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Thanks a lot for the suggestions! I'll definitely try these things! I'll keep you updated on how it goes!

I used to own a MSSIAH, it's a nice piece of kit and it has a built-in MIDI input, which makes it even more useful. I sold it when I built me a SammichSID, but do regret that now. The piano-roll based "DAW" inside MSSIAH needs a mouse to work though (keep that in mind), though there is some adapters which let you use a regular PC mouse. The monosynth application is nice, but the interface can be a bit messy, since you need a joystick to interact with it (why not use a mouse for that one as well).
As for cynthcart, I've got that as well. Pretty fun, but nowhere near the complexity of MSSIAH. You could also consider a SD2IEC device, so your friend could load any C64 software. I've got one from these guys here and it works like a charm: http://www.manosoft.it/
But there's a lot of other options out there of course!

@humbleTUNE: They have a lovely 404 page!
but just remove the trailing "." and it's fine!
Anyway... you just made me want one of these... must resist... must resist...

@unexpectedbow: thanks for all the inputs! I usually also prefer to incorporate chip elements in a more varied combination of instruments and sound sources. Actually mostly I have been working with using chip elements in experimental compositions (eg. Game Boy and Bass Clarinet duets) or electronica tracks. The album I was referring to earlier also is associable with this approach, despite being written using a classic chiptune tracker (Nanoloop), even if it's the iOS one and not the Game Boy one.
I agree with the list of proposed techniques, which one way or the other I have been using when producing tracks using a DAW or multi-track recorder.
I was more interested in thoughts on creating depth in "pure" chiptune music (though I'm aware of this being a very wide field), so thanks for those ideas as well!
I totally agree about the silence thing. That's indeed very important, in music in general I'd say. Also, I think chipmusic is at its best when it's minimalistic in its approach.
Also I totally agree about the last point.

I think I maybe have to be more specific about what I intend with depth. I really mean the whole foreground/background interplay which you have when treating sounds in different ways in musical production.

I was thinking that also the type of waveform that one uses can determine where we put the sound... for example the noise wave usually is very present and close. Actually one issue I always have is that the hihats I make tend to be too much in front of everything, while I'd rather have them sit in the background (and most of the time I avoid using the chip to make the drum parts at all). Lowpass filtering, or eq-ing the noise helps a lot though.
I think that a more harmonically poor wave like a triangle or sine wave usually sits more in the background than a square wave. This can probably be used to create depth, but I haven't really tried to do that in a more programmatic way, since I really only thought about it now

It should be pretty feasible, if you dig into it and understand all the ins and outs of counterpoint. Actually, I think this should be a lot easier than translating music from later periods that rely a lot more on harmony.
Baroque counterpoint often has few monophonic voices (sometimes just 4) and works mostly with the interplay of independent melodic sequences... which seems like a perfect fit for chiptune music.

Hell yeah, that would be like a Gameboy on steroids! But still pretty small and handy. Great work!
I'll resist buying one though