qb
Offline
Arad, Romania

This sort of topic has probably been done before, but I can't find anything using the search feature. Moderators are obviously free to lock this if this topic is a duplicate.

My first exposure to chiptune happened via keygens. I didn't think much of the music until I heard popular music utilize chip sounds (I had a bad taste in music back then) and that made me curious about the actual music those popular artists were "ripping off". Arpeggios were my favorite sound back then and they still are. Nothing says electronic music more to me than chiptune arpeggios. Shortly after I started developing a strong liking for all types of chip sounds. The retro aspect of the sounds, the rawness and simplicity still draw me to this genre to this day and it still remains my favorite. It's really mostly about sounds for me, and not just for this genre, but for music in general.

Of course, there are other nice aspects, such as the fact that a lot of chip music is free (old video game soundtracks, demoscene music, etc).

What do you guys like about chip music in particular?

jefftheworld
Offline
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

It sounds good.

Jazzmarazz
Offline
Michigan

Nostalgia because I get off on it.

Alpine
Offline
UK, Leicester

The music is great, there's a massive variety, and everyone has their own way of doing things
The people, like the music, are from so many different backgrounds that it's crazy
The software guys who make it possible for people to make chip, are always involved, and always listen to people about what they could improve next etc

on a side note, I can shitpost without any hassle, so that's a bonus in some respects

qb
Offline
Arad, Romania
Alpine wrote:

The music is great, there's a massive variety, and everyone has their own way of doing things

The software guys who make it possible for people to make chip, are always involved, and always listen to people about what they could improve next etc

Yeah, I forgot. Chip music is quite diverse.

Not to mention that a lot of software is free (plenty of great free trackers).

Brother Android
Offline
TX

Not only is it diverse, but the people are generally very welcoming and encouraging. So as a scene it's pretty cool.

As music... yeah, all I can really say is dopey stuff like "it sounds good" (partly because it's so varied that in my opinion it's erroneous to consider it a genre). I mean, I think square waves and triangle waves and sine waves and noise are just nice as instruments. I like arpeggios. I love portamentos. I adore vibrato. I dig tremolo. Volume slides are okay I guess. There's definitely an element of nostalgia to its appeal. (Especially with music, the line between "nostalgia" and "what I like" can get pretty fine.)

Why do I like making it? I think it's cool that it's a mixture of "if you can imagine it, you can make it" and some strict limitations. That interplay makes it fertile ground for doing all kinds of crazy stuff. I like what it does to traditional genres (classical, rock 'n' roll, jazz) when you try to get them across under these limitations.

Mrwimmer
Offline
Los Angeles, CA

I like the tonal palette it presents me with.  I like the process of using a tracker, it really helps me visualize the arc of a song well.  I like twisting basic waveforms in interesting and unexpected ways.  I like the community, and I really like the (as lame as it may sound) DIY-ness of it.  Lots of people in the scene know their hardware inside and out, and can make it do exactly what they want, despite what initially appear to be really harsh limitations.  Limitations really help me be creative as well.  I don't really have a lot of nostalgia for video game music, as I spent most of my video game playing childhood with the music off, and it honestly does annoy me a little bit when people reduce chipmusic to just nostalgia.  But I'm an adult and just get over it. 


I REALLY like that in my experience, the scene hates idiots.

boaconstructor
Offline
Seattle, WA US

The luscious ladies

HillyOTM
Offline
King's Lynn, UK

It's a combination of 3 of my favourite things in the world:

Music.
Games.
Building stuff.

walter b. gentle
Offline
babylon

iayd

Jredd
Offline

I'd say for me it does have to do with nostalgia some too, but for me I really like it because there is a possibility of pushing new sounds out of vintage hardware. It makes me feel that the retro systems still have a lot of life in them and plenty of untapped potential smile. There are so many interesting game consoles with unique sounds, and as others have said plenty of variation in how people use them too. I grew up listening to a lot of these classic game soundtracks but when you consider what they were able to do with such limited space it's remarkable. To make music that's still good no mater how many times you die on that bastard of a hard level really is quite a feat in my eyes. So, when I make chip music it feels like in a small way I might be honoring what those guys were doing back then while putting my own original spin on it. So it's a cool mixture of classic sounds and new discovery at the same time. Think of it like nostalgia with a twist smile.

Oh, and I too love how cool like 99 percent of chip musicians are. I've learned more from them, and had more awesome collaborations with chip musicians than I ever had with any other hobby and so I enjoy the hell out of it. Plus, to get a nice comment from a fellow chip artist means the world to me because who better understands the effort you put into chip music than a fellow musician. So yeah, the nostalgia, the discovery, the small file size that makes collaborations a breeze, and the general common bond and mutual respect we have for each other really makes it a joy for me. You just can't beat it smile.

Last edited by Jredd (Oct 12, 2013 12:57 am)

Hypnogram
Offline
Evansville, IN

Well, it didn't take long for everyone to collaborate and beat me to any of my own reasons.  hmm  It really feels like the sound of a generation who grew up on those sounds in the games they played.  Being a part of others enjoying/listening to/making this music this way makes me feel more like a part of a culture than ever before really.  Being part of the community is a new thing to me as I've been doing a lot of reading/listening/writing on my own, but I'm pretty excited to get out there (here?) in it.  Everybody seems pretty cool so far though.

The sounds are all awesome.  The gritty sounds of a DMG to the strange bell-like tones of FM, just a great electronic palette.  I am often in awe at the sounds people squeeze out of the platforms I understand and am just bewildered at the ones I don't.  The varying styles is awesome too.  It really feels like an 'anything goes' sort of atmosphere.

Making it is definitely a hugely enjoyable part of it for me (perhaps short of performing it).  The limitations (compared to modern methods) are such a creative boon for me.  My output increased in great quality in this medium and I love even my worst song much more than anything I did with a recent DAW.  It feels like such a relief settling into this method of writing.  I'm pretty much always having fun throughout the whole process.  Finding chip as a musical outlet made music fun for me all over again.

TylerBarnes
Offline
Dallas, Texas

This is going to sound weird, although I'm sure we're all somewhere on the same page when it comes to this.... I love the limitations. As you all know there are never limitations in terms of the music style or feeling one might want to create. I'm talking purely systematic and hardware limitations. I just like knowing that I'm never very far away from reaching the bleeding edge of what the hardware is capable of. It's better for my learning and better for my creativity. I innovate and think creatively cause the system forces me too. And when I finally do finish a song I'm pleased with, it makes me all the more proud that I made my happy chip friend in my console sound amazing despite the incredible limitations that it may have.

That is my main drive, but I very much enjoy the DIY electronics side of stuff, the art in modding, and wowing people with modern music on a console they had as a kid.

Last edited by TylerBarnes (Oct 12, 2013 6:10 am)

Xuriik
Offline
Puerto Rico

I started on the nostalgia and the freedom ethos and community kept me here.

chunter
Offline
Brunswick, GA USA

Almost same as Xuriik here, I started off with nostalgia, specifically an HVSC and Amiga kick, I stayed for the inexpensive software and diversity, and have fallings out during perceived lacks of diversity and people who think I'm being a cheapskate.

Edit: I think I also got into it because it's one of the last places you can get away with making pretentious stuff, such as prog and fusion, without people turning people off, though I've since re-learned a lesson about that sort of thing.

Last edited by chunter (Oct 12, 2013 11:39 am)

SuperBustySamuraiMonkey
Offline
Madriz, Supain

I played a gig tonight. I unpacked and packed my shit in the exact time the other band drummer set up the kick drum.

Thats why.