Making a Chiptune: Basic Chiptracking

[winstonschannel]

Wow, only a couple days ago i didnt even know how 8 bit music was made, which as a rather musical person is a wee bit embarrassing :L but now i actuall feel inspired to give it a whirl myself :D thankyou for inspiring me to try something new (and for making an awesome tune to listen to XD)

[TheAnderman]

Very cool. I picked up quite a few tips from this! Trackers FTW!

[zXParadoxXz]

It's just that easy! (wtf is going on?)

[BarnyDakota]

Well I have no idea what is going on here.

[TekLok]

I love how can draw out your waveforms but that would only make me focus more time on that haha. I've been trying to quit playing with synth and learn more music theory or I'll never get a song out.

[SuperAwesomeMovies]

This looks incredibly similar to FastTracker/FTII which I used to make tunes with religiously back in the late 80s/early 90s. My latest favorite is a program called MadTracker which is a bit more modern.

[HeyLookItsASpah]

@SuperAwesomeMovies This is a program called MilkyTracker, which is a FTII clone, that's why they seem so similar. Mad tracker is cool too, if you even get back into more serious stuff, or just want less restrictions, definitely try out Renoise, or if you insist, ModPlug (for VSTi support).

[shoyrumaster11]

can you please upload an mp3 of this and than make a download link in the description?

[karlSNESnerd]

Musicians don't have to read staff notation anymore - just HTML

[axlar1]

skip to 6:08 for the song.

[006blank]

Go to milkytracker [dot] org , then click documentation, then manual.

[plrusek]

openmpt is better

[blenderpanzi]

@plrusek But it's Windows only.

[scir91]

@blenderpanzi macs run windows

[blenderpanzi]

@scir91 I use Linux. Yes, I could use wine or VirtualBox, but that's beside the point. It's open source, why the heck is it not cross platform?

[AndrewFMs]

Come on people, at least learn how to use the program before trying to learn how to make songs with it. Of course this tutorial isn't going to help you if you don't even know how to create an instrument, or put notes into your song.

Go to Google, type in "Milkytracker Tutorial", and read through the first result on there. You might want to skim through the Milkytracker Manual, as well. Then come back and watch these chiptune tutorials...

Thanks for the video. This was great.

[MrsSilverBunny]

PLEASE EVERYONE GO ON MY CHANNEL NOW AND THE ONE SINGLE VIDEO I PUT UP IS A SONG I WANT TO GET THE NAME TO WHICH I RECORDED FROM A CHAT ROOM, PLEASE COMMENT OR INBOX ME THE NAME, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

[Pyro25100]

Basic my ass...

[radonas]

lol took me an hour to get it but now its awesome

[52Jedis]

This reminds of me of my experiences in General Chemistry class in college. Nobody understood a single word the professor was saying and everyone was looking around at each other in angst and despair.

That's why I switched to economics.

[googly1245]

how are we supposed to know what u r pressing on the keyboard? honestly, that never occured to you i spent two minutes trying to figure out what you pressed at 0:48 until i gave up. Nice Job

[googly1245]

how are we supposed to know what u r pressing on the keyboard? honestly, that never occured to you?

[PianoSensei90]

Okay, so, I'm recreating this sample just for the sake of learning how to make decent loops, but there's one thing that bugs me. For the third channel, when you're putting in the "bass line", how are you assigning the notes without using the softkeyboard? The note range for my keystrokes is C4 --> G6. Is there any way to calibrate that? I'm still kinda new to the program, not exactly sure what keystrokes are what XD Did you just change the keystroke's octave somehow? At a loss here. lol

[adamrothraisdead]

Can somebody explain what each of the numbers are?

I know the green are the notes, the white is the sound, but I have no clue what the blue number is, and I only half-way understand the yellow/orange as effects.

[fatgonzo]

@adamrothraisdead The blue number is channel volume, the first number in the effect slot is the effect and the last 2 the parameters. Man I miss trackers. Never used this one, I don't think it was out yet. Thought for a moment 'ft2 sure looks weird'. Glad the scene is still alive!

[adamrothraisdead]

@fatgonzo Thanks...I actually figured it out a couple of days after I posted the question by playing with it and using a Protracker II manual for reference. I'm still not very good with it since tracking is still new to me...But I'm getting better.

[mrbuttercup37]

Looks like a more complicated version of LSDJ. I'm interested.

[thecouldhavebeen]

WOW MAN BEST TUTORIAL EVER!!!!!111!!1!1!ONEONEONE!1

PROTIP: YOU'D BE AN EVEN BETTER TEACHER IF YOU SPOKE JUST A BIT LOUDER.

[OmegaDevelopment]

@thecouldhavebeen He isn't even talking is he? lol

[Chdonga]

@thecouldhavebeen A bit louder? I didn't even hear the guy speak.

