Anonymous User asked: Heya! I have. no composing experience, mostly because I never thought it was something I could Do. Most of the recs I've seen for beginner game composing are focused on chiptune/retro, which I respect but do not really feel any inclination toward making. But I started thinking seriously enough about what it would be like to create my own music for a project and looking at FL Studio tutorials and this kind of makes sense to me?? I tend to get really keen on doing stuff and find it hard to stay focused enough to actually do it, so before I start down any specific path messing around I wanted to ask you if there are any very first baby steps you recommend for someone who is interested in this. Not in making their own game soundtrack from scratch, necessarily, but in just figuring out if composing is something they'd enjoy. Thank you for any thoughts you have!
i think you're already on the right path!! honestly the big determining factor to doing music is if you have fun learning about it and making it. recreate your favorite songs!! noodle around until you have something to share! all it takes is doing, and if you're enjoying that, then studying up on how it ticks can help you get from "stuff in your head" to "everyone can hear it now"
basic stuff (free instruments):
there's a lot of free resources out there! Vital is an extremely cool free synth that I personally use a lot for professional projects, and is a perfect introduction to making synth presets & experimenting with raw soundwaves.
if you want more of a 'real' instrument approach, FL studio has some great out of the box samples & (....while i am loathe to recommend them due to an associated transphobic employee) the spitfire labs series are a good collection of free sample libraries (i am personally ok recommending free things, just know abt the whole situation if you go further than taking stuff from them)
advanced stuff (tutorials):
if you're keen to learn more about ableton live (my daw of choice), Flow Prod has a lot of great tutorials using the included plugins to do fun sounds, effects and mixing techniques.
if you wanna learn more about mixing & mastering (and FL-specific plugins!), In the Mix has a bunch of great tutorials & informative videos.
"i wanna put money towards this" stuff (things 2 buy):
if you've determined you wanna start buying some fun plugins and instruments, here's some of my favorites:
reverb: Valhalla Room
https://valhalladsp.com/shop/reverb/valhalla-room/
this is my one-stop-shop for reverbs. it just sounds good on everything.
sample engine: Kontakt
https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-7/
this is sort of the gold standard for sampled instruments, has a great factory library, and you can even make your own libraries if you're so inclined.
chip stuff: (i know you specifically don't wanna go this way, but i know a lot of ppl who follow me are curious!)
Plogue's chipsynth series of plugins is a goldmine for soundfont style instruments. SFC can even load ROM-ripped soundtrack files from super famicom/snes era games & let you use the literal actual soundbanks. i use this a lot.
https://www.plogue.com/store.html
if you just want to load soundfonts (FL studio has a built in soundfont device, but in case you're on a DAW that doesn't), sforzando is free & lets you import sf2 files. it's very nice.
https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando.html
i could go on for ages but that's a good starting kit. enjoy!!
