Chiptune is a style of electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles.
The term is commonly used to refer to tracker format music using extremely basic and small samples that an old computer or console could produce, as well as music that combines PSG sounds with modern musical styles.
It has been described as "an interpretation of many genres" since any existing song can be arranged in a chiptune style defined more by choice of instrument and timbre than specific style elements.
A musician's chiptune setup, involving Game Boy handheld gaming consoles
MOS 6581 and 8580 Commodore 64 SID chips
Little Sound DJ loaded onto a Game Boy Advance
The crowd area and marketplace for Chipspace during MAGFest 2020
The MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID is the built-in programmable sound generator chip of the Commodore CBM-II, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, and MAX Machine home computers.
MOS Technology SIDs. The left chip is a 6581. The right chip is an 8580. 'CSG' stands for Commodore Semiconductor Group. The numbers 3884 and 0692 are in WWYY form, i.e. the chips were produced week 38 of 1984 and week 06 of 1992. The last number is assumed to be a batch number.
6581R1 produced in 1982
6581 produced in 1982
6581R4 CDIP produced in 1986
