Tunehoney and Understanding Music

Hey everyone. Today I've got a podcast for you all to listen to that gives a little bit of background on why Tunehoney approaches music theory the way it does. Hope you guys enjoy!

Thanks again for listening!

This is Tunehoney, signing off.

Works Cited and Additional Reading.

Masuda, Junichi. (2000). Olivine City. On Pokemon Gold and Silver Original Soundtrack [MP3 File]. (n.d.).

Interview with A Musician

Hello, Tunehoney enthusiasts (AKA mom). Today we’re going to have a special guest on Tunehoney: co-founder and lead music director of game-development company Nisuboy, Parth Dalal.

Today Parth is going to share some of his experience with us and shed some light on methods of navigating the peculiar task of creating something out of nothing, or, in other words, making music.

So, without further ado, on to the interview!

So, Parth, how did you first begin learning to make music?

In a sense, I’ve always made “music” in my head, and I found that the best form of expressing that energy in this world is through what we consensually understand as music.

After displaying some interest in music when I was a child, my parents enrolled me in piano lessons. Perhaps these weekly lessons, though I was indifferent towards them, were what gave me a foundation to build on and what initially developed my musical intuition.

After I quit lessons, I found richer musical inspiration in the world of film and video games. When my parents bought me a software called PowerTracks Pro Audio, I began to mess around and create my own MIDI tracks (MIDI tracks were a ‘thing’ at the time). I even made a MIDI track called “Dragonball Y Main Theme”, trying to convince my brother that such a series existed. It was fun.

Fast-forward to high school, I eventually found my way to traditional DAW (digital audio workstation) software. I continued ‘messing around’ as usual, with new experiments, covers, remixes, and even some (or a lot of) “Dragonball Y” type tracks along the way. That’s how I began, and it’s in the same spirit that I continue to learn.

What form do your songs start out as? For example, do you begin writing with an emotion, theme, or genre in mind, or do you let those things evolve naturally as you write?

Just to give some background: I have an odd quirk I’ve had since childhood, where I sit down and wiggle my hands and fingers (often holding objects like pens or hangers). Here’s me in action. This results in a sort of stimulatory state where creative thoughts flow more freely and spontaneous musical ideas often get expressed, though this state is not consciously used to that end; it’s sort of a raw expression of thoughts and feelings from which ideas happen to arise. It just feels satisfying, I guess.

The form of musical ideas produced this way tend to emphasize melodies and chord progressions, with personal feelings normally as a peripheral component. But sometimes the melodic ideas do not make sense without the full emotional context or lyrics that I give them. I try my best to write down my ideas using as many mediums as possible to accurately transcribe them, and then work from there.

Another way my music often starts is through audio experiments. For example, I might wonder what it would be like to pitch shift my voice after it’s gone through a vocoder. Then instead of using a vocoder, I might impulsively apply a different effect out of curiosity even though it wasn’t part of my original plan, and that might end up sounding extremely cool. So then I might play chords that sound nice with this unique “instrument” I’ve constructed, and then find that this particular melody actually works better with strings. Then I might change it to strings and so on and so forth.

Can you talk a little bit about the value of a natural and playful music writing process versus applying music theory at every step?

I feel that music (and art, in general) is about expressing something personal to oneself. If it wasn’t, artists would be happy hiring experts to do all the creative work for them.

Music theory seeks to be objective, not personal. It represents a cultural musical paradigm, not an individual personality. So, if you are approaching music with the idea to express yourself (the usual case), the value of a natural process is that it can let you discover yourself independent from culture and conditioning, and possibly invent something entirely new. It might seem like you can do this starting with theory as a reference point i.e “Learning the rules to break ‘em”, but there are core aspects of personality that neither come from learning the rules nor breaking them.

What’s cool is that not only does a natural/playful process allow one to better express themselves, it is the reason music theory itself evolves. In this sense, it has historical value e.g guitar distortion, while initially not aligned with the musical paradigm of that time, defined new genres of music like Rock and Roll, with new theories within those genres.

All that said, I feel that an understanding of contemporary “theory” (i.e. what makes music sound like music today), obviously forms a valid foundation upon which one can play, express, and discover themselves.

Is there any musical advice you’d like to give to aspiring musicians / Tunehoney followers (AKA mom) who might be reading this interview?

