Look out: it’s the return of the cartridge!
We’ve seen loads of chiptune and Nintendo-based music before, but Alex Mauer has gone so far as to release an entire album on NES cartridge (and emulator, if you must). Some of you wondered what the preferred setup was for the chiptune virtuoso; for Alex, it’s evidently everything, from Yamaha sound modules to SoundBlasters, Sega, TurboGrafix, and, yes, Nintendo.
Alex Mauer Artist Page (Via Music thing.)
Ah, imagine the hours we’ll spend, thumbing through shelves of cartridges for an obscure Finnish death-punk artist who plays only Atari 2600s. I can see it now:
But it’s not just albums popping up on carts. If you’d rather have a more active experience, look to Pixelh8 for Game Boy. Whereas many previous Game Boy cartridges have focused on tracker/sequencer functions for arranging tunes, this new software emphasizes hands-on playability — mash the buttons, play a tune. If you’re savvy enough to make your own cart, or want to play in an emulator (bah), you can get the ROM file itself for £15; a ready-made cartridge is shipping soon worldwide for £20 + £5 p&p.
Pixelh8 Project Page, via Matrixsynth and GameMusic4All
Here’s the intro:
And the creator has been furiously adding new features:
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to eat some delicious fireworks or watch some barbecue exploding like a real American.