my first tracker was ProTrekkr http://code.google.com/p/protrekkr/
still nice, but maybe buggy?

and then i used openmpt http://openmpt.org/
a good choice

there's so much choice, and you should just trust yourself to be able to figure out a piece of software
pick one and MAKE YOUUUR DREAMS COME TRUEE

This was the best-worst thing to wake up to. You have made my day.

edit:  Oh yeah, attempt to remain on-topic #1:  DAWs are fun and can provide more than what a tracker can, but half of the fun of the music originated with the limitations each system had.  On the other hand, there's also a significant difference between someone experienced from using a DAW and someone using it to post "XxMY FIRST CHIPSTEPxX."

tl;dr:  imo, I'd follow the mantra of "Know your roots, experiment with them later."

True.

this is a seriously good suggestion

cm.org needs an 8bc fallout shelter

I agree with 4mat, VSTi are a nice way to explore the timbre if you're already familiar with DAWs. On the other hand, limited trackers like Fami provide an insight on why certain techniques have developed (eg. arps). Still, I'd also advice to go software first before investing into hardware. It's easy to acquire and free.

sorry.  i think the best way to get into chip music is with a free tracker.  that way, you can get free sounds and you can look at how songs are built.  figuring out song structure from scratch can be very difficult.  you can also see what wav forms look like and how different fx effect them.

REPORT ANd DONT REPLY!

as if the thread isn't derailed enough, you come out of nowhere saying that.

heeeeeere we go

brb fapping to boob beasts

has anyone ever noticed that the word "noobs", is really similar to the word "boobs"??

A+++

Vst's are a great gateway drug into more complicated (and expensive) stuff like hardware.

I started by using fl studio and the magical8bit plugin and then transitioned into using an actual gameboy once I had figured out how comfortable I was with those sounds. I feel like things worked out pretty well.

I'm talking from a purely logistical POV, you're suggesting the guy buys X amount of hardware, some of which requires assembly, just to see if he likes writing chipmusic?    as opposed to giving him a far easier point of entry he can start from which has all the aesthetics of the medium.  that is the real point of the scene: the aesthetics.  It's nothing to do with hardware or software and absoluitely nothing to do with jumping about holding a gameboy in front of some flashing backdrops.

I don't know, the parts I quoted seemed pretty clear to me. If you don't  think that trackers are very mathematical, saying that they are is a pretty clumsy way of expressing it.

Clearly there's some dirty little trolls running around in here... I can smell them... Yummy.