BTB#3 Chiptunes and 8-Bit music

You can date yourself by the kinds of noises that are indelibly imprinted upon your childhood memories - the ones that are forever etched into the sonic pathways of your brain. For me perhaps it is that particular blip sound that resulted when a slow moving 4 pixel square mathematically coincided with the position of another set of pixels that formed a bat/paddle. A relatively simply calculated logic of positioning, physics, and sound that made up the game of pong. The tones and sounds from these early video games were consolidated inside a single chip; a chip dedicated to the storage and playback of the 8 or so sounds that made up the entire sonic landscape of those early video games. Pong, while not the first videogame, was the first coin-op arcade game and the first mainstream videogame that was available to almost everyone. Pong was the impetus for the development of the videogaming industry, almost single-handedly creating both the home and the arcade videogame markets. And it made a sound that I can never forget.

Chiptune is music written in sound formats where the sounds are synthesized by a computer or video game console sound chip. The so-called “golden age” of chiptunes was the mid 1980s to early 1990s, when such sound chips were the only way for creating music on computers.

Many of the composers we listened to in the show have a great degree of flexibility in creating music while at the same time operating under the strict limitions imposed by the medium.

While chiptunes are closely related to video game music the term is also used for music that uses these distinct-sounding synthesizer instruments for their artistic value.

The Playlist

Frank Black - Whatever Happened To Pong (YouTube video embedded in Last.fm page)

Kraftwerk Web Site

MGMT - Time to Pretend (8 bit version)

8-Bit Weapon - Chiptune Chump, 2D Died from The Reset Generation. 8 Bit Weapon is Seth, ComputeHer, and MelBot. 8 Bit Weapon has performed across two continents with an arsenal of 8 bit weapons, which include a Commodore 64 and 128, a couple Nintendo Gameboy classics, Nintendo N.E.S., Intellivision synthesizer, Atari 2600, Speak n Spell & Speak n Music, some hybrid lo-fi acoustic-electric drums, and an assortment of other vintage and toy synthesizers.

Inspired by classic videogame soundtracks and electronic music from the 70s and 80s, 8 Bit Weapon delivers a sound that is as unique as it is original. Clever melodies, nostalgic atmosphere, and energetic beats create a decidedly modern sound while maintaining a fun, lo-tech aesthetic.

8-Bit Documentary Trailer (YouTube)

Pornophonique - Sad Robot, take me to the bonuslevel because i need an extralife

Mikro Orchestra - Live in Paris 2003.  An experimental sound - visual project from Poland, basing on the use of hand-held game consoles as a music instrument. Main assumption of project's authors is to create new sound space on the base of tones generated live from hand-held game consoles during a highly intensive performance consisting of massive explosion of visuals.

The aim of the Mikro Orchestra is to create irony in the electronic music scene with low tech hardware and relatively simple software in a world dominated by ever more advanced digital music processing and creation technologies. A crucial decision since the very conception of this digital music project was the creation of a unique brand of music by relying solely on game consoles as musical instruments.

Nullsleep - Salvation for a Broken Heart

Little Boots - Meddle (YouTube)

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