Chiptunes

[atmuh]

Ok so in the past few days I have come to terms with the fact that I am a complete chiptune whore. The only thing is I am fairly new to this stuff and I really don't know where to look to find more. I've just been fishing around on 8bitpeoples so far, but its hard to weed through to find the best stuff.

That's where I need YOUR HELP!

Basically I am requesting that people post anywhere and everywhere that I can find some good chiptunes (free or pay, I don't care). It can be any kind of chiptune also (NES, Gameboy, Genesis, etc.) I've also really been into stuff like Anamanaguchi (http://8bitpeoples.com/discography_gfx.php?artist=Anamanaguchi#8BP065) and trash80 (http://8bitpeoples.com/discography_gfx.php?artist=Trash80#8BP037), so I also like stuff with chiptunes integrated with more stuff together (if there is ANYTHING like trash80 I WANT IT).

Also I know lots of you people have done chiptunes so post it I WANT IT ALL.

[Mouser X]

I'm assuming you've already looked through all of the emulated audio places? Like, GBS, GSF, NSF, PSF, USF, VGM, GYM, etc? For GBS files, check out http://snesmusic.org/hoot/gbs/ . At the bottom, there's a link to an archive that contains, pretty much, any Gameboy music you can find.

I agree though, trash80 and goto80 are some of my favorites. I'd like more links as well. Mouser X out.

[Red Shadow]

Hi there this is my kind of thread.

From 8bp you definitely ought to check out x|k, lo-bat, goto80, and psilodump (my favorite artist, period, btw)


Also if you hadn't noticed, virt has an album up on there now too. Get that one plus his first two on archive.org (http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=virt)

I also suggest herbert weixelbaum (http://www.herbertweixelbaum.com/), and for those of you who don't know, shnabubula also made some chiptunes, which are quite good. I'll upload those somewhere and get back to you, considering his site is unavailable at the moment.

Be sure to buy a copy of 8bp's 50th release too, because barring two tracks that I dont particularly care for, it's full of fantastic music.

EDIT: Here's them Shnabubula tracks (http://spaceforrent.unmod.net/music/Collections/Shnabubula/)

[OverCoat]

http://sidchip.ath.cx/~maktone/ (http://sidchip.ath.cx/%7Emaktone/) - maktone, maker of many cracktro songs and cute chips [sid files too!]
http://www.fairlight.fi/tempest/ - Tempest's site. You know, the guy Timbaland ripped off :P. He has more than one good song, I wish he'd upload zen-bowling to his site.
http://plopbox.net/ - a sort of online chiptune listening site. Not really a radio, it plays the song of your choosing in a java player. Very cool and a good selection of songs.

I'm having trouble finding a good archive of music by Radix, which you need. I can email you most of his songs :) I just need your email address [don't worry it's only about 40 MB]
Here's one
http://amp.dascene.net/detail.php?detail=modules&view=6071
but downloading is kind of a pain, and I think the filenames are all amiga-style [file extension as a prefix, not a suffix]

[atmuh]

First off awesome stuff. Keep it coming.

soc I got the email you sent but it was only like 300k (I want my 40mb!). Also I went to that site you suggested for Radix and got one of his songs, but I was wondering if there was a way to making the file extension normal without manually changing it.

Edit: silly me you werent done :D and I also see what you mean when you said I need it :D

[anosou]

check out www.8bitpeoples.com again and download The Depreciation Guild

[atmuh]

ok soc you are THE MAN!

uhhh is there an EASY way to get all these into mp3s in one shot? I wanna have them not just on my pc, and I mean all the different filetypes.

[OverCoat]

noap sorry

dbpoweramp has a modules plugin but it sucks at converting them.

BTW I hope you're using this:
http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details.php?id=132367
plays mods back much more accurately, NEEDS TO GO IN CHIPAMP sometime :[

[atmuh]

noap sorry

dbpoweramp has a modules plugin but it sucks at converting them.

