroll bar: Drag the scroller to move to a different part of a track.<\/p>\n <p><strong>Chord Progression<\/strong><\/p>\n <ul>\n <li><strong><\/strong>To start off writing your piece, you need a good chord progression.<\/li>\n <li>Pick a tune you think can be repeated for the entire song.<\/li>\n <li>If stuck, choose four whole notes that descend or ascend.<\/li>\n <li>Place the rest of notes in the chord.<\/li>\n <li>Try placing a note that&#8217;s two steps away to complete the chord.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p><strong>Adding Other Instruments<\/strong><\/p>\n <ul>\n <li><strong><\/strong>If you want your song to slowly gain instruments over time:<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <ol>\n <li>pick a short tune that can be played to the measures of your chosen chord progression.<\/li>\n <li>One by one, add the instruments with their short tunes until the climax of the song.<\/li>\n <li>This is where the lead comes in.<\/li>\n <\/ol>\n <ul>\n <li>If not, add all the instruments at once at the beginning of the song.<\/li>\n <li>There should be only one or two instruments playing the lead in a simple song.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p><strong>Writing The Lead<\/strong><\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>The lead should have its own instrument(s).<\/li>\n <li>Pick a tune that fits the chord.<\/li>\n <li>The lead will not have a repeatable tune.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p><strong>Increasing your song&#8217;s intensity with EQ<\/strong><\/p>\n <ul>\n <li>In Garageband, you can edit the instrument&#8217;s EQ levels under &#8220;Edit Instrument&#8221;.<\/li>\n <li>EQ levels are the different frequencies of normal sound.<\/li>\n <li>Each instrument should have a different EQ frequency.<\/li>\n <li>Bass instruments should have a higher base and lower treble.<\/li>\n <li>Lead instruments should have a higher treble and lower bass.<\/li>\n <li>Feel free to mix these last two up for variation.<\/li>\n <li>An example of the lead instrument&#8217;s EQ<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/2012\/02\/02\/how-to-write-music-for-video-games\/eq\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-107907\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107907\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/EQ.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"348\" height=\"286\" srcset=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/EQ-300x246.png 300w, http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/EQ.png 348w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 348px) 100vw, 348px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n <li>Notice how the lead instrument&#8217;s EQ is not that extreme. For background instruments, extreme EQ can be a good thing.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p><strong>Variations <\/strong><\/p>\n <ul>\n <li><strong><\/strong>Note that all songs don&#8217;t follow the same pattern, this is just one way of writing a song.<\/li>\n <li>To make your song sound different or catchy, think of it like making a movie, or a level.<\/li>\n <li>Introduce the background instruments first, then show the listener your lead instrument.<\/li>\n <li>During a change from loud to soft in music, have a common tune play before the change.<\/li>\n <li>If it happens several times, the audience knows that whenever you play that tune, the sound level will drop.<\/li>\n <li>Let the audience expect what is going to happen next, so that it becomes catchy.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <p>Obviously I didn&#8217;t go into the more advanced note placement tips, or note timing instructions, but this is just a general tutorial.<\/p>\n <p>Good luck writing music in the future, and hope to see more music in Ludum Dare games! <img src=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/wp-includes\/images\/smilies\/simple-smile.png\" alt=\":)\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\" \/><\/p>\n <p>If you want to see an example of a Garageband project, see my <a href=\"http:\/\/dl.dropbox.com\/u\/53757030\/LD22Track.zip\">Isolated Assault Piece<\/a> (from Ludum Dare 22).<\/p>\n <p>And if you crack open the <a href=\"http:\/\/dl.dropbox.com\/u\/53757030\/LD22.zip\">Isolated Assault Source Files<\/a>, you can see the same song under Assets\/Sound\/LD22Track.mp3<\/p>\n <p>One final note: <strong>You learn best from experience, so out there and make a song! <\/strong><\/p>\n \n <p>Tags: <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/game\/\" rel=\"tag\">game<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/music\/\" rel=\"tag\">music<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ludumdare.com\/compo\/tag\/tutorial\/\" rel=\"tag\">tutorial<\/a><\/p>","time":"February 2nd, 2012 3:10 pm","title":"How To Write Music For Video Games"}