Faerlight
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I've been listening to chipmusic my entire life, but I finally want to start making some. I feel more gravitated towards using a gameboy than just Famitracker or FL, because it reminds me of calculator programming, which is one of my greatest hobbies. So, how much can I expect to spend to get a good setup for LSDJ?

My research has given me a total of $160 (126 euros). Is this a fair amount? I don't really care too much about bells and whistles.
Is it possible to make chiptunes on an unmodified gameboy?

Jellica
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England

You dont need a modded game boy.

$160 seems reasonable if you intend to make a very decent donation to johan for LDSJ (considering the usb 64m smart card is only $39.00 on kitchbent and an old game boy should be next to nothing)

What attracts you to Nintendos consoles in particular? There are lots of other options beyond Nintendo (and FL!!)

Last edited by Jellica (Nov 13, 2012 2:23 pm)

kitsch
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matt's mind

since you enjoy calculator programming,

why not use a calculator as your medium?

160 would get you a new cart, and a pretty nice modded DMG as well, you could spend much less on the DMG if you only wanted basic mods, no paint, etc

Faerlight
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Jellica wrote:

What attracts you to Nintendos consoles in particular? There are lots of other options beyond Nintendo (and FL!!)

I just like how it sounds so sharp and poignant. It's like the limitations of the system forces you to be creative. Also, the gameboy is just such an iconic symbol.

kitsch wrote:

why not use a calculator as your medium?

I've never heard of any tracking programs for the ti-84, I'll have to look into that XD

Thanks for responding, this seems like a nice community.

SuperBustySamuraiMonkey
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Madriz, Supain
Faerlight wrote:

I've been listening to chipmusic my entire life

You must be fair young.



An unmodded gameboy is hella cheap as well as a cart. Just donate 10 bucks to Johan for the lsdj license and youll be fine.

collin
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kelso washington

if you can just deal with a normal dmg and a smart card:
lsdj rom: 2-3 dollars,us
cart: 30-100 dollars,us
dmg itself: 10- 20 dollars,us
any sound equipment: 20-80 dollars, us
you can spend any where from: 62-203 dollars, us
but i wouldnt spend 100 dollars,U.S. on a cart so from 62-103 dollars us is about the estimated amount

herr_prof
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If you arent planning a gig, a regular unmodded gameboy will do you just fine.

martin_demsky
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Bratislava, Slovakia

i personally dont mod Gameboys from Play it Loud series, only whitecreamy. Currently working some months with transparent unmodded and it just sounds fine, that noise from moving things on a LCD + internal amp is not that horrible as you expect from 1st time.

Last edited by martin_demsky (Nov 13, 2012 3:27 pm)

herr_prof
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Exactly... the backlite is more crucial mod. You might as well do the prosound mod while you are in there, but the first 8 years of live gameboy musicians performed live without either with no problems.

ant1
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uhajdafdfdfa

you can do this for €40 i'm sure!

i  must have spent abot €500 on chip but spread pretty equally across five years

it is a bit of a money sink if you don't have your frugality skills up to scratch

e.s.c.
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IL, US
herr_prof wrote:

Exactly... the backlite is more crucial mod. You might as well do the prosound mod while you are in there, but the first 8 years of live gameboy musicians performed live without either with no problems.

Word, nuby lights can still do the job

ForaBrokenEarth
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Nottingham, UK

Go to a car boot and grab an old gameboy for <£10. Get an EMS cart, and then throw Johan some dolla dolla billz for LSDJ. £50 max.

I spent my first few months of desperately trying to get my head around LSDJ on a pokemon gameboy color I bought off my brother for £3.

Toastypinecone
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ForaBrokenEarth wrote:

Go to a car boot and grab an old gameboy for <£10. Get an EMS cart, and then throw Johan some dolla dolla billz for LSDJ. £50 max.

I spent my first few months of desperately trying to get my head around LSDJ on a pokemon gameboy color I bought off my brother for £3.

"throw Johan some dolla dolla billz" XD

kineticturtle
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Matthew Joseph Payne

Here's a good rule of thumb:

Give Johan more money for LSDJ than you spend on your gameboy.

Auxcide
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The Multiverse ::: [CA, Sac]

free/5 bucks if you just use an emulator.

Seriously, gameboy chip is super cheap to start out on.

DotMatrix
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DC

I spent $105 on an MGB (don't hate. Im really new and Im on the move a lot) but it only has Prosound and biverted backlight. If you want, you can check thursdaycustoms.com if you havent already. From experience, getting a dependable music instrument is a lot wiser while starting out. So id keep in mind to get a gameboy that has everything working just fine and worry about bling later on.