BTW I hope you're using this:
http://www.winamp.com/plugins/details.php?id=132367
plays mods back much more accurately, NEEDS TO GO IN CHIPAMP sometime :[

oh man they sound a ton better

[atmuh]

[01:37] <F4T4L> http://www.2a03.org/2A03/2A03_v3_0.zip <-- nsf gallore. remixes and originals.
[01:37] [Atmuh] ok so do you know where i can get some origianl tg16 style stuff?
[01:38] [Atmuh] oh man this seems hardcore
[01:38] <F4T4L> not offhand
[01:40] <F4T4L> http://chiptunes.back2roots.org/complete/cta-modules.zip
[01:40] <F4T4L> 75 megs of mods
[01:41] [Atmuh] hosnap
[01:41] [Atmuh] well
[01:41] [Atmuh] i'll be for a while
[01:41] [Atmuh] thank you very much
[01:41] <F4T4L> np
[01:41] <F4T4L> I know there's one of .sid's somewhere too, but you already have that I'm sure. lol
[01:42] [Atmuh] i have a lot of .sids
[01:42] [Atmuh] oh god
[01:42] [Atmuh] i LOVE you
[01:43] <F4T4L> http://gallium.prg.dtu.dk/HVSC/random/HVSC_46-all-of-them.rar <-- 45 megs of sids


rock on

[Red Shadow]

theres some neat stuff here (http://www.floppyswop.co.uk/song.php), too

of particular note are the .xm files they extracted from keygens

[atmuh]

heres most of the stuff soc emailed me oh and it is awesome

[HAHA THESE USED TO WORK BUT ARE ALL BROKEN NOW]

there is even more radix so let me know if you so desire

oh and i need some plugin to play ahx files WHERE IS IT

[OverCoat]

http://www.abyss-online.de/download/WinAHX_1_0_WinAmp2.zip

This actually comes with 80 or so .ahx files, and I think I gave you all the Pink ones in the pack here :] There are, of course, more .ahx files outside this .zip, but not all of them work with this plugin [m0d makes some .ahx files that just crash winamp :((((]

[atmuh]

holy crap you are awesome, and man these all rock

[atmuh]

hey look its this thread this isnt too old right just like 2 years

anyways people give me more chiptunes specifically sids because all of mine got deleted and that link from f4t4l from forever ago is now long gone

[Brushfire]

Dont forget aboot Virt, He has alot of Chiptunes too.

www.biglionmusic.com (http://www.biglionmusic.com)

[halc]

click my sig (the pink one)

probably not what necessarily what you're looking for... but all of them are relatively chiptune-oriented.

[LuketheXjesse]

Zophar (http://www.zophar.net/) has a lot of VGM chiptunes.

You are also not a chiptune fan if you don't get Shatterhand (http://www.zophar.net/music/nsf/shatterhand.html)'s soundtrack

[KyleJCrb]

http://www.iimusic.net
http://www.2a03.org/

[OverCoat]

hey look its this thread this isnt too old right just like 2 years

anyways people give me more chiptunes specifically sids because all of mine got deleted and that link from f4t4l from forever ago is now long gone

Fear not! HVSC is still alive and kicking
http://www.hvsc.c64.org/

[k-wix]

Oldie but a goodie, in my opinion. Co-piece between me and Rushjet1.

http://kwix.shackspace.com/Music/kwixrushjet1therushdanceadaptor.mp3

[Crazyonr1]

http://thisspartanlife.com/8bit.php

This is what got me interested in 8-bit tunes

[danimal cannon]

My top chiptuners, the aforementioned Virt and Anamanaguchi, along with Shnabubula and Disasterpeace. I like a lot of spamtron stuff too!

[atmuh]

Oldie but a goodie, in my opinion. Co-piece between me and Rushjet1.

http://kwix.shackspace.com/Music/kwixrushjet1therushdanceadaptor.mp3
rockin man rockin

hey is there anywhere i can get a full archive of all all nes osts?
i know i could download them all from zophar 1 by 1 but thats no fun i like to only press 1 button

same with sega cd/32x

[Txai]

http://akumunsf.good-evil.net/

Complete and accurate, basically every soundtrack for every nes game ever.


And here's a rar (http://akumunsf.good-evil.net/akumu_nsf_archive_030807.rar) for your mass downloading convenience.

[KyleJCrb]

This archive (http://nsf.hcs64.com/) is better than Akumus (he said so himself). There is a 7z file there that has all soundtracks available.

[LuketheXjesse]

Anyone know where to grab turbografx-16 chiptunes?

Having the soundtrack of Devil's Crush would make me oh so happy.

[KyleJCrb]

Anyone know where to grab turbografx-16 chiptunes?

