Bitpop

Last updated

Bitpop is a type of electronic music and subgenre of chiptune music, where at least part of the music is made using the sound chips of old 8-bit (or 16-bit) computers and video game consoles.

Contents

Characteristics

An example of "bitpop" music that uses 8-bit sounds and modern production software

Among systems used include the Atari 8-bit computer, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System and Amiga. [1] The sounds produced from these systems can be combined to any degree with traditional instruments, such as guitar and drums, modern synthesizers and drum machines, or vocals and sound effects. [2]

History

Bitpop uses a mixture of old and new equipment often resulting a sound which is unlike Chiptune although containing 8-bit sourced sounds. For example, a bitpop production may be composed almost entirely of 8-bit sounds but with a live vocal, or overlaid live guitars. Conversely, a bitpop production may be composed almost entirely of live vocals and instruments, but feature a bassline or lead melody provided by an 8-bit device. [3] [4] [5]

One of the pioneers of bitpop music were Welle:Erdball, with their heavy use of Commodore 64 for their first album in 1992. Being a German-speaking group not using the term bitpop and who don't travel by plane, they remained popular among people listening to industrial music or electroclash.

Bitpop music began gaining popularity towards the end of the 1990s. The first electroclash record, I-F's "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass" (1997), has been described as "burbling electro in a vocodered homage to Atari-era hi-jinks," [6] particularly Space Invaders . [7] The Beastie Boys outer-space sci-fi themed album Hello Nasty (1998), included, among other potentially influencing tracks, the distinctively video game sound themed original composition track UNITE; garnering mainstream recognition years ahead of the popular video game tune genre and movement. The trance song "Kernkraft 400" (1999), often played at sports events worldwide, was a remix of a chiptune song written by David Whittaker called "Stardust" for the 1984 Commodore 64 computer game Lazy Jones .

In 2003, Malcolm McLaren wrote an article on bitpop and chip music. It also noted a planned release in that style by McLaren. [8]

By the mid-2000s, 8-bit chip music began being incorporated in mainstream pop music, used by acts such as Beck (for example, the 2005 song "Girl"), The Killers (for example, the 2004 song "On Top"), and particularly The Postal Service in many of their songs. The MIDI-style and FM synthesis of early game music composers such as Hiroshi Kawaguchi also began gaining popularity. [9] In 2003, the J-pop girl group Perfume, [10] [11] along with producer Yasutaka Nakata, began producing music combining chiptunes with synthpop and electro house; [11] their breakthrough came in 2007 with Game , which led to other Japanese female artists using a similar electronic style, including Aira Mitsuki, immi, Mizca, SAWA, Saori@destiny, and Sweet Vacation. [12]

Since the 2000s, 8-bit chiptune sounds, or "video game beats", have been used by a number of mainstream pop artists. Examples in the Western world include artists such as Kesha [13] (most notably in "Tik Tok", [10] [14] the best-selling single of 2010 [15] ), Robyn, Snoop Dogg, [10] [14] Eminem (for example, "Hellbound"), Nelly Furtado, and Timbaland (see Timbaland plagiarism controversy). The influence of video game sounds can also be heard in contemporary British electronica music by artists such as Dizzee Rascal and Kieran Hebden. [16] Grime music in particular samples sawtooth wave sounds from video games which were popular in East London. [17] Dubstep producers have also been influenced by video game chiptunes, particularly the work of Yuzo Koshiro. [18] [19] [20] In 2010, a BBC article stated that the "sights and sounds of old-school games" (naming Frogger and Donkey Kong as examples) are "now becoming a part of mainstream music and culture." [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiga</span> Family of personal computers sold by Commodore

Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 16/32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphics and audio compared to previous 8-bit systems. These systems include the Atari ST—released earlier the same year—as well as the Macintosh and Acorn Archimedes. Based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor, the Amiga differs from its contemporaries through the inclusion of custom hardware to accelerate graphics and sound, including sprites and a blitter, and a pre-emptive multitasking operating system called AmigaOS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commodore 64</span> 8-bit home computer introduced in 1982

