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[PompiPompi]

For my current project "Wonder: The Evil" I wanted to make everything on my own.
I do the coding, I do the visuals, but I just can't do music\SFX.
I mean, I believe I could eventually, I just need a lot of practice before I can do something decent. Am I just being stubborn wanting to do everything on my own?
Should I hire someone to make the sound for this game? And learn how to do this on my own in the future, when I have more free time?

I would really like to hear what you think.

[ink.inc]

Music is hard.

Most people (me included) don't know where to start. And of those who do, 90% of them suck terribly.

If you're planning on releasing this game any time soon (ie in the next year), forget about learning music for now. Put it on a shelf for later when you have more time. Instead, check out dig.ccmixter.org. They have an immense selection of music that is available for use without charge. This is the website where Petri Purho found the music for Crayon Physics. There's a ton of good stuff here.

[JMickle]

or take a look in the music section. Tigsource has a plethora of very very good musicians itching to make music!

including me

[ink.inc]

Oh, yeah. You should do that too. Especially if you want chiptunes (which CCmixter doesn't have much of). A lot of the folks here are really fucking good (you too JMickle).

[PompiPompi]

Yea, thanks. I guess some times you need to be realistic.

[JMickle]

by all means learn to make music (i suggest looking into musagi or pxtone, both completely free and good) but even developer/musicians like me (or droqen) still get other people to make music for there games sometimes.

[Riley Adams]

sfxr is great for simple sound effects:
http://www.drpetter.se/project_sfxr.html

[iffi]

8bitcollective may interest you if you're looking for chiptune music.
And yes, sfxr is excellent for sound effects.
I encourage you to learn to make music yourself, but it may take a while. Patience is key.

[JoeManaco]

shockwave-sound.com has tons of royalty free music for low prices.

[Alistair Aitcheson]

I'm exactly the same as you! I always want to do everything on my own, and that can be a real setback if you let it get out of hand. These are some great sources of music, and you can always learn and practice music-making on the side.

I was faced with the same conundrum recently, and found some great stuff on dig.ccmixter.org, as John suggested.

[saibot216]

I don't think your stubborn, I have the same thoughts myself, but of course I have to complete my major first before I can start toying with game ideas.
As for making your own music. It's kinda tough, but, honestly, I don't remember any piano lesson I ever took, that stuff went in one ear and out the other and I'm good at what I do (music). So to make music and sound fx you just gotta have the ear, the love, and the tools for it. If you want to do music yourself w/o using samples then download a virtual instrument and maybe pick up a Korg nanokey (for a start) and just mess around and you might hit something you'll like. Sound fx can be made with virtual instruments to, but the best way is to record things in real life with some type of audio recorder and I have no idea how much those go for.
If you want to hire someone, I'll take the job

[HDSanctum]

I am equally stubborn on this matter and have recently begun learning to play/make music. I spent a lot of money on midi controller + software (a lot for a newbie anyway) and have been following these tutorial on youtube:

.

I don't expect that I will become a piano virtuoso (my midi controller only has 32 keys anyway) and I don't really want to be either since I don't expect to play live. But those tutorials are at least good at teaching you which keys sound good together and how to read music so you can go and learn from other musicians.

Good luck either way!

[RCIX]

My solution to the problem was to nab some free music from the Assemblee section and use the aforementioned SFXR to make some cheesy explosion/hit SFX. I'm bad with making audio and i know it

[Razz]

Do what I did, sit down with a music making program and start chugging shit out. Don't even worry if it sounds good or not, just enjoy making music.

After a certain point you start getting a good idea of what sounds good and what doesn't. It's really one of those things you have to do hands-on to get better at.

Also, music theory helps, but I wouldn't really consider learning it for a while because well ... if you're like me, the complexity of it may turn you off and make you lose interest.


And of course, SFXR is amazing.

[ink.inc]

Fuck, man. Dr. Petter is so amazing. He's built sfxr AND sculptris! Not only that, he's released them for FREE.

[Razz]

He created sculptris? Respect

[PompiPompi]

Thanks guys.
Yea, I know it takes a lot of practice. I did try to do things myself. I didn't make good music, but now all those music programs make more sense to me than before.
My time is limited, and it will take me quiet some time to reach the level of composing I would want, so I think I will go with hiring someone.
I will start with checking out the samples of some of the guys who posted here. And then maybe post a "help wanted" thread.

[Ashkin]

Fuck, man. Dr. Petter is so amazing. He's built sfxr AND sculptris! Not only that, he's released them for FREE.

And Musagi, don't forget Musagi.
Speaking of which, while we're on the topic: Can I really get that much more out of using a 'professional' program like LSDJ rather than Musagi? What are the benefits?

[anosou]

And Musagi, don't forget Musagi.
Speaking of which, while we're on the topic: Can I really get that much more out of using a 'professional' program like LSDJ rather than Musagi? What are the benefits?

I take it you want to make chipmusic only? The only real upside with LSDJ is that you get the real hardware sound (if you have the real hardware). I personally find it user-friendly but I know for a fact it really isn't.

If you want to make anything other than chiptunes (heck, even chiptunes) try learning a Digital Audio Workstation, a DAW. Reaper ( http://www.reaper.fm/ ) is free for non-commercial use and both good and deep if you want it to be. Using plug-ins and samples you can achieve pretty much any sound, no need to limit yourself to a closed platform that might require more effort than it's worth to achieve a "realistic" chiptune sound.

Then again, you can always contact any of the gazillions of musicians looking for work or even free collaboration.

[nikki]

Can I really get that much more out of using a 'professional' program like LSDJ rather than Musagi? What are the benefits?

if you'd want to play live-sets with original (gameboy) hardware then: yes.
if your goal is a mp3 file to embed in your game i'd look into more desktoppish applications.