breakphase
Offline
Earth

Yeah I think the thesis of this thread is flawed. Chipmusic, I strongly believe, is a genre. It has been mischaracterized as a methodology. We can talk about the strength of working with limitations, or cool hacking stuff, but these are two separate things. I believe that the term 'chiptune' arose from the amiga tracker scene, where people were trying to emulate the sound of Commodore 64s, and stuff like that. . Amiga itself was a PCM based sound device, which is definitely not 'chiptune.' If we say that Amiga songs are chiptune, than we have to call early hardcore, like nasenbluten, chiptune. Which would be weird.

So, TL;DR, chip music is simply a genre that attempts to sound like early computer music. And no intelligent person can disagree. wink

herr_prof
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I disagree. There is really no native chipmusic only musical genre, just mirrors of popular electronic music musical styles with a limited production set. It's like calling your four bar sped up blues music PUNK because you didnt take the time to learn blues properly or you have a certain haircut.

The only thing I'll say that any chipmusican I've ever liked has ever expressed an opinion on what chipmusic ISN'T or a desire for others to validate their process as being "truebit"

Til Death.

SuperBustySamuraiMonkey
Offline
Madriz, Supain
breakphase wrote:

Yeah I think the thesis of this thread is flawed. Chipmusic, I strongly believe, is a genre. It has been mischaracterized as a methodology. We can talk about the strength of working with limitations, or cool hacking stuff, but these are two separate things. I believe that the term 'chiptune' arose from the amiga tracker scene, where people were trying to emulate the sound of Commodore 64s, and stuff like that. . Amiga itself was a PCM based sound device, which is definitely not 'chiptune.' If we say that Amiga songs are chiptune, than we have to call early hardcore, like nasenbluten, chiptune. Which would be weird.

So, TL;DR, chip music is simply a genre that attempts to sound like early computer music. And no intelligent person can disagree. wink

If theres only ONE thing all chiptuners agree is that it isnt a fucking genre. Its a method.

irrlichtproject
Offline
Nomad's Land
herr_prof wrote:

just mirrors of musical styles with a limited production set

FTFY. Otherwise, I fully agree with just about every word in that statement.

e.s.c.
Offline
IL, US
SuperBustySamuraiMonkey wrote:
breakphase wrote:

Yeah I think the thesis of this thread is flawed. Chipmusic, I strongly believe, is a genre. It has been mischaracterized as a methodology. We can talk about the strength of working with limitations, or cool hacking stuff, but these are two separate things. I believe that the term 'chiptune' arose from the amiga tracker scene, where people were trying to emulate the sound of Commodore 64s, and stuff like that. . Amiga itself was a PCM based sound device, which is definitely not 'chiptune.' If we say that Amiga songs are chiptune, than we have to call early hardcore, like nasenbluten, chiptune. Which would be weird.

So, TL;DR, chip music is simply a genre that attempts to sound like early computer music. And no intelligent person can disagree. wink

If theres only ONE thing all chiptuners agree is that it isnt a fucking genre. Its a method.

yeah, as much as i complain that there should be more diversity of styles within the scene, it's most definitely not a single genre... the stuff i did as e.s.c. is most certainly not in the same genre as what Trey Frey does, for example

SuperBustySamuraiMonkey
Offline
Madriz, Supain
e.s.c. wrote:
SuperBustySamuraiMonkey wrote:

If theres only ONE thing all chiptuners agree is that it isnt a fucking genre. Its a method.

yeah, as much as i complain that there should be more diversity of styles within the scene, it's most definitely not a single genre... the stuff i did as e.s.c. is most certainly not in the same genre as what Trey Frey does, for example

Anamanguchi, Danimal, Starscream, Tori ena, Chibi, abandoned on fire, SuperBustySamuraiMonkey*, nordloef, YMCK. I cant even link two of these together (wich, to me, is a great thing).






