Bits and Pieces: A History of Chiptunes

by Kenneth B. McAlpine

Bits and Pieces tells the story of chiptune, a style of lo-fi electronic music that emerged from the first generation of video game consoles and home computers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Through ingenuity and invention, musicians and programmers developed code that enabled the limited hardware of those early 8-bit machines to perform musical feats that they were never designed to achieve. In time, that combination of hardware and creative code came to define a unique 8-bit sound that imprinted itself on a generation of gamers.

For a new generation of musicians, this music has currency through the chipscene, a vibrant musical subculture that repurposes obsolete gaming hardware. It's raw and edgy, loaded with authenticity and driven by a strong DIY ethic. It's more punk than Pac-Man, and yet, it's part of that same story of ingenuity and invention; 8-bit hardware is no longer a retired gaming console, but a quirky and characterful musical instrument. Taking these consoles to the stage, musicians fuse 8-bit sounds with other musical styles - drum'n'bass, jungle, techno and house - to create a unique contemporary sound.

Analyzing musical structures and technological methods used with chiptune, Bits and Pieces traces the simple beeps of the earliest arcade games, through the murky shadows of the digital underground, to global festivals and movie soundtracks.

Genres: Music

318 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 9, 2018

About the author

Kenneth B. McAlpine is an award-winning composer, musician, and technologist who has scored for theatre, film, and video games, and who has performed internationally as a harpsichordist, pianist, and jazz organist.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Bits and Pieces" is required reading for both chiptune consumers and creators.

On creativity within constraints, McAlpine writes "It is just as Devo sang, 'Freedom of choice is what you got. Freedom from choice is what you want.' That is what chiptune can provide. With simple, raw waveforms, limited polyphony, and few options for dynamic articulations, chip musicians have no option but to go right back to the very basics and address the fundamentals that make music engaging and entertaining. There is nowhere for half-formed ideas or weak arrangements to hide. Chiptune is electronic music in its most fundamental state; it is about simple ideas expressed well." (P257-258)

McAlpine assumes some familiarity with and interest in music theory, early game systems, and (a dash of) electrical engineering. But if you're in that target audience, you feel like this book was made especially for you.

Glad that McAlpine got to interview Daglish before his passing this last October.

[Edgar Cañizales · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding book, very recommended.

[Mills College Library]

781.54 M1146 2019