Looking to start making some 8 Bit music but have no idea how! Please help!
Hello there everybody, hope you're having a nice day.
I just ordered a MIDI keyboard and want to use it to make some 8 bit music in Musescore, but I'm a little stuck on getting the instruments. I have a soundfont loaded, but this doesn't seem to have added anything (I don't really know how they work). Thanks in advance!
Comments
Welcome on board, have you followed the instructions in the handbook?
https://musescore.org/en/handbook/note-input#midi-keyboard
In reply to Welcome on board, have you by Shoichi
Yes - I know my way around MuseScore but I have no idea on how to import 8-Bit instruments, so that's what I need help with.
In reply to Yes - I know my way around by theblondemonkey
See: https://musescore.org/en/node/31076
HTH
In reply to See: by Shoichi
I've downloaded the soundfont, but what I'm confused about what the soundfont does. Does it add new instruments?
In reply to I've downloaded the by theblondemonkey
The instruments are always present in every soundfont. And musescore lists those available in the mixer and use the sounds with the synthesizer.
Have a look at the handbook https://musescore.org/en/handbook/soundfont *
When choosing an instrument (pressing 'I') make sure you've selected 'All instruments' in the dialog box.
I'm afraid I don't know better help you, but be patient and will come a better response.
* https://musescore.org/en/node/50721
Not sure what you mean by "8 bit music" exactly, but if you have some specific soundfont that is only 8 bits and you like the sound of it, just load it as described in the Handbook and your sounds will *automatically* use that soudnfont. So, if you write music for a flute, it will olay back using your soundfont's flute sound instead of the default flute sound, violin will use your soundfont's violin, etc. If your soundfont doesn't provide the usual set of instrument sounds defined by General MIDI, then you will need to figure out what sounds it does provide and use View / Mixer to select which sound to use for which instrument. For instance, if your soundfont provides a sound called a "Foobar" and you want to use that even though it isn't a standard instrument, just create your score for a normal instrument (like flute) and then se the Mixer to select the Foobar sound for playback.
In reply to Not sure what you mean by "8 by Marc Sabatella
So, I now know that the piano is one of the instruments, but how do I find out which instrument is which? Do I have to just trial and error it?
In reply to So, I now know that the piano by theblondemonkey
When you go to the Mixer, you should see the list of sounds provided. Just choose the one you want.
In reply to When you go to the Mixer, you by Marc Sabatella
It just says whatever the instrument usually is for each one
In reply to It just says whatever the by theblondemonkey
Exactly. So what's the problem? If you want to use the piano sound from your soundfont for some given staff, just select it for that channel in the Mixer.
In reply to Exactly. So what's the by Marc Sabatella
I mean that the piano, despite sounding 8bit, is still called Piano
In reply to I mean that the piano, by theblondemonkey
OK, so juist select it. The list tells you the name of the sounds provided by your soundfont. If ooking at it in that list is not convenient, maybe wherever you got the soundfont from has the list in a downlaodable form you can print out or whatever. But anyhow, just select the sound you want from the list.
I'm assuming that you're talking about the Tracker music we all used to produce back in the late 80's and early 90's.
This Wikipedia article may help.......
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_tracker
This was actually my first experience of producing computer music, and at the time we were all very relieved when 16 bit samples became possible because, frankly, the 8 bit samples that were the only ones available to us at the time were, frankly, awful!
But Tracker music made with 8 bit samples has now become a genre in it's own right.
As far as we were concerned along came MIDI and made it all obsolete - such is life.
If you need any help, I may be able to dig deep into memory, but it was a long time ago, and, sadly, I lost all the music I created in that format in a hard drive crash in the mid 90's :(
HTH
Michael