When Pop Superstars Flirt With Chip (Page 2 of 5)

If chiptune were to burst forth onto the mainstream I think it would ruin a lot of things. For one, hardware would become more expensive and harder to find. Then, if everyone and their mom is pulling from the same limited sound palettes, at some point all the songs are going to start sounding the same. Yes, some amazing things would happen, but then there'd also be a lot more crap to sift through to find the good stuff.

I think they'd at least take the extra half step to download toad and peach.

edit so i dont have to double post: but yeah if chip were "mainstream" obviously a bunch of douchy kids would kind of ruin it, they're already moving in through dubstep now that so many producers are like "LOL this sounds like a videogame because it's a square wave! so much GRIME!!!!" but I think even if there was a big chip explosion it would be completely separate from the current chip scene. It would probably piss lots of us off that everyone would be like "oh fuck this new Skrillex joint is dope! he used the mario coin sound effect! LOL nostalgia to the max!" and never listen to any real chip, but at the same time it will be preserving the integrity of real stuff. On a plus side, if real chip got popular, we would be rolling in the dough, and bitches, and liquor, and weed, and all drive fast sports cars..... man i hope chipmusic sells out.

edit #2: Saskrotch I'm gonna add you on facebook, even though your mean comments sometimes make me anxious, but you are from my home state and I love your music. Please don't make me cry and cut myself to sleep.

Last edited by SadPanda (Aug 13, 2012 4:44 am)

That's always the easy answer; the one that throws an impenetrable bunker around the idea of a fringe scene moving closer to popularity and, by proxy, turning to shit. Sure, there are plenty of reasons to worry about an insincere A&R man storming into a scene like a heartless golem to suck the life from its source, but if a scene is strong, it'll never truly die. Besides, it's not like chip music is very new. Producers and musicians have had plenty of time to scour waves of popularity to incorporate and/or outright steal bits for personal gain and chip music has been out in the open for nearly 20 years. We're not the only ones on the internet, you know. I feel like this "OMG! THEY'RE COMING TO GET US" hyperbole is largely borne from green artists looking for solidarity in paranoia. It's only natural; I remember thinking the same way back in the 20th century with the release of Micromusic's first chip music compilation in 2000 featuring plenty of friends and myself.

I always mention jazz when chip musicians feign artistic bullying and pending theft en masse - not as an analogy to genre, but of intent. What if Monk, Alice and John Coltrane, Miles, Jelly Roll Morton and every other master had stayed in their homes, apartments and basements to play music for their friends, family, a limited group of people and no one else? We'd arguably be without electronic music, hip-hop, soul and, most importantly, people like our parents, their parents and colleagues of the musicians themselves who fell in love with jazz because they were given the gift of shared fandom. Without that, Nina Simone might've ended up a seamstress. Mingus might have ended up a butcher. Bill Evans might have taught chemistry to kids with buzz cuts. Sure, all of those professions are respectable and good, but I'm a bit selfish and want to be able to hum Clifford Brown & Max Roach tunes while working.

All I'm saying is that sincerity and genuineness will always outlive any disruption to the essence of any art form; and without a bit of trauma blown to the musicians and the music, it will suffer in spite of a tight adherence to technique. So make noise and use it to keep the Boogeyman away. We'll be alright!

I also think that it's really silly and straight-up reactionary for people here to be alarmists meanwhile the scene covers plenty of popular artists' music. A Beastie Boys tribute compilation thread surfaced within minutes of the announcement of MCA's death and dozens lined up to be a part of it. That's really cool, but if you guys were really worried about being crushed by the Unquestionably Destructive Power of Pop™, then why is there be such an impetus to reach out to the industry? Truly you don't think that chip music versions of pop music end up any less pop, do you? Have covers of pop tunes by chip musicians become a version of Stockholm syndrome [no pun intended <):'p]? The whole thing is really bugged out and full of holes. I just want to hear cool shit from cool people.

Chip sounds have been in the mainstream for years now, with acts like Crystal Castles going off.

I seriously doubt we'll be seeing arps and noise kicks and shit being used by lady gaga or katy perry, however.

BRITNEY IS THAT YOU???

As far as I'm concerned, there is already a big bunch of awful chip artists I would never listen to, but so far it hasn't ruined anything for me. Why would it? If you insist there's any ruinin' going on, it's definitely already happened, though.