Ballie's Game Music Tutorial

[balliztik1]

Many of us are game makers here. We all set out to try to make as good a game experience as possible. However, I feel that one aspect often gets pushed aside: music. If you think to any old games that Eclipse is modeled after, like Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, or early Zelda games, you'll remember that they had some of the most memorable soundtracks out there. Music was a very large part of the game experience. Looking through just some WIP threads, recruitment thread, and job threads, I've noticed a severe lack of music - very few musicians, and very few games looking for musicians.

Music is a skill like any other - you practice and get better. This tutorial will hopefully at least spark some interest in music for some people, and maybe even help a few get their start in the music field. All in all, my goal is to promote the usage of custom music in your games to create a more complete experience.

**Music Software**
The first step, of course, is to acquire a programme that will allow you to make MIDIs. I choose MIDIs here because they just have the same retro feel that Eclipse games promote. Additionally, making a MIDI is just like making the music sheet, and most MP3 makers will accept MIDI imports, anyway, so it's generally a good start just to have the MIDI done first.

Personally, because I am a guitarist, I prefer a programme called Guitar Pro 5\. Because it is expressed in tablature, rather than sheet music, it is quick to edit, and 100% numeric. As music and math go hand in hand, it makes it much easier to see the patterns and learn from them. Unfortunately, Guitar Pro 6 has recently come out (and it's awful for MIDIs), so it's a bit difficult to find Guitar Pro 5.

**Before Starting your Music**
Once you have a programme to edit your music, you simply need to start writing. However, there are many things to consider when making a piece. Before starting off, give the following things some consideration.

Instruments
Before you attempt to write music, know your instruments. There are 128 instruments in the MIDI library, and each one sounds a bit different. Get familiar with what sounds like what, so you know which instruments are good for individual pieces.

Setting
The setting is probably the most important thing to consider when starting out, at least for game music. With a game, the music should paint the scene for whatever area the player is in. As such, having a picture, or even an in-game map, of the area is a good way to start out. Just by visualizing this area, you can get a feel for what kind of instruments you'll need.

For example purposes, I'll go with a forest setting for this tutorial. Forests are found in most games, so it'll be a good place to start. A forest generally uses strings and woodwinds to create its tracks.

Mood
Mood is also a big part of music. Once you know where the music will go, you need to think about the feeling you are trying to invoke. For instance, a city area could feel calm and relaxed, or have a feeling of power behind it. The difference in moods further defines the tempo and instrument choices.

Forests have a lot of different mood options, from spooky to calm and peaceful. This particular forest will have an air of mystery about it. As such, it will likely feel slower, and with longer held notes, likely from an oboe or clarinet for their mysterious feel.

Inspiration
Once you know where and how the music will be played, it is generally a good idea to find an inspiring tune. The best place to look for these are in video games or movies.

One of the most memorable mysterious forest tracks I can think of is the [Forest Maze from Super Mario RPG](http://www.freemmorpgmaker.com/files/imagehost/pics/351261672776ab3c0af75dc74026bea5.mid). It's got a very nice, slow tempo, and the melody is very mellow and harmonious. The overall effect really gives it a feel for a maze - mysterious and twisting. The melody is shared by a harmonized oboe and strings, and the bassy parts are done by an English horn and pizzicato. There are interludes played on a celesta. These will be some nice instruments to keep in mind for our piece.

Style
Lastly, once you have a set of instruments, and an outline for the song, you'll want to pick a style of music. Personally, I believe making a looping track is best, since many games will have you in one area for a length of time. However, depending on the situation, a track with an intro will work fine, too. For example, [the opening to Final Fantasy IV](http://www.freemmorpgmaker.com/files/imagehost/pics/6072eac201d5b86fdf61067c8b1f2e78.mid) works well with a slow start, but would obviously make a poor track in-game, whereas [the same game's "overworld" theme](http://www.freemmorpgmaker.com/files/imagehost/pics/5bc14b168e16fb5c926eb4eea92ed5de.mid) loops seemlessly and works very well in-game. The primary difference is in the start of the track. A looping piece will often use most of its instruments throughout, while an intro track will slowly add until all are present.

For this forest track, a looping style will be used. Approximately 4-7 instruments will be used, most at the same time.

**Establishing a Progression**
Now that there is somewhat of an outline for the track, we can start putting ideas down. The first thing you'll want to establish is a progression. This is basically a series of notes that serve as the guidelines for the piece. The example piece, Forest Maze, for example, has this progression: C#-C#/F#-E-F#/B-A-A-B-B/G# ([listen to it](http://www.freemmorpgmaker.com/files/imagehost/pics/b686fa0b0d012f0925e300c1b34128ab.mid))

Obviously, this is a pretty complex progression, but notice a couple things. Firstly, the bass notes lay out the progression. This means that we should start by choosing a series of notes for the bassiest instruments to play, then build up from there. Secondly, if you were to loop that track, it sounds very nice. It is important to note that for a progression to work, it has to return nicely to where it started. In this case, it ends with B/G#, which makes an easy return to the initial note of C#.