[ExsRAUS]

I...really want to learn how to use this *downloads*

[korin500]

Chip tuning is swooo EPIC!!!

[SamsonAran]

I know how to compose music. I can do it with score paper and a piano.

This program doesn't have that kind of simplicity -_-'

But I will LEARN! AAAAARGH!

[RTard48JRod]

@SamsonAran LOOK UP LMMS and then look up TWEAK BENCH please spread word to all!!!!!!

[discarded000]

Been using ScreamTracker for 15 years now.... lol

[joeyisfunny]

Holt shit you are fast at that.

[CodeLimit]

Milkytracker seems very similar to FamiTracker.

[sn33v]

lol, nothing like a hand drawn sine wave

[jlbmeister]

FT2 UBER ALLES!

[MaghoxFr]

@ThePcTrickster Milkytracker is free

[yararu]

THIS is fucking sexy.

[prickett233]

so quick!!!!

[coolbluelights]

dammit! I can't even get it to make a sound! why do they have to make it so complicated?!

[barretsbumhole]

thanks for the vid

[ciddler]

The tutorial can be followed. I watched this without having any idea about milkytracker before and after about half an hour I could do what he does. Good tutorial. How do I export the song now? :3

[MrCadefulp]

@ciddler You go to Disk Op.

[ilegadh]

this is no tut!! it so fast he doesnt exp,lain anything!!

[TruxerZ]

More like SHIT tune

[TheBilly]

@TruxerZ Halo kiddie detected

[kw1ksh0t]

@TruxerZ Fuck off

[TruxerZ]

@kw1ksh0t I'd rather fuck on you'r mom than fuck off.

[RoccoWOUTERS]

If there was actually a description of what you were doing, I would find this video a lot more interesting. I've never really used chiptune software, so I don't understand what is happening. Why are good tutorials always so hard to find when the subject is Chiptune?

[MisterMacross]

This video is worthless since it doesn't explain how you're doing anything

[monstercookii0]

Where do you download chiptunes?

I looked on google and everything and I can't find it,

but I may just be being stupid and not finding it.

D':

I wanna download it soo bad!

[optdestruct]

@monstercookii0

chiptunes is the type of music but you need a tracker to make them got to milkytracker(.)org to download a good one

[MoskaDubStep7]

@monstercookii0 umm, PM me your e-mail. ill send you 649 of them but you'll need winamp

[spider853]

<3 keygen music

Thanks for the tuts... subscribe only for them )

[Ugotsta]

This is very impressive for the mere fact that its developed completely from scratch by drawing the wave forms. I like to use basic waveforms and throw bit reduction effects over them, but then, trackers don't always come with effects plugins. Milkytracker doesn't. Awesome job.

[aP0cAl1pSeHacker]

ah i tryed to make some songs but sounds bad ..

i need to create some for keyGenerators

[ONEyeMarco]

this is real music

[Apmonstret]

How do you get that sound on instrument 1?

I have everything the same as you, and i draw it almost exactly the same, but still it isnt the same...

[cvega87]

Shit, this looks so hard to do... and sooo amazing!!! I once fell in love for a chiptune used on a keygen... stupidly, I don't even remember what it was... but these guys are geniuses, just like the ppl who made songs for prehistoric video games!!! applauses for them!!!

[Zeezsotheraccount]

He did a great job. I have milky tracker and its so hard to use. I think I'll give up and appreciate more how great these sound.

[DemiGodGnostical]

@Zeezsotheraccount try using a lsdj rom with a gameboy emulator, looks less complicated than this, but its still pretty complicated

[najtrows]

@Zeezsotheraccount dont give up, you'll learn eventually

[TheDeadSource]

one you know what a function does and have heard its effect on a few sounds many times, you can effectively guess or rather know what'll happen to a sound without testing it. The effect has been hardwired and associated in your mind to the right sound.

[dwaynedibbly]

how does he know exactly what will sound good without even testing it by playing aorund with the melodies or whatnot? is it just a mtter of practice to get to a point where you know what will sound good at what position without needing to do practice runs first or am i missing some element here?

[sutasman]

I'd say that he had made the tune before and already knew it in his head. There is no way you can get a song 'right' the first time, its like filming a movie and getting every take perfect the first time or writing an entire book with storyline etc with noediting. its not gonna happen. however that said if you know what you're doing (eg scales, how to use effects etc) then its much easier

[dwaynedibbly]

that's kind of consoling to know then :).

[zin606]

many artists and musicians do it right the first time when they have faith faith in their abilities.

[willianxp]

link broken

[darkcodersc]

yes

[joshgura]

is this how the demo scene makes their music?