Having the soundtrack of Devil's Crush would make me oh so happy.

http://namida.com/kaminarimon/hes/

[LuketheXjesse]

Much appreciated sir.

[RushJet1]

Here we go, profile pages i like from 8bc:

http://8bitcollective.com/members/Norrin%5FRadd/
http://8bitcollective.com/members/Shnabubula/
http://8bitcollective.com/members/zabutom/
http://8bitcollective.com/members/MattWilson/
http://8bitcollective.com/members/Zepsi/
http://8bitcollective.com/members/Jonathan+Baken/
http://8bitcollective.com/members/Intensity/
http://8bitcollective.com/members/mmcm/
http://8bitcollective.com/members/Admiral+Cashbar/

and sure, i'll be a whore and include

http://8bitcollective.com/members/RushJet1/

[Theophany]

A chiptune thread with no mention of Covox? You've probably run across him on 8bp, but if not:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnNi9tVC0O0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZQxiPf-KIQ

If you're into hipster music, you might want to check out Crystal Castles. They've ripped off samples from Covox and Lo-bat for sure, but they're still a killer band out of Toronto, been around since early 2000s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2FOnrFlEJY&feature=related

[atmuh]

bumping this because im learning how to use famitracker (and not doing half bad so far i think)
LOOK OUT

[Kenogu Labz]

If you really want to micromanage your chiptunes, try setting up an MML compiler.
It's a pain in the butt to set up and use, but you can really get the best results out of your NSFs that way.

[OverCoat]

bumping this because im learning how to use famitracker (and not doing half bad so far i think)
LOOK OUT

oh boy oh boy

[Bleck]

I tried learning how to use famitracker then I gave up when it's impenetrable barrier of unintuitive-ness refused to crack

[GeckoYamori]

Your tracker-fu is weak.

[atmuh]

actually ive been having more fun with using littlegptracker on my psp as ive found it to be a little easier (for some reason in famitracker i could never get it to use different volumes or anything between instruments no matter what i tried)
i guess they arent true chiptunes but theyre close enough and hopefully ill finish a song soon!

[Sinewav]

Can anyone point me in the right direction of where to get started working on C64 chiptunes? I really know absolutely nothing about C64 (I don't even know what one actually looks like), but I'm in freaking love with the way it sounds. I wanna get my hands on that instrument and make my own musicz with it.

[Kenogu Labz]

I'm pretty sure the only way to create SIDs is to code it in BASIC, which is not gonna be a lot of fun. But yeah, SID music has this... strange richness to it, when well-made.

A lot of MOD music tends to have similar sounds, or are even made to sound like C64 chiptunes (given that the format was for the Amiga, the C64's successor). The songs used for Seiklus come to mind.

[halc]

I tried learning how to use famitracker then I gave up when it's impenetrable barrier of unintuitive-ness refused to crack

pretty much this

[OverCoat]

Can anyone point me in the right direction of where to get started working on C64 chiptunes? I really know absolutely nothing about C64 (I don't even know what one actually looks like), but I'm in freaking love with the way it sounds. I wanna get my hands on that instrument and make my own musicz with it.

http://cadaver.homeftp.net/tools/goattrk2.zip

good luck figuring GoatTracker out, because I can't.

you have to know a bit of programming I think, to make heads or tails of it. I can understand the tracking bit and the wavetable bit, with the hex values, but I do not understand how to actually export anything, lol

[LuketheXjesse]

I tried learning how to use famitracker then I gave up when it's impenetrable barrier of unintuitive-ness refused to crack

Yep.

I might go back and learn it, or just watch youtube videos on how to do it.

[atmuh]

its not that hard it just WONT LET ME SEPARATE INSTRUMENTS

[Sinewav]

There really aren't easier ways? I know there's the SID Station... but unfortunately, I left my $1000 in my other pants today.

Are these MODs you speak of easier?

[A-RoN]

Anyone ever try LSDJ?

[Rozovian]

There really aren't easier ways? I know there's the SID Station... but unfortunately, I left my $1000 in my other pants today.

Are these MODs you speak of easier?

MODs and related formats are like midi, except custom samples, patterns, less polyphony, and more control over the individual notes.

[Wolt]

Huh, a chiptune thread and no mention about Kohina?
http://www.kohina.com/

There's also other radio stations like, SlayRadio, Scenesat, Nectarine, but they concentrate more on specific platforms or remixes only.

