music creation for games

I'm curious as to what people here do for music in their games. Do you have someone else do it, or do you do it yourself? Does anyone know of any good music creation software?

There are a lot of talented musicians around here, some that aren't so talented, and a bunch who 'know their limits' and get others to do their music.

As far as "good music creation software" goes, it depends a lot on the kind of music you want to make, and how you want to make it... but a few that have been recommended in the past include:

Modplug Tracker http://www.modplug.com/?page=trackerinfo
MadTracker http://www.madtracker.org/about.php
FruityLoops http://www.flstudio.com/English/frames.html

...as well as 'proper' MIDI sequencing programs and things like 'loop based' composers (AcidXpress comes to mind).

what's funny is those who think they are good, when they're not, lol. But these things never change, ever since school and guitar players ...

lol@grey you're so right! i know because i used to be one of those people!

me too, you gotta start somewhere. I'm certainly no mega-maestro, but I think I've surpassed average.

I'm yer average Muso. Good enough to create music for myself and others but, again, there are better musicians than me on these here plains. :)

/me points at Easter Bonus in Grey's sig.

Oh and I use Fruityloops.

i use Garage Band, it's pretty easy to get something good sounding out of that.

Cheers
Charlie

Tracking is fun :D

If you want the best music for a game, hire a pro, esp. when the game is a bit more large-scale, e.g. RPG's and other things of movie-proportions.
I share Lucas's/Spielberg's opinion that music is half the value of a product or the 7th character in a movie with 6 characters. I actually turn down games with crappy music, no matter how good the gfx are, and how many zillions of polies there are. Uninstall or delete, no questions asked..!

If you're hiring, try http://www.equinox-music.co.uk/

She does some *great* music.

/Me misses her forums.

Hi Guys

I've not been around here for months - been busy with work n stuff.

SMC - Drop me an email or check out the tunes on my 'well out of date' webpage. I do have more recent tunes that are waiting for the new web site. Feel free to email me if you've got any questions.

Cygnus - drop me an email - I've been wanting to get in touch.

Garageband (comes with Mac) is a very easy way to put together some simple tunes, at least if you have a MIDI keyboard (Keystations are inexpensive,) and I've done that for other projects, but for what I'm working on currently I'll probably hire a contractor to do a few tracks.

Grey Alien: (I haven't heard any of your music so don't take this too seriously, but...) Just like how 85% of people asked consider themselves a better driver than average?

Actually, I think I know better than the government where to put certain speedlimit-signs.. :P

It took me a very long time to find a piece of software I feel comfortable using. about 7 years ago I came across Midisoft Recording Session, then Midisoft Recording Studio. The company went under and was bought out, they re-released the software for XP and renamed it.

It isn't cheap.

It fits my own needs, because I can't play anything. So software that is geared towards keyboard input just don't work for me. It has a very nice pick a note form (half, whole, 8th, whatever) and click on a scroll of sheet music where it should go.

I've been using that ever since.

I would love to get into tracking, but I haven't been able to locate any software that isn't geared towards a keyboard AND uses actual music notation. They all either emulate a drum machine/synth or if they display in musical notation they only accept input from a keyboard directly to that notation.

If anyone knows of a tracker that lets you do what trackers do AND let you view the score in traditional musical notation AND let you edit the score with a mouse. I would be greatful.


In any case. Interactive Digital Design's Studio 2003 XP is what I used for all the midis on my site (under music)

If you read music, and already understand music that way, and yet don't play piano or don't have a midi keyboard. That will be a great way to score music without having to re-learn anything.

You can then import the midis into a tracker or send them to someone else to convert (and upgrade the instruments) to mp3 ogg or wav for you to use in your games.

I'm not much of a keyboardist myself, but it is a very fast way to rough out the track. Then I go in and manipulate the recorded notes; that's what I like about Garageband, how you can click-drag to tweak the notes.

It doesn't use actual musical notation, but it's close.

Heh, speak of the devil! Good to see you around Equinox. :-)

xlsior: well, I've played the guitar for nearly 20 years, and made modules since the Amiga days (for 17ish years) so I've got a reasonable idea. My dad is a musician, but I'm just a hobbyist so people like CS_TBL blow me out the water.

