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It's hard for me to say. I played instruments in grade school, but I didn't really write anything. I tried in 2004-2005 when I was 17 but ultimately terribad and just focused on my schooling. I'm 26 now and just regrowing my interest in composition.

I feel old after reading this topic though. It makes me feel like I missed the bandwagon when most musicians seems to get their start at 14-17.

Hark the pitches and tones of the malleable, wretched senses of vexation.
Descry tears of azure tears percolating ambivalent animus.

Inhale, exhume. Long derived from sociopathy.
Exhale, inhume. Nay 'tis but altruism.

Hark!

At 12/11/13 08:46 AM, midimachine wrote: one for one, please! :)

Understood. I honestly made the mistake of following the last poster's error. However it was a pick your poison approach. Thank you.

What is the tag for making the pretty links that you guys are using?

Derp I forgot to link my tracks.

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/559265
http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/559266

I reviewed it. I don't know if my opinion is all that helpful or even valid. However I like the direction you were going for so I also scouted you.

Note however, that many of us stay up all night with our creations. Heck, the especially talented types can spend even more time on their works.

My last two tracks could use some critical opinion. Ignore everything from 2005-2006, I just don't have the heart to delete the trash I made in high school.

At 12/11/13 05:21 AM, midimachine wrote: FL has one of the best help files of any program ever, if all else fails.

Really? That's a derp on my part, but I am used to unhelpful help files so it didn't particularly occur to me. I'll have to check it out next time I'm not running on 6AM fumes.

Still outside sources would be appreciated.

I can second the notion of writing with emotion. I have to listen to music when I write. If I want a specific tone, I just put the song that spoke to me on repeat and write. I don't try to match it to the music at all, I just use it for mood which helps the right words come to me.

Also time spent on the writing is no real indication of the effect it will have or its quality. Some of my best poems I wrote lickety-split at work or in class.

Some good beginner tips are:
-Avoid abstract ideas unless they're necessary. In other words, use imagery, imagery, imagery. People tend to relate better to a poem that they can picture in their heads. There are five senses, use them.
-Absolutely avoid clichés and common phrases. If you come up with a line and it's comprised of ideas you'd heard before, you're really risking your originality and people tend to respond poorly.
-Make as many people read as possible before you submit it, but ignore all ideas and suggestions that don't feel right. The audience is rarely right, but it's the reaction you're looking for. This is art and it's your art, not your audience's. You'll find that you're not the only person who doesn't get poetry... Most people don't.
-Shock value helps, but don't be outright vulgar. You don't want to offend for no reason.
-Haters will always hate.
-Ignore these tips if it fits, art is art is art. It has to please you before it can please someone else in my opinion. In other words, these are more what you'd call guidelines than rules. Welcome aboard the Black Pearl.
-???
-Profit!

~Winners are Losers~
Draw the conclusion. Draw a sword.
Eat at the body. Eat your words.
Take it in stride and take a hint.
Pay with attention. Pay the rent.

Beads of life snake down, obscuring vision.
Guttural coughs of the sky shake the core.
Sunlight hides above, and you think you win?
Bright spears tear the sky, weeping from how sore.

Beads of death flee wounds, obscuring reason.
The form screams, "abuse!" Don't let go of it.
The mind rages the spirit not broken.
Strike fast with venom to feel less backbit.

Draw the conclusion. Draw a sword.
Eat at the body. Eat your words.
Take it in stride and take a hint.
Pay with attention. Pay the rent.

The buzz that organizes thought disrupts.
Falsities dance past lips, fading conscience.
Harsh tones dagger into the drums abrupt.
Fake truths consume the attempts at science.

Whoops, hit the ground running without traction.
Again prone I lie, licking fake traumas.
You think you win? Drawn into addiction.
Tease skin shivers. Go on, defend dogmas.

Draw the conclusion. Draw a sword.
Eat at the body. Eat your words.
Take it in stride and take a hint.
Pay with attention. Pay the rent.

Where can I find useful and understandable beginner's information on Fruity Loops? I've tinkered with it on my own on and off for a while now and I can apply what I've figured out through trial and error. I feel like at this point I am limited by "winging it" as it were.

However, I'm really overwhelmed by stuff like this topic because I have no grasp of the lingo, no community input, and no real learned foundation. How do the geniuses who do figure this stuff out figure it out? Bleh.

I'm a newbie technically. I'd say I've improved on my accord but a couple things I'm having issues with are transitions and beats. I can pump out melodies and basslines all day, but I feel like I'm missing something. It's hard to find a direction on my own.