ART:21

Got to look into this. ART:21

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Chip tunes

“Chip tunes”…what the heck? Are these like iTunes? Was there something before Mp3 and Midi files? What are they?

When I have questions about anything, I usually call upon Wikipedia for answers. Wiki recounts that:

The earliest precursors to chip music can be found in the early history of computer music. In 1951, the computers CSIRAC and Ferranti Mark 1 were used to perform real-time synthesized digital music in public.[1]

In the late 1970s, video game consoles and microcomputers started to have integrated circuits with dedicated sound logic. A notable early example is the TIA chip of the Atari VCS (1977) featuring two voices with separate volume and waveform setting.

As several microcomputers were marketed with their music and sound capabilities, commercial music software became available for many models. An early example is the Atari Music Composer released in 1980 … In order to really take advantage of the sound chips, programming skills were required.

Arguably the most influential piece of hardware in the development of chip music has been the MOS Technology SID, the sound chip of the Commodore 64 (1982).

In 1981 a chip was developed by Robert Yannes called the MOS Technology SID. The SID is a mixed-signal integrated circuit, featuring both digital and analog circuitry, which mechanically creates sound, as compared to computer software which only emulates it.

Among the simplest sounds are the simple, single tone beeps and clicks we associate with computer operations. But as complexity increases, sound can be modulated or modified to mimic realistic tones. The SID chips had

three separately programmable independent audio oscillators (8 octave range, approximately 16 – 4000 Hz) ,
four different waveforms per audio oscillator (sawtooth, triangle, pulse, noise), three attack/decay/sustain/release (ADSR) volume controls, one for each audio oscillator and a ring modulation, filter, and programming techniques such as arpeggio (rapid cycling between 2 or more frequencies to make chord-like sounds) .

All these features gave the sound created in the early 80’s, unique characteristics. SID can refer to the chip, or to the MIME filename extention of these audio files. Retro sentimentality among audiophiles and computer gamers, has even renewed a demand for songs from this period of music. And many musicians simply prefer the sound coming from the audio chip to that which can now be emulated through software.

LABoral, for example, features an exhibition new Mediateca Expandida, explores the role played by music in the adoption and manipulation of obsolete technologies: vinyls, old computers, game platforms, etc.

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“entertainment”

I think movies these days are ALL about effects or costuming…they rarely have any “meaningful content”…(which is all some people want, considering it’s “entertainment”.) To me, entertainment doesn’t mean its necesarily ‘mindless’ though. But i hate to have paid to see something I’d rather forget. i think that’s why foreign films have such appeal–the moviemaking process is less Hollywood, less mindlessly commercial.

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