Don’t forget what music (and art as a whole) really mean to you. It’s easy to get lost in identity issues pertaining to your label as a “musician” or “artist”. In this, one can overly intellectualize one’s musical identity and lose touch with the heart component that kickstarted everything. Soulfun.

Last but not least, are there any projects you’re working on at Nisuboy that readers might be interested in checking out?

Get a blista!

Conclusion

On behalf of Tunehoney and all the Tunehoney followers, I’d like to thank you very much for doing this interview. 

8-bit Music and Voice Over Acting in Video Games

“There is nothing wrong with your computer monitor. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. I am controlling today’s blog post...” 

This week on Tunehoney a random guest blogger, Hunter Scott, has appeared to discuss the introduction of voice over acting to the elements of chiptunes in video games.

Chiptunes, or 8-bit music were first introduced early in the golden age of arcade video games. The first arcade video game to introduce a continuous track was Tomohiro Nishikado's 1978 release Space Invaders. 8-bit music in arcade games gave the player a much more exciting experience and aided in their understanding of the direction of game play. Space Invaders utilized the music to portray speed and difficulty of each section during such game play. We can remember pong, with it’s beeps and boops, which sooner or later created complacency and boredom. Yes, without music there was a lack in excitement and adventure given to the gamer.

It was not until 1980 that we were able to add a new and needed element to gameplay; the addition of voices in games. Atari’s Bezerk, though was not exactly voice acting, it revolutionized the idea of adding voices in games in the form of voice synthesis. Voice synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer, and can be implemented in software or hardware products. We see this today in our text to speech technology within our computer software and smart phones. This was a start in reinventing the idea of giving the audience a more connected experience.

With a demand for an evolution in games, Final Fantasy X set a new standard with the usage of real voice over artists for its characters. This gave relief to gamers’ eye strain from reading text in previous versions to follow the plot. David Hayter later set the bar for his voice work as Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid. His husky voice became iconic through out the gaming world and aided in paving the way for more voice over artists to be a part of the industry of video games.

Today we rarely experience video games without voice over acting. This element connects the audience to a point that they are able to self identify with a characters personality and goals. And to think this all started with a couple beeps and boops.

“I now return control of Tunehoney back to Aidan, but keep listening and stay tuned in.”

Link to Hunter Scott’s Blog on Introduction to Voice Over Acting : https://innervoxhs.wordpress.com/

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiptune

http://www.gamingbus.com/2012/08/06/the-growth-of-voice-acting-in-video-games/

How To Write A Melody: Melodic Structure

This week on Tunehoney we'll be completing our discussion on writing melodies  -- that's right -- today our topic is melodic structure.

Once more we'll be using the melody of Eight Melodies as an example.

fig. 1: Eight Melodies, lovingly transcribed by me in Photoshop

Call & Response

Mastering the use of call and response will make for a a powerful tool in your melodic arsenal. Let's look at an example.

Take a look at (and have a listen to) measures 1 - 2 of Eight Melodies. The melody plays 4 quarter notes followed by one whole note. Now do the same with measures 3 - 4. Again, the melody plays 4 quarter notes followed by one whole note. 

Now take a look at the direction of movement between each note in measures 1 - 2:

D ▲ E ▲ F# ▲ A ▼ E

up, up, up, down

And measures 3 - 4: 

D ▼ C# ▼ B ▼ F# ▲ A

down, down, down, up

Because measures 1 - 2 and measures 3 - 4 are rhythmically identical but opposite in motion, they feel closely related. You can almost hear measures 1 - 2 calling out and measures 3 - 4 answering that call.

This is a call and response. Call and response is effective because it is a form of tension and release which we discussed last week. The call creates tension as it begs for an answer, and the response relieves that tension by resolving the call.

See if you can find examples of call and response throughout the rest of Eight Melodies or in any of the music you listen to.

Keep in mind that a call and a response don't have to be rhythmically identical nor perfectly opposite in movement to qualify -- there's no strict definition for a "call" and no strict definition for a "response." Generally, if it feels like one melodic part is beckoning to another, it's a call and response.

How To Write A Melody: Scale Degrees and Relationships

This week we'll be continuing our discussion on how to write a melody for your chiptunes -- more specifically, we'll be learning the relationships between tones and how they can be used to create an effective  a melody.