So, let's make our own progression. For this example, I've chosen a simple A-C-E-D progression, with a fairly simple rhythm to it. The track is slightly slowed, going only 90 beats per minute. All in all, this creates a fairly mysterious start for our forest. ([listen to it](http://www.freemmorpgmaker.com/files/imagehost/pics/1b0a89daae0c307a20ed72d0913a6786.mid))

**Developing a Theme**
A theme in music is a series of notes that becomes almost a definition of a piece. This note phrase is heard through the piece, usually with some variations. To begin a theme, we will start with just the progression we have: A-C-E-D. Because A to C is two notes, and C to E is also two notes, we can use a simple walk-up progression to slowly raise the pitch. The D note at the end does not follow this same rule, so we will have it just be an extended note. I mess around a bit with that idea and come up with these 4 bars to go with our progression:

A-G#-A-B
C-B-C-D
E-D-E-F
D

Then, to add a bit of variation, I throw in a second instrument playing the same notes, one octave higher. Notice that I also altered the panning of each instrument. The oboe plays in the left ear, and the clarinet plays in the right ear. This helps establish the mystery, by making sounds come from different sources. This will also help later for establishing harmonies. ([listen to it](http://www.freemmorpgmaker.com/files/imagehost/pics/9d32c7c372921621b1ca95b6e0c0f63b.mid))

**Adding Texture**
Now that we have a simple melody and rhythm in place, we need to flesh out the sound a bit more. Currently, the piece lacks enough instruments to carry it through. There's just something missing.

In general, there are 3 things you need in a piece: bass, melody, and backing. Bass is generally what sets the rhythm for the piece, and is often a thumping instrument. This usually means the bass instrument is either some sort of percussion instrument, or a plucked instrument. The melody is the main part of a piece, so it should be played by an instrument that really captures the essence of the setting and mood. Often these are woodwind instruments, or solo strings, like violins. The backing just coexists with the piece. It's subtle, but makes the piece more complete. Often, this is accomplished with string ensembles.

The bass of our piece is taken care of with the low pizzicato setting the rhythm and tempo. The melody is done quite well by the oboe, and then carried by the clarinet. It needs something to back it up, however. That's where some soft strings come in. The simple addition of some long string notes gives it a whole new sound that is present throughout the piece. The strings will start with just the progression, A-C-E-D, but then as the clarinet takes the melody one octave higher, the strings will play chords, with both the bass notes, and the octave. ([listen to it](http://www.freemmorpgmaker.com/files/imagehost/pics/13c4859bd4f2c108c6413700c8d5a891.mid))

**Breaking your Own Pattern**
Now that we've got a nicely textured piece and set up a pattern for a progression and melody, we need to change things around a bit. Breaking your progression and melody patterns is a great way to keep a piece fresh, so it's not just the same thing over and over.

We can achieve this by doing a buildup with the melody, but taking it one octave above where it usually ends. From there, we introduce a second note phrase, similar to the first, but different enough to leave a lasting impression. The new progression during this part is A-C-F-D, a seemingly minor change that makes a fairly big difference. As the song progresses up another octave, as mentioned, the strings play even bigger chords in accordance with this new aspect. ([listen to it](http://www.freemmorpgmaker.com/files/imagehost/pics/262ada233bfb139753e36746bc0dacce.mid))

**Reestablishing, Looping, and Touchup**
Now that we've built up to a climax and worked our way down slowly, the song still must go on. The old progression, A-C-E-D, returns, and we let the melody let out one lasting note. Then, the chord progression goes on without the melody. There must still be some phrasing to keep the piece alive, though, so some quick harmonized notes by the oboe and clarinet make the piece keep up the mood and texture we've developed. We do that twice, leading right back into the beginning. Just by making sure to stay with the progression, we have been able to produce a piece that loops within itself nicely.

To finish up, I feel that the bass produced by the pizzicato is just not enough, so I've added in a timpani for a percussive element. The final product is shown here. ([listen to it](http://www.freemmorpgmaker.com/files/imagehost/pics/226c08a5f093415932fe128a8ae7c95f.mid))

**Taking it Further**
This piece is only 32 seconds, so it's quite obviously not a full length game track. However, with just the instructions found here, you can easily add more and more, throwing in variations and progression changes to keep it alive. With a bit of work, any short piece like this could be expanded into an entire track. This is only 24 bars of music, and 2 or 3 simple phrase variations. With another instrument or 2, each with a variation on phrases, the piece could be twice or thrice as long, making it a suitable length for a game track. As long as the progression stays intact, it will loop well, so there are very few restrictions to where the track can go.

All video game music retrieved from [VGMusic.com](http://www.vgmusic.com), and are the property of their respective authors. "Mysterious Forest" is the property of Derrick Martin and http://www.touchofdeathforums.com/smf/index.php/board,459.0.html.

[blackkat9666]

For the MIDI programs, Fruity Loops Studio is a bit easy to use when it's just it's basics, but that's not really for MIDI's. There's Babbya Logic that's definately made for MIDI's though.
Nice tut btw.

[Drummerpete]

Just looked over it and it looks fantastic.

I think you've pretty much covered everything you need to start writing music.