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FPSC Classic Product Chat / what software is good for game music creation

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XC Tang
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Posted: 27th Feb 2005 07:52
hi all
i dont know if this is the right board to post but... Does anyone know a software that can create music for games created by FPS creator? If so, what are your suggestions? I need music tracks for the menu and the "mission complete" screen.

Thx alot.

by the way I am a total illiterate to music composing.

Exiee
Jordan Siddall
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Posted: 27th Feb 2005 08:01 Edited at: 27th Feb 2005 08:02
Well I have Music maker 2003 which I got from the darkbasic website, yes thats this website. www.Darkbasic.com
FernandoK
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Posted: 27th Feb 2005 14:04
Band in a Box, by PG software.
SkyCubes
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Posted: 27th Feb 2005 14:06 Edited at: 6th Mar 2005 11:45
Music Maker is awesome. You can buy a brand new boxed set of Music Maker 2004 for about 20USD on eBay.

jcleaver
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Posted: 27th Feb 2005 20:53
There are several that can do the job for you. Jammer Pro 5 from Soundtrek is similar to Band in a Box, but better in my opinion. There is ACS, Microsoft Music Producer (Not made anymore, google it to get the download and instructions), Jump from Hard Note, and many more.
Stevie
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Posted: 2nd Mar 2005 03:20
For making professional music tracks for use in your games, or for any where else for that matter!, check out Cubase Sx or Logic Audio. These tools are designed from beginner to Pro, and you can use virtual plug in synths to write your tracks.

Music Maker, or the other products listed here are okay... but are more fiddly to use.

Or a program called Properllerhead's Reason - which is a full synth workstation which is nicely priced.
Coldnews
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Posted: 2nd Mar 2005 04:24
Quote: "For making professional music tracks for use in your games, or for any where else for that matter!, check out Cubase Sx or Logic Audio. These tools are designed from beginner to Pro, and you can use virtual plug in synths to write your tracks.

Music Maker, or the other products listed here are okay... but are more fiddly to use.

Or a program called Properllerhead's Reason - which is a full synth workstation which is nicely priced."

exiee said that he was completely illiterate to music composing so I dont think they are an option. Reason is a little expensive for that. You should get one of the Ejay series or Music maker or something like that. They will be capable of something decent enough.

www.ColdNews.co.uk - the worlds first solo band.
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2kilo
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Posted: 2nd Mar 2005 08:04 Edited at: 2nd Mar 2005 08:16
If you want cool unique[ish] sounds then I think you will need to spend some cash and take time to learn the software... That said, I don't have much experience with "Music Maker" and "Ejay" but usually the samples that come with the low end stuff is pants [audio snob]...

I have no real music/composing knowledge but with all of the list below you can just slap patterns and sounds together or download free MIDI files and cut out the parts you like.


Reason [£250ish] - Very good Virtual Studio for drum patterns, comes with loads of strong samples [mainly dance orientated]. Includes drum machines, synths, samplers, pattern players, loop players and effects [I just hate its refill file format]. Is used by some pros to "sketch" a tune out. I think they do a cheaper Lite version...

Cubase SL [£250ish] - Baby version of cubase, easier to use than the old version 5 but I reckon too much of a heavy learning curve, not a virtual studio untill you add the VSTs...

Logic Audio - Never got on with it, not very user/novice friendly, but combined with Pro Tools is the music industry standard/most popular...

Fruity Loops [£99ish]- Favourite contender to Reason, pattern based virtual studio all the rest copied, not used it much but it is very popular [can use external VSTs and VSTi's]...

Storm and Orion [£99ish]- cheaper copies of Reason, not quite as good as Fruity Loops but have the extra features like VSTs and VSTi's...

I like Reason, you can create some interesting sound effects [should be able to with all the virtual sudios] as well as custom dialogue [take the "Stephen Hawkins" style computer voices and add reverb, they almost become OK]...

I guess with all of these and the cheaper music software it depends more on the samples you can gather, cut or lift from tracks, be it an entire loop or just a bass kick... You could get away with a very simple audio/wave editor as long as it has tracks and just rip and paste loops/loop elements together...

