I just watched Krystman's Shmup tutorial on music, and I had to know more. I'm so glad that I came here to learn from the source. This deserves more attention, certainly.
It's Nerdy Teachers! I've seen you're platformer tutorial! I learned alot about it! But I didn't get to try Pico-8 to test it out, But it's fine, Cause some day I'll have enough money to buy Pico-8 and a computer! love you too see you do a DDR (Dance Dance Revolution in short.) game tutorial!
Is it really necessary for so much of the music making process to be tied to a sound effect editor? Can notes just be inputted straight to the tracker? Can instruments be created in a more detailed and practical way that isn't sfx focused?
Just because it's called an SFX, doesn't mean it needs to be treated as such. I can use SFX for creating sound effects, musical parts and instruments. Note can be inputted straight into the tracker, and/or inputted and drawn into the SFX editor.
I appreciate the videos, but is there some sort of manual or commands list I can reference for the different effects and functions? I can't find anything like that online and I not a huge fan of scrolling back and forth through videos looking for a specific thing I'm trying to do.
Very great tutorial! It really helped me understand. But I wonder, how do you make 4 numbers pass when you left-click/right-click the length option or other settings?
hey so i can't find a newer tutorial on this, do i need to pay the subscription to have access to the music maker? i've been looking all over the website and i can't find it and i really wanna start making something with this but i genuinely don't know where this music maker is and how to open it
Do you mean the "music maker" in Pico-8? 'Cause if so, then you should be able to get pretty far without a subscription This tutorial is old, and doesn't include some newer features, but should still give you a good idea of how to start making music and sound.
Great stuff man! Do you have any tips on making music for games leaving room for sound fx? Would you momentarily sacrifice one channel of music to play a sound fx?
Yup. If the music is for a game, by default, I'm writing 2 or 3 channel music. Occasionally, if the game is light on sound fx, you can get away with 4, if the 4th channel is sparse and in the background. The trick to writing 2 or 3 channel music in Pico-8 is consolidating multiple, musical parts in one SFX. So, writing a drum beat AND melody in one SFX. One approach could be starting with 4-channels, and gradually moving the 4th channel into empty spaces across channels 1-3. You'll also learn quickly that long, legato melody lines aren't the most optimal use of your space. I recommend checking out the games Bombers Run and The Lair, which were the first games I started using 2-channels. Also my Pico-8 Tunes Vol 1, & 2, which are mostly all 2-channels. ALSO my album Counterpoint, where each track uses only 2-channels and one cart. Hope that helps!
Not sure. I use my ear, and play with the tempo that way. I've never needed to figure out specific BPM. Are you trying to sync Pico-8 music with something?
Hey, I have a qustion. Is there a program I can use to easily change MIDI inputs to keyboard inputs? I have a midi keyboard and I want to use it with PICO-8 but I cant seem to do that.
@@Gruber_Music thank you for your reply, pico-8 is great but sadly i have been exiled from the community, i have no hope to get my msuic working as i have been working for 3 days just to recrate the baseline from prodigy, i have lost all hope, in pico-8
Sorry to hear. Making music (especially something like Prodigy) is hard work. It's important you enjoy the process of exploration and trying out new things, even if it means slow progress.
One of the clearest explanations of the basics of this functionality that I've seen. Great job.
Hey thanks, I appreciate that!
Whoa. So much easier and more expressive than LSDJ for the Game Boy, but overall the same type of sounds. I love this.
Careful, it's addictive! :)
I love how the first tutorial is already this in depth! Im in for a wild ride lol
Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions!
@@Gruber_Music will do!
Man, I know I'm gonna have fun with this.
This whole series is just what I needed ! Amazing , thank you so much, looking forward to watching them all!
You're very welcome! Let me know if you have any questions
I've watched a bunch of videos about this and it's got me nowhere, but I was able to put together a full track after this. Amazing work, thank you!
Ahh thanks so much!! Be sure to share on the forums and/or Twitter. I'll definitely check it out! :) #pico8
Thanks a lot for these, King, I really appreciate it
You are very welcome! :)
I just watched Krystman's Shmup tutorial on music, and I had to know more. I'm so glad that I came here to learn from the source. This deserves more attention, certainly.
Beautiful guide. Looking forward to watching more of your tutorials. Thank you
Thanks so much! :)
Super simple and straight forward! Thanks for being so clear and to the point :)
Fantastic tutorial! Well done and thank you for making it!
Thank you, my pleasure!
It's Nerdy Teachers! I've seen you're platformer tutorial! I learned alot about it! But I didn't get to try Pico-8 to test it out, But it's fine, Cause some day I'll have enough money to buy Pico-8 and a computer! love you too see you do a DDR (Dance Dance Revolution in short.) game tutorial!
Really helpful, thanks Gruber
Very welcome! :)
Incredible !
thanks for this amazing tutorial and the way you speak allows me to understand your video cuz i don't speak english
You're welcome! :)
Great video, glad RUclips recommended it! Cheers
Thanks! :)
Awesome teaching and demonstrating, Gruber. Fantastic work.
