Overview

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 performative: 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.

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9780190496098

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Reviews

A fascinating discovery of everything you didn't think you needed to know about chiptune lies here within. I was introduced to chiptune through the brilliant work of PixelH8 when he supported me in Brighton. I had no idea how much of a scene there was and this explains it all. * Imogen Heap * Through his deep understanding of the evolution and history of computer and video game consoles, Kenneth McAlpine has produced a comprehensive and technical book covering all aspects of the early development of computer and video game 8-bit audio hardware. With the help of the leading composers of the day and through hours of interviews, the book provides insight into how the limitations of the primitive hardware were maximized to their full potential. McAlpine also gives unique insight into the origin and development of the resurgence and interest in 8-bit hardware and the evolution of what is now known as chiptunes. Rob Hubbard, composer for Kentilla, WAR, and Sanxion

Through his deep understanding of the evolution and history of computer and video game consoles, Kenneth McAlpine has produced a comprehensive and technical book covering all aspects of the early development of computer and video game 8-bit audio hardware. With the help of the leading composers of the day and through hours of interviews, the book provides insight into how the limitations of the primitive hardware were maximized to their full potential. McAlpine also gives unique insight into the origin and development of the resurgence and interest in 8-bit hardware and the evolution of what is now known as chiptunes. --Rob Hubbard, composer for Kentilla, WAR and Sanxion A fascinating discovery of everything you didn't think you needed to know about chiptune lies here within. I was introduced to chiptune through the brilliant work of PixelH8 when he supported me in Brighton. I had no idea how much of a scene there was and this explains it all. --Imogen Heap

Author Information

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. He was one of the team who developed the world's first degree programmes in computer games technology in Dundee in the late 1990s, a role that has fuelled his passion for sharing interesting stories about music and play. He lives in Fife on the East Coast of Scotland.

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