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by singular
4566 days ago
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There was a definite style to a lot of e.g. game music on the amiga that made it feel quite unique both at the time and since, and listening to this reminds me of that style. 'the number of voices is limited to four. To have something similarly to chords, the three notes of it are repeated very fast. This makes MODs sound so freaky.' This is possibly why this stuff sounds so unique. Interesting how a technical limitation can result in unintended stylistic consequences. |
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The C64 synthesized its sound via the MOS Technology 6581/8580 SID (Sound Interface Device). It was limited to 3 voices, so the only way to emulate chords on a single voice was to arpeggiate rapidly through a sequence of notes.
The Amiga used four PCM sample based sound channels (in stereo - two left, two right). So chords could easily be sampled and played back on one or more channels.
Chiptunes were limited to the distinctive '8 bit electronic' style - although it didn't stop groups like Maniacs of Noise pushing the technology to use primitive samples alongside the traditional sounds; one notable example was the 'Stormlord' soundtrack.
MODs, being sample-based, could be made to sound like quite respectable audio recordings. Even so, there were some musicians who tried to emulate the old C64 sound on the Amiga, hence the profusion of chiptune-sounding MODs.