Video Chiptunes Liner Notes
Introduction
Composer's commentary: "For the uninitiated, let me explain what a chiptune is. Early computers and consoles had no way of reproducing tracks as they do today, so they were built with very limited music chips, which the composer had to program in hexadecimal to make those bleepy bloopy game tunes we're now familiar with. A chiptune is any tune made within the limitations of these computer chips. All the tracks on this album were originally designed with the ability to be played through a NES console, with exception of one tune, which was designed to be played through the archaic Spectrum 48k. I can't provide stems for it because the limitations of the chip don't allow the export of separate channels within the tune. Anyway, the three crowded mono channels of the 48k chip make stems hardly worthwhile here. Regardless of which chip they come from, I've left all tracks more or less in their original chip form, with the exception of a bit of mastering and stereo mixing."
01. Mosquito of Love - 3:51
Keywords: classic; energetic; romance; sublime
Composer's commentary: "Remember when you had to load games via cassette and it took ages, so they provided loading music? Well, I do, and I can tell you my favourite chiptune from the time was Ocean Loader 4. At once dynamic and futuristic (in its day) while containing a certain yearning sadness, it has always stayed with me. Mosquito of Love, while differing to Loader 4 on a number of levels - not least of all the chip on which it was elaborated - retains some of that quintessential chiptune vibe the Ocean Loaders gifted to the world. I'd recommend this tune if you want to add a classic chiptune-era energy to your scene. There's something sad, romantic and beautiful about it, I think. It could be employed in such varied manners as an 80s teen drama or a video exposition of new technology. "
Signature: 4/4 Tempo: 110
02. The IK+ Trousers Down Reggae - 2:17
Keywords: kung fu; style; action; heat
Composer's commentary: "What the hell's up with that title? Ha, ha. IK+ was one of the first side-view fighter games (like Street Fighter). You could select up to three players on screen: karate fighters. Not everyone knew this, but there was a quaint little function where, if you pressed... F5, I think... all of the fighters' trousers would simultaneously drop down. So when I came up with this kung fu sounding chiptune reggae groove, I immediately connected all those elements and IK+ came to mind. I wanted to see if I could push the chip to give me the vibrant heat of a rude reggae, so I beefed up the triangle bass as much as possible and made the lead instruments as sharp as a shot of salt & vinegar flavouring. Hopefully I produced something in which 70s cool meets 80s geekdom in a kind of serendipitous mash-up. Or something."
Signature: 4/4 Tempo: 112
03. Escape from Osiris - 3:46
Keywords: mission; charge; battle; speed
Composer's commentary: "Osiris was the Egyptian God of the Underworld, so I think the title neatly sums up the tone of this track. Imagine if you had to escape from ancient hell and an all-powerful God. A pretty hectic vision, eh? The melody speaks of olde-worlde civilisation, the pace and cadence tell of a historic struggle. This tune would sit well over any version of a mission you can think of, from a period battle of thousands, to a drug addict rushing through the streets at night to find a chocolate bar. How about a rocket-fuelled urban hyperlapse? I'm confident this tune will add purpose and energy to any scene. I originally called this tune 'Thrust of The War Camels,' but then told myself not to be daft. I guess the preceding track's title contains enough daftness for one album. No, 'Escape from Osiris' is far more dignified, I'm sure."
Signature: 3/4 Tempo: 145
04. Your Dreams on Tape - 3:44
Keywords: classic; cool; melody; analogue
Composer's commentary: "Like Mosquito of Love - perhaps even more so - I tried to evoke a sense of creamy nostalgia on this track. When I was a kid, up until my teenage years, tape was the mass-medium by which we listened to music, and video games actually sounded like this. More than that, in the 80s we actually loaded our computer games up from tape. We weren't a rich family, so if I wanted to buy an album it would be on cassette, and I'd play it through a cheap boombox in my bedroom. Not until I was about 16 did I even get a record player. The physicality of music reproduction hardware, plastic oblongs slotted into larger plastic oblongs, that's something that's just about gone now. But this tune brings some of those days back for me. Copy it onto tape for full effect. I think this tune carries a whole bunch of cool with it, but I guess that's for you to decide. No wait, hold on, I've decided. It's objectively cool."
