Making 8-Bit Music (Chiptunes)

The glory days of video games were ripe with game cartridges, two-button controllers, pixel art, and chipped music. What is chipped music? It is when the pitch, velocity, and soundwave (among other things) are created by a microchip inside a computer or game console. We don't have chipped music anymore because everything has been digitalized, but the NES sure had it, and it sounded great! But now that the technology has been left in the dust by all the fancy software we have today, how can we relive the wonder years of game music?

There are several programs out there that were created for the sole purpose of creating 8-bit tunes. The most popular ones are FamiTracker, Modplug Tracker, and MilkyTracker. You can find both of them for free online, since they are open source.

If you're more of a serious sound engineer, you probably have your own DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). Depending on what program you already have you can find a number of plugins that will give you the soundfonts and effects that you need to replicate anything 8-bit. With DAWs such as Fruity Loops, Cubase, and Cakewalk, you can easily find a VST plugin. Try YMCK's Magical 8bit or Peach by Tweakbench. If you're going after a specifically Atari sound, you can try ymVST.

If you're using Pro Tools as you're DAW, unless you have conversion software to wrap VST plugins, you'll need something in RTAS format. Some popular plugins include Plogue Chipsounds and TBK2 by Sonalksis.

Whatever your pleasure, there's a large variety of solutions for what modern program to use in order to create 8-bit music.

If you're using one of the plugins mentioned above, you probably already know your way around your DAW, but if you decided to use one of the stand-alone programs like FamiTracker, you might need a guiding hand to help you get acquainted with it. Check out How to Make 8-bit Music. It gives lots of good information about getting the hang of FamiTracker, including in-depth guides and screenshots on adding detailed effects like tremolo and delay. It's also got some tasty bits about soundwaves and channels.

Until next time, happy music making!