For mods, there's http://amp.dascene.net/home.php
Though, that site isnt the most userfriendly when it comes to finding tunes and downloading them...

[Kenogu Labz]

It's painful finding a site that has a solid list of MOD chiptunes nowadays. The MOD archive holds a lot of good ones in the four basic formats: MOD, S3M, XM, and IT. Other spin-offs or variations probably aren't held on the site (such as MadTracker), but most people use these formats anyway.

The Mod Archive (http://modarchive.org)

I haven't been there in awhile myself, so I'm not sure how their content sizes up now. The 'Random Pick' option does help you discover songs you wouldn't find otherwise; it can also make you break a rib laughing at some of the more terrible songs.

Also note that, to make tracked music, you'll need samples, and often, the simplest way to get samples is to open up other MODs in your tracker and rip the samples. Most samples were simply handed around back then (unless the author denied permission to do so), and the practice still seems to hold now to some degree. The tracker I've used, Modplug Tracker, uses a Windows interface, so it's much simpler to learn than the trackers that maintain an Amiga/C64 feel to them.

Modplug Tracker (http://lpchip.com/modplug/index.php)

[Zephyr]

Oldie but a goodie, in my opinion. Co-piece between me and Rushjet1.

http://kwix.shackspace.com/Music/kwixrushjet1therushdanceadaptor.mp3

What are you guys using for that? Samples in a tracker? Or some sort of plugin, it sounds good, I'd love to know what you used, and possibly get those samples if they're available.

[Gollgagh]

oldie but a goodie, in my opinion. Co-piece between me and rushjet1.

http://kwix.shackspace.com/music/kwixrushjet1therushdanceadaptor.mp3

<3 <3 <3

[atmuh]

just saw this posted on the workshop forums but it really deserves a post here
http://ubiktune.org/images/ubi012.jpg

http://ubiktune.org/release/012

Teleidofusion is a music project by C-jeff and Megus, 8-bit musicians from Russia. Their music is a fusion of 8-bit sounds, modern synthesizers and real instruments.

1. Soft Illusion (2:14)
2. 5 minutes of autumn (5:02)
3. Around Past (4:09)
4. Summer Mood (3:24)
5. みなこ (3:49)
6. Breatin (2:26)
7. Fat Cat Wants Tasty Fish (3:53)
8. T.W.W.F. (3:52)
9. Petite Appetite (3:04)
10. Autumn is calling (4:18)

Roman "Megus" Petrov (http://megus.org) – guitars, bass (3, 5, 10), shakuhachi (2), khomus (2), vocals (7).
Dmitry "C-jeff" Zhemkov (http://c-jeff.org) – keyboards, vocals (7).
Chris J. Hampton (http://chrisjh.com) – alto saxophone (5).

All music by Teleidofusion except "Fat Cat Wants Tasty Fish" by
Alexander "Manwe" Matchugovsky.

Recorded and mixed by Roman "Megus" Petrov.

Artwork by Sergey "RayNoa" Kostik (http://pixelartist.ru)

http://teleidofusion.com

[GeckoYamori]

I've posted all of these in the originals forum but no one ever goes there, ever.

http://8bitcollective.com/music/geckoyamori/Megaman-style+Intro/
http://8bitcollective.com/music/geckoyamori/Jet+Man/
http://8bitcollective.com/music/geckoyamori/Tortoise+Prowess/
http://8bitcollective.com/music/geckoyamori/Bionic+Commando+II+-+Area+1/
http://8bitcollective.com/music/geckoyamori/Turrican+Strikes+Again/

[atmuh]

yeah i just went there for the very first time today heh

[jmr]

bumping this because I'm listening to an amazing chiptune album right now and you guys need to hear it.
Derris-Kharlan - Live: http://calmdownkidder.com/records/releases/cdk046/

[Zephyr]

Shameless Plug! Chiptune I did for a flash game I'm working on at the moment. Let me know what you think :)

http://soundcloud.com/user1988306/neonix

[Kenogu Labz]

A solid and enjoyable modified chiptune, definitely workable for a flash game. Nice!