If I had to choose the cheapest with the most features it would be Fruity Loops, but it will take a little time learn... I would download a demo of Fruity Loops and say Music Maker and compare how much of learning curve is involved [or which you prefer]..?
Coldnews
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Posted: 2nd Mar 2005 17:53
yeah but Cubase and stuff like that require a keyboard. I was trying to simplify things to a loop based level.
If your gonna do something that requires a little effort (rather than no effort) then yes, propellorheads Reason is a good choice to mess around with looping bits and pieces etc. And so its Fruity Loops. But I think that exiee just sounds like he wants something simple and cheap (seeing that he said he wanted something for the menu and the victory screen).
I'd go to computermusic.co.uk and maybe ask in the forums.

www.ColdNews.co.uk - the worlds first solo band.
New coldnews single avalable from here
2kilo
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Posted: 2nd Mar 2005 18:44
@Coldnews

Sorry but you are wrong, [I own Cubase, Reason and Live] none of them require a keyboard, all note information can be "painted" in by hand as can the positions of all audio samples [it's one of the keystones of sequencing]...

Computer Music do a FREE Sequencer + Virtual Studio and VSTs but that's going to take learning... The King of loop based audio [for me] is Ableton Live but thats expensive...

I guess I'm wary of the time spent learning software, myself I would rather spend the effort on a slightly more pro product that can cover all my future needs, than risk learning a low end package, finding its limits, and then moving up the food chain anyway... I think its important to know where a product stands with the pro and hobby users to make an informed buy. To be aware that Music Maker, Ejay, etc are cheap [often nasty] toys, Reason is also considered a toy... That said, they may fit the needs of the consumer...
Coldnews
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Posted: 2nd Mar 2005 19:55
I am a producer. I am aware of what all the various sequencers/software studios do. I know that notes can be "painted" in by hand, but thats often time-consuming and tedious, thats why I said that they require a keyboard. I understand that they dont REQUIRE one, but thats like saying you dont NEED an amp for an electric guitar. You can use an electric without an amp it just sorta misses the point. I dont think that vst's and vsti's etc is going to be too important to exiee here. As he's just started out, and just wants to make some little menu tracks, not sit there and play with automation, midi sequencing, compression and all of that Jazz. I think just a simple Ejay type sequencer will do well enough for now. But in the end its down to Exiee. We've sown the seeds, its down to him to choose.

www.ColdNews.co.uk - the worlds first solo band.
New coldnews single avalable from here
2kilo
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Posted: 2nd Mar 2005 21:02
I've never used a keyboard since Cubase v3....
Depends on your tune and how well you know the software...
Different methods, different people...
An amp is a form of output not input...
Should it not be "to use a plectrum, or not" LOL


One Paradox Crack of Cubase = Producer or Remixer or Engineer...
anyway I can't talk I've never put anything together that I'm really happy with...
Coldnews
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Posted: 3rd Mar 2005 05:11
Quote: " I've never used a keyboard since Cubase v3....
Depends on your tune and how well you know the software...
Different methods, different people...
An amp is a form of output not input...
Should it not be "to use a plectrum, or not" LOL


One Paradox Crack of Cubase = Producer or Remixer or Engineer...
anyway I can't talk I've never put anything together that I'm really happy with..."

yeah ok, I was in a rush and I came up with a bad analogy. lol. sorry.
Yeah fair point. But I'd recommend something simple to start with. The best idea is for exiee to download demos of the available ones and see what is best for him. agree?

www.ColdNews.co.uk - the worlds first solo band.
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GameKing
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Posted: 3rd Mar 2005 15:11 Edited at: 3rd Mar 2005 15:12
Well I just bought Music Maker Deluxe 2005 off eBay for $33.00 form the manufacturer.

Enjoy
Ray

P.S.
There is still one copy left for sale...

