What is Chiptune?

A chiptune, or chip music, is music written in sound formats where many of the sound textures are synthesized or sequenced in real time by a computer or video game console sound chip, sometimes including sample-based synthesis and low bit sample playback. Many chip music devices featured synthesizers in tandem with low rate sample playback. Currently, chip music composers use modern computers to aid them in either composition, recording, or execution of the art form. Modern Computers are also used for networking throughout the global chip music “scene.” The evolution of the internet has helped chip musicians connect with each other, share ideas, and create public events. The recent popularity of Creative Commons over Copyright in the chip music scene has also helped many musicians learn and develop their craft through an open source environment. Emulation of the original sound chips has become more prevalent and accepted because of the increasing rarity and fragile nature of the original “IC chips.” The term Chip Music has been applied to more recent compositions that attempt to recreate the chiptune sound, albeit with more complex technology. The “golden age” of chiptunes was the mid-1980s to early 1990s, when such sound chips were the most common method for creating music on computers. Chiptunes are closely related to video game music, which often featured chiptunes out of necessity. via Wikipedia