Seconding what an0va and kitsch have already said. Have plenty of patience and practice a lot. It will be VERY frustrating at times but once you get past the learning curve of LSDJ (or trackers in general), it will indeed be very rewarding. Study the LSDJ manual thoroughly.

Also, BACK UP YOUR SAVES. This should be obvious but I don't think it can be stated enough.
BACK UP YOUR SAVVVVVVEEESSSSSS.

On the flip side, there is always the option of using plug-ins with your DAW (Pro Tools, Logic (for Mac), Ableton, FL, etc) instead of a tracker.

In any case, welcome to the mad house. Godspeed

Another suggestion would be Pixitracker, either 16-Bit or 1-Bit.
http://www.warmplace.ru/soft/pixitracker/#16bit
http://www.warmplace.ru/soft/pixitracker/#1bit

It has a nice interface and is fairly easy to use.  It's free on Mac and PC.

Nanoloop just seems too nebulous and minimal for me, but the nanoloop/lsdj preference from person to person seems like it depends on what kind of person they are.

Idk if I'd say it's less rewarding. Shitbird makes stuff with Nanoloop, and that fact kind of speaks for itself. I think Nanoloop just demands creative programming to ensure variety, in exchange for its natural live-performance format, and vice versa w/ LSDJ.

I've always found LSDJ easier to use, as it is now one of my favorite programs in terms of interface design.  It is the first tracker-style program I have used.  With nanoloop I find things fiddly and have to keep consulting the manual.  Then again, I started using LSDJ first, so maybe that biased me.  But do try both and see which you like; each to their own I suppose.

Prosound mod and biverted backlight are the 'standard options' if you want a modded DMG.

Thank you so much for all your responses! I have been goofing around on an emulator with lsdj and am sort of understanding it! I will continue to mess with it until get the hang of it. As far as recording I do not have an in-line on my computer, out of curiosity are there any workarounds?

No I am not familiar with it I was just using it as a reference

Are you already familiar with Ableton? You can make chipmusic through Ableton as well.

there are also apps like famitracker, nerdtracker, goat tracker, etcetcetc

my personal favorite is FM-Kingtracker.  its what i learned on though, a bit biased

LSDJ and emulator, like mentioned above

don't pull your hair out   tracker interface can take some getting used to, and you'll find yourself getting quite angry about your process until you pass that hump and understand the logic behind what it is you are doing (if its even a tracker style app you go with)

and, yeah....  nanoloop is a bit easier to jump into, imo.  but less rewarding in the long term (again, imo).  learning curve is considerably easier though if you don't have a tracker background.  its a bit like playing a game.

I've been building equipment and practicing with various trackers and software for about a year, and I still think my music sucks... I'm sure that's not particularly helpful, but making sick beats doesn't happen overnight.

Experiment with LSDj and an emulator, and see what you can do.
It's fun and deeply rewarding.

lsdj on an emulator is the best way to practice

save money and grab a gameboy and a blank cart, then throw the rom on the cart

make tracks and have fun !

then when it's time to record, grab an audio interface or just plug into the line-in if your comp has one

then when it's time to play live, i recommend getting a second gameboy+cart and a mixer so you can blend between tracks

this is just one method of doing it too - you could also just get nanoloop and call it a day!

Check out the LSDj on an emulator before you buy expensive gear.

edt: And nanoloop too!

So before I start I wanted to say I read all the stickies and I am entirely new to this site and chiptuning. From what I have read all I need is a gameboy, blank cart, and lsdj ROM. I am planning on getting a gameboy and using lsdj with it, however are there any particular mods that would be useful? Is there an easier program for a complete beginner in making 8-bit? And what would I need to be able to run my gameboy into a virtual interface on my laptop, such as Ableton? I am sorry if this has already been covered/asked, I looked all over the forums, but either I missed it or couldn't find it.