I have been doing light investigation on the subject of 8bit music, also referred to as “chiptunes”. While Tally Isham’s sound is not strictly “chiptunes”, it incorporates a lot of the important elements. Recently, Houston’s Squincy Jones released a mix called “Nintendub” which was influenced by hiphop and Nintendo. GvsB also covered a release yesterday about chiptunes.
MP3: Tally Isham :: Robots Do Battle
MP3: Tally Isham :: Crystal Runner
Tally Isham: I began producing about a year and half ago. All I had was a laptop and a small USB MIDI controller. The early stuff was pretty bad, but I had a good idea of where I wanted to go, and I had the graphical themes pretty well worked out in my head at that point. The trick would be to get my music to the same level as my artwork.
Tally Isham: As far as chiptunes artists, Nullsleep has some really good work, The Minibosses do great real-instrument renditions of classic gaming tunes. Also Powerglove Audio are a little less strictly 8bit, but what they like to call ‘Video Game Rock.’ The French artist, Kavinsky, was probably my biggest influence, and the reason I got into music production. I learned about him before going to see him DJ with Daft Punk for the their US tour. I saw them at Red Rocks, and it was unbelievable. Other amazing producers are Danger, Justice, SebastiAn, Surkin, DATA, those are all more electro-style, but you know its very difficult for me to listen to strictly 8-bit production. It has to be mixed with other elements to really be listenable and enjoyable in my opinion. I also have to mention Futurecop! They are like 80’s movie soundtrack style, but have been a huge influence on me, and those guys are super-cool.
Tally Isham: NES. Although the original GameBoy is pretty close second. I think a lot of the appeal of chiptunes is the nostalgic effect it has on people. The music is familiar, yet different, and it recalls a whole world of exploration that we experienced on the screen growing up electric.
I have to say though, that I have the full Virtual On Cyber Troopers double arcade console in my garage and I still play it. Amazing 1-on-1 mech fighting action. That game was made in 1995, but the graphics and game play are still ultra-classic.
Tally Isham: Right now I primarily use a Roland RD-300GX digital Piano for MIDI control. I also use a Roland VP-550, KorgR3, Suzuki Omnichord, Pioneer CDJ 1000’s. I run a laptop with Ableton 7 and tons of VST’s. And for chiptunes, the GameBoy CAMERA and the GameBoy LSDJ are bad ass, you can plug it right into your sound card and record audio. Oh yeah, and a GameBoy LIGHT.
Tally Isham: Yeah crazy busy! I have still been releasing a few things under Tally Isham, but I have been working hard on Angie Audio. All new tracks, new artwork. I have been focusing on DJing and getting the productions tighter and more danceable. I have been working with Damon Allen, of Boys & Girls Club, on tracks for this, and we will be handing out some demos at SXSW this year. Finally, there is a totally pixeled-out light extravaganza in the works for Angie live shows, so be on the lookout for us playing in the Houston area coming up soon.
Visit Tally Isham here.
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