Starting tracking beginning tips anyone?

[Uhfgood]

I have a little experience using the older MPT -- so I should be able to get around the latest OMPT.  In any case, i'm considering starting really small, so I can get a handle on everything.  Something like 1 sample and two channels.  Mostly to explore the effects and what not.  Does this sound like a good idea?  Why or why not?  (sorry for the essay question ;-)

When i've felt like I got a good handle on that, then i'll start introducing more samples.  And when i'm comfortable with any number of samples then i'll start expanding to more channels.

I feel this way i'll be exploring tracking one step at a time.

Any tips or suggestions you have on me starting anew, let me know.

Thanks,
Keith

[cyperkid]

Any tips or suggestions you have on me starting anew, let me know.

Thanks,
Keith

maybe it helps to download a mod, xm, it and just look what is hidden there.
trying to do it by yourself step by step with your own samples

well, kinda short and thin of content...but that's all i can say
that's how i started with each new tracker since the very beginning

[Uhfgood]

Every tip is appreciated.  Yeah i've downloaded a number, and i've explored some of them running in the mpt.  But that is a good way to study them.  Then try to recreate them yourself.  Of course not that you can put it out for anyone else to hear ;-)

My all time favorite mod is a standard 4 channel mod, called "Beyond Music" it was almost my first mod, and is still my favorite.  So I looked into that a bit.  Maybe if I try to recreate it, I will learn something.

Thanks for the tip cyperkid

Keith

[Sam_Zen]

Cyperkid is right. Checking existing modules. see how it's done, and moderate, is one of the first things to do.

Samples are the basic material of trackers, so, for more personal control, also learn how to make your own samples.

Maybe these tracker-pages can be of any help.

[LPChip]

I recommend to study only .IT files, as .mod are outdated and work differently than .IT. Same applies to .s3m and .xm too. They are great and you can learn from them, but especially effects and what these can do (eg. have instruments, etc).

I've teached some people to track, and the best approach seems to be doing a simple drum track first, then extend it to more complex drums, and then go to broken beats. This way, you'll learn how the grid works and how to recognise a beat (every 16 rows are one beat.)

After you've got the hang of the grid, I'd start adding a bass and then a melody. The reason is simple. Melodies are like drum patterns with the addition that they have different tone heights.

Once you're capable of doing this, you have what it takes to make a song. The rest are just things to spice up your song.

[Uhfgood]

drum to base to melody - got it... but would that be on the same song or do you mean different songs (where the "song" is composed of just that drum track and then a different "song" is composed of a different style of drum track) ?

Also I have a Yamaha PSR-510 keyboard that I can get samples from as well as the fact they have pre-recorded drum beats of which I can "copy" and I don't mean sample it as a whole, but rather mimic it one note at a time in the tracker.

Would that be a good idea?

Keith

[LPChip]

You can use the same song. Its just about doing it, not where to do it.

If you've made a pattern with drums, then duplicate it to change the drums, then duplicate to change it even more, then duplicate it to add bass, then duplicate it to add melody, just like that.

If you then play it, you'll notice how it sounds which is a good way to learn from your experience.

As for samples, its not required to sample your samples yet. You can rip them of another song, as this song will be your experimented song. If you feel unhappy about that, you can also use the simple general midi sounds from gm.sfk on the left.

But to answer your question, if you really want, the PSR-510 has some great sounds, and eventually you'd might want to use them. Do note that drums are far more easier to rip than the rest of the sounds, as in drums the pitch doesn't change, which means that the sound itself doesn't change either. In the other sounds, especially by yamaha's XG bank, there are effects in it, so if you want it to sound the same, you'll have to sound EACH note from that instrument. Doing half of the notes will already sound different, but probably acceptable. I can't tell you how many notes you can leave out, but it will be a teadious task. You could also hook up your keyboard over midi, and use a midi-out VSTi to send notes to your keyboard. This way you'll have your keyboard play it, but no need to sample it. Only downside is, that modplug currently doesn't offer any way to reach the XG sounds, only the GM sounds, which are still very good on the PSR-510.

[Uhfgood]

Not speaking about drum sets for a moment...  Is sampling instruments from the sound output on the keyboard better or worse than, say, hooking it up to midi? (or generally grabbing sounds from GM) ?

[LPChip]

That depends. If you hook it up to midi-out to play on your keyboard, then that is better soundwise, but if you sample it, you'll have more control over the sound. It really depends on you actually.

[Uhfgood]

Why do you suggest drums before bass?  I find in most music I like, the bass is almost the most important piece as it is the backbone to which everything else is attached.  And in fact the few tracks I have composted already started with that --

I find it hard to conceptualize a song with just drum beats.  But then maybe that's where the challenge is, and that's why I should start there?

Keith

[LPChip]

Why do you suggest drums before bass?  I find in most music I like, the bass is almost the most important piece as it is the backbone to which everything else is attached.  And in fact the few tracks I have composted already started with that --

I find it hard to conceptualize a song with just drum beats.  But then maybe that's where the challenge is, and that's why I should start there?

Keith

Its not a rule LOL.

Its just that doing a drumbeat first allows you to learn how to work with the spacing. Its only a learning method. Once you've done it once, you can even start your new song with a lead melody, and add stuff from there. In your case, you prefer to start with a bass, then start with a bass.

The idea is to start with non-potential songs just to experiment with how the tracker and parameters work. For that reason, I usually tell people to make a drumbeat. You enter simple C-5 's and don't worry about the tone, and learn how the spacing works. Once you understand how the spacing works, you can then focus on simple note changes by adding a bass. Once you understand that, adding a melody is kind of combining the spacing from drums with the note changes from the bass.

If you understand how that works, you can focus on adding blanks. It might sound stupid perhaps, but cutting a note, so you get a moment of silence, is an essential part in getting a pro.

[kit beats]

ENG:

Can anyone help me, i just got my own modplug tracker, and i am playing songs from skaletracker (the program i was using before).
While im playing songs i hear beeps and cracks. Strange enough: in my new song i don't hear them.Anyone who can help me solve the problem?

NL:

Mijn engels is niet zo best..Kan iemand mij helpen, als ik mijn vorige liedjes luister in modplug hoor ik allemaal kraakjes en bliepjes, raar genoeg niet in mijn laatste beat(4). is dat te verhelpen of moet ik overnieuw beginnen de track op te bouwen in modplug?

[KrazyKatz]

Hey Samplekit,

Chances are your buffers are set too low.

Go to View -> Setup -> Sound Card -> Buffer length, and increase it there.

If this doesn't work just tell us.

[kit beats]

Thanks for your reply KrazyKats, i just loaded the song, set the buffer lengt on 30 ms...still beepin :oops:

(Just checked the peak limitter from Sam_zen, is said 9989 or more peaks..)

[Relabsoluness]

Could it be that the mod volume is just set too high?