Delek
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Buenos Aires, Argentina

Hi there guys! I was thinking the other day that most of us really lived those times of old computers and simple soundchips, and that's the core of our interest in this lovely music genre.

Now, kids today really didn't listen to chipmusic in our way, they will never "live" those moments as we lived back in the days.

If this is true then the interest of Chiptune will decrease trough the years.

After the generation of "80s/90s kids" the chipmusic will become strange?
It is our job as a live Chipmusic community is to avoid this?
The guitars are stil sounding after hundred of years only for the people or by the instrument itself?

Last edited by Delek (Mar 14, 2015 5:07 pm)

egr
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Abandoned on Fire

I'd be very happy if the appreciation of chipmusic as only video game reference would die completely. But I believe that (unfortunately) the games and 80s references are embedded in the music itself. As in, even tho an artist may have no ties or love for that stuff, when their methods/tools are revealed it will lead immediately to "Zelda, your Samus is in another Castlevania." It would be more work to extricate ourselves from this than to preserve it.

Edit: this is much less a problem with amiga, c64, and any non-game console chipmusic. Kids don't remembe any of that stuff.

Last edited by egr (Mar 14, 2015 5:35 pm)

n00bstar
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Montreal, Canada
egr wrote:

I'd be very happy if the appreciation of chipmusic as only video game reference would die completely. But I believe that (unfortunately) the games and 80s references are embedded in the music itself. As in, even tho an artist may have no ties or love for that stuff, when their methods/tools are revealed it will lead immediately to "Zelda, your Samus is in another Castlevania." It would be more work to extricate ourselves from this than to preserve it.

This won't happen until magazine like pitchfork stop making articles like "Guy XYZ from BandYouKnow made music using......drumroll.....lights....suspense....more drumroll......AN OLD GAMEBOY OMG OMG OMG HOW CRAZY IS THAT WOW WOW MUCH WOW OMG OMG!#!#$@#$%$#"

The legitimization of old consoles/computers/bananas as musical instruments is what will make chipmusic "part of real music" and not just "those nintendo songs". It took many many years for electronic music to be recognized as its own thing instead of being "OMG OMG THIS WALTER CARLOS DUDE JUST MADE A BEH-TO-VAN SONG ON A M-OO-Oo-oOG SYNTHESITAMAZMER!".

It will get there. We're already halfway there thanks for crossover bands like Anabamavacagafaratajakalalapalanamaguchi and the emergence of the indie-pixel-retro-faux-8bit-game scene. The aesthetics of old machines are not hardware limitations anymore, they're a stylistic choice, and one that is more and more valid as people push its boundaries.

I am the sun
Offline
Berlin, Germany
egr wrote:

"Zelda, your Samus is in another Castlevania."

I fully agree with this sentiment. Liberate chipmusic from it's nostalgic roots! FREEDOM!!

sugar sk*-*lls
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nashville,tn

I don't think it will disappear. The timbre of the sounds of chip music is the only unifying element between all the music that falls under the category of chip music. The hardware  will definitely disappear and change. As long as the timbre is culturally relevant, people will use the sounds in their compositions. Nostalgia was never a point of interest for myself. I like the sounds, the idiom of composition unique to the hardware, and the pragmatism of minimal gear for shows.

4mat
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Chipmusic was being written before there was a 'scene', and it'll carry on being written after this 'scene' has gone.  (let's be honest it's kind of died off here at least in the last year or so)   It's like the demoscene in that respect, somebody is going to be writing stuff because they HAVE to write stuff regardless of there being an audience.

The 'video game reference' problem.  Well, it's 2015 and I still see a lot of chip gig flyers with Street Fighter characters on, or gameboys, or pixel fonts so... well...  if we stop doing it ourselves that'll probably help at least.  Chipmusic isn't some weird thing with it's own rules, you can play it on your stereo now instead of some esoteric old hardware.  At that point it's music like any other music. You wouldn't have a metal gig poster with a picture of a guitar on it, give your audience some credit.  Just write music, stop saying how you write it, and what with, at least it's better than hiding behind (for want of a better word) a 'gimmick'.  You know what's good?  Seeing a music playlist full of lots of bands (including chipmusic) , much better than seeing a separate playlist for chipmusic at least.  At least for 'pure' chipmusic that should really be the goal personally.

