chiptune
Vintage game music
Chiptune is electronic music made using the sound chips from vintage video game consoles and computers—the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Commodore 64, and similar hardware.
The genre embraces the lo-fi, 8-bit aesthetic of early gaming, with its characteristic bleeps, square waves, and arpeggios.
Modern chiptune artists may use original hardware, emulators, or software that recreates those distinctive synthesized sounds: The chiptune scene has a devoted following at gaming conventions.
Evoking recent past
- vintageQuality from past eras
- nostalgicLonging for the past
- 8-bitVintage computing standard
- 16-bitComputing word length
oldschool · arcade · classic · throwback · lo-fi · bleeps · buzzy · crunchy
One who follows trails
Rectangular periodic signal
- sawtoothTriangular repeating edge pattern
- waveformGraphed oscillation pattern
- oscillatorCyclic signal generator
- arpeggioSuccessive chord tones
envelope · filter · LFO · frequency · harmonics · timbre · monophonic · polyphonic
retro
Evoking recent past
16-bit · oldschool · arcade · classic · throwback · lo-fi · bleeps · buzzy · crunchy · glitchy
tracker
One who follows trails
squarewave
Rectangular periodic signal
- sawtoothTriangular repeating edge pattern
- waveformGraphed oscillation pattern
- oscillatorCyclic signal generator
arpeggio · envelope · filter · LFO · frequency · harmonics · timbre · monophonic · polyphonic · lofi
commodore
One-star naval officer
- consoleComfort in distress
- cartridgeSealed container for supplies
- arcadeArched passageway or gaming hall
joystick · controller · PSG · pokey · adlib
keygen
License code generator
- music genresblues, pop, jazz, rock, classical
- arcade gamesclaw machine, Asteroids, Galaga, Defender, coin-op
- retro gamingretro gaming, 8-bit, NES, SNES, 16-bit
- versionsversion, edition, variant, variation, revision
- 16-bit gamingSega Genesis, SNES, 16-bit, Mega Drive, Sonic the Hedgehog
- electronic musictechno, house, synthesizer, drum machine, EDM
chiptuneacoustic music
Sound without amplification
orchestral music · symphony · chamber music · live recording · field recording
chiptuneorchestral
For a symphony ensemble
symphonic · classical music · chamber music · philharmonic · big band