I''ve been thinking about trying to do some music for a while, and I could use some tips. What software do you recommend? I got a tracker called ModPlug, and I''ve played around a bit with it. Anyone got any experince with that one? Is it any good? Also, I wonder if anyone can recommend a good place to get some free samples I can play around with? Any other hints and suggestions are welcome. Thanks. ----------------------------- "problems have solutions a lifetime of fucking things up fixed in one determined flash" - The Downward Spiral, NIN

Modplug is a good for writing music. I write my music in it.

For samples check out these links :
http://www.modarchive.com
http://www.devinfo.com/archives/x2ftp/art/
http://web.iol.cz/mpc/sa/download.htm

A tip : The best way to learn making music is to load in other songs and see how they are constructed.

Good luck

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http://www.stormpages.com/cromdesign/links.html

Thanks for you help. Great links.


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"problems have solutions
a lifetime of fucking things up fixed in one determined flash"
- The Downward Spiral, NIN

Hi man!
If you are trying to do some "serious" music for games or multimedia projects or maybe films you won´t get far with those
tracker programms.
First of all you´ll need a good sequenzer software. There are several good ones on the market. Cakewalk pro Audio, Audio Logic, Cubase....
Then you are in need for either external equipment like soundexpanders (Yahmaha Mu50..)maybe a digital mixer or you´ll do your music only "with software" like Gigastudio, or VST Instruments.
One essential thing is of course a good midi keyboard which you will use as master keyboard.
There are of course several more points you have to think about...

So far so good
Conner
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http://www.hartwigmusic.de

Hopefully (as a moderator) I can head off any potential flame wars here...

...you can do some pretty professional stuff with tracker programs, although they have their limitations. Many commercial games used tracked music, and the really good stuff sounds no worse than music done via MIDI files. (Check out some of Claymore''s stuff for an example: hope he doesn''t mind me saying so!) But ''real sequencers'' and so on are great for using real instruments like keyboards, you get very small file sizes, extremely well-polished software for developing it in, and so on.

I believe that anyone who is serious about music will get as many programs (and indeed, real instruments and other hardware) as they can: they are all tools and all have their place in the musician''s toolbox. 99% of my work involves taking tracker music into a sequencer or vice versa, often with real instrumentation added in at the end anyway. Don''t limit yourself by trying to stick to one method.

Hi there!
Of course you are right.
I also think you have to choose your "gear" with care. You should think about how "interactive" the music for the game will be. I mean with interactive what kind of format the developer will ask for just like DirectMusic, Tracker Format, Streaming or just MidiFiles.
But i still think the tracker format is not the best way to develop music. As i know you can´t convert tracker formats to midi files as example (please correct me if i´m wrong!)
But for stepping into the whole music stuff, a tracker may be the cheapest solution due to the fact that most trackers are free for download
The only "modern" Game i know using Tracker Format is Unreal and Unreal Tournament...(are there others around?)

CYA...Conner
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http://www.hartwigmusic.de

Thanks guys.
I''ll probably start using a tracker, because, like Conner_2001 said, they are free. If I''m able to do something good, I might check into some other programs...


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"problems have solutions
a lifetime of fucking things up fixed in one determined flash"
- The Downward Spiral, NIN

if you get along OK with MPT, I would suggest checking out IMpulse Tracker as well...they both have their good and bad points. And yes, REALLY professional stuff can be done with these programs.

Even Fast Tracker II is OK for game music (as Zack Ohren demonstrated with the Twisted Edge Snowboarding soundtrack)...but personally, I don''t like it.

As the dude said above, check out loads of programs and decide which is your favourite.

MPT is pretty damned powerful, but I find it very slow to use compared to IT.

MTV Music Generator works. Also, it''s Windows XP Compatible i think. You can make music and some sounds with it.

Go 4 it!

Hey, AxeSlash. You''re the guy who has done a few metal-songs, right? Just thought I should tell you that they''re great!

(This is a bit off-topic, sorry)


-----------------------------
"problems have solutions
a lifetime of fucking things up fixed in one determined flash"
- The Downward Spiral, NIN