Last edited by 4mat (Mar 15, 2015 2:32 pm)

menthes
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the choice of an instrument is merely a tool for self-expression. as long as a job can be done with quality, the method just doesn't really matter.

with that said, retro hardware becomes more difficult to acquire and maintain as the years pass (e.g. the declining availability of sid chips and computers built before the year 2000). if enough people remain interested in the games, applications, and hardware of yesteryear, then chipmusic will remain a viable method of expression. nothing can survive in a vacuum.

imo generations x, y, and z will be the most enthusiastic and receptive about retro hardware and chipmusic in general. i definitely buy into the idea that 'you had to be there when x system was still current' in order to fully understand the cultural and technological advancements that were surrounding the computing/gaming eco system. regardless, the boundaries of productions made with retro hardware are still being pushed, and there will always be room for further refinement on all platforms.

Last edited by menthes (Mar 15, 2015 3:03 pm)

herr_prof
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Unsubscribe

If we are still stuck with Barbershop almost 100 years later, chiptune will be just fine.

Kalle-ftw
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I grew up in the PS2/Gamecube era, and if you ask someone in my age what chiptune is a large majority knows about it even though few are fans of it. Now, if you ask a generation AFTER mine, the ones born in the 2000, then actually more people are into chiptune, why? Because they grew up with indie games taking inspiration from old school games.

SketchMan3
Offline
NC in the US of America
Kalle-ftw wrote:

I grew up in the PS2/Gamecube era, and if you ask someone in my age what chiptune is a large majority knows about it even though few are fans of it. Now, if you ask a generation AFTER mine, the ones born in the 2000, then actually more people are into chiptune, why? Because they grew up with indie games taking inspiration from old school games.

Also consider that they are being raised by their aunts/uncles/parents/much-older-siblings who grew up in the 80's/90's wink

Dire Hit
Offline
Seattle, WA

The fact that people are still doing it now leads me to believe we're not going to stop for a long while. I don't know how the hardware is going to hold up in the next 30 years but I do know that people are always going to try and make things with a limited toolset. Electroswing became a thing around 2010ish I don't see why there won't be a resurgence of other musical styles.

Invisible Robot Hands
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Playboy Man-Baby
Delek wrote:

Hi there guys! I was thinking the other day that most of us really lived those times of old computers and simple soundchips, and that's the core of our interest in this lovely music genre.

I wouldn't for a minute say "most"; I'm way outside of this. The limitations + sound pallet + convenient compactness of the Game Boy exercise my imagination muscles and make for easy setup/maximum output during shows. I actually work pretty hard to dissociate from the 'nostalgia' thing (and even moreso from the gimmicky airs of "you should like me on the grounds that I use a gameboy"), because I was about 6 when I owned a Game Boy originally, and have no schmaltzy "fond memories" that I'm trying to appeal to and capitalize on. I don't book myself as a 'chiptune act' or reference video games in my flyers or my song titles.

Last edited by Invisible Robot Hands (Mar 15, 2015 10:32 pm)

Victory Road
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Gosford, Australia

everything will disappear someday

P.S. sorry (i guess?) for having a video-game-reference name :v

Last edited by Victory Road (Mar 15, 2015 10:26 pm)

Imaginary
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Whateverville, California

There will always be people who find the culture of the past fascinating. Renaissance fairs for example. I'm just here to enjoy the current incarnation of what we have while we have it.

Feryl
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Listen to Victory Road and Imaginary. They speak words of wisdom.

Also, when the hardware inevitably dies out, we'll always have emulation.

DSC
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It will still be be kept alive, but not in a positive way.  More like a punch line to a bad 80's joke, like do you remember Urkel, from Family Matters?  Whatever love was there will have withered to sad distorted icons of irrelevance.  Just like most of you think of the 1960's when someone brings it up.