Vintage Game Units Used For Music Making - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

camtechman · 17th May 2015, 11:59 am

I was up very early this morning and on Pic TV(Freeview) & Sky News channel, instead of the usual 10 minute self promoting filler progs (but not listed in the prog guide), they showed a prog about enthusiasts who were using/converting vintage computers & game consoles: Game Boy, Nintendo etc, in conjunction with other equipment to produce electronic music. I think they called the technique "8 Bit Music".

Anyone else familiar with this?

paulsherwin · 17th May 2015, 12:05 pm

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiptune

camtechman · 17th May 2015, 12:11 pm

Thanks Paul, so there's life in 'old tech' after all........now where have I heard that before?

And there was I having enough problems with learning how to play my recently acquired 4 types of vintage Stylophones and now I discover 8 Bit Music/Chiptunes........

arjoll · 18th May 2015, 10:21 am

The chiptune scene is quite a big thing - it seems like a bit of a shame to gut some of those vintage computers for their chips, but if it wasn't for the popularity of the SID, I probably wouldn't have tracked down a keyboard for my VIC-20 as easily as I did - it came from a guy in Australia who had gutted a breadbox C64 for it's SID.

jay_oldstuff · 18th May 2015, 3:43 pm

yes indeed the SID is now getting quite hard to come by and as a consequence quite expensive. people playing around with electronic music are now even using the humble AY sound chip as used in the Amstrad CPC and later Spectrums. its not a patch on a SID but can still make some impressive sounds.

Jay

camtechman · 18th May 2015, 4:51 pm

Me thinks I should explore this technology further. Already found several websites that are of interest and one involves using a Stylophone and more:

https://andymurkin.wordpress.com/201...1/stylophones/

17th May 2015, 11:59 am	#1
camtechman Nonode Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Milton Keynes, Bucks. UK. Posts: 2,552	Vintage Game Units Used For Music Making I was up very early this morning and on Pic TV(Freeview) & Sky News channel, instead of the usual 10 minute self promoting filler progs (but not listed in the prog guide), they showed a prog about enthusiasts who were using/converting vintage computers & game consoles: Game Boy, Nintendo etc, in conjunction with other equipment to produce electronic music. I think they called the technique "8 Bit Music". Anyone else familiar with this? __________________ When I die, please don't let my Wife sell my collection for the amount I told her I paid for it!

17th May 2015, 12:05 pm	#2
paulsherwin Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 27,928	Re: Vintage Game Units Used For Music Making See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiptune

17th May 2015, 12:11 pm	#3
camtechman Nonode Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Milton Keynes, Bucks. UK. Posts: 2,552	Re: Vintage Game Units Used For Music Making Thanks Paul, so there's life in 'old tech' after all........now where have I heard that before? And there was I having enough problems with learning how to play my recently acquired 4 types of vintage Stylophones and now I discover 8 Bit Music/Chiptunes........ __________________ When I die, please don't let my Wife sell my collection for the amount I told her I paid for it!

18th May 2015, 10:21 am	#4
arjoll Dekatron Join Date: May 2006 Location: Invercargill, New Zealand Posts: 3,454	Re: Vintage Game Units Used For Music Making The chiptune scene is quite a big thing - it seems like a bit of a shame to gut some of those vintage computers for their chips, but if it wasn't for the popularity of the SID, I probably wouldn't have tracked down a keyboard for my VIC-20 as easily as I did - it came from a guy in Australia who had gutted a breadbox C64 for it's SID.

18th May 2015, 3:43 pm	#5
jay_oldstuff Octode Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Hyde, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 1,074	Re: Vintage Game Units Used For Music Making yes indeed the SID is now getting quite hard to come by and as a consequence quite expensive. people playing around with electronic music are now even using the humble AY sound chip as used in the Amstrad CPC and later Spectrums. its not a patch on a SID but can still make some impressive sounds. Jay __________________ The light at the end of the tunnel is probably the headlight of an oncoming train

18th May 2015, 4:51 pm	#6
camtechman Nonode Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Milton Keynes, Bucks. UK. Posts: 2,552	Re: Vintage Game Units Used For Music Making Me thinks I should explore this technology further. Already found several websites that are of interest and one involves using a Stylophone and more: https://andymurkin.wordpress.com/201...1/stylophones/ __________________ When I die, please don't let my Wife sell my collection for the amount I told her I paid for it!