[RushJet1]

I'm writing music for an iPhone game (http://www.kingdom-death.com) that someone is making. here (http://4x86.com/r10.mp3) is an example. This is N106 + 2a03. There are now 17 finished tracks but this is the only one I've gotten permission to officially release :X

[Kenogu Labz]

8O

Pretty much thoroughly epic. Strongly gothic, reminds me of middle-aged Castlevania, especially in the first half.

Will the entire soundtrack be released alongside the game, then?

[RushJet1]

It will probably be released a bit after the game itself... though I don't know when that will be (the game's release and/or the soundtrack). That song I linked is a boss in the game who's really huge and evil, etc, at the end it starts making you hallucinate and stuff.

also as an aside, why i don't use vrc7 (http://4x86.com/rootslol.mp3)

:D

[Deathtank]

Im already in love with Teleidofusion! thanks for sharing!!!

[jmr]

I'mma keep bumping this whenever I hear a good chiptune release.
Two doozies for you this time:

Animal Style - 8BP106 - TRENCHVENT (http://www.8bitpeoples.com/discography/8BP106)(sega genesis YM2612 + yamaha DX-100 keyboard)

Norrin_Radd - ii40 - Anomaly (http://www.iimusic.net/catalog/2010/04/norrin-radd-anomaly) (very long awaited album. NES death metal / prog rock)

[Monobrow]

I still love this song so much. RoeTaKa - Nesty Business <3 (http://8bitcollective.com/music/RoeTaKa/Nesty+Business/)

[LuketheXjesse]

Norrin_Radd - ii40 - Anomaly (http://www.iimusic.net/catalog/2010/04/norrin-radd-anomaly) (very long awaited album. NES death metal / prog rock)

Download this

Download this

Download this

[Bleck]

nes death metal sounds retarded

[LuketheXjesse]

Keep telling yourself that.

[Bleck]

what did a passive-aggressive teenage girl steal luke's account or something

[LuketheXjesse]

Just saying dawg.

[Bleck]

just saying what

[KyleJCrb]

Go troll somewhere else, Bleck.

[Bleck]

stop trolling me kyle

[DragnBreth]

Norrin_Radd - ii40 - Anomaly (http://www.iimusic.net/catalog/2010/04/norrin-radd-anomaly) (very long awaited album. NES death metal / prog rock)

Lol! Silver Surfer!
Totally gonna check this out.

[FR]

I like tim follin's stuff

treasure master world 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2l9O4ZLRhw)

silver surfer BGM 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGNSHNf-nlU)

but you guys have probably heard this stuff before

[Bleck]

okay no seriously who knows how to use famitracker and can actually explain it to me

[LuketheXjesse]

Just watch youtube videos of it like I did. It works!

[bucky o'hare]

okay no seriously who knows how to use famitracker and can actually explain it to me
Where are you having trouble? Have you used other trackers before?
I find it quite user-friendly (only one immediate thing comes to mind of how it could really be improved in this regard). I believe that you finding it unintuitive means you have some basic barriers to cross before it starts coming really easily... :)

[bucky o'hare]

Oh my band filmed a music video on a game boy camera! Maybe some of you will dig it-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w251QyDq_U
Cheap Dinosaurs - Tagalog

[Bleck]

Where are you having trouble? Have you used other trackers before?

I have never used a tracker before

I basically just don't even know how to do anything at all

[bucky o'hare]

Here's a quick explanation, assuming you know a bit about music notation or midi. Oh and, in spite of how it may look, you don't need to know anything at all about programming. I don't, and I love me some famitracker! :)

(be sure to have the program open for a visual reference)

FAMITRACKER

Tracker Layout and Song Form

The music tracks from top to bottom, almost like piano roll flipped 90 degrees clockwise. Assuming you want every row to represent a 16th note, rows 0, 04, 08, and 0C would each be the downbeat of a quarter note in a measure of 4/4. There are 64 rows total by default (in hex, so the highest is called "3F"). Until you change the form of the song, hitting play will loop this total of 4 measures in 4/4 time. That's all that's there. This whole area, encompassing all 5 channels of the NES audio for 64 rows is called a "frame".

Near the top left of the tracker, there is a field called "Song settings". By default, "frames" is set to 1. Change it to 2. Notice how this changes the display immediately to your left. What you see there is the form of the song. When you hit play now, instead of looping the first 64 rows, or first "four measures", the song is now 8 measures long. Ignore all those "00"'s for now.

