Build lo-fi beats in this hidden object / rhythm game (2 new levels!) · By
Hey, awesome! Thank you :)
To be honest, I'm also a bit basic at digital art (I do all the lines on paper still).
I'm glad you got the feeling of making music from it :) That was one of the main things I was trying to do~
Oh also, I don't know if you saw. But if you're interested, I have a 6 level demo available here until July 11th~
Hey thank you, that’s great to hear! :)
So I’m not sure at which stage you are at making lo-fi music, but first things first, I think it’s best to start with a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). I have a Mac so I use Garageband. I’ve tried a few other things over the years but that was the easiest for me to use (+ it’s free and included with the computer). If you have windows I think Ableton live lite is probably the best option, you can get that for free here :)
If you decide to use Garageband, I found this tutorial video super, super helpful. I used it to help me build my first lo-fi tracks~
After you have a DAW, I would recommend getting a midi controller (basically a mini piano you can plug into your computer). I have this one. I think it's one of the cheapest options. If you want something with a bit more features, I've heard this one is good. Or if you decide to use Ableton, this one is made to work well together with that.
If you don’t have access to a computer, you can use Garageband on iOS. (I haven’t had much experience with that though). I’m not sure there’s a good option for Android yet.
In terms of learning how to make music itself. I'm not sure what the best way of doing that would be. I think probably the best way is to first make a drum beat (try to recreate a similar one to a track you like), they are usually fairly simple to figure out, just listen to where the kick drum, snares and hi-hats appear. Then adding 3 or 4 chords over that (I'd stick to just the white keys to start with) then loop melody ideas over the top with different instruments, again just using the white keys. That is kind of a simplified version of the process I go through.
I would say it helps to listen to what is happening in songs you like, like drum patterns or instrumentation and trying to add these elements to your tracks~ Or maybe even trying to rebuild tracks in order to practice.
I know a lot of people use samples to build beats, I haven't had much experience with that, but that could also be a good way to get started. Also in general there is a lot of good information on youtube, so I'd recommend looking stuff up there frequently.
Hope this is of some help to you :)
Hey, thanks very much :) I'm glad you're able to keep playing it! I'm working on a longer version of the game at the moment. This version most likely won't get any new levels but I will keep it up to date with gameplay updates. I'm hoping to get the full version finished around the end of this year~
Hi, thank you for the feedback~
Could I ask you a few questions to help me improve the game please? I'd like the game to be accessible as possible, so I'd like to know whether some things are unclear in the game, or where there might be problems for newer players.
The rhythm part is a really important part of the game, so I don't think it would work with it being skippable. But I'd like to make sure it's still easy enough for new players.
Hey, thanks so much! :)
Thanks for letting me know about the bass, when I have time I'll try to mix everything so that you can hear the bass well too, it might be tricky to balance it for headphones and speakers but I'll see if I can find a way.
In my experience people tended to find the bell and the guitar difficult in level 3, but I haven't heard that much feedback on the drums. Was it the drums on the first level that were difficult, or all of them? Also by difficult, do you mean difficult to find or to play? Thanks for your feedback~ :)
I meant to play and I found it a bit harder than the rest compared to the other instruments on each level, not only on level 1. Level 3 I did find that the difficulty went up by a bunch, but seeing that it's only the three levels for now, I think it's very much okay. I would put a level or two when adding the new ones between the actual Level 2 and Level 3 that exist right now, or tone the Level 3 difficulty down a bit (haha get it? tone down? sorry).
Also, about the bass, just a bit louder should be fine (or its frequencies enhanced and the other instruments lowered on those freqs when the bass appears). My speakers are usually okay with low frequencies and I could hear it, but it just got overridden by any other instrument very easily.
Thanks for getting back to me :) Ah ok that's interesting about the drums. I have some ideas for improving the difficulty curve slightly, so hopefully that should be resolved soon :)
I know what you mean about the bass, I'm not that experienced with mixing so I would like to spend some time on that when the game is a bit further along in development.
(also thanks for the pun, was much appreciated~)
Hey thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the game :)
Thanks for the feedback on the bell, that's really useful to know. I'm thinking of ways to smooth out the difficulty a bit more. I have an idea for dealing with it so hopefully I'll be able to get that done soon~
Great! I'm happy to see this game's getting bigger. I missed the event where the newest level was showcased, So I'll just wait .
Oh, by the way. You probably saw a reply on one of my comments but I speak both english and brazillian portuguese. So if you want the game to be translated I could maybe help!~
Hi, thank you so much! :)
That's all very kind of you to say, I'm glad you appreciated it! It's a bit of long term project, but I'm slowly but surely making progress on the full version~