[Exhalent]

I tried tracking a long time ago, and failed. I tried more recent methods like Cubase and other horizontal programs and still do, and somehow I understand tracking in a different way. I sort of wish that I would have done tracking all that time.

[GershTV]

thanks for the lnk

[urbano83]

united trackers

[ohhhgravity]

ahhh chiptune is hard :O

ive thought about making some chiptune tracks one day in my life,

but, this looks, confusing and stressful, even if in the end its an amazing product.

lmao :]

[GershTV]

No, think of it as something fun to do! A good way to understand this method of tracking is to play around with Buzz Machines!

[Drewb18c1]

where can i get your tunes?? it sounds like you've got something awesome going here and I want to hear the whole thing!!

[abacusfinch]

What he does the FXX in the second channel do?

[zizititi]

it seems to set the "ticks per beat". kind of a tempo control.

[HorrorGarnes]

faen so fett

[allanispro]

what the hell!? i downloaded it and its just crazy. some kind of commentry could be really usefull as like i cant tell if you're pressing things on your keyboard or not and when i try to replicate what you do, it just dosn't work :(

[Pepparper]

exactly, tracking is hard,

[jlbmeister]

@allanispro you rule.

[rutgerjaap]

@allanispro just learn the program and you'll be fine

[samuraika]

@allanispro RTFM

[LMFAOroflcopter]

thank you :)

[critanime]

nice vid but could you put some notes on explaining what your doing and why. But still thumbs up :)

[TrifleTrousers]

what is the function of the numbers inside the columns to the right?

they are blue, yellow and orange, i can't work out what they're for!

[1darkonyx1]

it's different notes, like the green ones are C-5 for the kick^^

[bugQ]

blue = velocity.

yellow = effect code, orange = effect parameter.

[rekkapower]

man i dloaded this prog but it fucking blew my mind hahaha. Ill never learn to use it lol.

[lukeslikewalker]

i cannot open up the link.. can somebody help me where can i get the tracking software? :(

[EvilKnebl]

yea sounds nice.

but i prefer using c64 and atari st for real chips

[TSKchiptune]

get a LSDJ

[RyanPridgeon]

Go on hte downloads section... choose a windows binary.... install

[dancefloorattack]

How You Download It From The Site???

It Seems So Freakin' Intresting!!

:(

[Soliderklasse1st]

The tutorial makes it look so damn easy.

I can't make my own sounds, with the standard samples. How do I import stuff?

[dropdeadskater510]

How do you dwnload this from the site.?

I really really am intrested in it.!

Please respond anyone.

[Biopharmer]

the last sample you made sounded like a nailgun.

I wish I knew tracking tips. I always make music that's too wacky.

[panic0899]

how do u download it from the description O.O

[djtoxicz0r]

i cant get c-5 1 on the 000 and other... how do i do that ?

[TheAileZX]

milkytracker. I love looking at the descripton so I'd know this kind of information. It opens up a whole new door!

[ZeF2007inc]

oh don't worry, found it

[ZeF2007inc]

is there a site somewhere with a list of what numbers do which effects?

[SkinsFTW]

Aha well can you tell me which one it is please? x

[ZeF2007inc]

Yup sure. The documentation section over at the MilkyTracker url in this video description has the effects in the link called "Manual" :)

[SpeedStyleRz]

what screen recorder is he using, I haven't found any that does not need a microphone for sound.

[SamDGoodrick]

here is a list:

hypercam

hypercam 2

camtasia studio

guncam

snagit

[makeshiftbattlefield]

check out my channel i'll have my chiptune songs/videos up later tonight or tomorrow but i've got some of my other electronic songs you can check out.

[milkycrap]

Thanks if you can't see what he's doing put this code in after the url &fmt=18 and hit go. That should clear it up well.

[Gos2]

please oh please explain how do you make the EFFECTS ?

[mirkokosmos06]

omg!!! it's about 10 years ago since I learned this on my old PC by using fasttrackerII haha!

this is how I learned to program(!) music...

milkytracker truly kicks my mac's ass! XD

thanks so much!

[slimshadyshades]

0:07 - 0:08 how do u drag that line?

[SamDGoodrick]

click draw

[beerasaurus]

no narritve  -5points.

[ar4yyyy]

Now upload a video with voice or text instructions, damnit.

[RaInboW1991]

found it:) this is gonna take a while to learn!

[RaInboW1991]

which one should i download?

[EBlovesJB]

if ya like chiptune go onto my channel i create some :)

[Axlzero451]

Track 5=epic win. I love tracking and this tutorial rocks.

[AbsoluteShambles]

This tutorial is a life saver 5 stars buddy

[yzzt]

i still remember the insane amount of time spent learning fast tracker 2 by trial and error, about 10 years ago... wish i had a tutorial like this back then.

anyway, renoise is a great piece of sotware, but for chiptunes milkytracker is just perfect.