Grey: If my cat jumps on my keyboard I'm sure the end result will be more pleasing to your ears than if I personally actually made an effort to make it sound nice -- I know I have absolutely 0 musical skills. On the plus side, I can do some halfway decent graphics myself, so it's not a complete loss. ;-)

I'm easily impressed by the music others manage to cobble together, though.

when i say i can't play a keyboard... I mean I can't at all.. 0 ability... I can barely type. I take forever to learn basic things... which is why I am fantastic with mouse and key FPS and great with tetrisy twitch, but any newer or unique twitch game will illude me to no end.

I'll own you in red faction, but die like a lame duck in a fighter.

playing games is fun, playing the same notes over and over is not... so I never was able to pick up any instrument... it is sad, really.

Fruity loops gets my vote! the new version is call FL studio and is great for any style of music, but it is aimed at electronic dance music. very easy program to use once you see how the demo tracks are put together. and only £99 (or it was when i got it).

http://www.fruityloops.com/

Pete

I feel so validated. :o)

Wow, thanks for all the posts everyone. I've been away from the net for a few days so I'm just now reading all this. I like the sound of fruityloops, and will look into it. Has anyone here ever heard of "Band in a Box"? I was thinking of trying that. I would like to learn to make music regardless of whether or not I put it into a game. I don't really have to patience to learn an instrument (other than maybe the keyboard because I already bought a book on it), so I think maybe sampling, synthesising, and mixing may be the way to go for me, and besides I love techno.

ive heard band in a box was good. never used it. However, you wont learn how to make music. it does that by itself. you tell it what style and it gives you a song.

check out this thread: http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=58577#651934

Fruity Loops is the bomb! I forgot where I found them, but I have some incredible NES instruments. I think that they are VST?

Yes, band in the box will write music for you in any one (or combos of) 1000s of styles

you can find this link on the link n8r2k provided. but it bares a repost

64.40.109.185/pgmusic/wmv/exploringstyles_128.wmv

I feel for you. I have pretty decent music skills and absolutely 0 graphical talent. But its much easier to put together a prototype game with halfway decent gfx...

That's the main problem with FL Studio (Fruity Loops) - there are so many interesting VSTs out there that you end up experimenting forever if you're not careful! NES

But yeah, FL Studio & ModPlug Tracker get my vote.

[qoute]
CS_TBL (Posted 3 days ago)

I actually turn down games with crappy music, no matter how good the gfx are, and how many zillions of polies there are. Uninstall or delete, no questions asked..! [/qoute]

I love the Godfather soundtrack, the movies are great, but because of the POOR gameplay, Godfather doesn't work for me, gameplay is first on my list.

EA actually damaged the Godfather trilogy more than it popularized it.. Luckily, at http://www.imdb.com Godfather is still the #1 movie on the top 250.

Can't let that slide without tipping my hat to my microprocessor-powered mentor. :o)
Commodore 64-esque synth

[edit] Something I've just discovered: download from the KVR Audio download link on that page, not from the home page of the VSTi. [/edit]

Sorry for being dumb but how do you actually get these NES and C64 plugins to work?

I`ve never added plugins to FLStudio before and thought it was just a case of placing the provided .dll file into my VST plugins folder which resides in my FLStudio folder but nothing shows up in the program. Where should they be? Do I need to refresh the list of plugins somehow? I have tried a simple restart of the program but nothing changes.

Thanks for any help, (I`m using FLStudio 6)
Jason.

Channels -> Add One -> More...

Shows a complete list of possible additions - not just the 'favourites' that are displayed in the Add One menu. You can double-click on whatever you want to add and/or you can check the box beside its name to add it to your list of aforementioned Add One favourites for next time.

Also note the Refresh button down the bottom if you need to rescan your designated VSTi directories for new plugins.

Thanks LineOf7s most appreciated.

Jason.

http://www.shockwave-sound.com/

Bjørn Lynne's site is worth checking out.


Andy

ACID Pro gives me the ease of creating music. Although I have a list of hardware that I use to lay down tracks. ACID PRO is the heart of my studio.

Hi,

i run the above website, arteria-gaming and we provide music packs, as well as custom music writing for people.

I myself, have been signed to several record companies in the uk and us for some years now, and have lots of experience writing music.

If anyone ever wants any music writing, contact me on the following:

sales@...

Cheers

Steve

the bro is a muso, having a relli with the gear and the inclination is always helpful.