Nadia
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Of course I mean when their writers and producers flirt with Chip and they lay down some lazy vocals which are then layered over said Chip.


Queens of Pop Britney Spears and Madonna have both fairly recently done so, recording over pretty much entirely chipmusic instrumentals. Both songs in question were reserved for the deluxe editions of their respective albums no doubt due to their experimental nature.

Britney's Bloodshy & Avant produced 'Trouble' (2008):

Instrumental: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Oz6wgoCkK8

Madonna's MDNA Bonus track 'Best Friend' (2012):

[Partial] Instrumental: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYZ4X8WyVQA

Thoughts? Are the vocals too polarizing? Or is the chip itself lacking?
Personally I love Trouble, it's sooper.

Britney ['s producers] has been know to be a trendsetter, being one of the driving forces behind dubstep's explosion into the mainstream (See: Hold It Against Me), and she or others could potentially do the same with chiptune someday. Would such dilution ruin the genre? Or would you welcome the influx of new content?

Last edited by Nadia (Aug 13, 2012 1:44 am)

SketchMan3
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NC in the US of America

Ukulele is still cool to me even though Train came out with "Hey Soul Sister" and Tiny Tim existed. Any underground scene that wants greater recognition and gets it is inevitably going to have to weather this storm.

Edit: Also, what is "lazy vocals"? The average vocals I've heard in chiptune weren't any less lazy than anything in a comparable mainstream pop/rock/metal/hip-hop song. Subject matter is pretty much the same, melodic style is pretty standard. Being able to hold a note for more than 0.5s without having to do intense meditation =/= laziness.

Edit edit: Also, of course there are shining exceptions to the standard in all cases.

Last edited by SketchMan3 (Aug 13, 2012 1:59 am)

Nadia
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SketchMan3 wrote:

Ukulele is still cool to me even though Train came out with "Hey Soul Sister" and Tiny Tim existed. Any underground scene that wants greater recognition and gets it is inevitably going to have to weather this storm.

True, but should it really be considered weathering a 'storm'? Surely if chiptune does break the mainstream like dubstep did, some good, even amazing content will come of it. Not everyone who jumps on the bandwagon can get it wrong, can they?

SketchMan3
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NC in the US of America
Nadia wrote:
SketchMan3 wrote:

Ukulele is still cool to me even though Train came out with "Hey Soul Sister" and Tiny Tim existed. Any underground scene that wants greater recognition and gets it is inevitably going to have to weather this storm.

True, but should it really be considered weathering a 'storm'? Surely if chiptune does break the mainstream like dubstep did, some good, even amazing content will come of it. Not everyone who jumps on the bandwagon can get it wrong, can they?

Well, storms bring rain, don't they? Water the flowers, man... gotta water them flowers... even if a few trees get blown over in the process...

Last edited by SketchMan3 (Aug 13, 2012 1:58 am)

Frostbyte
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I'd be okay with that. Maybe I'd be able to make a living off what I love instead of having to go into a field in not as passionate about. That would be nice...it's be my job to write lsdj music!

Nadia
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SketchMan3 wrote:

Edit: Also, what is "lazy vocals"? The average vocals I've heard in chiptune weren't any less lazy than anything in a comparable mainstream pop/rock/metal/hip-hop song. Subject matter is pretty much the same, melodic style is pretty standard. Being able to hold a note for more than 0.5s without having to do intense meditation =/= laziness.

Edit edit: Also, of course there are shining exceptions to the standard in all cases.

By lazy vocals I just meant 'weak' or 'supported'. Neither Britney nor Madonna have stunning vocal ranges and 'lazy' seemed like the best word to sum up the combination of their tones, elements of 'talk-singing' and digital assistance. I didn't mean any disrespect to either artist, in fact I own 22.5 hours of Britney Spears music. She's everything.

Frostbyte wrote:

I'd be okay with that. Maybe I'd be able to make a living off what I love instead of having to go into a field in not as passionate about. That would be nice...it's be my job to write lsdj music!

That would be a considerable plus, potential recognition for chip artists who deserve it. Although again, like with dubstep, the current big pop producers may just adapt to the new genre, and leave a lot of people in the dust.

SketchMan3 wrote:

Well, storms bring rain, don't they? Water the flowers, man... gotta water them flowers... even if a few trees get blown over in the process...

Nice analogy!

SketchMan3
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NC in the US of America

Oh I see.

Nadia wrote:

That would be a considerable plus, potential recognition for chip artists who deserve it. Although again, like with dubstep, the current big pop producers may just adapt to the new genre, and leave a lot of people in the dust.

Like what happened with the special effects in "The Matrix".

spacetownsavior
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San Diego, CA

I don't mean to be that jaded jerk here, but pop stars using basic waveforms in their songs is definitely NOT co-opting chiptune. I'm pretty sure the producers in question don't even really have any clue what "chiptune" is; the sounds sound cool and so they're going to use it. Definition arguments aside (let's REALLY not get into this guys), I don't think chiptune as a form is co-optable, and chiptune as an aesthetic is such a slippery slope that anyone using basic waveforms could be called "chiptune."

