Chiptune is a peculiar music genre. Immediately after you define it, you will find examples that expand the concept beyond recognition.
There is consense in its main characteristics: it is synthesized electronic music and it was originally made with the programmable sound generator sound chips of vintage arcade machines, computers or video game consoles.
However, there are even groups such as Anamaguchi that play chiptune live at concerts, and just a few purists actually use the original old computers (such as Commodore 64) to produce chiptunes. Most use virtual instruments, and the corresponding genre is thus technically known as ‘faketunes‘.
Sometimes, the term “8-bit music” is loosely used as synonym of chiptune.
Tumoko Sudaka is a chiptune female artist based in Tokyo, Japan. In her second release she covers a version of a traditional melody from Argentina, the “marcha peronista“, but performed with synthesizers, VST instruments and diverse procedures of 8-bit music.
Out of conviction, she mainly uses freeware, such as Dexed (digital brother of the legendary Yamaha DX7), TAL Noisemaker or Synth1 (nicknamed “the mother of all virtual synthesizers”).
The ‘Marcha electro-peronista‘ was released through the German label Janus Music & Sound on May 8, 2020 in Spotify and all other streaming platforms:
- Find it on Spotify
- Find it on Apple Music
- On TikTok, several videos use this track (34 at the moment of writing these lines)
Tumoko Sudaka‘s previous release on Spotify was a 8-bit version of the Sonatina in C major Opus 36 no. 1 by classical composer Muzio Clementi (1752–1832). Her next release (‘Our Princess is in Another Castle‘) is scheduled for July 17th, 2020.
Fans of Anamanaguchi, Unicorn Kid, Disasterpeace, Crystal Castles or Sabrepulse might particularly enjoy Tumoko’s music.
