I'm talking at least 30 minutes of material.
Why aren't there more of them?
I know people do release full lengths, but its assumed most 'new releases' will be less than 25 minutes long, no?
It is on my mind, an honest question.
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Chicago
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can i blame bandcamp? :3 everyone watches their stats and sees the amount of listeners decline as the tracklist deepens, decides to release their stuff in short sharp bursts to feel better?
teehee
bring back the 35 to 50 minute concept album split into two "sides", i say
Last edited by extreme zan-zan-zawa-veia (Jan 8, 2013 6:04 pm)
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Chicago
I didn't really get into chip until '08-'09, I forget exactly.
Were there more full lengths before the rise of bandcamp?
extreme zan-zan-zawa-veia wrote:
bring back the 35 to 50 minute concept album split into two "sides", i say
I didn't want to toot my own chips on this thread, but that is exactly what I'm working on.
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Zef and Danimal Cannon - Parallel Processing, 48 minutes. Jan. 15th.
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buffalo, NY
The reason is because the temptation to release material after you got a couple tunes together is really high, especially after everyone else does it. I mean look at the 8BC model where you release a track the moment you finish it and get instant feedback on it?
It's tempting. It requires restraint and patience along with forethought to actually release a full album.
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IL, US
most of my releases are over 25 minutes... id just blame the single-track mindset... not many like taking the time to have 8-15 tracks done in a way that feels like they really all belong together, can be quite a bit of work and leads to throwing out many tracks that you might even like, but just dont fit what that album is meant to be...
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England
my lsdj cart battery usually dies before i can get more than 4 trax finished and i lose everything.
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Los Angeles, CA
I'm pretty impulsive. Usually by the time I release an EP it's 9 months or more since my previous EP came out and I'm like "FUUCKKKK, must compile what songs I have into a release!!!". Some time it's a bad idea, sometimes it works. My most recent EP, "Gameboy Gutsfuck", it didn't work. At all.
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Lexington, KY
I'm not gonna lie, guys. I just don't want to listen to a 45 minute album! RARELY do I have that much uninterrupted time to listen to music. A nice 15 - 30 minute EP is perfect for people's lifestyles and attention spans, I'd say.
In short, I absolutely intend to have shorter releases, but it's definitely not for lack of effort or restraint.
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England
i havnt had the confidence to write a full lenth album on my own. maybe it can be something to acheive before i am 40.
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Brunswick, GA USA
What Danimal said and what Solarbear said.
4mat is pretty consistent with release length, though a part of me really likes the way ant1's releases felt, it made them easy to listen to.
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one reason may be that many chip artists generally write short songs (not by any means "most" of them- probably 50% in my observation). like take for instance alex mauer's 9999: 42 tracks, and yet around an hour in length. and honestly the majority of those tracks loop, so it could be half that length. and yet it kind of fitting- the traditional vgm style based on short, to-the-point mood-encompassing phrases which loop.. anyways yea
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Westfield, NJ
I did two full length releases in 2012. I like albums partly because I see them as a good creative challenge and partly because I want to tell a story that can't be communicated through sporadic singles. The nature of my style lends itself to shorter tracks, though, so Stars came out to 31 minutes while Forgotten Machines came out to 27. All that being said though, people shouldn't do albums just for the sake of having albums. An album can feel like mostly filler if there isn't a purpose to it.
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Chicago
Solarbear wrote:
A nice 15 - 30 minute EP is perfect for people's lifestyles and attention spans
This is a valid reason for shorter releases, probably the most reasonable answer.
Even still, most EPs I hear that are enjoyable feel like 5 good songs put together in an order that works.
Decktonic wrote:
An album can feel like mostly filler if there isn't a purpose to it.
I fell like this is close to the heart of the issue.
Is it harder to have 'purposeful' chip music releases than it is to achieve in other genres?
As in to say, I know chip music virtually limitless musically. But for most people, does the production process not lend its self towards creating cohesive musical expressions? Is there inherently less of a draw to present concepts through chip music?
I can see this being the case. Its hard for me to grasp personally, though. I've always thought about artistic creation in concepts.
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Westfield, NJ
theghostservant wrote:
Is it harder to have 'purposeful' chip music releases than it is to achieve in other genres?
not for me!
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Brunswick, GA USA
If anything, the "purpose" is what keeps a song from being yet another song.