8-bit music scene

I have been discovering 8-bit music and "Chiptunes" (music made for the sounds on specific microchips) on the web. There is a musical style, visual aesthetic, and consistent mentality to the whole thing. Also, artists' interests appear to be generational. What I mean is, it seems like the older you are, the older the systems you use to make music. People are making music with the video game systems they spent their childhood on. Right now the scene is dominated by Commodore 64, NES, and Gameboy music, but I wouldn't be surprised if newer systems are soon used by the younger generations. Here are some links:

* http://www.littlesounddj.com/lsd/  - Turn a GameBoy into a musical instrument (Rom $40 + Blank Cartridge $89 = $130).
* http://www.wayfar.net/index.php  - Turn a NES into a midi controllable synth an responsive glitch video machine (Cartridge with midi cable $98).
* http://qotile.net/synth.html  - Turn an old Atari 2600 into a synthesizer (Cartridge $25).
* http://music.headlessbarbie.com/  - An album released on a NES cartridge!
* http://www.8bitpeoples.com/  - A hub for some fine and free 8-bit music
* http://www.micromusic.net/  - Another hub for free chiptunes. Notice the aesthetic too.
* http://personal.inet.fi/taide/junttila/desert/engani/linklinklink.htm  - A ton of similar links for further research.
* http://www.chiptune.com/  - Finally, this site takes the cake! There is a ton of free music to download, and design of the site is fucking awesome! They say it is "Based on the @Amiga Workbench 1.3" (needs Firefox). This site embodies the connection between the chiptune scence and the demo scene. Maybe I'll do a post on the demo scene later.

I'll post more links as I find them. Talk to you soon.
-Richard

Sun, Jul 15, 2007  Permanent link
Categories: music, video games, 8-bit, chiptunes, diy, scene

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