RJL
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Today I released my first chiptune ep. 

You can check it out here:

https://deerbite.bandcamp.com/

It is very lofi,  sort of noisy chiptune.  Simplistic,  with slower tempos and some experimental noise thrown in here and there.

It's not the most impressive or skillful chiptune you will hear,  but I would love to hear what you guys think!  Some CC would be great as this is my first release and I am planning on more.  I know I made mistakes,  some are just more obvious than others,  I'm learning a lot!

PS - There are cassette tapes available from the bandcamp site!


Panda Chan
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Melbourne, Australia

This is good! Very chill, nice aesthetic and great vibes big_smile

stargazer
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SLC, UT

I like this! Really relaxing. Almost reminds me of the Mother 1 soundtrack in some way. What kind of mastering was used to get the lo fi sounds? Did you just run it through a tape deck?

RJL
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Thanks guys,  I used a Tascam MF P-01 which is like the cheapest,  most basic 4 track cassette recorder you can get.

Hello_World
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Göteborg

Nice cassette, i like your sound!

PULSELOOPER
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São Paulo, Brazil

easygoing dope. really like this.

RJL
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stargazer wrote:

Almost reminds me of the Mother 1 soundtrack in some way.



I had never heard of Mother before,  so I looked it up,  and I'm really digging it!   Even though it's way better than my work,  I can still see some similarities between the two.  Thanks,  man.

stargazer
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SLC, UT
RJL wrote:

I had never heard of Mother before

o_0

Dude, legendary game and soundtrack. Both Mother and Mother 2 (earthbound in the us) soundtrack's were composed by none other than Hip Tanaka, creator of the Game boy's sound chip and countless other soundtracks. He's truly a legend. I would go so far as to say that your album reminding me of Mother is the equivalent to saying someone reminds you of Jesus. Hahaha.

RJL
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Haha,  wow!

Brother Android
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TX

This is great - I love it when people do chip music that's off the beaten path, I love it when people record to tape, and I love the simple evocative beauty of these tracks. "Mist Town" is just killer, as simple as it is.

Since you asked for criticism, I think there's room for improvement in terms of pacing. The EP is frontloaded with very short (and great) tracks, and I think that generates certain expectations in the listener, which makes it harder to get into the tracks in the middle that are several times longer. I'm not really sure that the long tracks merit being as long as they are, as well (though I dig the bizarre sounds in "E-Waste"). Bottom line is, it drags a bit.

I'd be curious to see per-track notes, since you seem to have used some unusual equipment and/or techniques.

Last edited by Brother Android (Mar 17, 2015 3:39 pm)

RJL
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Great advice,  Brother. 


Brother Android wrote:

I'd be curious to see per-track notes, since you seem to have used some unusual equipment and/or techniques.


I 'm willing to share notes with anyone interested!

AtariTufty
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UK

Really nice EP, very enjoyable.

"Mist Town" is by far my favourite track followed by "Break Lake". Like the idea of the limited edition cassette tape release too, I thought about doing something similar with my Beeper album, "1-bit Mechanistic".

I agree with Brother Android that "E-Waste" could maybe have been a bit shorter and for something this unusual I think most people would be interested in a per-track breakdown of the equipment or techniques used and maybe the musician's inspirations.

RJL
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I just typed up a really long,  thoughtful response and then it got deleted by my iPad

>:[

I'll try again tomorrow

Brother Android
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TX

BTW - you can add per-track notes on Bandcamp, if you didn't know.

RJL
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I have been messing around with chiptune stuff for about 2 years now,  but never released anything.   I finally decided that I was being too much of a perfectionist and if I kept it up,  I would never release anything.  (Perhaps perfectionist isn't the right word,  more like I felt like my songs weren't good enough.)  I was determined to overcome this.

Inspired by Brother Android's album "October,  November,  December" I gave myself a deadline of 3 months to make an album.  EP 1 is the result.  It was all recorded on a cheap 4 track cassette player.

Here's a quick track by track rundown:

NEBULAE - Bleep Labs Nebulophone running through a homemade delay box and a homemade Korg MS-20 filter clone.

MIST TOWN - 2 x lsdj.  Inspired by "Legend of Zelda 2" for the NES,  which I was playing at the time.

ATARI SERENADE - this was a song that I had made earlier in the year using Paul Slocum's Synthcart for the Atari 2600.  I slowed it down using my circuit bent 4 track for this ep.

BREAK LAKE - 1 x lsdj.  My attempt at a little chipbreak.

E-WASTE - 1x lsdj plus a bunch of circuit bent/ handmade instruments I had lying around.

PLUTO BLUE - This song is only on the cassette tape.  It is an lsdj track slowed down using a modified DMG.

FEBRUARY LULLABY - Another lsdj track slowed down using a modified DMG... running through the handmade delay and filter.

ICE NIGHTMARE - Another cassette only track.  Another lsdj track slowed down,  this time running through a homemade distortion pedal.

There might also be a short "secret track" somewhere on the cassette ... ... ... wink

an0va
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this feels really honest and genuine - what it lacks in programming complexity it totally makes up for in terms of melody, song structure, and creative atmosphere

this is very refreshing to chip music IMO! smile