The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International. It has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-selling single computer model of all time, with independent estimates placing the number sold between 12.5 and 17 million units. Volume production started in early 1982, marketing in August for US$595. Preceded by the VIC-20 and Commodore PET, the C64 took its name from its 64 kilobytes(65,536 bytes) of RAM. With support for multicolor sprites and a custom chip for waveform generation, the C64 could create superior visuals and audio compared to systems without such custom hardware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiptune</span> Style of synthesized electronic music

Chiptune is a style of synthesized electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles. The term is commonly used to refer to tracker format music using extremely basic and small samples that an old computer or console could produce, as well as music that combines PSG sounds with modern musical styles. It has been described as "an interpretation of many genres" since any existing song can be arranged in a chiptune style defined more by choice of instrument and timbre than specific style elements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crack intro</span> Credit sequence added to cracked software

A crack intro, also known as a cracktro, loader, or just intro, is a small introduction sequence added to cracked software. It aims to inform the user which "cracking crew" or individual cracker removed the software's copy protection and distributed the crack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music tracker</span> Type of software for creating music

A music tracker is a type of music sequencer software for creating music. The music is represented as discrete musical notes positioned in several channels at chronological positions on a vertical timeline. A music tracker's user interface is traditionally number based. Notes, parameter changes, effects and other commands are entered with the keyboard into a grid of fixed time slots as codes consisting of letters, numbers and hexadecimal digits. Separate patterns have independent timelines; a complete song consists of a master list of repeated patterns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MOS Technology 6581</span> MOS Technology sound chip

The MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID is the built-in programmable sound generator chip of the Commodore CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, and MAX Machine home computers.

Video game music (VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to the style of music known as chiptune, which became the sound of the first video games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8 Bit Weapon</span> Chiptune music band

8 Bit Weapon is an American chiptune music band formed in Ventura County, California, by Seth and Michelle Sternberger. It was originally created by Seth Sternberger around 1998. Its instruments consists primarily of old 8-bit and 16-bit computers such as the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, Amiga 500, and the Apple II, as well as game consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Atari 2600, and an Intellivision synthesizer.

Streets of Rage is a series of side-scrolling beat 'em up video games. It centers on the efforts of several ex-police vigilantes trying to eliminate the fictional American metropolis of Wood Oak City from a crime syndicate that has corrupted its local government. The first three games in the franchise were developed and released by Sega for the Sega Genesis in the early 1990s and have since been ported and re-released on various platforms. A fourth entry was also released in 2020.

Music of the <i>Streets of Rage</i> series

The music of the Streets of Rage series of beat 'em up games, released in the early 1990s, was primarily produced by Yuzo Koshiro.

The 2007 dance-pop song "Do It" performed by Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado features elements sampled from "Acidjazzed Evening", a chiptune-style track composed by the Finnish demoscene artist Janne Suni. This was considered plagiarism by some. Timbaland, "Do It"'s producer, admitted to sampling Suni's work, but did not believe his usage constituted "stealing", calling the allegations "ridiculous". Although users had noted the similarities between the two tracks on Finnish demoscene forums in July 2006, the Timbaland plagiarism controversy attracted mainstream attention in January 2007, when Internet users posted videos to YouTube alleging Timbaland had plagiarized Suni's work. Soon afterwards, the controversy attracted the attention of the Finnish news portal eDome, and the MTV and Rolling Stone websites, who all published articles detailing the events of the controversy. "Do It" was released as the fifth North American single from Loose on July 24, 2007.

Music Macro Language (MML) is a music description language used in sequencing music on computer and video game systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loading screen</span> Image shown by a computer program while loading or initializing

A loading screen is a screen shown by a computer program, very often a video game, while the program is loading or initializing.

Nintendocore is a broadly defined style of music that most commonly fuses chiptune and video game music with hardcore punk and/or heavy metal. The genre is sometimes considered a direct subgenre of post-hardcore and a fusion genre between metalcore and chiptune. The genre originated in the early 2000s and peaked around the late 2000s with bands like Horse the Band, I Fight Dragons, Math the Band, An Albatross, The NESkimos and Minibosses pioneering the genre.

Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music and a subgenre of house music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 125–135 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many DJ Mag Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki, and Deadmau5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverse Phase</span> Musical artist

Brendan Becker, known by his stage name Inverse Phase, is an American video game composer and chiptune musician, using Atari, Commodore, and Nintendo hardware. He also speaks and hosts workshops on video game music, chiptunes, and composing.

ComputeHer is a band created by Michelle Sternberger in 2005, making music using 8-bit computers and video game console sound chips. She is also a member of the chiptune band 8 Bit Weapon. ComputeHer's most notable work is her contribution to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. Her music is included in a new exhibition "The Art of Video Games" where she provides the soundtrack to a video of featured video games at the entrance of the gallery. Her Commodore 64 is also on display inside the exhibit. This exhibition is set to travel to multiple cities following its presentation in Washington D.C. in March 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleksi Eeben</span> Finnish composer and programmer (born 1976)

Aleksi Eeben, born Antti Aleksi Mikkonen, is a Finnish composer, sound designer, musician and programmer. He is best known for his musical contributions to the demoscene under the alias Heatbeat, where he has composed hundreds of modules using music tracker software and developed his own tools. He has also composed for video games, and was employed as a sound designer at Nokia between 2002 and 2015, creating many ringtones and sounds. His brother is Konsta Mikkonen, also a demoscene musician and dance producer known under the alias Muffler.

References

  1. ↑ Chiptunes Music Genre Overview|AllMusic
  2. ↑ Chiptunes Music Artists|AllMusic
  3. ↑ "What is Bitpop?". www.bitpop.co.uk.
  4. ↑ The Rise of Bitpop Archived August 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "Listen to Bitpop". www.bitpop.co.uk.
  6. ↑ D. Lynskey (March 22, 2002), "Out with the old, in with the older", Guardian.co.uk, archived from the original on October 15, 2014
  7. ↑ "I-f – Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass". Discogs. September 22, 1998. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  8. ↑ "8-Bit Punk". Wired.
  9. ↑ Shaw, Jeff (May 25, 2006). "Music of the 8-bit variety makes a comeback". Niagara Gazette . Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 Daniel Robson (March 6, 2012). "Japan's chiptune heroes". Nintendo Gamer . Retrieved June 20, 2012.[ dead link ]
  11. 1 2 "Perfume Interview" (in Japanese). bounce.com. February 7, 2008. Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2009. (English translation)
  12. ↑ "Perfume～サマソニの快挙！！" (in Japanese). All About テクノポップ. August 20, 2007.
  13. ↑ Miklewski, Michael (October 20, 2011). "Music in Video Games: From 8-bit to Symphonies". The Bottom Line. Frostburg State University. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  14. 1 2 "Robyn: Body Talk, Pt. 2". Puls Music. September 10, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2012. (Translation)
  15. ↑ "IFPI publishes Digital Music Report 2011". London. January 20, 2011. Archived from the original on February 21, 2011.
  16. ↑ Lewis, John (July 4, 2008). "Back to the future: Yellow Magic Orchestra helped usher in electronica – and they may just have invented hip-hop, too". The Guardian . Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  17. ↑ Alex de Jong, Marc Schuilenburg (2006). Mediapolis: popular culture and the city. 010 Publishers. p. 106. ISBN   90-6450-628-0 . Retrieved July 30, 2011.
  18. ↑ Lawrence, Eddy (January 11, 2011). "Ikonika interview: Producer and DJ, Ikonika had an incredible 2010". Time Out . Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Recording Under the Influence: Ikonika". Self-Titled Magazine. April 21, 2010. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
  20. ↑ Lawrence, Eddy (January 18, 2011). "Ikonika interview: Dubstep has taken the world by storm over the past 12 months". Time Out . Retrieved August 6, 2011.
  21. ↑ Knowles, Jamillah (June 9, 2010). "How computer games are creating new art and music". BBC. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.