CHIPTUNE MUSIC
Adam Sporka
05/11/18, Charles University
�@adam_sporka�
DCGI, CTU Prague ⦿ Warhorse Studios ⦿ welove.audio
My Hats
welove.audio
CTO
Middleware for adaptive music for game developers
Warhorse Studios
Adaptive Music Designer
Author of part of the music in Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Czech Technical University
Department of Computer Graphics and Interaction
Associate Professor
Research in audio-based human–computer interaction
Outline
Intro
History and paradigms
Let’s tinker:
Chiptune Music
Late 1970s, 1980s hardware
Real-time synthesis rather than playback
Proprietary music playback routines
Memory-efficient music formats
Limitations
Slow computers
Little RAM
Fairly cheap hardware circuits
(Later: Fairly low CPU footprint)
Features
Strong melodies
Arpeggios rather than harmonic pads
Shared channels
Limited amount of music material
HISTORY AND PARADIGMS
ATARI 2600
Atari VCS (Video Computer System)
1977
2 channels
Very incomplete scales :-)
http://www.masswerk.at/rc2018/04/studio2600/
http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-music-and-sound.html
ATARI 2600
CTRIX Live at Blip Fest 2011
https://youtu.be/S8e7g8kJIlo?t=1m9s
Controlled by MIDI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgDyOSDUAx0
Hands-on tip
Atari 2600 Music Kit 2.0
http://www.qotile.net/files/2600_music_guide.txt
viznut’s Synthesizer
Hands-on tip
Playback of pseudo-chaotic sequences as PCM signal
http://www.bemmu.com/music/index.html
Sounds kinda similar, right?
ATARI 800XL...
… and some other Atari 8-bit machines
POKEY chip
ATARI 800XL
Source for the next 2 slides:
Crawford et al.
https://www.atariarchives.org/dere/
https://www.atariarchives.org/dere/chapt07.php
ATARI 800XL
Square wave generator controlled by clock
Frequency divider
Main clock base 64 KHz or 15 KHz
Output frequency = Clock / “Frequency”
ATARI 800XL
Noise generator
Several modes of operation
Some usable as bass sounds
ATARI 800XL
Pitch tuning
Volume control
ATARI 800XL
Commodore 64
~1982
SID = Sound Interface Device
Subtractive synthesizer
3 channels
Multiple waveforms
Frequency filters
From Commodore SID 6581 Datasheet
Commodore 64
ADSR envelopes!
From Commodore SID 6581 Datasheet
Commodore 64
Chipophone by Linus Åkesson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1pchpDD5EU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j85kRucY8UI
Hands-on tip
SIDizer VST plugin
http://www.hypersynth.com/sidizer.html
Claims to accurately emulate the original hardware
(Including the SID bug)
Commodore 64
Nintendo Entertainment System
Probably the most known subgenre of chiptunes out there.
“Sounds like Mario.”
Fairly simple design.
Voices with fixed wave forms:
Amiga 500
Music tracker
Hands-on tip
MOD tracker simulated in browser:
http://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/
IBM PC: PC Speaker
“PC Master Race” wasn’t a thing back then:
Single on-board square wave generator.
Prehistoric
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbjZ6qY1YPU
Star Goose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjzzSqCxwG8
Stunts (arpeggios)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ3Qg3ora2I
IBM PC: Creative Labs’ SoundBlaster
Combination:
Prehistoric via (emulated) SoundBlaster:
IBM PC, Renaissance of Module Music
Demoscene continues.
Jazz Jackrabbit (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_5EOY8QaVQ
Hands-on tip
Explore the structure of multichannel modules:
Contemporary Chiptune Music
Sounds like chiptune
Using some elements of chiptune
Often not …
… produced on authentic hardware
… produced using a “traditional” form
… played back on authentic hardware
… limited by the original HW constraints
Chiptune purism
Musicians
Rob Hubbard (Commando, Warhawk, …)
Nicholas Scharim (Spy vs. Spy)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBJn3SHfDyY
Kemal Ezcan (Cavehunt, …)
http://asma.atari.org/asmadb/search.php?play=179
Jason Brooke (Feud)
YMCK
TINKERING TIME!
Bassoon Tracker
http://www.stef.be/bassoontracker
An easy way to try the module music production
PICO-8
VCV Rack
Get a feel for the signal path!
Your song is in the URL!
CHIPTUNE MUSIC
Adam Sporka
05/11/18, Charles University
�@adam_sporka�
DCGI, CTU Prague ⦿ Warhorse Studios ⦿ welove.audio