Lately I've had a strong interest in an emerging genre of music known as Chiptunes.
But the hard part about making music in this style is that it often requires a lot of homebrew solutions for producing the instrument sounds you need. Many people who make chiptunes make use of old NES, SNES, Genesis, and other console hardware, so it can be an expensive and somewhat complicated hobby.
But, there is a cost-free solution that I think a lot of people may be interested in. First, I'd like to share a few great chiptunes with you all just so you can get a feel for what they sound like. These are original songs done in the style of games that already exist, and they're pretty amazing:
Now, if you have experience with Fruityloops, this small set of tutorials should teach you how to import your own instrument sets which can be used when you're putting new tracks together.
First of all, you'll want to grab a few of the VSTi plugins found here. The ones I would highly recommend are 'Peach' and 'Triforce', which are based off of classic console instrument sets. If you look around online, there are actually a lot of VSTi plugins out there, so be sure to grab a few more if you really like to experiment.
After you have the plugins you need, open Fruityloops and your FL Studio folder so you can import the VSTi plugins for use in the program itself. You can find a quick tutorial on how to import them here.
I would highly recommend picking up a few extra VSTi plugins that include things like drumkits and synth effects, as you might need them to add a little extra kick to the tracks you're about to lay down. I'm posting this because I'm sure everyone is a little tired of hearing terrible midi and other low-quality tracks that are better off muted.
If you've got an ear for music, and want to give something new a try, this should be right up your alley. If you want examples of more tracks for inspiration, try visiting 8-bit Collective or other websites hosting chiptunes.
10-26-2011, 06:04 AM
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