Technabob » chiptune

gAtari 2600: Chiptune Hero

Lambert Varias — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:00:02 +0000

Back in 2008 Flaming Lips’ frontman Wayne Coyne hacked a custom guitar together using parts from a Guitar Hero controller. Pretty impressive, but chiptune artist cTrix had a bolder idea – he used a whole console. Yeah, yeah, but this one doesn’t look stupid at all. Behold: the gAtari 2600.

Granted, this gargantuan device isn’t really a guitar – the head stock is totally decorative – but dammit he’s carrying a whole console and three effects pedals. That’s a recipe for back problems. The gAtari 2600 also has a track switcher in the form of a joystick, although not in the form of the console’s iconic controller. Watch the video below to see cTrix lug the gAtari 2600 around while rocking out.

What an unbelievably crazy idea. I’m sure he could have taken out the console’s parts and ended up with a smaller instrument, but no, he just went for it. Somehow I can’t imagine a PS3 or Xbox 360 guitar looking as cool as this. Check out cTrix’ website for more of his gadgets and music.

[via Topless Robot]

Kickstarter Project Turns the Gameboy into a Musical Instrument

Conner Flynn — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:15:28 +0000

The Nintendo Gameboy. One of the most iconic portable gaming systems in the history of video games. Its brick-sized form has occupied many a nerd for hours on end with it’s monochrome green-grey display and carnival like sounds. How could you possibly wring more geek joy out of this device? By turning it into a geeky musical instrument of course.

This Kickstarter project aims to transform an original Gameboy into a retro music instrument that has analog controls and a stereo/mono switch, along with a bunch of retro sounds.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

So if your band needs some extra geeky sounds, here’s your new member. The kit improves the outdated Gameboy audio, adding controls for cutoff, resonance, bypass, and envelope follower. It’s hard to describe, so watch that video and turn up the volume for some chiptune fun.

A pledge of $90 will get your a bare-bones kit to do the mod yourself, while $174(USD) will get you a modded Gameboy and 6 volt power supply.

[via TechCrunch]

Chiptune Showcase Comes to Pax 2010

Technabob — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:33:15 +0000

If you’re heading to the Penny Arcade Expo next week, be sure to swing by and check out the latest addition to their conference schedule, the Chiptune Showcase.

A variety of 8-bit musical performers will take the stage for the 2 hour concert, including bands with awesome names like Fighter X and Spamtron. And if you don’t know what to expect, here’s a sneak preview of some of what you might hear, should you attend:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

So if you happen to be in Seattle on September 4th, the chiptune concert kicks off at 1pm at Jamspace at the Washington State Convention Center.

[via Zen Albatross via GameSetWatch]

Chipophone: the 8-Bit Organ

Technabob — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:34:08 +0000

At first glance, this might just look like one of those organs you used to see in the shopping mall when you were a kid. But under the hood of this bit of musical nostalgia is the ultimate chiptune machine.

Created by Linus Akesson, the Chipophone has the looks of an old organ, but the brains needed to crank out awesome 8-bit sounds for live chiptune performances. Linus ripped out all of the original tone-generators and wired up keys via a bunch of 74HC165 chips, daisy-chained together to an Atmega88 controller chip. He also wired up the knob potentiometers to the microcontroller’s analog inputs.

In turn, the microcontroller generates MIDI signals which are sent to another Atmega88 chip which produces 8-bit sounds. Here’s Linus showing off his wondrous musical creation:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

What chiptune video would be complete without a performance of the Super Mario Bros. theme?

[via Synthopia]

Apple ][ Gets a Brand New Synthesizer

Technabob — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:25:00 +0000

I still remember my first Apple computer. It was an Apple ][ with a whopping 16k of RAM and it didn't even have a floppy drive. So the sounds that come to mind when I think of my old ][ are the squeals of program data loading from cassette tape. But the later models in the Apple II line actually could make their own music too. Now, thanks to the work of a couple of enterprising chiptune musicians, there's a brand new synthesizer app that you can run on the Apple II series.

Created by M.J. Mahon and 8-bit Weapon, the Digital Music Synthesizer (D.M.S.) is the only wavetable synth for the Apple 8-bit machines that I've heard of. While it won't run on the original ][ or ][+, it works great on Apple //e, IIc, and IIc+ models.

D.M.S. can crank out up to 8 voices, which you can play from the keyboard. The app includes a variety of retro-modern sounds including acoustic piano, vibraphone, acoustic guitar, electric bass, trumpet, clarinet, square wave, sawtooth wave, sine wave, and of course, banjo!

Crank up your volume and click here to enjoy a short sample of sound from D.M.S.

