Introduction
For those who are looking for musical rhythms with "retro" and "old-skool" nuances, such as the current trend of handheld games, this article will be interesting for you. ? You can take a moment to scroll down while reading my story / experience making chiptune music.
The musical trend "chiptune" (tune for tone and chip for computer terms) is a term for music that quotes are not perfect but make it intentional during the recording process to form a special characteristic. This genre is popularly used for ancient games (nintendo era, sega, PS1 games in the 90s) because of its distinctive identity which only plays with drum and piano samples, usually, and is processed with several modules so that it finally forms its own community that can be called niche on Youtube and Spotify platforms. Wikipedia : > A style of synthesized electronic music created using sound chips or sound-generating synthesizers that can be programmed in vintage arcade machines, computers, and video game consoles
Through this development, the Soundcloud platform, which is one of the pioneers of music platforms, has become popular with those who understand music. The reason is simple, that those who make music of this genre popular again, want to find music that is not flashy or hot, for them to listen to while working, studying, gaming, driving, or just relaxing.
Starting / Process
I'm not a professional musician (yet, to be exact). But for the past 10 years, I have been actively playing music. From being self-taught, starting to like pop-rock music, to falling in love with jazz / instrumental music, this is one of the foundations why I dared to experiment into the chiptune music genre. One day when I was tired of listening to instrumental genre songs like Depapepe, ./toe, or Sigur Ros, I looked for inspiration to do my undergraduate thesis, browsing music via youtube and found a genius musician named Nujabes. The Youtube feed at that time was much better, where the video recommendations matched what we were following, and at that time the YouTube feed started recommending Lo-fi, classic, and chiptune music channels. From here began my journey in falling in love with this genre of music.
Making / Process
I am (also) not a professional audio engineer or music composer (not yet, to be exact). However, the experience as an assistant lecturer in sound design courses for 6 months is enough to know the "basic skills" in doing music production. Fortunately, the chiptune genre, as I explained in the introduction, does not need to be "perfect" in every aspect like making music of other genres, without reducing the essence of the nuances of the music itself.
example tools - Audacity
For the tools, there are actually quite a lot of variations, depending on how each individual understands the workflow. When we search for the keyword "make chiptune music" via google, there are many offers from several sources, such as learning from youtube, or direct trial & error from the application used. I myself recommend 2 workflows, choose one, namely 1. sample editing, sync & mastering directly via music software, or 2. freestyle jam on the MIDI editor / music generator / beats maker software of your choice. Or you can also mix and match the two workflows that I recommend. There are many music samples available that are royalty-free, so you don't have to worry about using them for your music. One of the sources I rely on the most are: [url]https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Chiptune [/url] and [url]https://buildingbeats.org/toolbox[/url].
There are many application options available which suit your workflow (there are some websites that are down, but no need to mess around). OH, to emphasize a little, that the majority of these recommendations are low cost / free, so you only need a low-mid end PC / notebook + electricity + internet + keyboard, because what is most needed is ideas and creativity.
example tools - Ableton
For post-production, this part is quite difficult to explain because maybe for some people, this process is simple, or it could be the most difficult process in making lo-fi music. Roughly speaking, this process is “adjusting the loudness and softness of the sound” and the synchronization sequence from one beat to another. If you've ever heard the term "Mix and mastering" in audio professionals, it's more or less the same thing. If I explain based on experience, more or less like this. 1. Sort which part is the intro - ref - ending , then 2. set the tempo and duration of the music you are working on, then 3. arrange slowly between the song intro to the ref, or the ending to the post ref so that it illustrates how the music will sound naturally overall and finally 4. set the completion of the workflow such as volume, effects, or remove noises etc. .
Lastly, the thing to talk about is probably the music theme. Chiptune may already be a genre, but it needs an additional genre identity, for example; chiptune pop, chiptune Techno, or chiptune Acoustic, depending on the musician or producer as the bearer of the music content. Or, you can experiment with combining elements from different genres, without changing the chiptune identity of the music itself. This aspect depends a little on the taste, or mood of the producer, about what he wants to show through the medium of music.
Conclusion
From my perspective as a writer as well as having experience making music, the definition of chiptune music is those who want to form a community and while keeping this unique genre alive in the millennium era as it is today. The strength of chiptune music is in terms of retro, unique sound and nostalgia of the past, which can be enjoyed by anyone (yes, ANYONE, imo removing the barrier of age difference, even gender). In addition, this can be a long-term career if you really practice hard, it's good if your hobby can become income.
Closing
The author made this article apart from being a blog and tutorial, but also wanted to find a crowd audience to introduce local chiptune music. The target goal doesn't have to be as big as a lofi girl, or have a fanbase of millions, but it's simple, getting 100 thousand Youtube subscribers (hehehehe), and/or being able to enter the Spotify platform. Through this article, I hope to show the writer's hard work over the last 1 year, and can also help readers who have similar interests. Carpe diem.
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-> Soundcloud
-> YouTube
-> TikTok