Lesson 5 - Chiptune Music with SunVox - How to create a song 1
Completion requirements
From here on I show how you can create different kinds of sounds, and how to
interact with “Modules” (oscillators and effects), sequence their behaviour, and
arrange all this in the Timeline. In this video we are going to create what is called a
“lead” sound and then add a percussion instrument to it.
interact with “Modules” (oscillators and effects), sequence their behaviour, and
arrange all this in the Timeline. In this video we are going to create what is called a
“lead” sound and then add a percussion instrument to it.
Lesson 5:
edu sharing object
Transcript
00:03 - Video 05. How to create a song. Part 1 of 5. Hello! In this and the following tutorials I’m going to show you how to create a song that has not only a melody and accompaniment, but more elements such as drums, a bass line and chords.
00:23 - We start from an empty project and the first thing we do is to pick up a module from the menu. We choose a “Generator:” a simple triangle wave oscillator without a filter circuit, and we connect it to the output.
00:44 - Let’s assign a melody to our “Generator.” Our melody is going to be six bars long in 4/4 time, and we want it to repeat four times. Instead of copying and pasting a pattern, as we did in the previous tutorial, we can write the melody and its repetitions as one single pattern. Let’s choose “Pattern properties” from the menu and set the number of “tracks” to one.
01:12 - As you know, our six-bar melody was made for our “Tracker” of 96 lines or steps. Thus 96 multiplied by four repetitions is equal to 384, and this is what we have to set as the “Number of lines.”
01:50 - Once I unlock the “Tracker” I am going to write the melody you are seeing in the description. Try to follow me, and help yourself using the arrows or scroll with a finger across the lines in order to enter the notes into the right slot.
03:25 - The reason why I want to write this melody and its repetitions as one single pattern is because I want to show you how to select, copy and paste items inside the “Tracker.” Be sure that the “Tracker” is at the starting point and select the dashed icon on the uppermost part of the screen, to the right. Now touch the first line of the “Tracker” and select-drag until you reach the end of the melody we’ve written. 04:12 - From the menu select “Copy,” click where you want to insert the melody---right after the green selected area---and choose “Paste” from the menu. Now repeat this operation twice more to cover all 384 steps. Now we are ready to play the melody.
04:41 - At this point you can tweak the “Generator.” You could adjust the speed of the melody as well because, for example, we might like to have it a little bit faster. To do this, select from the main menu on the left side “Project properties,” and move the BPM slider.
05:07 - From the “Module view” we want to boost the signal of the “Generator” a bit. Disconnect it from the “Output” module, double-click, and under the “Effects” menu select “Amplifier” and connect it to our “Generator.”
05:25 - From “Effects” we then choose a “Compressor” and route the “Amplifier” output into the “Compressor’s” input. A compressor is an audio signal processing operation that reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies the quiet sounds, thus reducing or compressing an audio signal’s dynamic range. In our case we need to amplify the signal of the compressor as well to better control its volume.
06:07 - At this point we can route the outlet of the second “Amplifier” to the “Output” module. You will notice a brighter and more defined sound coming out of the “Generator.”
06:28 - Let’s add a beat to this melody. From the “Synths” menu we choose a “DrumSynth.” A “DrumSynth” is a little bit different from the other synth modules because it plays a different sound for each note and thus each octave is different from the others. We are looking for a “kick” bass drum sound, and I like this one.
07:03 - Before writing down the “kick” part we pick up another instance of “Amplifier,” and connect the “DrumSynth” to it.
07:15 - Finally we route the output of the “Amplifier” into the “Compressor” and into the “Amplifier” just before the “Output” module. In this way controlling the volume and mix of our “kick” drum with other percussion sounds, such as a “clap,” will be easier.
07:32 - Now we can go into the “Timeline.” Double-click on it to create a new pattern and move it to match the beginning of our song. By choosing “Pattern properties” we can set the length of this pattern to 96 steps.
07:56 - Now we can set it to play the key, corresponding to a “kick drum” sound, at the downbeat of each bar.
