How you make your chiptunes?
You starting from melody or bass or you make chord progression first?
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Poland
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Memphis, TN
I personally make the chord progression first if I don't already have an idea when I sit down to make the music. It allows me to know what 'boundaries' I have to fit within as far as what notes my melody should hit.
It's like a really lazy way of deciding my scale on the fly.
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Arad, Romania
I set the tempo (usually in the 80-100 BPM range). I then create a drum track and pick a key for the bassline. The bass sets the chord progression basically and then I work on the first melody and it expands from there. This is how I do it most of the time, but other times I start with the melody or the bass.
Edit: It depends a lot on how I start a project. Most of them start with me just messing around, but sometimes I already have a concept in mind before I open my DAW.
Last edited by qb (Dec 11, 2013 3:43 pm)
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Lun-dun
Almost always chords first, as Ateno says. It's not lazy, it's just a good way of making sure your music is "right"!
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England
i find that improvising with friends on 'real' instruments is a great way to get ideas for starting more rigid/structured pieces of programmed chip music.
edit: real instruments are also synths & drum machines :)
Last edited by Jellica (Dec 11, 2013 5:16 pm)
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NC in the US of America
It depends. Either could come first. Also what Jellica said about "real" instruments (including voice)
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Planet Zaxxon
I make up things (usually in the shower), by freestyling melodies and rhythms. Record it. Then recreate it and make it into a song. Some of my best songs were written in this fashion.
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I either come up with a melody on guitar, or the beat.
I find that creating the beat layout first, kinda lets you know where the song might go. And what to fit in it. Everyone's different, however. 
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vancouver, canada
i tend to focus on groove and rhythm in one/two patterns first, and then fan out. but i've found that makes my songs somewhat lacking in chord progression (for better or worse).
lately i've experimented with laying out a "stream of consciousness" of chord movements - like, bust out the chords linearly in an almost freestyle manner, and not worrying about the overall texture until later.
either way, before all that happens i start by imagining the emotional effect i want to achieve, and then just sit there for a couple of minutes and imagine ways to make it happen. if i'm lucky, my mind can formulate the various elements to achieve the desired effect - not entire melodies mind you, but pieces of hooks and chunks of rhythmic features. the harder part is to string it all together into something more cohesive.
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Montana
First I'll play guitar and come up with a cool progression and think "This will sound cool on my Boy!" than I get disappointed because it doesn't, than I just use some simple punk progressions, throw in a 4/4 dance kick and set the tempo at 175 or something and freak out because I'm feeling the music, and stuff happens.
Last edited by aaroneow (Dec 11, 2013 6:53 pm)
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Dallas, Texas
Before anything, I choose a time signature, then arbitrary tempo. I then make the drums first. Mainly focusing on my kick's phrasing. Then, I plug in some bass tightly following the kick (at least if I'm going for that tight feel) Then it's up to my mood if I then go for chords, leads next. If I choose leads first then next I decide if I want dualing leads or chords behind it. Hats and crashes are usually modified last, that is, if I haven't made the hats an integral part of the rhythm already. Usually the 'icing on the cake' is portamento, vibrato, and pitch bends.
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Boise, ID
tempo is usually one of the last things i choose after writing a song.
when I write, I work on all the parts of the instrumentation at the same time. I just work in the order of intro, then the main sections, then the outro.