I think the connection to the use of dubstep in music is questionable. Dubstep is foremost a form, secondly an aesthetic. That's why you can have stuff like Burial coexisting in the same genre space as Skrillex; the aesthetics are completely different, but the form is the same. I don't think that's the case with chiptune -- in fact, it could be argued that the form is so connected to the aesthetic that an artist can't make a song with chiptune in it; they have to make a CHIPTUNE SONG. And yes, there's a difference.

If anything, the use of these basic waveforms in pop music is less CHIPTUNE BECOMING MAINSTREAM and more producers running out of ideas for weird-ass sounds to put in their pop music. We had the funk-ass instrumentals with Timbaland, and we had the hyper-produced euro-pop with David Guetta (and like every K-Pop song in existence (it's so good omg)), and now producers are getting back to their roots, except we had about 10-20 years of context to cover for the fact that yes, these producers didn't even put any fundamentals in their waveform, shut up, it's music. Everyone's already singing about the end of the world and the collapse of civilization -- we might as well collapse the resolutions of waveforms with it.

Auxcide
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The Multiverse ::: [CA, Sac]
spacetownsavior wrote:

(truths)

SadPanda
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Chicago IL, USA
spacetownsavior wrote:

I don't mean to be that jaded jerk here, but pop stars using basic waveforms in their songs is definitely NOT co-opting chiptune. I'm pretty sure the producers in question don't even really have any clue what "chiptune" is; the sounds sound cool and so they're going to use it. Definition arguments aside (let's REALLY not get into this guys), I don't think chiptune as a form is co-optable, and chiptune as an aesthetic is such a slippery slope that anyone using basic waveforms could be called "chiptune."

I think the connection to the use of dubstep in music is questionable. Dubstep is foremost a form, secondly an aesthetic. That's why you can have stuff like Burial coexisting in the same genre space as Skrillex; the aesthetics are completely different, but the form is the same. I don't think that's the case with chiptune -- in fact, it could be argued that the form is so connected to the aesthetic that an artist can't make a song with chiptune in it; they have to make a CHIPTUNE SONG. And yes, there's a difference.

If anything, the use of these basic waveforms in pop music is less CHIPTUNE BECOMING MAINSTREAM and more producers running out of ideas for weird-ass sounds to put in their pop music. We had the funk-ass instrumentals with Timbaland, and we had the hyper-produced euro-pop with David Guetta (and like every K-Pop song in existence (it's so good omg)), and now producers are getting back to their roots, except we had about 10-20 years of context to cover for the fact that yes, these producers didn't even put any fundamentals in their waveform, shut up, it's music. Everyone's already singing about the end of the world and the collapse of civilization -- we might as well collapse the resolutions of waveforms with it.

/thread

Saskrotch
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Chicago IL

steal from the underground, make millions

live undergound, be a nerd

SadPanda
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Chicago IL, USA

I just listened to both songs. the sounds are just the same sounds producers have been using for over 20 years on pop music. these are the basic "SQUARE BASS" and "SUPER SAW" type sounds that come stock on pretty much every synth plug in ever.

I also just scrolled Nadia's tumblr. I think I have cancer now.

e.s.c.
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IL, US

doesn't sound very chip to me, just some square waves

Downstate
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shanghai

"""True, but should it really be considered weathering a 'storm'? Surely if chiptune does break the mainstream like dubstep did, some good, even amazing content will come of it. Not everyone who jumps on the bandwagon can get it wrong, can they?"""

You are clearly a moron. What good possibly came out of the pop explosion of dubstep ??? They killed a great aestetic with shitty brostep for drunk kids. Now you got ebven the old dudes at the helm of its birth making that utter shit as magnetic man........ That stuff you are referring to as 'dubstep' isn't really dubstep. Its just commercial pop/edm music.....as are these audio turds by madonna and britney spears. Would i like to see Calvin Harris make a fucking 8 bit tune w Dizzee Rascal ? No i would not.

Saskrotch
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Chicago IL
SadPanda wrote:

I also just scrolled Nadia's tumblr. I think I have cancer now.

i mean it's like any other "my entire persona is my obsession with celebrities" tumblr account. it seems pretty standard these days.

SketchMan3
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NC in the US of America

Maybe the confusion is caused by chiptune artists starting sound more similar to what those producers are putting out? And the producers, instead of processing and modifying the simple wave forms like they used to, are starting to use them on a more raw form because it's trendy. I sometimes find it hard to differentiate between actual chiptune and just dance music these days. The difference is there, but it seems like the pop producers are moving towards a more simplistic tone.

But I haven't heard any arps yet.