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Custom music tips

zephronscythezephronscythe
in Robot Wants Kitty
I’ve had some issues with making custom music for a level I’m hoping to upload here soon. Every time I test the music inside the app, it’s been compressed oddly: tones aren’t where I thought they’d be, certain sounds are quieter, some sounds are just different altogether, or some sounds just read as static.

I’ve narrowed down the static thing to having the tone too low, but I’m not sure about the other issues.

Are there certain “sweet spots” that people have found that seem safe when the file compresses?

Comments

  • fnanfnefnanfne
    edited January 2020
    Hey zephronscythe

    Not sure what you mean by "...when the file compresses."

    How are you composing the song, from the actual phone/tablet you're playing on? If yes, then I'd recommend using a computer and go to http://www.raptisoft.com/compose instead and then just copy the resulting URL from there into the game.

    There are some issues (very slight) when low tones/drums are used where they produce some static noise but this can be salvaged in many ways, for example, by changing the notes slightly or using less intense drums (dragging vertically down after clicking on the side of the drum note) but apart from this, there isn't really anything else amiss that I've found. Apart from perhaps the music being very slowed down and becoming very stutterry/jittery on some older devices and also when many channels are used. I've composed many songs using all six channels and both drum channels (and at times multiple instruments too!) which sound just fine on my iPhone but completely "unlistenable" on an old Android I have lying around, so do try and use least as possible.

    Check the thread on here called "Music Sharing" for some ideas and also the "Beepbox Songs" album on the unofficial RwK facebook page here.
  • zephronscythezephronscythe
    Compression might not be the correct term, it’s just the first thing that came to mind.

    I compose the song on my desktop, save the url in an email, then open the email on my phone and will listen. I’ve realized that there’s slight changes in tone between the two but nothing crazy.

    When I update the song in the app, I notice that a lot of things have changed, which reminded me of file compression for songs when you compare digital vs cd vs vinyl (they all sound differently because of a small loss of data when they compress the file).

    To try and make things less complicated (and because my musical knowledge is limited and I don’t know if there are correct terms for things already), I will try and define some words real quick. This does seem a little silly, because the question I want to ask is short, I just don’t know how to ask it correctly and make sure it makes sense. My apologies if I’m making all of this more complicated than I need to.

    So, terms:
    Tone - the sound created through the manipulation of a “chip”
    Pitch - the volume of an individual tone
    Channel - the path that an individual tone is mapped to
    Notes - the selected keys that the tone has been assigned to

    So, I have setup about 6 channels for my song. I have 3 channels with the exact same tone, but each is set at a different pitch. The tones are set to sort of have a piano sound to them and the different pitch’s help give the impression that a piano key was struck a little harder in some places. The same reasoning is true for 2 of the other channels except the tone is trying to mimic a trumpet/brassy instrument. The last channel has a low vibration that I’m still deciding on.

    When I listen to the song through the app, it seems like the different pitches I have certain channels set to aren’t staying the same, and that the notes aren’t where they’re supposed to be.

    Does the app not allow there to be multiple pitches across channels, i.e. do I have to keep all my channels on the same pitch?

    Also, I have all of my tones assigned to lower notes, because those seem to mimic the sounds I’m looking for a bit better. Do you all find that working in certain note ranges work better for maintaining the sound of the song when it’s played through the app? As I mentioned before, I know that tones set at too low of a note will cause it to sound staticky when played through the app. It also seems like the quality of the tone is changed at certain notes as well.

    Thank you all for any insight into this.
  • fnanfnefnanfne
    Okay gotcha.

    There are a few ways to control the “pitch” of a tone. I’ve never experienced anything like what you describe so might be down to your device? How do the songs sound in my levels? Demanding beeps are in many of my levels like “Diablo 2” or “Spooky Scary Skeletons”.

    The only two things I’ve found are beeps slowing down/stuttering if many channels are used (also ones that are FM, not just chip, check Diablo 2, I’ve used 6 FM channels in that level) and the other is the static/distorted sounds you get when the tones are set very low.

    Beepbox indeed allows you to make multiple channels/tones with varying pitches but these need to be manipulated in a different way.

    Could be useful to share this beep with me so we can check if this is device specific? DM if you want!
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