*shameless plug

VCMG
Offline
California

"Chiptune/chipmusic" has a well-defined center but such a stupidly vague edge that lately I've come to think of the term as a philosophy even more than a method or a genre.
after all,  I think all chip really is deep down is celebrating old, outcast, or uncommon technology by bringing it into the present. You can do that by pushing the boundaries of limited tools or you can do it by combining those tools with modern ones or you can even just give an earnest homage to those tools and not actually use them, and as long as its a sincere statement I think it can fall under the name.

(that being said I've definitely heard 'chipmusic' that I'd have a really hard time actually classifying as chip)

jefftheworld
Offline
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
breakphase wrote:

Yeah I think the thesis of this thread is flawed. Chipmusic, I strongly believe, is a genre. It has been mischaracterized as a methodology. We can talk about the strength of working with limitations, or cool hacking stuff, but these are two separate things. I believe that the term 'chiptune' arose from the amiga tracker scene, where people were trying to emulate the sound of Commodore 64s, and stuff like that. . Amiga itself was a PCM based sound device, which is definitely not 'chiptune.' If we say that Amiga songs are chiptune, than we have to call early hardcore, like nasenbluten, chiptune. Which would be weird.

So, TL;DR, chip music is simply a genre that attempts to sound like early computer music. And no intelligent person can disagree. wink

herr_prof wrote:

I disagree. There is really no native chipmusic only musical genre, just mirrors of popular electronic music musical styles with a limited production set. It's like calling your four bar sped up blues music PUNK because you didnt take the time to learn blues properly or you have a certain haircut.

The only thing I'll say that any chipmusican I've ever liked has ever expressed an opinion on what chipmusic ISN'T or a desire for others to validate their process as being "truebit"

Til Death.

I think you're both somewhat right. There are aesthetic elements that are unique to chipmusic but it's not exactly a genre. I don't think that chipmusic is just a mirror of other genres but neither do I think it is entirely distinct.

SketchMan3
Offline
NC in the US of America

"... old technology... etc." does that mean drumming on a hollow tree stump with a stone tied to a tree branch is chiptune? tongue

jefftheworld wrote:

I think you're both somewhat right. There are aesthetic elements that are unique to chipmusic but it's not exactly a genre. I don't think that chipmusic is just a mirror of other genres but neither do I think it is entirely distinct.

There aren't any genres that are entirely distinct from every other genre.

So, TL;DR, chip music is simply a genre that attempts to sound like early computer music. And no intelligent person can disagree.

What about using early computers to attempt to make music that sounds like modern computer music or a Javanese gamelan orchestra?

Last edited by SketchMan3 (Feb 25, 2016 12:04 am)

JaffaCakeMexica
Offline
Lake Titicaca

More chipmusic software on modern devices eh?

I dont know if this is entirely relevant but...I would really love to see more chipmusic-ish software come to android.

The reason I stumbled upon all of the chipmusic websites at first was not really because I wanted the chiptune sound but more because I wanted a portable synth/sequencer that runs on batteries (I must say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that using gamepad controls to create music is very comfortable compared to touchscreen "cradle and prod" and desktop "hunch, type and click").

First of all I wanted a yamaha qy100, then discovered milkytracker for PDA, then LSDJ and LittleGameParkTracker...now I use Sunvox (awesome). I also had a brief forray into PSPSEQ but gave up in the end (someone should get the code for those PSPSEQ synths)...

After a while though, "chip" kind of sounds have grown on me and it seems to me that good chipmusic is all about complex melody and harmony, rather than big fat sounds, deep sound design and a two note melody with a four to the floor beat and a one note bassline...which is what a lot of modern music is.

It would be cool to see the PS Vita get some chip-like software.Maybe LittleGameparkTracker with a mixer screen, graphical sample editor, non-sampled oscillator instruments and more effects and effects columns? (If not PSVita then maybe the windows Linx vision 8 gaming tablet http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing … 25011329:s...I love the gamepad control method)

Or maybe even for some big manufacturer like roland or korg to realize that gamepad controls with a tracker-like interface is the way to go (for sit back in the sofa comfort and detailed micro-editing) and create some new modern portable synth/sequencer with those ideas in mind.

