How to create my own music

[Berylstone]

I'm not sure if this is in the right category or not.  if it isn't, I apologize and feel free to move it to the correct one.

I'm about ready to start creating my own music for RPG Maker VX Ace - but I'm not sure how to go about it and was hoping maybe someone here could give me some advice.  I have an electric piano with USB ports so I'm going to guess there is a way I can hook it up to my PC.  So if anyone has any experience at transferring their music from an electric piano over to their PC and how to utilize it for RPG Maker VX Ace I would appreciate it.

 

[Quigon]

Most music-creating software supports line-in/USB instruments, so I'd take a perusal online (because there really are so many of them) to see what ones best suit you.

FL Studio's pretty user friendly in my opinion, but I'm sure there're tons of other composers on here who think differently. So browse some products and see what one seems good for you.

After that I'd recommend you getting some soundfonts to play around with MIDI tunes you can make on your keyboard, and from there invest in some higher end VST samples. Though I'd definitely say keep VSTs until you're quite well versed in utilising piano rolls/MIDI sequencing. And because they're often waay more expensive than the music making program is itself.

 

[Joerao]

Gorlami is spot-on. I'd also look into Acoustica Mixcraft if you're on a Windows computer - it's a great little program, very easy to use, and it's quite inexpensive when compared to the other DAWs out there. There's also a 40-day free trial and a free library with some pretty good sounds. What kind of keyboard do you have? You should be able to hook it up to your computer via USB and play directly into the software. 

 

[Berylstone]

Gorlami is spot-on. I'd also look into Acoustica Mixcraft if you're on a Windows computer - it's a great little program, very easy to use, and it's quite inexpensive when compared to the other DAWs out there. There's also a 40-day free trial and a free library with some pretty good sounds. What kind of keyboard do you have? You should be able to hook it up to your computer via USB and play directly into the software. 

I have a casio Celviano piano.  Thanks for the tip about Acoustica Mixcraft.  I like free trials and 40 days is generous so I'll give that program a try once  I figure out what kind of cable I need to hook it up.

 

[djDarkX]

I have several at my disposal that I switch between depending on what I'm doing.  If I'm making a piece from scratch, note per note, and it's usually a video-game remaster/remix/etc., I use Open MPT since it has pretty good VST support (sans a few crucial volume and mod wheel events that need to be macro'd) and it's really easy to use and get going once you know how to use it.  Does take some time though as the learning curve is a little steep.

FL Studio for quick MIDI jobs even if the volume events get left out.  I use it when I need it.  Good VST support, multi-channel effects and easy to use interface once you figure it out.

SONAR X1 is for the really intensive stuff I do.  If I to really look at what I'm doing, mostly MIDI-wise, edit notes, move them around, move whole tracks and sections around and pipe them through to effects buses, then I can.  The learning curve on SONAR is even steeper than Open MPT, but the payoff is worth it.

There's a lot of other software you can use, such as Ableton, Mixcraft (stated above) and Acid if you're working with loops.

It's really all about preference, what works for you and your budget.  Good luck!

 

[diamond16]

I write my compositions in notation form in Sibelius 7 using my keyboard (MuseScore is a good freeware alternative, and Noteworthy Composer 2 has a free trial period and is quite cheap too).  I then export the MIDI file into Cubase 5 to assign VSTs and do other weird and wonderful things

Regarding free VSTs, there's a lot of good stuff out there when you're starting out.  I would recommend Sonatina Symphony Orchestra, DSK Virtuoso, Spicy Guitar (for acoustic guitar) and Peach and Toad (NES synths, a lot of fun)

Once you pick your set-up, just experiment, experiment, experiment and find your way around the programs.

Have fun!

 

[Berylstone]

I have several at my disposal that I switch between depending on what I'm doing.  If I'm making a piece from scratch, note per note, and it's usually a video-game remaster/remix/etc., I use Open MPT since it has pretty good VST support (sans a few crucial volume and mod wheel events that need to be macro'd) and it's really easy to use and get going once you know how to use it.  Does take some time though as the learning curve is a little steep.

FL Studio for quick MIDI jobs even if the volume events get left out.  I use it when I need it.  Good VST support, multi-channel effects and easy to use interface once you figure it out.

SONAR X1 is for the really intensive stuff I do.  If I to really look at what I'm doing, mostly MIDI-wise, edit notes, move them around, move whole tracks and sections around and pipe them through to effects buses, then I can.  The learning curve on SONAR is even steeper than Open MPT, but the payoff is worth it.

There's a lot of other software you can use, such as Ableton, Mixcraft (stated above) and Acid if you're working with loops.

It's really all about preference, what works for you and your budget.  Good luck!

I'm a total newbie to this stuff so I don't understand a lot of the abbreviations and terms you are using but hopefully once I start working with it your suggestions will become more clear.  Right now my immediate problem is my piano is upstairs and my computer is downstairs and the cable I would need to connect them would have to be long and expensive.  So I'm going to have to get some help over to move my piano because I want to keep my computer downstairs.

 

[Tastica]

I played also around with Fruity Loops alias FL Studio... I can definitely recommend it. You can also import VST Plugins, if you like and use this program, try out the VST Zebra and Zebralette... They are awesome!

 

[byrdbones]

I highly recommend FL Studio I use it for most of my music production. Few samples here if you're curious : ) http://soundcloud.com/the-lotus-war

 

[Jollan]

I use Anvil studios (free version) to compose with. It is easy to use and comes with basic midi sounds that sound pretty good when imported to rpg maker. However, to get it sounding really nice, I send it through Mixcraft and set the instrument, volumes, etc., and fine tune it there. with mixcraft, you can mix down a track to an mp3, ogg, wav, or wma.