Let's start by learning the names of the tones in a scale. As we discussed last time, there are 7 tones in any given diatonic scale (but not in other scales such as the chromatic scale and pentatonic scales). While in some cases it is beneficial to list the specific notes of a scale every time you write one --

C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C

D  E  F#  G  A  B  C#

-- it can become tedious and is too specific for some situations. Instead, it's easier to refer to the tones by their scale degree and number in the scale:

Tonic (1)   Supertonic (2)  Mediant (3) Subdominant (4) Dominant (5) Submediant (6) Leading Tone (7)

The most important thing to remember about these scale degrees is that the tonic is what we can think of as the 'home' of the scale. When you're writing a melody, you should strive to end your melody on the tonic. This is what's known as resolution. Resolving to the tonic adds a satisfying sense of completion to a melody.

On the other side of resolution is tension. When you end a part of your melody on something other than the tonic -- especially the 2, 5, or 7 of the scale -- you create tension, which results in the listener expecting and hoping for resolution.

Think of it like starting a sentence, but


not finishing it.

To experience tension firsthand, play a C Major scale, but stop playing when you reach the 7th tone (B). That feeling of anticipation created by stopping short of the tonic (and failing to resolve) is tension, and it's an important tool in composing effective melodies.

fig. 1: Eight Melodies, lovingly transcribed by me in Photoshop

If we look at the 8th measure of Eight Melodies, we can see that it ends on an A. Since Eight Melodies is in the key of D Major, that means A is the 5 of the scale. If you were to pause the song at the end of the 8th measure, it would feel unsatisfying. That's because the composer has carefully created tension at the halfway point of the song.

Now pay attention to the last note in the song. That's right -- it's a D. We learned that D is the tonic, and a resolution to the tonic is inherently satisfying.

Go forth, my friends and use tension and resolution to create satisfyingly sweet tunes.

Works Cited and Additional Reading.

Miller, M. (Year of publication). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory: Second Edition. New York, New York: Penguin Group.

Tanaka, H., Suzuki, K. (1989). Eight Melodies. On Mother Original Soundtrack [NSF File]. (n.d.).

How To Write A Melody: Tones and Scales

This week (and next) on Tunehoney, we'll be working our way to learning how to write a melody.

The melody is one of the most important parts of a song. Melody gives the listener something to follow and something to sing along to. The melody is the part of a song that you find yourself humming hours after hearing it.

Since the melody of a song is so important, it follows that one way to write a song is to begin with a melody. Before we can do that, we need to learn what a components make up a melody. 

To understand melody at its most basic, we'll be examining the simple, iconic song Eight Melodies (one melody, really) from Mother (NES):

fig. 1: Eight Melodies, lovingly transcribed by me in Photoshop

Get to know this melody as best you can, because we'll be picking it apart next time. But for now, let's learn the very basic components of a melody.

Tones and Scales

To understand how to write an effective melody, we must first understand the relationship between tones.

        A tone is a sound that is played or sung at a specific         pitch. (Miller, p. 4)

Pretty simple. 12 tones make up the foundation of Western music, and you've probably heard of them. As a quick note, '#' stands for sharp, which raises a tone, and 'b' stands for flat, which lowers a tone. The 12 tones are:

A  A#  B  C C#  D  D#  E  F  F#  G  G#

or

A  Bb  B  C  Db  D  Eb  E  F  Gb  G  Ab

The space between one tone to the adjacent tone is called a half-step (B to C, or F to F#), and the space between one tone and the tone after the adjacent tone is called a whole-step (B to C#, F to G). Half-steps and whole-steps are important because they allow us to construct musical scales when we stack them in different ways.

A scale is a series of eight successive tones placed in alphabetical order. A C-major scale, for example:

C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C

And a D-major scale, which Eight Melodies is composed in:

D  E  F#  G  A  B  C#  D

Scales dictate which tones we're 'allowed' to use when writing music -- tones that fall outside of the scale (called accidentals) sound dissonant when played on top of tones within the scale. 

As you become more experienced with composing, you'll be able to effectively use tones outside of the scale you're writing in, but for now we're going to stick to the notes in the scale.

Notice both example scales, C-major and D-major, are major scales, despite containing different tones. What makes them major is their identical arrangement of half-steps and whole-steps. Take a look.

