Well, I'm glad some of us could be helpful. Actually, SMS/GG music is a great place to start with basic chiptune composition. It'll break you in to the concept of limitations, and working around them with composition.

However, Gameboy and NES are also good. I'm not dissing on those. I started with NES myself.

If you are looking for a good chiptune tracker, Deflemask is the way to go. You'll be able to program for NES/Gameboy/SMS/GG/MegaDrive/TurboGrafx/SID/YM2151.

It's up to you, where you want to start. There is no "right" or "wrong" chip set to start with, really. I just don't like people doggin' on SMS/GG and making uneducated claims about it's capabilities. That kind of talk keeps Gamegear trackers from becoming a "thing", and stifles the pursuit of creativity. I used to own a Game Gear back in the 90's, and there were many great soundtracks with that old chip that I enjoyed. "Sonic Triple Trouble" soundtrack was a work of art, for instance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBtoAy0lLMs

Technical discussions aside, I would have to agree with this.  I am in my mid 30s and didn't know anybody growing up with a SMS.  GG and Genesis/Medadrives were everywhere though. As a newcomer to the chip music way of production, the game gear seemed like it would be the next 'go to' platform.  Pokemon drives gameboy prices up, while game gear prices are dirt cheap.  Perfect ingredient for hobbiest/musicians.

All in all, I am more enlightened on the subject.  Thank you gentlemen

One final note:

To say that a chip is "not as powerful" is a sorry excuse for why nobody wants to mess with it. Unfortunately, it's a common excuse based on ignorance.

The truth is that more people had a Gameboy back in its primetime, and not as many people even had a chance to play Gamegear, and even less so the SMS. Most SMS/GG games used only the basic features of the chip, and not even the melodic noise portion. People do not realize what it can and can't do.

Also, a good musician can make good and powerful music out of anything. Even if limited to 3 square channels and monotonal white noise. Become a good composer, and you will make the SN76489 chip incredibly powerful.

Has anybody bothered listening to the music that Tomy has produced with it?!?

https://tomy.bandcamp.com/album/psg-series-3

https://tomy.bandcamp.com/track/dive-bo … ine-ver2-2

Keep in mind that you could add stereo to all that music through a Game Gear.

Number one, I like the SID chip, and I know it's powerful. I have nothing against it.

Number two, that Wikipedia article has very basic information. It ONLY scratches the surface of what the Game Gear soundchip can really do. There's better sources out there, and a VSTi that faithfully emulates the SN76489 using the Hblank video refresh oscillation in order to modulate the Pulse Width of all 3 square channels more smoothly than a SID. Check it out:

http://www.alyjameslab.com/alyjameslabsuperpsg.html

1. Each square channel can be modified to produce a smoother PWM phasing effect than a SID chip.
2. You can also do wavetable modulation with the right programming.
3. There is a 4th channel that produces the noise which can do a melodic 6.15% PWM noise.
4. GameGear varition can do hard panning stereo for all 4 channels.
5. Each square channel can output 4-bit PCM, or be combined to output a louder PCM sound at any sample rate (beyond 44KHz) which is theoretically only limited by how much RAM and data is in the system and cartridge.

IF the SN76489 is not more powerful than the SID, then they are neck and neck. Like comparing Sega Genesis power to the SNES. Genesis technically is slightly faster in overall horsepower, but there are some things the SNES is able to do more easily, and vice versa.

Example, SID can do HP/LP Cutoff and Resonance filtering.
However, the SN76489 can do stereo, and has a 4th dedicated channel that can do white noise and melodic PWM wave, even though pitch control of channel 3 square is sacrificed.

There's probably more to be found in it though, as the guy said there's not much development going on around it, whereas the c64 is in almost constant R&D.

Powerfull as a c64 ? Ok you like your  sn76489, but listen to this :
https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=PBjJb7xgxD0

Definitely no, the c64 has a filter which sound really cool. ok there is one more channel on the dn76489... but It is not as powerfull....

gg soundchip

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_I … ts_SN76489

c64 sound chip

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_Technology_SID

err.. it's not more powerful than a c64, no.

It's an odd thing, even Johan has the lowest octave on the WAV channel in LSDj set to display as '2', when it's actually 1 but, I suppose the overtones being hella noticable and there not being that much attention paid to the sub range in a hell of a lot of chipmusic means it goes unnoticed often.

No, GG/SMS hardware is NOT weak. First of all, a chip is only as weak as the composer's skill.

Second, the SMS chip can do smooth PWM modulation when you use the video Hblank as an extra oscillator. You can also feed 4 bit samples through any of the 3 square channel. Hear the full power of the SMS hardware:

Listen to DEMO Rob0t In Action by marcb0t #np on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/marcb0t/demo-r0bot-in-action

The problem is that no one wants to make a portable tracker to produce this live. Although, it should be possible.

Basically, GG is more powerful of a soundchip than Gameboy and C64, when operated at full strength.

The last rev of the JP. SMS hardware had a fm chip, and it was an expansion option before that: http://segaretro.org/FM_Sound_Unit

I didn't realize the GG/SMS hardware was so weak. The lack of interest in home-brew development makes total sense. Did the SMS do FM via a special add on chip or am I making that up?

You can also get a 25% PWM sound by using 2 channels playing the same note at once, with one note an octave higher. It's cool to interchange and mix your square waves in an additive synthesis style. Gives much more variety to your tracks with that chip. It's like sound gradients.

Use as a low frequency oscillator when you use an additive technique. The clicking from the low frequency will interfere with other sounds, audibly. But that is more for like creative expression.

There's always a use for any frequency in a chip. Even the ones we can't really hear by themselves.

That is true. My mistake, should have checked it myself instead of relying on some false information.