I really enjoy listening to chiptune. All the 8 bit musical movement is interesting, remembering old gaming souvenirs and raising a good dose of nostalgia. Elektron, the famous Swedish synth designer started this musical trend in 1999 with the release of the now famous Sid Station, a desktop synth wish is exploiting the SID (Sound Interface Device) chip commonly used as a sound generator for the Commodore 64 in the early 80's. As this device was hugely popular within the musical community, other manufacturer decided to offer similar product (Sid Station production stopped, units are rare and very expensive). Nanoloop was created by a German programmer known as Oliver Wittchow. This software is included on a typical Game Boy cartridge and enable the user to exploit the sound chip. The interface is pretty simple, working as a typical 16 step sequencer. It is also possible to build complete songs, arranging the sequences. The cartridge also feature some memory slot for songs and sequences. The sound of this chip is typically 8 bits, raw sounding. The Game Boy output (1/8 jack) is low quality and noisy. It is also possible with further mod to implement midi protocol in order to control the Nanoloop externally (check out the video). This device is really fun to use and inject a non subtle dose of lo-fi gritty sound in your music!
7.5/10
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