Thanks Cameron, glad you like. Let me know if you have any questions!
just what I needed. Thanks for uploading this.
You're welcome! Happy to answer any questions
excellent tutorial - thanks so much
You're very welcome!
OH wow that's pretty cool!
amazing tutorial 🙌
Thanks!
thank you
welcome!
Is it really necessary for so much of the music making process to be tied to a sound effect editor? Can notes just be inputted straight to the tracker? Can instruments be created in a more detailed and practical way that isn't sfx focused?
Just because it's called an SFX, doesn't mean it needs to be treated as such. I can use SFX for creating sound effects, musical parts and instruments. Note can be inputted straight into the tracker, and/or inputted and drawn into the SFX editor.
I appreciate the videos, but is there some sort of manual or commands list I can reference for the different effects and functions? I can't find anything like that online and I not a huge fan of scrolling back and forth through videos looking for a specific thing I'm trying to do.
such a cool little app!
great, thank you
Welcome!
Very great tutorial! It really helped me understand. But I wonder, how do you make 4 numbers pass when you left-click/right-click the length option or other settings?
Thank you! That's CMD+click on Mac. Probably Ctrl+click on PC.
@@Gruber_Music I confirm that it's CTRL+Click on Windows
hey so i can't find a newer tutorial on this, do i need to pay the subscription to have access to the music maker? i've been looking all over the website and i can't find it and i really wanna start making something with this but i genuinely don't know where this music maker is and how to open it
Do you mean the "music maker" in Pico-8? 'Cause if so, then you should be able to get pretty far without a subscription This tutorial is old, and doesn't include some newer features, but should still give you a good idea of how to start making music and sound.
Thanks for this! :D
Very welcome!
Great stuff man! Do you have any tips on making music for games leaving room for sound fx? Would you momentarily sacrifice one channel of music to play a sound fx?
Yup. If the music is for a game, by default, I'm writing 2 or 3 channel music. Occasionally, if the game is light on sound fx, you can get away with 4, if the 4th channel is sparse and in the background. The trick to writing 2 or 3 channel music in Pico-8 is consolidating multiple, musical parts in one SFX. So, writing a drum beat AND melody in one SFX. One approach could be starting with 4-channels, and gradually moving the 4th channel into empty spaces across channels 1-3. You'll also learn quickly that long, legato melody lines aren't the most optimal use of your space.
I recommend checking out the games Bombers Run and The Lair, which were the first games I started using 2-channels. Also my Pico-8 Tunes Vol 1, & 2, which are mostly all 2-channels. ALSO my album Counterpoint, where each track uses only 2-channels and one cart.
Hope that helps!
@@Gruber_MusicGreat answer. Thanks a lot :)
@@musicmeanslife65 Welcome!
very cool. how do i save my work.
Type at the command prompt: save mywork
Then you can CMD+S to save
You help down ctrl to snap to C Minor. Can you change the key it snaps to?
You cannot. I would select all the notes and use the transpose hotkeys to change the key.
@@Gruber_Music That actually works as a quick easy solution! Thanks!
is there any way to make the music outside of pico 8 and import it? I'm really comfortable with Logic and would love to just import MIDI 🤔
As far as I know, it's not possible. Unless someone on the Lexaloffle forums has created a .mid to .p8 converter.
@@Gruber_Music Jenny Schmidt (bikibird) created a converter, it's on itch called "Denote"
Is there a way to navigate faster through music SFXs?
Yep! Using Shift and '-' or '+'
@@Gruber_Music I also found out that you can hold CTRL (I'm on Windows) and click the arrows.
Oh yeah, that too!
is it possible to use a real midi keyboard instead of the qwerty keyboard?
MIDI isn't officially supported in Pico-8, but many devs have been creating workarounds. If you search the forums, I'm sure you'll find something.
how do you save?
ctrl s
How do I add the music to the game? I couldn't find any tutorials on that.
Check out the Pico-8 Wiki - pico-8.fandom.com/wiki/Music :)
What is the spd in bpm
Not sure. I use my ear, and play with the tempo that way. I've never needed to figure out specific BPM. Are you trying to sync Pico-8 music with something?
Hey, I have a qustion. Is there a program I can use to easily change MIDI inputs to keyboard inputs? I have a midi keyboard and I want to use it with PICO-8 but I cant seem to do that.
I'm sure there's a program for that. I'd check the Pico-8 forums at www.lexaloffle.com
is there a tool for making pico-8 music that not a bondage simulator?
Hey. Sorry. I don't understand your question, or the joke. Do you need help with something?
@@Gruber_Music thank you for your reply, pico-8 is great but sadly i have been exiled from the community, i have no hope to get my msuic working as i have been working for 3 days just to recrate the baseline from prodigy, i have lost all hope, in pico-8
Sorry to hear. Making music (especially something like Prodigy) is hard work. It's important you enjoy the process of exploration and trying out new things, even if it means slow progress.
Hoy Rock bro
No, HOY rock! ;)