CHIPMUSIC

Defining Chipmusic

Traditionally, chipmusic was defined by the technology used to make the music. As the sounds of 8-bit machines has influenced and been influenced by pop culture in general, the definition proved to be problematic for most people because the sounds and styles became more important than the technology. Chipmusic can also be viewed as a subculture with a set of values that separates it from other subcultures. Below is an attempt to define the different aspects, based on the text “Chip Music: Low Tech Data Music Sharing“.

Chipmusic as genre

• Made with the soundchips of old computers/consoles with sounds generated in real-time by the chip, or
• Made with old computers/consoles playing sampled sounds and waveforms, or
• Made with modern soft/hardware that emulate, sample or generate sounds similar to the old machines

For most people it’s hard to tell the difference between original hardware or emulations, making a strictly technological definition difficult to use. Music genres are social constructions, and if you chose to stick to the original definition, people will have a hard time understanding you. It seems that the term chipmusic usually refers to bleepy and playful dance music - regardless of technology. This is probably what you will find if you go by popularity ratings of last.fm or myspace. This blog focuses on the other things.

I like to do separate chipmusic into two types. Chipmusic as form (bleepy pop music) and chipmusic as medium (any music made with old technology). You can use old technology to make music that doesn’t have the form of chipmusic (Neophyte’s gabber music, Patric Catani’s hardcore music) and you can use any technology to make chipmusic as a form.

Chipmusic as movement

• Developed by hobbyists in the demoscene
• Atmosphere of sharing ideas, software and music
• Online collections of hundreds of thousands of songs in open source format
• Usually made with tracker software