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Hey guys. This is a friendly reminder that there are 13 days left to submit your track.

At 1/13/25 04:27 PM, Whirlguy wrote:

At 1/13/25 02:46 PM, RealTin3Sn wrote:Thank you a lot~!

Currently I have 8 bars of 4/4. Could I extend that to 9 or not?

Upon closer inspection I'm noticing that your .wav file has the exact length of a 4/4 song if it were 9-bars long at 160 BPM haha. Technically you're following the rules here so perhaps I should have been clearer with my instructions. To be more specific: You get 1 bar (4 metronome clicks) to write a short intro, then 32 more clicks to compose the rest of your song. You're not supposed to compose anything beyond that point but it's fine if your .wav file extends beyond that. In fact, I prefer if your song gradually fades into silence over suddenly cutting off!

Now for some math I guess.

The rules say you get 8 bars at a 4/4 time signature, which means your song amounts to 32 metronome clicks (4x8=32). Add one more bar for the intro (4x1=4) and you'll end up with 36 clicks. That's 9 bars in total. Most contributors have been using this method.

You've decided to use 4 bars of a 7/4 time signature on the other hand (7x4=28) and didn't include an intro (4x0=0). In other words, you've used up a total of 28 clicks for your composition so far, which is 8 counts shorter than usual.

Hopefully that makes sense!

At 1/13/25 02:29 PM, Whirlguy wrote:

At 1/13/25 01:19 PM, RealTin3Sn wrote:Here's what I've been working on today. It's not anywhere close to finished and certainly not mixed but I'll give you updates as I work on it further. Sorry for having to provide a google drive link instead of a file dump (you'll have to download it too):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/133TplGwQej7VXNkBwB278PxAYyN7ZqV3/view?usp=sharing

Ahh that's ok, no worries! This is really nice and I like that you went with 7/4! I'm sure you're aware of this but you still have one bar left at the end there haha!

At 1/8/25 01:28 PM, m8chnix wrote:

At 1/8/25 01:08 PM, RealTin3Sn wrote:

At 1/7/25 03:22 PM, m8chnix wrote:Hello everyone!
For a long time I have dreamed of composing digital music. Since I was 6 years old, I have been going to music school, and now I am studying at a music college, but I only play the piano, so I have no experience playing other instruments.
However, 2 years ago I got an iMac for which I bought a MIDI keyboard.
Over time, I began to try to compose small leitmotifs in GarageBand, but assembling these motives into full-fledged compositions turned out to be pretty bad for me.

In 2023, I signed up for Newgrounds, where I saw a great opportunity to get inspired, gain experience, and share my creativity. The only problem remains that I have very little experience in creating digital music: I don’t know many terms, principles of compositing, or working in different genres. I would like to know where is the best place to start learning the art of composing music or who I could consult with to learn many of the basics.

I can’t wait to share my compositions and participate in collabs, but I don’t want to rush and gain experience before doing so so as not to embarrass myself. I really want to create quality music.

I will be very grateful for any advice and recommendations <3

I don't use garage band, instead LMMS. I've been using it for almost a decade now. And I admire that you are taking it slow and not rushing into things. I really get the sense you're serious about this, so I'll explain some of my own tips. This is long, so buckle up:

One thing I don't think gets enough attention in these kinds of discussions is that you often have to experience a lot of music before really writing stuff you can call your own. When I first started out, I had a limited palette of songs, and as a result my compositions didn't always work out or be something I would be proud of for a long time afterward. What I'm saying is, you really need to find some music that clicks with you while going on this journey. I'm of the belief that everyone has this gem inside of them, something whose light is unique and worth sharing to the world, but not always do people, themselves included, see this.

You can't control what other people will say or think about your music. It isn't your job to do this. But the thing is, you can control how much you're aware of this gem I talked about by exploring songs others have written and seeing how much of it resonates with you. And once you do this, I think, you're already off to a great start.

As for the theory, I myself know some of it, quite a few terms I actually know by heart and I try to incorporate them in all my compositions. However, the more formal devices I don't know the names of and I don't always use them. It would be best to consult the web or maybe ask one of us. In terms of the art side, this is actually where I can help you a little bit. The best advice I could give to you is to really create. Create a lot. Try to create every day. Since you play the piano, I think you'll have a much easier time getting inspiration than someone who doesn't play any instrument. And don't always reject your leitmotifs. You never know what will turn into something great or not.

So um, yeah, that's my two cents for you. Keep at it, and go out there and find something that clicks with you. And don't be afraid to shift your style to something that feels more right. Music is a process of self-discovery.

oh man, thank you for such advice and wise thoughts. Honestly, reading your answer and the answers of others in this thread, I am inspired more and more

At 1/7/25 03:22 PM, m8chnix wrote:Hello everyone!
For a long time I have dreamed of composing digital music. Since I was 6 years old, I have been going to music school, and now I am studying at a music college, but I only play the piano, so I have no experience playing other instruments.
However, 2 years ago I got an iMac for which I bought a MIDI keyboard.
Over time, I began to try to compose small leitmotifs in GarageBand, but assembling these motives into full-fledged compositions turned out to be pretty bad for me.

In 2023, I signed up for Newgrounds, where I saw a great opportunity to get inspired, gain experience, and share my creativity. The only problem remains that I have very little experience in creating digital music: I don’t know many terms, principles of compositing, or working in different genres. I would like to know where is the best place to start learning the art of composing music or who I could consult with to learn many of the basics.

I can’t wait to share my compositions and participate in collabs, but I don’t want to rush and gain experience before doing so so as not to embarrass myself. I really want to create quality music.

I will be very grateful for any advice and recommendations <3

At 1/6/25 04:18 PM, Whirlguy wrote:

At 1/6/25 08:57 AM, cocoloco3412 wrote:oh boy oh boy, this is so exciting! i would like to do part number 15, please (the dramatic choir one)! and good luck to all other participants!!! XD

Hmm part 15, are you sure? I'm going through your music and I'm not really seeing any classical or cinematic stuff. I think your style might really fit part 7 though!

At 1/6/25 12:14 PM, RealTin3Sn wrote:
Ooh part 11!

I didn't include any additional resources for part 11, so you're pretty much good to go. This time period saw both the Dragonball Z and Smash Bros collab, so it would be cool if those vibes could be channeled into a song somehow! But I'm going through your music and I'm noticing your songs are usually quite calm and don't use any drums. Are you sure about picking part 11? Forgive me for being forward but I think the type of music you make might really suit part 8 or maybe 28?

At 1/6/25 12:14 PM, RealTin3Sn wrote:
How much creative freedom do I have, and does that include time signatures?

As far as time signatures go, everyone gets 1 bar of a 4/4 intro max, but you could choose to use only 3/4 of that time (as an example). As for the rest of the song, it should still be 32 counts in total (8 bars of 4/4). You could however fool the audience by playing 5/4 for 6 bars, then end it on 2/4. So yeah, I will allow time shenanigans as long as it doesn't sound like a fucking mess haha (In fact, I'm pretty sure Sorohanro and Azhthar played with different time signatures during the last collab).

At 1/6/25 02:26 PM, Scareev wrote:
https://on.soundcloud.com/PzD8d997RGtfDdAj6
i was having trouble exporting it to the dumping grounds, so i posted up on a private soundcloud link, should i change something?

Oh hell yeah that sounds great! Have you tried uploading your audiofile to the NG dump in a zipfile? Always works for me! If you're looking for suggestions, maybe add a bassline and some silly spooky noises? 👻