Creation/Audio

Producing Sound

I am often asked the question, "What program do you use to make music" or, "How can I make music". This is probably one of the worst questions you can ask a composer, and it really gets on my nerves! If you are really interested in creating music, here is a guide to help you on your way.

Getting Started

So, you are interested in making music, love listening to sounds, maybe even play an instrument. Well, good for you! I find that producing music is both fun and people leave good feedback on your work too. Composing music isn't as easy as it seems though, and in my opinion, it is one of the hardest development skills there are. You can't just simply sit down at a program and begin to create sounds and music. It takes skill, perseverance and a good attitude to the task / music you are creating. You might want to start researching what composing is, if you want to start at ground zero, but otherwise, do a couple of Google searches and see what comes up.

After you have done that, and have a good idea on what music composition on a computer is like, then we know you are actually interested in making some music, or starting to cross that bridge. There are several programs you can use to create music and some great synthesizers on the shelves too, but it isn't as straight forward as that (unfortunately). Many Graal servers retrieve their sounds from online forums, websites or other means online, and this sometimes leads to issues with using other peoples work. If you learn how to create your own music and effects, you have an infinite range of development choice and will be able to produce amazing sounds and music.

There are programs out there like SFXR, that is used for creating extremely simple and basic sounds. And then there are other programs for editing music and sound effects. You can find a good list of the ones I know of at the bottom of the article. My favorite is ACID Pro. It was developed by SONY and was quite expensive to say the least, but is an amazing piece of software for creating music.

Starting your composition

If you enjoy writing music, I recommend Sibelius. It is an advanced piece of software that you can write sheet music with and print it off. Obviously, we are talking about game composing here right? So, here are the steps I go through generally while creating, say, a medieval piece.

• Create a melody on the keyboard/piano to base the piece on.
• Upload the sound to my PC and then tweak around with it in ACID.
• Once I have something I really like, I start adding effects, dynamics and some other features to my music.
• After that, I play it through and correct anything that needs correcting.

This on average takes about 2-3 days for a decent piece, but some pieces have taken me 3-4 weeks. Obviously, if you are just starting out, I don't expect you to be able to make stuff like that at a click of a mouse, so here are some guidelines.

Guide Lines

• Work on creating a basic melodic pattern to base your piece on.
• After you have done that, check it through and then upload it to your PC or MAC.
• Download a good piece of software from the downloads part at the bottom of the article.
• Follow the online tutorial for that piece of software to get comfortable with it, and start to play around with your composition and see what comes of it.

Warning

Don't try and edit other peoples music, either from the internet or a CD. It can really get you into trouble. Keep everything self made! (Although, that isn't saying you can't try and replicate a piece of music and change it slightly, as long as everything is yours!)

End Result

If you have just completed your first piece of music, congratulations! You are well on your way to becoming a professional music composer. Try testing wit other styles of music. Graal is a really good place to hone your composition skills.

Downloads

• SFXR
• Audacity (Windows/Mac/Linux/Unix)

Other Links

ACID Pro 7 (Windows)

• ACID Pro 7 is not free to download.