Chiptune Starter Pack

Creations & Ideas
1

I make a lot of chiptune with SP, even though its most well-known use is the bland genre known as dub techno. I decided to release some of my secrets on here (first post here, too!) because we’re all programmers here anyway, and SP is open-source, so we should be too.

# initializing stuff.
t = true
f = false

#Sequencer for :bd. 3 measures, 4/4.
bdSeq = (bools 1,1,1,0, 1,0,1,1, 1,1,0,0)
#HiHat sequencer.
hhSeq = (bools 1,1,0,1, 0,0,1,1, 0,1,1,0)
#Kickdrum sequencer
kiSeq = (bools 1,1,1,1, 1,1,1,1, 1,1,1,1)

bdOn = t
hhOn = t
kiOn = t

use_bpm 120
with_fx :bitcrusher, bits: 4 do
  live_loop :bd do
    if (bdSeq.tick) and (bdOn) then
      sample :bd_haus, amp: 2
    end
    sleep 1
  end
  
  sleep 5
  
  live_loop :hh do
    if (hhSeq.tick) and (hhOn) then
      sample :drum_cymbal_pedal
    end
    sleep 1
  end
  
  sleep 2
  
  live_loop :kik do
    if (kiSeq.tick) and (kiOn) then
      sample :drum_heavy_kick, amp: 1.25
    end
    sleep 1.5
  end
end

This first bit (heh, heh) is, obviously, the drumkit. It’s in 4-bit, but 6- or 8-bit works better if you want to make higher-rez chip.
It includes a sequencer for each drum in the kit, which you can fiddle with to change the beat.

use_bpm 120

melody = [:bb4, :c4, :a4, nil, :b4].ring

melody2 = [:c4, :eb3, :as4, nil, :cs4].ring

with_fx :bitcrusher, bits: 4 do
  
  live_loop :bass do
    synth :chipbass, note: melody.tick, amp: 0.5
    sleep 1
  end
  
  
  live_loop :syn do
    synth :mod_pulse, note: melody2.tick, amp: 0.35, mod_phase: 0.25, pulse_width: 0.125
    sleep 0.5
  end
end

The second portion is the melody and an arp-y additional melody. I tried the :tri and :dtri synths, but :tri was too loud, even at 50% amplitude, and :dtri just sounded weird with this particular melody. Obviously, you can change all of the settings and opts, but this is what I used in a track that I’m going to release on SoundCloud later today.

use_bpm 120

with_fx :bitcrusher do
  live_loop :needleArp do
    t = Time.now.to_i
    use_random_seed t
    synth :mod_tri, note: rrand_i(55, 70), attack: 1, release: 1, mod_phase: 0.25, amp: 0.25, pulse_width: 0.125
    t += rrand_i(1, 4)
    use_random_seed t
    sleep 1.5
  end
end

This final portion is a true needle arp. It uses the :mod_tri synth (triangle = standard in needles), although depending on your track you can make it faster or slower by modifying the mod_phase opt.

You can put these in one buffer or in many. To change timing between threads/live loops, you can put a simple “sleep” line between threads. This works because the steps of a thread are run at the same time as the steps after that thread, allowing a pause before the next thread starts.

3 Likes
2

Cool stuff : simple and efficient :+1:

1 Like
3

Efficiency is the point and simplicity makes it easy to understand, modify, and use!

4

thank you so much for this, i’ve been dying to get my chiptune on with this and have been struggling with what’s already on

1 Like
5

No problem – It was especially fun to figure out the arpeggiator, especially. Drums are pretty straightforward and the :bitcrusher FX can be changed around. Find a bit depth that you like – each one sounds different. I normally use 6, but 4 can sound cool (Especially on kickdrums!) and 8 is the default. The value CAN be a decimal number, although I rarely use those. Don’t go lower than 2 bits unless you REALLY want a 1-ish-bit sound. 1-bit snare drums sound pretty cool, but for everything else, use (bits >= 2) as a rule of thumb.

6

This is cool stuff :slight_smile: I added a few synths for chiptune around v2.10 which people might also want to checkout

:chipbass (a kind of steppy triangle waveform)
:chiplead (pretty much a straight square/pulse wave)
:chipnoise (1 bit noise as you'd find on old consoles like the NES)

Another way to make chip bass drum sounds is to use :chipbass and slide the note down very quickly as described in this video Kick drum synthesis

2 Likes
7

I actually intended to avoid those – If I want a :chipnoise-like synth, I’ll make one. Your synths are good but I prefer the extra options created by combining the base waveform synths.

8

I highly recommend playing with these synths - they’re huge fun :slight_smile:

9

I have used them but I prefer the challenge of recklessly combining the raw waveforms.That’s not to say Xavier’s synths are useless to me, but I only use them in specific situations. Personal preference, more than anything.