You don’t even need a monitor hooked up to use this synth. Just put in the floppy, wait for it to finish loading, and start mashing on keys for some 8-bit audio delights.

Got an old Apple II lying around? You can get your hands on DMS over at 8-bit Weapon for $19.95 (USD). Naturally, it ships on a 5-1/4″ floppy. Woot!

Merry 8-Bit Christmas

Technabob — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:25:14 +0000

Retro gamers, If you’re looking for some nice background music for your holiday parties, you might want to check this out.

Chiptune musician Rush Coil has put together this full-length digital album of classic Christmas tunes, rearranged with the inimitable sounds of classic 8-bit sounds of 1980s video games. It’s lots of fun, and Rush tells me it’s “especially useful for annoying house pets and in-laws.” My personal favorite is We Three Kings, perfect for “tried to smoke a rubber cigar” sing-alongs.

The entire album of retrolicious holiday MP3s can be streamed over at www.8bitchristmas.com.

[thanks for the tip, Rush!]

Recording Artist Makes NES Cartridge Music

Technabob — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:32:54 +0000

Do you still have your old NES console? Do you love electronic music? Then I know what you’re getting for Christmas. This new cartridge for the old Nintendo Entertainment System features a bunch of new “chiptunes” by electronic recording artist Animalstyle (or is that 4NIM4L57YL3?)

The TELETIME cartridge features ten original electronic compositions that use the NES’ inimitable sound chip, accompanied by a variety of entertaining and whimsical 8-bit pixel graphics like the one shown above. Here’s a sneak preview of the cart in action…

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Animalstyle plans on releasing the cartridge in the next couple of weeks, and is accepting pre-orders now for just $30 (USD). He plans on making only about 50 of these suckers, so if you want one, you’d better get crackin’ and place your order now.

8-Bit Fm Internet Radio Offers Video Game Music 24x7x365 [Chiptunes]

Technabob — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:00:16 +0000

Can’t get enough of the retro beeps and blips of old-school video games? Then today must be your lucky day. There’s a new online radio station that’s just for you.

8-Bit FM is a new Internet radio station that plays everything from classic video game soundtracks to modern day electronic music played on old gaming hardware. The format includes everything from Earthworm Jim to Zelda and everything in between. But it’s the newly created chiptunes that really lead to discovery of new musical artists.

(Once they work out the kinks), the station (will be) online 24 x 7 x 365 with a web-based Flash player, Windows Media, WinAMP, and iTunes streams too. There’s also a live request system so I can once again listen to that damned Casino Night Zone music from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 that I couldn’t get out of my head for about 2 years of my life. Yeah, I know the Genesis was a 16-bit system, but I think the guys at 8-Bit FM aren’t quite that literal with what they play.

Since 8-Bit FM got slammed with a ton of press this weekend, their site is struggling a bit to keep up with all of the traffic so you might have to check back if you don’t get through. Hopefully they’ll work out all the kinks so you can get your 8-, 16- or 32-bit groove on real soon. In the mean time, I guess I’ll have to settle for this:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[8-Bit FM via Destructoid]

IPhone Sid Player Cranks Out C64 8-Bit Chiptunes

Technabob — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:36:35 +0000

Miss the classic 8-bit sounds of the Commodore 64? Well thanks to this new app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, you can listen to all of your favorite retro sounds all over again.

Software Engineer Michael Lauer recently released SID Player, which emulates the 6581 SID audio circuit from the C64. Of course, what’s a sound chip emulator without tunes? SID Player has you covered, providing on-the-go access to a collection of over 33,000 C64 music tracks by linking up with HVSC – the High Voltage SID Collection.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Enjoy classics like Commando, Arkanoid and Yie Ar Kung Fu, along with thousands of original chiptunes by over 1,100 contributors. Each SID sound file only takes up a few K of your memory, and the files are tiny enough to be quickly downloaded over an EDGE or 3G connection, so fill ‘er up!

SID Player is available now from the iTunes App Store for $2.99 (USD), which according to my math, works out to be way, way, way less than a penny a tune.

[via electrobeans]

Gameboy Octopus Music Controller Mod

Technabob — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:45:51 +0000

What’s got 8 tentacles and the brains of a Nintendo GameBoy? It’s an 8-bit music maker’s dream, that’s what. Electronic musician Joey Mariano (aka “Animal Style“) took an old GameBoy Color system and built a custom controller for it that uses 8 individual foot pedal controllers to jam out on the device.

Using a series of GameBoy audio sequencing hacks, the foot pedals allow for live improvisation with all sorts of electronic beeps and blips.

Animal Style has recorded a number of digital chiptune tracks using old video game systems as his primary sound source. Be sure to check out his discography and sample tracks here.

[via Nerd Arts via MAKE]