8-bit music
| Chiptune | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | Late 1970s – early 1980s, Japan |
| Typical instruments | |
| Subgenres | |
| Bitpop | |
| Fusion genres | |
| Regional scenes | |
| Demoscene | |
Chiptune, also known as chip music or 8-bit music, is synthesized electronic music which is made for programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips used in vintage computers, consoles, and arcade machines. The term also refers to tracker format music which intentionally sounds similar to older PSG-created music and music that combines PSG sounds with modern musical styles.
By the early 1980s, personal computers became less expensive and more accessible than they had previously been. This led to a proliferation of outdated personal computers and game consoles that had been abandoned by consumers as they upgraded to newer machines. They were in low demand by consumers as a whole, and not difficult to find, making them a highly accessible and affordable method of creating sound or art. While it has been a mostly underground genre, chiptune has had periods of moderate popularity in the 1980s and 21st century, and has influenced the development of electronic dance music.
The terms "chip music" and "chiptune" refer to music made by the sound chips found within early gaming systems and microcomputers.
A waveform generator is a fundamental module in a sound synthesis system. A waveform generator usually produces a basic geometrical waveform with a fixed or variable timbre and variable pitch. Common waveform generator configurations usually included two or three simple waveforms and often a single pseudo-random-noise generator (PRNG). Available waveforms often included pulse wave (whose timbre can be varied by modifying the duty cycle), square wave (a symmetrical pulse wave producing only odd overtones), triangle wave (which has a fixed timbre containing only odd harmonics, but is softer than a square wave), and sawtooth wave (which has a bright raspy timbre and contains odd and even harmonics). Two notable examples of systems employing this technology comprise the Nintendo Game Boy portable game console, and the Commodore 64 personal computer. The Game Boy uses two pulse channels (switchable between 12.5%, 25%, 50% and 75% wave duty cycle), a channel for 4-bit PCM playback, and a pseudo-random-noise generator. The Commodore 64, however, used the MOS Technology SID chip which offered 3 channels, each switchable between pulse, saw-tooth, triangle, and noise. Unlike the Game Boy, the pulse channels on the Commodore 64 allowed full control over wave duty cycles. The SID was a very technically advanced chip, offering many other features including ring modulation and adjustable resonance filters.
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