Signature: 4/4 Tempo: 108
05. 47 Southside - 2:36
Keywords: funk; swank; style; cop show
Composer's commentary: "This one's as close to a cold slice of funk as you're going to get from a chiptune. In many ways it's the companion piece for IK+... it's that 70s cool mixed with 80s chiptune again, but this time South Side rather than Chinatown. You could definitely use the two tunes in conjunction. It brings to mind those old San Franciscan cop shows, all afro-perms, moustaches and outsized cars. If you want to funk up a scene, this here's your tune. It even gets a bit rocking like Hendrix towards the end. I seem to remember a few tunes in the same vein as this on the NES's version of Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (back when I was all of 10), though I'm sure nothing quite so fresh and funky."
Signature: 6/8 Tempo:
06. Skellygog - 2:59
Keywords: kooky; spooky; skeleton; dance
Composer's commentary: "Certainly one to crack out for Halloween. 'Skellygog' was the childish name for skeleton where I'm from (not sure how universal the term is). Anyway, when I was 6 years old I wrote an 8 page story at school in which I was sucked into a computer game and attacked by skellygogs. And finally behold! The jaunty musical soundtrack to that encounter. The rhythm rolls forward like a lolloping egg, while the tune woos and clanks above. The teacher crossed out every instance of 'skellygog' and changed it to 'skeleton,' by the way. Well, I maintain that my word is the correct one. A skeleton is a dead pile of bones, whereas a skellygog is an absurd, jaunty, grinning spook made of bones. Just like this little ditty is."
Signature: 6/8 Tempo:
07. Yung Yeng Riddim - 2:38
Keywords: sweet; warmth; power; heart; verve
Composer's commentary: "Well, I love reggae, and I love chiptunes. This tune is technically reggae in its rhythm (riddim) but in its melodies swings more towards the chiptune side of things. Having said that, it's a serendipitous, happy tune, similar to the African melodies that reggae borrows from. So, it is a complete melding of these two genres. It's got some great bass that I hope will be enjoyed out there, and a sweet, flute-ish lead. It's energetic and uplifting and can be used for any scene or segway which may require such verve. If you're looking for a light yet heartful theme tune to your vlog or webseries, for example, you could do much worse than draw on this tune."
Signature: 4/4 Tempo: 100
08. Revenge of Granny's Garden - 1:40
Keywords: high octane; energy; arcade; battle
Composer's commentary: "This tune's the second on the album elaborated on the Spectrum chip. You can hear it's a rougher sound, which I love, it's like writing a rock song with distortion in many ways. This speedy, powerful tune was made to soundtrack a perfectly engaging, high-octane arcade game. That's what I imagined during composition: classic arcade on... caffeine, I'll say. The name's kind of a joke. When I was around 5 years old, my school had a BBC computer (yeah, the BBC made 'em). There was a text-based game, with block graphics called Granny's Garden, involving a witch. It was a fairly tame affair, so the Revenge... I imagined as a sequel as described above, insanely energetic with explosions and flashing 8-bit lights. Kind of the opposite to the original."
Signature: 3/8 Tempo: 100
09. Chipped at the Core - 2:52
Keywords: chipcore; climax; serious; fight
Composer's commentary: "Listening to Chipped at the Core, it sounds like we've reached the final level of our game - matters are getting serious, intense and exciting. There are sad overtones to this one, and a kind of classic hip-hop lead. At one point the speed ramps up frenetically until we reach bursting. The melodic tones are frosty, the drums pump somewhere between hip-hop and drum n bass. It talks to me of action, adventure, being deep behind enemy lines, something like that. It's quite a dynamic tune."
Signature: 4/4 Tempo: 130
10. Basic Love Bytes - 3:29
Keywords: Jolly; kawaii; bounce; cartoon
Composer's commentary: "Basic Love Bytes is a jolly wee tune that brings the old Rainbow Island games to mind. Those games, along with their sister Bubble Bobble games, have a very kawaii vibe, a kind of precursor to the feel a lot of the following Nintendo games were going for. Imagine sunny days and cute things bouncing around everywhere. A darker section evokes cartoon spiders dropping down to attack (like the end of level baddies for Rainbow Islands). I could also imagine a Sonic the Hedgehog level set to this music, though I elaborated this on the NES chip, it sounds like I used an FM channel (literally can't remember now). The Megadrive (aka Genesis) used pure FM technology, so the sound wouldn't be too implausible for Sonic. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry, people seldom do. Just geek stuff. Better to bop along happily and not worry about it."
Signature: 3/8 Tempo: 100