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For a fairly comprehensive, interactive, and up-to-date tutorial on ORCA's usage, see here: https://metasyn.github.io/learn-orca/

For a more lightweight and portable version for Linux (including RPi, etc.), check out ORCA-C: https://github.com/hundredrabbits/Orca-c

For the latest around ORCA's development, particularly most lately around its development on and in relation to the ultra-portable virtual computer Uxn (which just so happens to be able to run on the DS, GBA, and PSP, apart from the PC and among much else), see here:
https://llllllll.co/t/orca-livecoding-t … 2?u=rmblrx
https://llllllll.co/t/uxn-virtual-compu … 3?u=rmblrx

(also, here's a little something I was working on using ORCA with a DMG and in parallel with RetroPlug: https://www.instagram.com/p/CP9H0D8hzZI)

So while I haven't been terribly active on this community specifically, chipmusic was my entry into music-making in general (for good or ill), and remains central to my exploration of electronic music. So I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm glad this forum's here carrying the banner.

I think there's much more yet in the cards for chipmusic on the tech side of things, and so I think it's likely to continue popping up in surprising ways as the world of electronic music advances.

ORCΛ is far and away my favorite software sequencer. I've been wanting to do a track with that and mGB for a little while now. I've done some noodling to that effect already. One of the first tracks I did with ORCΛ was for the DAFM Sega Genesis-based synth (though mine uses YM3438):

I was instantly enthralled by ORCΛ's concept, but I wasn't sure I could make the sort of tracks I had in mind, based on seeing it's typically used (frankly, in a far less boring way than how I intended to use). It did, however, prove versatile enough for me to cobble together some machinery by which to compose and perform in a way that didn't require too much livecoding or demand for accurate timing in cueing sequences. I'm not sure that I'll be doing so much composition with it, going forward, but I'll definitely be using it to sketch sequences to be used in composition or for producing more generative pieces.

Yeah, but it's just note input for one channel at a time. No MIDI CC, no polyphonic recording, no channel assignments, right? I think that what anyone's after here is the ability to compose (or perform) in a DAW for the Genesis via MIDI commands and have those MIDI commands recorded to VGM without too much fiddling. A tracker like Deflemask would be a decent go-between if it had deeper MIDI mapping.

This is something I've been dreaming of. I wish Deflemask, at least, had full-fledged MIDI input (there really just needs to be some kind of Mega Drive MIDI standard) so that one could at least record to the tracker and then export to VGM. A VST would be ideal, though.

I don't know, maybe FMDrive does fit the bill, but I can't seem to get it to work with Bitwig, and the lack of a 64bit version means that I can't use it with VCV Rack. I have been meaning to see if I can get the standalone version working with ORCΛ via loopMIDI. I had high hopes for the RYM2612 VST with how enamored I've become with RYMCast, but the lack of VGM export/recording is a bit disheartening.