Making 16-bit music is an enjoyable way to relax and think about while creating 16-bit content. Creating 16-bit music can be a little nostalgic, forcing you to think back to past experiences and methods.
Many people first learn how to make 16-bit content by playing the games they were childhoods off of. If you are very familiar with these games, you can create new sounds for them!
Making 16-bit music is not too difficult, but it does require some skill acquisition. There are many YouTube channels that offer tutorials on how to make 16-bit music.
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Choose an instrument
Once you have created your 16-bit music, it is time to pick your instrument. Most commonly, people use violin or guitar as the first one, but you can start with the bassoon or horn or piano.
The difference between the two is in how they sound and what notes they can produce. The violin produces lower pitched notes faster than the bassoon, making it the first option for music made in 16-bit mode.
The guitar produces higher pitched notes faster than the bassoon, making it the second option for music made in 16-bit mode.
The trumpet produces higher pitched notes slower than the saxophone, making it the third option for music made in 16-bit mode.
Find instruments that match the genre
When creating your sound, you should find some musical instruments that match the genre you are creating music for. This will give your music some flair!
Making music for a video game or real life performance might use synthesizers, guitars, and drums. These instruments belong in the world of audio.
Creating music for a song or dance style should have a piano, bass, and rhythm guitar. The singer or artist may have a confidence in making the artist’s style look nice on stage and taste good.
Using software applications can help create your sound. There are many free ones that provide you with basic functions. You can add reverb, effect plugins, and go through parameters to change the size, shape, and setting of your sound.
Find samples that match the genre
When creating music, you must match the genre you are creating in! Doing not match the genre may cause your music to be unrecognized or mismatch with other peoples. There are many genres of music so do not worry about that.
Make a list of all the songs you know by title and they match the genre. Then, try combining those titles with different sounds and genres to find new music.
It is very helpful to have several songs created for different lengths but make sure they are at least twenty seconds long! That is how long your computer will allow for on a disk drive.
Once you find some good music, save it as an audio file so you can use the software or hardware device that can play musical discs or audio files.
Create slow bass lines
When creating your bass lines, remember to create slow bass lines. This means that your baritone or bass line should be the one that you start on, and then you add some notes and bounces on and around it.
This is important to do, because if you start super fast, then your body will match up the kick to the lower note. This will create a good sound, but if you make it slow, then it will be more of a sibilant sound.
We want our music to match up with our movements, so making slower sounds will help this out. It is hard to know when you are making a proper bass line, but if you can make some slow ones every once in a while, you will be saving yourself from breaking down on the music.
Use analog sounds
In the olden days, people used to create music using only digital sounds. You can still find some old musicians who use only analog sounds in music today.
There are many applications for computer or desktop sound programs that you can use to create new music. Most allow you to remix existing songs, put your own message into it, and give you different Instruments and Music Styles to create your music.
I would recommend looking at sites like SoundCloud or Bandcamp to find new artists and start creating your own music!
Bullet point missing: Make your music sound old
The last tip is making your new age-themed music sound old. Old-sounding instruments such as harps, quills, and tambouras can be used in your songmaking.
Use digital sounds
In order to make your own 16-bit music, you’ll need to use sounds that are digital. You can find many digitally created sound effects and music tracks online, or you can create your own!
Many of these sounds are free, but some are not. If you find one that is, please do not upload it as it may take away from your creativity!
You do not need very many digital sounds to create 16-bit music. Some you might want to use more than others, depending on what kind of sound you want to create.
The ones that work well in dance routines and the ones that don’t work so well.
Add some distortion to your sounds
When creating your sound, you can add some distortion to make your sounds more unique. A simple way to do this is to go into your audio device’s effects menu and create a new distortion effect.
Then, you can experiment with the shape and amount of the signal that goes in and out of your device!
Many devices have a “Upper Vocal” or “Lower Vocal” effect, which adds some variation to the pitch of your voice. You can use these to create weird pitched sounds!
Try creating some music using only these effects! They are fun to play with and experiment with.
Similarly, changing the texture of your sound can give it a different feel. For example, making a soft piano sound that gets progressively louder and louder. Or making an electronic sound that gets louder and louder until it is completely distorted.
Use high-pass and low-pass filters
When making music in the old-fashioned way, you can use either high-pass or low-pass filters to create your waveforms. These tools allow you to create a smooth transition between parts of your song, making it sound more like a song sequence.
Old-fashioned waveform editors do not have any filters, so most programs have a quick filter function that creates a narrow band of color along the edge of the waveform. This is used to separate parts of the song that look similar but may not be identical.
The modern feature is the ability to add effects such as pitch shifting, distortion, andambiguation. These can be applied either automatically or manually!
Old-fashioned music making methods used musical scales. The major and minor chords were remembered and used when creating music.