The Chiptune Boogie!

Also known as chip music or 8-bit music, chiptunes are songs made using retro games consoles such as Game Boys and Ataris.

10:31 19 May 2015

Chiptunes, a movement with thousands of admirers around the world, are songs that are made using retro game consoles such as Game Boys, Master Systems, Ataris, and Commodores. 

 

The Superbyte festival in Manchester is an event dedicated to this type of music, which is also referred to as 8-bit music. Celebrated since 2012, this is the largest event of its kind in the UK attracting about four hundred participants last year. 

 

Chris Mylrea is known in chiptune circles as 'CTrix'.

 

He said: "It's always really funny to see people turn up to a chip music show: typically the computers are older than the people that are actually turning up with them to play.

 

"It's surprising what you can get out of something that was designed for playing games from 1988-89.

 

"You put it through a big sound system where you've got loads of bass and all this range and suddenly people are realising 'wow!'

 

"You can create these pallets of sound that cause a whole room to rumble and an entire dancefloor of people to get up and boogie."