So you want to be a chiptune artist. Welcome. You've made a fine choice. If you've decided that you'd love to make music using the old-school bleeps and bloops of yesteryear, allow me to show you a few paths you can take to create your next 8-bit masterpiece. There are several options each with pros and cons of their own. Now I could go into extreme detail about how to use each one and so on, but with sometimes steep learning curves, that could turn out to be a novel or three. This is just a quick rundown of a few tools to get started with.
GAMEBOY: The old classic Gameboy is probably the most widely used hardware in chiptunes. Most artists I know prefer the original DMGs because they sound better and less crunchy. Although whether you're using a DMG, a GBColor, or GBASP, you can always go under the hood and tinker with the guts. This includes adding in backlights, button swaps, and stereo 1/4" outputs. I have a pretty nice modded DMG with 1/8" stereo out and an LED/button swap that Oscillateur made me for letting him crash here on his visit from France. I mostly use my green Gameboy Color because it's easier to hold and uses less batteries. Oh yes, rechargable batteries are a must.
So you've got the Gameboy(s), but now what? You need some software! The most widely used and capable two are Little Sound DJ (LSDJ) and Nanoloop. LSDJ is a full-on tracker that is way deeper than it looks. Basically you create chains of patterns of notes, that you input one by one, then arrange to create a song. You can alter each sound, tempo, filters, and so on. There's definitely a learning curve but once you get it, you get it. Nanoloop is bit harder to get into to right away. It uses a series of boxes and dots to create a repeating loop of sound. You can change note and octave and effects and so on, it just looks like chaos to an untrained eye. I'm still playing around with it and haven't figured out all the quirks yet, but there is great music coming out of it, for sure. Also, don't overlook the old Gameboy Camera. It's music tracker is limited (only 3 channels) but when combined with other tools, it can really pack a punch. The tempo control is spot on, and the sound effects are a great way to add custom flair to a looping pattern. LSDJ and Nanoloop carts usually can be found from about $75-100 online, and Gameboy Colors can be eBayed for about $10.
ATARI: I also have an old Atari VCS I use. It's unmodded, and still works. It plays music via some homebrew software called SynthCart. Created by Paul Slocum (aka Tree Wave) it uses the Atari Keyboard Controllers (originally used with Star Raiders) to turn the VCS/2600 into an instrument. You can change instruments by flipping the switches on the hardware, and it even has 33 original drum tracks programmed in, as well as a "light-show" mode. The sounds an Atari can make and crunchy and abrasive and I love it. It's relatively cheap (I think mine was $20) and pretty easy to get a hold of.
COMPUTERS: Now this list goes on and on. The Commodore 64 has some great music software from the older years, and today (including Tree Wave's Cynthcart.) I've seen everything from old Atari's to MSX's to a ribbon printer used at shows. I personally use a few different 8-Bit VST plugins for FL7, as well as a Windows program called NerdTrackerII. NTII is primitive and limited, but it's free and I find the easiest way to put together songs. Sure it could use a copy and paste feature, but it's been the backbone of my music since the beginning.
Obviously this is just a brief intro into the genre, and sub-genres and sub-genres of chiptunes. It's an underground experimental scene, but one that is growing, evolving, and always supportive. NYC plays host to a montly show, Pulsewave, as well the annual Blip Festival, which brings out the best and brightest 8-bit artists from around the globe.
The only rule here, is that there are no rules. Whatever you find to work for you, do it. Experiment, circuit bend, filter, and crunch to your hearts extent. Whether it's adding in a full band, or soldering wires together in real-time, the sky's the limit. For more info and music be sure to check out: 8-Bit Collective 4 Channel Records Beta Club Field Trip 8 Bit Peoples
A lot of different students know a technique of term paper creating, nevertheless this doesn't mean they will write really good essay papers, but a custom writing service would help to compose the good essay of high quality and demonstrate writing skills of some students.
Editor-in-Chief - Daniel Zuccarelli The Guy Behind The Guy - Daniel Lloyd Podcast Editor - Kevin Alexander
Contributors Marc Deangelis Jim Squires Ryan Hewson
About Bloguin
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics.
Advertisers
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
Most-Wanted List
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account!
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site.. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 