Hit the record button icon near the top center of the tracker (the column is 3 "dots" long). This lets you enter music data. Now click on the first column of any of the sound channels (square 1, 2, triangle, noise, dpcm). Go crazy, hit a bunch of random crap on your keyboard as long as you're staying in the first vertical column of each channel for now. Click around, enter notes all over and at least something in every sound channel.

Now hit play, don't worry that you don't hear anything yet. If you let this song of random crap loop, you'll notice the second set of 4 measures looks exactly the same as the first 4. What's going on here?

The song form currently looks like this in the top left window-
00 | 00 00 00 00 00
01 | 00 00 00 00 00

The way patterns are stored in famitracker are per sound channel. That means that right now, everything is identical between the two different frames. So try this layout instead-

00 | 00 00 00 00 00
01 | 01 01 00 00 00

You'll notice that the last 3 sound channels, the triangle, noise, and dpcm still stay the same. That's because you have them set to the 4 measure loop that is called "00". However, for the last 4 out of 8 measures of the entire song thus far, the first two channels, the square waves, can now be something different. The reason for this is that it is easy to store music and data in a compact fashion. If you start getting confused simply make a song with this form-

00 | 00 00 00 00 00
01 | 01 01 01 01 01
02 | 02 02 02 02 02
03 | 03 03 03 03 03
(etc)

This ensures that nothing will repeat without your consent, and that editing one part won't edit another 'by accident'. (ie if "00" is the noise part in frames 01 AND 02, and you edit one of them, they both change because it is the same part)

This making sense so far? Let me know if you'd like for me to continue! :) There's really not that much left, at least not for getting started...

[Kenogu Labz]

It may also be simpler to start working with a more user-friendly tracker, such as Modplug Tracker, learn how that works, then move on to FamiTracker, which has more restrictions on it, and is trickier to use.

Also keep in mind that you can easily approximate NES sound channels in a more complex program like Modplug Tracker. Virt recently released one of his songs in tracker format, so you could use the samples it contains. They're fairly good estimations of the original sounds.

[Bleck]

This making sense so far? Let me know if you'd like for me to continue! :)

yes please

[Gollgagh]

I echo the previous statement.

[bucky o'hare]

It may also be simpler to start working with a more user-friendly tracker, such as Modplug Tracker, learn how that works, then move on to FamiTracker, which has more restrictions on it, and is trickier to use...
This is good advice, I first got comfortable with trackers through Modplug. I made a pretty extensive NES sample-set in the .it module format for use in modplug + other sample based trackers. Check out "part 1" here if you wanna use those samples-
http://theshizz.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=25657
:)

But I still think famitracker *should* be simple enough to jump straight into, with a bit of patience. Shouldn't require reading very long manuals, like Goat tracker, at least!

Continuing on-

(if you have more questions about how to plot music out or how to make the song form a certain way, feel free to ask more, but I think I covered all the basics in the last post)

Making Instruments (starting with just the volume envelope, so you can hear stuff finally)

Entering notes into famitracker without making instruments first won't yield any sounds! So, let's make some quick sounds. First, create a new file. It's best to start fresh here, and ignore what I was trying to get you to learn in the last post.

Near the top right of the tracker, you have a large empty black box. Click the bottom left icon beneath it, the one that looks like a blank piece of paper. Click it several times. You now have a bunch of instruments you can now edit.

Single click on the first instrument, "00 - New instrument". The name appears in the text field below, where you can re-name it to whatever you want. Call it 'Peg-Leg Pete' if you'd like! Double click on the first instrument, 'Peg-Leg Pete' or whatever you named it. The instrument editor window pops up.

(This is where Famitracker shows its strength for this type of purpose over sample-based trackers. You actually create or "sculpt" all of the sounds from the ground up! Fun stuff! And it's actually VERY quick and VERY easy once you know what's going on.)

Ok, single click on "Volume" on the left-hand side under the "Effect name" column. Try clicking and dragging the mouse around in the big, light-grey area that looks like an empty graph. Nothing happens! Now, click the "+" symbol near the top left of the graph several times. Or a dozen times, if you'd like. You'll see a bunch of 0's pop-up in the MML-text field. Ignore them. Now click and drag the mouse around in the light-grey area again. You just made a volume envelope, and the result should be immediate!

