om
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Two thing prompted this thread,

one was a creative derailment in another thread where I asked something along the lines of "do we stop calling it chip music when it gets a wider audience ?"

and then (I blame my wife) listening to the x-factor's sponsorship music, I was like, "damn, that's chip music, being played to 5 million people every 5 minutes" (the song is Calvin Harris - Acceptable In The 80s  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhUcSbbURyc)

so, that, and Aphex's "Druqx" amongst others are two very chip sounding mainstream releases.

there was also Hrvatski's brilliant "nuclear cats get new home" (though always thought it was cats... oh well..)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9EqWCFGzZg

Any more to add to this list ?

Jellica
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England

that Hrvatski song samples wizball on the c64

http://fonix.dyndns.org:40000/soasc/ind … x=&sl=

TraceKaiser
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Whitley Bay, England

Crystal Castles and Hadouken! were always all "lol Gameboy sounds"

4mat
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Hmm.. I dunno, aesthetically people have been using the basic waveforms as long as there has been the ability to generate them.   What makes chip sound 'chip' is the waveforms and some manipulation techniques that were evolved on synthesizers (such as arpeggio and vibrato), developed way before any of the devices we'd commonly describe as chipmusic devices.  As can be seen from the many early copies of classical pieces (how many 'Switched on Bach' clones are on c64?) and electronic tracks (such as Jarre, Kraftwerk, Gershon Kingsley), chipmusic authors were trying to get the sound of synthesizers onto their home computers. While it's evolved from that point since, we are basically a subset of the synthesizer generation.   I mean, as an example Raymond Scott was doing this in the '50s and it basically sounds like SID music:

Where it has evolved is in the use of digital samples with the waveforms, now that is a move away from the basic elements.

Jellica: I think it's Flash Gordon. [edit: ahh, yeah sorry the bassline is Wizball.  there's a bit of sampling from Turbo Outrun as well)

Last edited by 4mat (Nov 6, 2011 2:57 pm)

ant1
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uhajdafdfdfa

there's 50 cent and timberland / nelly furtado

kitsch
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matt's mind

beck too, right?  i think i recall something chippy he did last year maybe...  i don't care for beck, so forgot quick...

Victory Road
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Gosford, Australia

What was that Chris Cornell song someone posted here a while back? Hilarity!

How public is public, and in what context?

The Handle
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The term "chip music" is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I would call those examples "Dance music" more than anything else. Chiptune, to me, will always be associated with sounds from the classic gaming consoles and computers.

Last edited by The Handle (Nov 6, 2011 4:13 pm)

e.s.c.
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IL, US

Trash80
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Los Angeles
The Handle wrote:

The term "chip music" is like nails on a chalkboard to me. I would call those examples "Dance music" more than anything else. Chiptune, to me, will always be associated with sounds from the classic gaming consoles and computers.

See Also: Guitar music. wink I think chip music is a perfectly acceptable term, not for a genre, but more for a medium and the culture surrounding it.
Also, If you want to get technical, you could be mixed up.

om
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Obviously a sine wave is a sine wave, and a sound chip is a sound chip.

So, I meant more in terms of structure and overall sound.  Some combination which might include vibrato and arpeggios, big rough sawtooth leads with slow glissando, innocent melodies, plenty of key changes, devoid of recognizable instrument, voice or drum samples.  That kind of stuff.

<B>Should I have said "what commercially released stuff sounds a bit like what you think chipmusic sounds like ?"</B>

Raymond Scott thing is amazing.  1959  wow.

TraceKaiser
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Whitley Bay, England

Adventure is like chip music, but without the chip part.
Like, his music has really similar melodies and structures to what you'd expect from chip, but it isn't.

The Handle
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trash80 wrote:

I think chip music is a perfectly acceptable term

It's not that I'm against using the phrase "chip music", it's just I think "chiptune" sounds much more professional. I don't really care to be honest, call it nitpicking tongue

Last edited by The Handle (Nov 7, 2011 1:30 am)

Decktonic
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Westfield, NJ

love calvin harris. he can do no wrong.

pixls
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Philly, PA, USA
The Handle wrote:
trash80 wrote:

I think chip music is a perfectly acceptable term

It's not that I'm against using the phrase "chip music", it's just I think "chiptune" sounds much more professional. I don't really care to be honest, call it nitpicking tongue

wait you think chiptune sounds more professional? lol?

Last edited by pixls (Nov 7, 2011 3:28 am)

pulseflux
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The Central Coast, Australia
Decktonic wrote:

love calvin harris. he can do no wrong.

Relevent?