09:07 - We can go back to the “Timeline” and clone this drum pattern three times to match the length of our melody.
09:31 - Let’s play what we have composed so far and tweak our modules.
00:23 - We start from an empty project and the first thing we do is to pick up a module from the menu. We choose a “Generator:” a simple triangle wave oscillator without a filter circuit, and we connect it to the output.
00:44 - Let’s assign a melody to our “Generator.” Our melody is going to be six bars long in 4/4 time, and we want it to repeat four times. Instead of copying and pasting a pattern, as we did in the previous tutorial, we can write the melody and its repetitions as one single pattern. Let’s choose “Pattern properties” from the menu and set the number of “tracks” to one.
01:12 - As you know, our six-bar melody was made for our “Tracker” of 96 lines or steps. Thus 96 multiplied by four repetitions is equal to 384, and this is what we have to set as the “Number of lines.”
01:50 - Once I unlock the “Tracker” I am going to write the melody you are seeing in the description. Try to follow me, and help yourself using the arrows or scroll with a finger across the lines in order to enter the notes into the right slot.
03:25 - The reason why I want to write this melody and its repetitions as one single pattern is because I want to show you how to select, copy and paste items inside the “Tracker.” Be sure that the “Tracker” is at the starting point and select the dashed icon on the uppermost part of the screen, to the right. Now touch the first line of the “Tracker” and select-drag until you reach the end of the melody we’ve written. 04:12 - From the menu select “Copy,” click where you want to insert the melody---right after the green selected area---and choose “Paste” from the menu. Now repeat this operation twice more to cover all 384 steps. Now we are ready to play the melody.
04:41 - At this point you can tweak the “Generator.” You could adjust the speed of the melody as well because, for example, we might like to have it a little bit faster. To do this, select from the main menu on the left side “Project properties,” and move the BPM slider.
05:07 - From the “Module view” we want to boost the signal of the “Generator” a bit. Disconnect it from the “Output” module, double-click, and under the “Effects” menu select “Amplifier” and connect it to our “Generator.”
05:25 - From “Effects” we then choose a “Compressor” and route the “Amplifier” output into the “Compressor’s” input. A compressor is an audio signal processing operation that reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies the quiet sounds, thus reducing or compressing an audio signal’s dynamic range. In our case we need to amplify the signal of the compressor as well to better control its volume.
06:07 - At this point we can route the outlet of the second “Amplifier” to the “Output” module. You will notice a brighter and more defined sound coming out of the “Generator.”
06:28 - Let’s add a beat to this melody. From the “Synths” menu we choose a “DrumSynth.” A “DrumSynth” is a little bit different from the other synth modules because it plays a different sound for each note and thus each octave is different from the others. We are looking for a “kick” bass drum sound, and I like this one.
07:03 - Before writing down the “kick” part we pick up another instance of “Amplifier,” and connect the “DrumSynth” to it.
07:15 - Finally we route the output of the “Amplifier” into the “Compressor” and into the “Amplifier” just before the “Output” module. In this way controlling the volume and mix of our “kick” drum with other percussion sounds, such as a “clap,” will be easier.
07:32 - Now we can go into the “Timeline.” Double-click on it to create a new pattern and move it to match the beginning of our song. By choosing “Pattern properties” we can set the length of this pattern to 96 steps.
07:56 - Now we can set it to play the key, corresponding to a “kick drum” sound, at the downbeat of each bar.
09:07 - We can go back to the “Timeline” and clone this drum pattern three times to match the length of our melody.
09:31 - Let’s play what we have composed so far and tweak our modules.
Erratum
* 08:00: I said downbeat of each bar, but actually I put the kick on the downbeat of
each half-bar, so two kicks for each bar.
** 09:11: I said “clone” instead of copy. See the item selected in the menu.
each half-bar, so two kicks for each bar.
** 09:11: I said “clone” instead of copy. See the item selected in the menu.
Last modified: Wednesday, 13 September 2023, 4:38 PM