Tag Archives: chiptune
Korg’s music-making Switch app offers Genesis and Taito game sounds
It stands to reason that a music creation app on a game console should have sound samples from consoles, doesn't it? Korg certainly thinks so. It's updating its Gadget app for the Switch with both a Sega Genesis-derived drum machine (Otorii) and a...
Crowdfunded Nanoloop synth doesn’t need a Game Boy to make beats
Nanoloop has been a cornerstone of chiptune music for years, but using one has meant either owning a Game Boy or making do with a mobile app. You won't have to make those compromises for much longer. Developer Oliver Wittchow and crew are crowdfund...
Arcano Systems’ chiptune synth offers 80s video game nostalgia
Here at Engadget, we have quite an affinity for all things that remind us of what it was like to play video games in the 80s. That includes musical instruments and gear that are capable of reproducing those iconic chiptune sounds we all know and love...
A new chiptune album is coming to the Nintendo Famicom
Every week it feels like a new video game soundtrack gets a vinyl release. Journey, The Last of Us, FTL and Shenmue -- none of these are surprises anymore. So what's next? MiniDiscs? Cassette tapes? Well, some musicians are keen to use cartridges ins...
Circuit Board EP Generates a Unique Song Per Copy: Schrödinger’s Track
Artists usually place a hidden track or two in their albums. The upcoming three EPs of electronic artist Captain Credible on the other hand will each have a randomly generated track.
The Dead Cats EPs are based on an ATtiny85 microcontroller and Captain Credible’s Arduino sketches. The power switch is embedded in the 3.5mm input. The generated track is practically infinitely long, but once generated you can restart the song by removing and then reinserting your 3.5mm jack into the board.
Each circuit board will also come with a digital download for the rest of the songs in the respective EPs. You can order the first Dead Cats circuit board EP from Bandcamp for ~$18 (USD). You can download the Dead Cats source code and Gerber file from Captain Credible’s website.
[via NOTCOT]
8Bit Harmonica – Play That Rhythm And Bit-Blues
Learn of the latest musical creation that could revolutionize the chiptune world. With the rise of the chiptune scene, I …8Bit Harmonica: The Tunes They Are a-Changin’
A few years ago we featured a harmonica crammed into a NES cartridge. YouTuber basami sentaku’s harmonica not only has a Famicom cartridge case, it produces 8-bit sound with the help of a sound chip from a NES. It also has a mode that plays the coin sound effect from Super Mario Bros. when you blow into it.
Watch basami sentaku and his friends play some chiptunes on the harmonica:
I’d love to hear non-video game music played on that. Basami sentaku-san, I’m sure you’d make a lot of chiptune fans happy if you started selling 8bit harmonicas.
[via Viral Viral Videos]
The Chiptastic Chiptune List Will Have You Buried in 8-Bit Tunes for Months
If you’re into retro style beep and bleeps and beats, then here’s a fun way to discover lots of cool chiptune acts – many of whom you’ve never heard of before. A group of chiptune artists and fans has compiled the Chiptastic Chipmusic List, or as I like to call it The Ultimate Chiptune List.
The Facebook-compiled list currently showcases over 360 different chiptune performers, including links to their websites, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, or Facebook pages, as well as links to a number of streaming chipmusic radio stations. Whether you’re into chiptunes or just like retro gaming, you’ll discover all kinds of sweet new electronic music by clicking around to the artists on the list. Some of my faves: Abducted by Sharks, Mario Frog Suit, I Set My Pixels on Fire, Solarbear and PandaSTAR.
And while we’re on the subject of chiptunes, here’s some cool sounds from the monthly Philadelphia chipmusic showcase show 8static:
After you’re done listening to the concert footage above, head on over to the Chiptastic Chipmusic List on Facebook. Be sure to post a comment below and us know who your favorites are!
[Thanks for the tip, Jesse!]
Pianocade: Super Mega Synthesizer Arcade Controller Combo
The Pianocade is the embodiment of chiptune music. It’s a synthesizer that looks and works like an arcade controller, down to the analog joystick and token buttons.
But the Pianocade’s gamer theme isn’t just skin deep. It’s open source, hacker-friendly synthesizer board is based on the NES and Game Boy sound hardware, so it makes the monophonic pings and blips out of the box. Here’s a demo of the Pianocade’s features:
And here’s the Pianocade being used by Shaun Hatton aka Megashaun to play live:
Portmanteau Devices is selling one- and two-octave variants of the Pianocade; the former costs about $250 (USD) and the latter is about $350. You can also pre-order just the electronics for about $100.
Portmanteau Devices said that they will try to make the Pianocade also work as a USB game controller out of the box, but that’s not their priority right now. They did say that they might release a firmware update later on if they can’t do it by the time the device is released. Perhaps one of you clever hackers will even do the job for them.
[via Engadget]