lastfuture
Offline
Freiburg, Germany

This is the second chip tune I made, using the Game Boy DMG and nanoloop 1.6.3. The delay has been added in Reaper after recording.

http://chipmusic.org/lastfuture/music/diamond-elephant

I'd be happy about constructive criticism. Don't hold back.


One thing I'd especially like to know (as an electronic musician who's a chip music noob): What is your opinion about processing chip music with effects or sampling chip sounds and phrases to use in other genres of music. Where do you personally think is the line between chip music and non-chip-music? Are you a purist or do you like people to go wild and experiment?


Some technical background info about the track:
The shuffle is done manually with nanoloop's delay parameter for every other note. I'd be happy to know if there is an easier way to shuffle in nanoloop (yeah yeah my lsdj cartridge has already been ordered, I know it has a dedicated shuffle page)

I've tried recording 3 tracks for processing them separately, one track with the noise channel only, one with the wave channel (bass) and one pulse channel (arps), and one with the second pulse channel only. Unfortunately I think the external sound card I used isn't recording at consistent speeds (or I messed up accidentally loading patterns with different bpm) because the tracks didn't run at the same speed afterwards and I couldn't get them to line up everywhere... so I had to put one processing onto the entire mix signal.

Last edited by lastfuture (Oct 23, 2012 3:00 pm)

basspuddle
Offline
washington

I like the track, it's really chill and isn't too overpoweringly chippy, if you know what I mean smile

As for chipmusic, anything made with legitimate 8-bit sound chips is chipmusic to me. Sampling chip in other tracks isn't chip. It just has chip samples.

I like to record my tracks separately for mastering purposes (EQ mostly, I'm not huge on effects in general), maybe get an external/more stable clock, the gameboy's is kinda wonky sometimes.

ryba
Offline
Czech Republic

Hi there.
I think chiptune is not enough for you.
I hear some space for ambient noises and souds in your track.
Moody track btw...
so I think making this kind of chiptune is really hard to do with it's limitations.
and chiptune will not be enough for you in a future.
But maybee am I wrong.
I like that track.
I could imagine better drums, but I'm lsdj user and I don't know nanoloop noise possibilities.

About procesing: I'm not doing that, I'm too lazy for this and I like the raw sound of my instruments.
but i think: sure, you can.
But when you decide to do that, you should record individual tracks and master them individually.
each channel deserves different attitude.

I don't like to sample chipmusic.
I think Chipmusic is music made by chips, or it's emulations, or in trackers made by oscillating short samples (actually the same principles as in chips).
but I don't behave according to this... :-)

3ndymion
Offline
NYC

Hey.  Don't know if you care to hear from a beginner, but I'll chime in anyway.  I see nothing bad with your song.  It's really cool.  I like the way you were able to keep a certain mood throughout the entire song.  I think that's important, & something I'm struggling with in my own practices.

About the arps you made, you say you used delay on every other note for that???  I have Nanoloop on Android, & I tried making arps...  The only way I could figure out how to do it was by filling an entire 16 block section.  I would write 4 notes, then write them again with a little less volume, then write them again with a little less volume, doing that 4 times.  It wastes an entire 16 block section, but I don't really know an easier way to get it done.  But the way you did it sounds pretty good.  Then again, I think Nanoloop on Android may be very different from & much more limited than the one on Gameboy, I think...

Well anyway, really nice track.  You're off to a great start with the chiptunes.  ^_^

Edit: I just noticed your site & your other songs.  Pretty cool stuff.  Do you find it harder working with these chiptune programs & hardware that are more limited???

Last edited by 3ndymion (Oct 24, 2012 1:04 am)

3ndymion
Offline
NYC

Hey, I just discovered that you can export an entire 16 block section as a sample, & then load that sample & play it back with 1 single note.  See if the Gameboy version has an option like that too.  That would make it easier.

lastfuture
Offline
Freiburg, Germany

@3ndymion: thanks. I actually can make arps easily in the Game Boy version by just pressing start on the note (splits the note into 4 notes that will be repeated within one envelope) ... I was asking about shuffle, that's what I used the delays for. Sorry if I was unclear. Glad you like my music smile

@ryba: Thank you. Yeah I'm actually making pretty moody non-chip-music, too. I've always wanted to make real chip music though and I'm enjoying the limitations. Eventually I'll probably make hybrid music, mixing tracks I made on the Game Boy with other synths. That's one reason I asked about what you guys think is the border between chip music and non-chip music.

@basspuddle: I'll be modding my Game Boy in a bit with a backlight and prosound. I'll perform some more tests if it's the Game Boy's clock that's drifting or if I just messed up loading patterns with different BPMs. If its clock is drifting I'll definitely consider also looking into replacing the crystal or what it takes to get a more stable clock. Maybe a MIDI clock via link cable?

basspuddle
Offline
washington

^Midi clocks are your best bet, but you'll need an Arduinoboy too.