Here's how to hear it, without writing any music out. Simply click somewhere within one of the sound channels in the frame space below. You don't have to close the instrument editor to do this, just drag it out of the way if it's in the way, and click on one of the square wave channels. Now go back into the instrument editor and click on the keyboard display with your mouse. You should be hearing the volume envelope you just made!

Some important things to know about what's going on.
-There are 16 possible volumes, 15 being the loudest and 0 being silence.
-The last single volume in the volume envelope is looped! So lets say you have a bunch of crazy volume changes going on, but the last volume is "8", once it hits that 8 it sustains on 8 forever! The note will never end or fade without some external assistance elsewhere in the tracker, and we're not ready for that yet! This may seem odd at first but it actually makes a lot of sense. So if you want the note to fade for now and not be annoying, draw an envelope that fades and be sure to have the last volume be "0" for now.
-The NTSC NES runs at 60 frames per second. Each individual value in this bar-graph looking volume envelope? You guessed it, a 60th of a second. This is the resolution at which you can sculpt the NES sound. If you want a note to last 4/60ths of a second at the loudest volume possible and then cut off immediately, the volume envelope would look like "15 15 15 15 0".
-The triangle channel has no volume editing! It never fades in and out, ever, it's not capable of that. So it's either on or off. In this case, the instrument editor applies to all instruments, so it looks like you have the option to draw whatever you want, but in reality "15 10 6 0" used on the triangle wave comes out sounding like "15 15 15 0". The DPCM channel doesn't require any volume editing, we'll worry about that channel later. Otherwise, all your fancy-schmancy volume envelopes should work as expected for the square waves and noise channel.
-You can use the MML field instead of the mouse. Unlike the mouse, the changes made aren't immediate. You have to click the "parse" button on the right to make the changes.

Two last things before we move on, regarding envelopes and instruments.

Applying and editing envelopes-

With 'Peg-Leg Pete' double clicked, you can make a volume envelope for it like you've been doing, and it'll work so long as the check box for it is checked off on the left-hand side. You can uncheck it to disable it, but leave it on for now.

Now here's the catch. You didn't actually just make a volume envelope solely for 'Peg-Leg Pete'. You actually made a volume envelope called "0". In the bottom left of the instrument editor, change the "sequence select" slot from "0" to "1", either by selecting it and typing, or by hitting the up/down arrows next to it. You'll see the envelope disappear when it becomes 1 or something else, but then it comes back when it changes to "0".

This is important, because this means that the volume envelope isn't just for this instrument. You can have another instrument, instrument "01 - Red Beard", for example, have the same volume envelope by giving it volume envelope "0" as well. If you edit one, it WILL change the other, because volume envelope "0" is the same in every instrument, so keep that in mind. You give different instruments different envelopes by changing the number in the "sequence select" field near the bottom left.

If you find yourself forgetting this and constantly altering other instruments by accident, that's what the 'select next empty slot' button is for. It'll find the next unused envelope space for you so you don't edit an earlier existing one by accident.

Telling the song what instrument is playing where

This is where we take our first real step into the big frame area below. Hit the record button neat the top center of the tracker so you can enter some notes. Select the first column of the square wave channel and enter a bunch of notes. You'll see some values and a bunch of dashes.

Here's a blank field.
--- -- - ---
Here's what happens when you hit "Z" on your keyboard.
C-3 00 - ---

That first set of dashes tells you the note and the octave. It's 3rd octave C. That's it!

The second set of dashes tells you what instrument you want playing! 00 right now would be our friend from before "Peg-Leg Pete". If you wanted another instrument playing, like my fictional instrument "Red Beard", that would look like-
C-3 01 - ---

Making sense so far?

[Arek the Absolute]

God damn, trackers are nuts.

[bucky o'hare]

I think they can be pretty simple, actually! Like Modplug.
The catch with something like famitracker is that very specific hardware restrictions are emulated, so you start needing to know lots of little things outside of "this is just piano roll sideways with a track for effects alongside the notes", like how the synthesis process works and how you make sounds. :)

It'd be like jumping into Finale, but instead of having general midi to play with, you have a VST without preset instruments. That's pretty much the only real extra baggage going there. Thankfully NES synthesis is very basic and not going to mindfuck you like the C64 or Sega Genesis. :D

[Kenogu Labz]

Don't be dazed by the rows of text, it looks far more complicated than it is. It takes some time, but eventually it becomes really easy to read which notes, volumes, and effects are being played. Daunting, but very worthwhile, and it's not all that difficult to learn.