On a totally unrelated sidenote it kind of annoys me that your average guy looks at the name "LSDJ" and thinks, "they must be taking or selling acid"...alternatively..."that software must be for making acid house music"...whilst your average guy sees the name LGPT and thinks "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender"...

Last edited by JaffaCakeMexica (Feb 25, 2016 1:15 am)

unexpectedbowtie
Offline
Glasgow, Scotland.
breakphase wrote:

So, TL;DR, chip music is simply a genre that attempts to sound like early computer music. And no intelligent person can disagree. wink

Can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but whilst I admire the skill involved in replicating the sort of music that you would find in old computer games, I find it some of the most boring approach to chipmusic there is. For me, the really interesting part is using the chip sounds ('authentic' or otherwise) as a new kind of instrumentation in their own right, particularly when blending them with other elements (like guitar, vocals, drums, or whatever). If it's just about replicating computer game music, then count me out. At the end of the day, who really cares about placing strict definitions on what is something creative anyway? I don't get it.

This comment from VCMG probably sums it up better than I could:

VCMG wrote:

"Chiptune/chipmusic" has a well-defined center but such a stupidly vague edge that lately I've come to think of the term as a philosophy even more than a method or a genre.
after all,  I think all chip really is deep down is celebrating old, outcast, or uncommon technology by bringing it into the present. You can do that by pushing the boundaries of limited tools or you can do it by combining those tools with modern ones or you can even just give an earnest homage to those tools and not actually use them, and as long as its a sincere statement I think it can fall under the name.

Last edited by unexpectedbowtie (Feb 25, 2016 1:36 am)

e.s.c.
Offline
IL, US
JaffaCakeMexica wrote:

On a totally unrelated sidenote it kind of annoys me that your average guy looks at the name "LSDJ" and thinks, "they must be taking or selling acid"...alternatively..."that software must be for making acid house music"...whilst your average guy sees the name LGPT and thinks "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender"...

if potentially having someone think you might be interested in drugs or are a supporter of the LGBT community bothers you, perhaps making music isn't for you

catskull
Offline
NUMBSKULL

Dang, I was just about to release Big Daddy Sound Machine tracker for the Genesis. Didn't even think about the abbreviation

JaffaCakeMexica
Offline
Lake Titicaca

@ e.s.c:

I understand your premise in that you are implying that many respected musicians have indeed been drug users and/or "lgbt", howevever, at no point in my post did I categorically state that I was opposed to these things but rather that the assumption that LSDJ is somehow intrinsically "psychedelic drug software" or that LittleGameParkTracker is somehow intrinsically "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender" software has previously been irksome for oneself. You sir, have a bee in your bonnet.

The One Electronic
Offline
Detroit
VCMG wrote:

"Chiptune/chipmusic" has a well-defined center but such a stupidly vague edge that lately I've come to think of the term as a philosophy even more than a method or a genre.
after all,  I think all chip really is deep down is celebrating old, outcast, or uncommon technology by bringing it into the present. You can do that by pushing the boundaries of limited tools or you can do it by combining those tools with modern ones or you can even just give an earnest homage to those tools and not actually use them, and as long as its a sincere statement I think it can fall under the name.

(that being said I've definitely heard 'chipmusic' that I'd have a really hard time actually classifying as chip)

I'm pretty much in agreement with this, however I've always felt that a mission statement of chipmusic was to push older hardware further than it was originally intended to show what it could really be capable of.  Kind of a spiritual successor to demoscene I guess.

chunter
Offline
Brunswick, GA USA

This thread is closed.

is probably what this would have said a couple years ago.

My opinion is that sometimes there's no other way to get the exact sound you want unless you turn to old software and old technology. Sometimes that's a pain in the ass and a VST will make what you want to hear faster. This is a worn out subject and really nothing to be concerned with.