[johlejohle]

Wow, awesome!

[desu4desu]

Way to rock your MilkyTracker! I've always preferred it for chiptunes. Despite the bells & whistles, Renoise & MadTracker got nothin' on Milky in the hands of a capable user for making chips - simplicity & speed win every time!

[Fohlken]

oh, keygen style.

[Axlzero451]

What?

[MoggJam]

Dude this guy is shit hot at this!

[kellybranigan]

great!

[swarm69]

its ok but renoise is better

[arinlares]

renoise is 80 bucks

[noerdish]

0 bucks for pirates, I heard

[JamieBarnes11]

renoise is free until you want to be able to render shit to wav files. Then you pay to register it and its still not that expensive

[jmm1233]

wow , i just check the site out , and some of the tunes you can make are awesome , thankyou for including the link , i definately going to try this :)

[jmm1233]

nice , i wonder if you can import midi note track list , i have only worked with a midi tracker so i am just wondering if it will accept midi ?

[arinlares]

nope, just tried. you could go to the forum, i believe there is a suggestions thread

[avanty123piw]

TO EVERYONE: notice it says "making" not "how to"... duhhh

[GoodmansGhost]

Also notice how he put "Tutorial" as a search word.

[DTGuitarX]

What will it take for someone to make a damn video tutorial with SPEECH

[TheBroodwhich]

What in the HELL are you doing?

I want to make this kind of music so bad.. but you lost me at the beginning. :C

[CenturyEndSaviour]

He's drawing in waveforms for each EG.

[drvector]

TEHSCNO

[Tranzphonic]

can u export the chips as .wav/aiff/etc to use in other programs like Reason for instance?

[FeyriVs]

using renoise it will export as a .wav

[meowsser]

so this is a windows tracker that emulates what? an SID? love the wave drawing thing. Sounds crunchy/lo bit.

[silverblaize]

Want a better program? Try "Renoise" you can download the demo. Its not as confusing as this or as Fruity Loops. ANd also, you can just get the 8-bit plugins thats what works for me :]

[sininetty]

We don't want that, this program is EASY to use for us real tracker musicans!!!

[VomitComets]

Did you upload this tune anywhere?

[hornylink]

You are my god, this combined with the 30megs of chiptunes I'm torenting means I'm going to have so much fun *hugs*

[skatejam7]

i just dont get how the full fuckin thing works its so confusing i wish someone would make a program thats basicly like fruity loops for chip:) id be pro

[darksnowman56]

ty so much! learned a lot

[VampKip]

i still don't understand how to make the sounds correctly. when i make a sample and then add it to the song, it just keeps repeating itself

[ayumiasia]

nice!! and thanks for the guide :D helped me alot gonna try it when i got bored ^^

[peppyers]

how do you make it sound?

like when you make the yellow bars how do you make it sound?

[w4rr0cker]

i have exactly the same prob...

maybe its a setting or sth.. but making samples works, but there is no sound ;(

[sininetty]

I know your problem... you haven't loaded any samples to make sound with.

[leafsoup]

just press one of the keys on your keyboard....

[randomforum]

And you hear nothing, unless you load a song or a sound file. (XI file or other, not mp3 or wav)

[VanguardYears]

Good video and helpful video. This definitely showed me a lot. Trackers are hard to use at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's really fun. 5 stars good job

[playingwiththedead]

Thank you stormblast, now I can move foward with my 8-bit band, all thanks to you! keep up the good work!

[Darkx0r]

your fucking brilliant! thankyou!

[tenkikun]

You are a big help <_< now i just have to find a computer that supports FT2

[robotwo]

FT2 should be compatible with any computer .. only thing required is that you run a separate emulated workspace with no GUI at all (only DOS) and run it from there.

[lolitastorm]

ive been cracking my head over trying to figure out which microscopic buttons on milkytracker did what until i watched this. thanks man!

[HalfAndy]

That is pretty tight.

[robertvenning1234]

you are a good man

[adopsydelic]

Sweet.. just the video im looking for... :)

[MarkP0rter]

i didnt know this tracker yet

only mod plug

[Ultracluster]

great! :D 5 points

[Dani128]

You go a bit fast, but great video.

[finkster101]

what info do you write aside of the notes?

[Syntax93]

milkytracker..best PC-based tracker ever =D

+to Gos2..maktone+dubmood are legend chipmusicians XD!

[laresdk]

And put some talking in it, please :) Would be real nice.

[Gos2]

can you show us how those real hit chiptune are made? like maktone , dubmood, purple motion .. such those...

[buffelberra]

Thank YOU! :)