Abit IC7-G Max II, P4 2.5 gig, 1 gig DDR Ram, 80 gig Maxtor HD, NVidia FX-5700 128 DDR, Sound Blaster Live! Digital.
Coldnews
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Posted: 3rd Mar 2005 17:11
fair enough

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2kilo
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Posted: 3rd Mar 2005 21:33
@Coldnews

I like the odd bad analogy, partial to a few myself... makes posts more interesting...
Coldnews
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Posted: 3rd Mar 2005 21:49
@2kilo
:p

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Game Freak10K
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Posted: 4th Mar 2005 19:31
Fruity Loops. There are tons and tons of free plugins available if you want to spice up the songs you make. Ive created 29 songs already with it, about 5 of them for a game ive already made and the rest for my sister. Its a really good program, and after spending 140$ for it.......well why the hell bother buying anything else?

Comics and Games-Bread and Butter.
Music Man
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Posted: 5th Mar 2005 07:03
Fruity loops works, ableton and acid pro are good. Music maker is adequate. A little known program called Muzys is a freeware reason / ableton clone that may not have as many features, but is free and very professional.

All of the above is assuming no musical knowledge or you are NOT a musucian. If you ARE a musician (hello), then two packages cannot be beat - assuming you have the $$$ for them. Nuendo by Steinberg and Samplitude by Magix - both are over the top awesome, stable and very very useable.

I am a composer and keyboardist and I use the above mentioned tools (Samplitude now more than Nuendo) and the feature sets are great and professional. Now, I really hate sequencers, but Nuendo has an excellent MIDI sequencer.

By the way, the same people that make the amazing wedding video music making program (just kidding) Band In A Box also make a cheap sequencer that is actually excellent. I believe it is called Pro Tracks. Check it out.

If you play guitar, trombone, cello, bass, harmonica, mouth harp, maracas, tambourine, etc then you will want an audio recording package as the above mentioned Nuendo and Samplitude (or the less expensive Cubase, Logic (now Mac only), etc

Of course, if you have no musical talent whatsoever, feel free to contact me and maybe I can help you with your music and sound effect woes.

Mike Felker
Music Man
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Posted: 5th Mar 2005 07:15
Oh, I forgot to mention the important part.

Recording

A sound blaster may not cut it

A sound blaster audigy / extigy is the low end of the low end of nearly capable two track recording devices.

You may want to look at the new USB 4 and 8 track recorders, such as the one by Lexicon - it's around $400 to $500 USD and requires a pretty hefty computer - and even with that it does not really work all that great.

There are others by M Audio, Event Logic, and others. Check Sam Ash.com or Musicna's Friend.com - all of those are geared (no pun intended) towards recording. Now if you want some BANG for your proverbial buck, then hardware recording devices are getting cheaper and cheaper by the day.

Companies like Zoom, Fostex and Boss (made by Roland) make excellent inexpensive multitrack digital recording, as does Tascam with their Portastudio.

Here is a link to a good site:

http://www.samash.com/catalog/search.asp?Method=3&CategoryID=318&BrandID=0&PriceRangeID=0&PageNum=0&SearchPhrase=&DepartmentID=6&SortMethod=6&pagesize=

That will take you to samash.com and their digital recorders (most realtively inexpensive. You lay down your tracks and then mixdown to a wav file or mp3 and then import it to your computer via USB2.0 or firewire and some even let you burn CDs on the spot. Some come with hard drives, some with Flash Drives and others with something else. Some are also USB controllers and mixers for your computer.

Lastly, the PRO level is like Pro Tools or MOTU (I have MOTU - Mark of the Unicorn - for the PC and it ROCKS - cost me around $30,000 for the entire setup soup to nuts, but that includes my studio mixing board with 48 tracks, 48 tracks of optical audio with apogee filters and neutric connectors, cables, akg and sennheiser mics, etc - which equals PRISTINE audio at the digital level (in most cases except the mics) coming directly from my music keyboards (Korg and Technics). I love this hardware, as it can do massive numbers of tracks using tons of plugins and zero latency and no dropped tracks. Recorded live audio sounds equally as good with almost a zero noise floor.

I hope all of this helps someone.

Mike Felker
XC Tang
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Posted: 6th Mar 2005 11:34
thanks. i'll take a look at fruity loops

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