Our 12 tones:

C C#  D  D#  E  F  F#  G  G#  A  A#  B

Our C-major scale:

C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C

Now both on top of each other (exclude tones in parentheses):

C (C#)  D  (D#)  E  F  (F#)  G  (G#)  A  (A#)  B  C

If there is a tone in parentheses between two adjacent letters of the alphabet, that's a whole-step (C to D), and if there isn't, that's a half-step (E to F). In other words, a major scale really looks like this (W is a whole-step, H is a half-step):

W  W  H  W  W  W  H

Try measuring the whole and half-steps between the tones of the D-major scale provided above. By applying that pattern of whole and half-steps to any the twelve tones, you can find out which tones make up each musical scale.

A few tips about scales:

• Beyond major scales, there are also other scales such as minor scales and the chromatic scale
• Scales must not skip a letter of the alphabet. This determines which scales use #s and which use b's
• A single scale cannot contain both #s and b's
• The pattern of whole and half-steps for a natural minor scale is: W  H  W  W  H  W  W

How important, then, is choosing a scale for your song?

At this stage, not very. Since we're composing chiptunes and not writing for vocalists or instruments, and since we've only learned the major scale, whichever major scale we choose to work with is going to sound pretty much the same.

But tune in next time, when we get into the meat of melodies and use all of theory we just learned to understand Eight Melodies and why it's so effective.

Works Cited and Additional Reading.

Miller, M. (Year of publication). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory: Second Edition. New York, New York: Penguin Group.

Tanaka, H., Suzuki, K. (1989). Eight Melodies. On Mother Original Soundtrack [NSF File]. (n.d.).

How To Find Inspiration

This week on Tunehoney, we'll be discussing how to find inspiration for a chiptune composition.

Composing a chiptune is no different from writing a story or painting a picture. In each case, an artist starts with an idea and a blank canvas. Any artist's goal, really, is to find a way to translate their idea into their medium of choice as effectively as possible. 

In that case, there are a two equally critical steps to the creative process: creating an idea, and translating the idea.

We'll learn more about translating an idea using our artists' tools (chiptune trackers and some knowledge of music theory) in future posts. For now, let's start with the basics and find some ways to create an idea or, in other words, learn how to find inspiration.

Method 1: Watch, Look, and Listen

This one's easy. Observe what other people have created.

To find inspiration, simply watch your favorite movies, play your favorite games, and listen to your favorite music. You'll know when inspiration hits.

As beginners, don't be afraid to borrow ideas from your favorite artists, and don't fret over originality too much. 

Take this tune.

It's a cover of Stars of Track and Field by Belle and Sebastian, and an early FamiTracker project of mine. 

Every time I listened to the original song, I imagined it would make a great overworld theme for an NES platformer. It's wholly unoriginal, but I had fun making it and learned a little more about chiptunes in the process.

So cover songs, remix songs, sample movies, look at art, and do whatever it takes to get you creating.

Remember: if you're writing down music, you're making progress.

Method 2: Find a Concept

This one's a bit more abstract than the last, but can also lead to more original compositions.

Another way to find inspiration is to take a concept and use it as inspiration.

"A concept?" you say. "But that sounds terribly vague. A 'concept' could be anything."

And to that, I answer: Yes, a concept can be anything.

Let's look at some examples:

• Happiness
• A clumsy polar bear cub
• Rude waitstaff
• The ever-expanding, infinitely-unknowable cosmos
• Jerry Seinfeld's white tennies
• A Sunday's trip to grandmummy's

Of course, the list is potentially endless.

As an inspiration exercise, open your text editor of choice and start jotting down some concepts. Run with the first one that makes you feel something -- a chuckle, a whiff of nostalgia, a tinge of sadness, a hint of arousal.

And if you can't do that, feel free to leave a Tunehoney comment and I'll shoot you back a sweet concept. 

Remember: if it makes you feel something, you're making progress.

Method 3: Try Something New

This is the last one, and likely the most difficult.

If you're having trouble finding inspiration and the above methods haven't worked, try doing something new.

Inspiration can come from a change of environment -- whether physical, social, or mental. 

• Take a walk to somewhere you don't usually go 
• Talk to someone new 
• Message an old friend on Facebook 
• Look through a highschool yearbook 
• Take it one step further and go on a vacation

At the end of the day, inspiration comes from living life and having experiences. Don't get hung up on the 'idea' itself; live life and let the idea come to you.

Remember: if you're living life, you're making progress.

Works Cited

Murdoch, Stuart (1996 Nov 18). Stars of Track and Field [Belle and Sebastian]. On If You're Feeling Sinister [Audio CD]. Ca Va Studios, Glasgow: Jeepster Records.