Haha, and I'm loving the pirate names on your instruments. :D

[LuketheXjesse]

Sega Genesis.

Say, you wouldn't happen to know any good programs that emulate the Genesis' sound chip, would you?

[Bleck]

everything is good so far please continue

[OverCoat]

Say, you wouldn't happen to know any good programs that emulate the Genesis' sound chip, would you?

Google "TFM Maker"

[LuketheXjesse]

If I remember correctly TFM maker doesn't have any channels for samples, preventing me from using some bad ass percussion. :<

[Zephyr]

you should just compile that knowledge into a getting started tutorial or something and put it in the tutorials section.

[Zephyr]

Just finished my latest Chiptune, check it out:
http://8bitcollective.com/music/Zef/Little+Red+Light/

[jmr]

I said I'd bump this thread whenever I found a chiptune release I felt like sharing, so:
NOISEWAVES - PTE025 - Noisewaves (http://www.ptesquad.com/more/pte025.html) (NES+Guitar driven post-rock.)
(the lossless version is up on bandcamp (http://noisewaves.bandcamp.com/) if you'd prefer that...)

[jmr]

Anamanaguchi released the first of their Summer 2010 singles; Airbrushed b/w Penpal (http://www.anamanaguchi.com/singles/).
Check this out, if only for the amazing (albeit NSFW) animated cover art alone.

Check out the latest release on Pause (http://www.iimusic.net/) as well: Disasterpeace's Midnight Orphans (http://www.iimusic.net/catalog/2010/07/disasterpeace-midnight-orphans). St. Valentine (track 7) is killer.

[jmr]

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/8static
George and Jonathan (http://georgeandjonathan.com/) (!!!) are just starting and Cheap Dinosaurs (http://www.cheapdinosaurs.com/) (!!!!!!!) are up next.
The sound's kinda (well, very) distorted, but listenable for the most part.
EDIT: also, this thread needs much more activity, I really shouldn't be triple-posting....

[jmr]

Quadruple post + semi-necrobump? This is worth it.

Noisewaves (http://noisewaves.bandcamp.com/), and awesome chipmusic rock act out of Michigan (whom many of you saw at Magfest... right?) are in a competition with a few other bands to earn the opening slot for an Anamanaguchi and Peelander Z show. They need (and deserve!) your help.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139961409402503

Say you'll attend this Facebook event, even if you can't make it to the actual show. The guys are a fair bit behind in the rankings right now, and they need all the help they can get.

[The Pezman]

http://www.nanoloop.com/iphone

Anyone tried this? I plan to once I get an iPhone this summer.

[jmr]

http://philadelphia.thedelimagazine.com/snacks

Philly chip musician Chipocrite is in the running to be featured artist of the month on The Deli Philadelphia. There's LESS THAN ONE DAY LEFT, and the votes are REALLY close, and he could use all the help he could get.

Hmm, looks like my last post in this thread was also soliciting votes... :razz:

[Emperor Charlemagne]

VGM Music Maker came out a few months ago, back in the summer, which is an update to TFM Music Maker.
So now, not only do you have the 6 FM channels, but now you also have 3 PSG channels, a FM channel dedicated to Sampling, and a PSG White Noise channel.

In short, complete sega genesis emulation.

Now we can all be like Gecko Yamori! : D

An example I made:
http://soundcloud.com/emperorcharlemagne/hope-flies-high-under-stars-we

Forgive the cheesy title ;p

Some better examples:
Sonic 2: Mystic Cave (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InvoZSQp_gg)
Sonic 3 & K: Lava Reef Zone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTrIezedUXs)
X-Men 2: Magneto Theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8AjRnI7irM)

You can find some good original mixes from Groovemaster (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4YFjsTDbQc).

Unfortunately, there aren't many songs on youtube yet- I guess the program hasn't gotten enough exposure. But it's a really fantastic program.

[A-RoN]

Apparently J-Redd and Groovemaster are coming out with a new album:

http://youtu.be/8VnwsLa--Pw

And of course here's my experience in the chiptune world:

http://soundcloud.com/aarpar/sets/same-face-new-game