LSDj

Over the weekend, I decided to finally take some time to investigate the world of composing chiptunes. I know I'm a little late to the party, but it's never too late to investigate something that interests you. I listen almost exclusively to game music, and being able to compose in the actual format enticed me into action.

However, I ran into the issue of where the hell I was going to start. I did some research on basic terminology and how music trackers work in general. After much searching and experimenting with different software, I ultimately made the decision to start simple. I decided to use LSDj, which exclusively utilizes the Game Boy sound chip to create music. LSDj (which stands for Little Sound Dj) stood out to me for a number of reasons:

• I love the Game Boy sound, sound quality, and timbre

• Four channels mean it's not wholly overwhelming, and personally I find that limitations breed creativity (the tracker still has a ton of capabilities though)

• If I make the decision to purchase an actual Game Boy flash cartridge and put the software on it, I can take it with me

The included manual and online wiki provide a vast amount of information, both for beginning and advanced instruction. They are both extremely helpful. There are also a ton of features and capabilities in LSDj, making it a true powerhouse and full-fledged music workstation. The experimentation phase is never going to stop, which is great.

In less than an hour of messing around, I had already created a piece worthy of being on a crappy, third-rate Game Boy game. Success!

After experimenting with the free demo, I made the very easy decision to drop $5 for the full version (the actual minimum amount is only $0.01). I am using an emulator, but the more I play around with it, the more I want to buy an actual cartridge. A friend of mine already has one, so I might ask to borrow it and see how nice it really is to be able to carry it around with me.

I might eventually move to more advanced trackers in the future, but I'm just having too much fun right now. Being a music grad provided an easy window into the actual composition part. The only initial challenge I faced was how to input notes/effects and working with the more-complex-than-you-would-think interface (keep in mind the whole thing uses only four buttons and a D-Pad). Once I had the basics down, though, I was golden.

The next challenge is to familiarize myself with the more advanced features, tweaks, and shortcuts. But I feel like that won't be as much of a challenge. It'll be more messing around and mix-matching different combinations of things.

I also know my end goal is not to enter the whole chiptune scene. I know it would take more time and effort than I can expend, because there is so much you can do with LSDj, and I've got more stuff I want to do. I just want to familiarize myself with the software, and maybe create some music that I feel would fit right in with the early 90's Game Boy library. Just have fun with it, I guess.

Just what I need. Something else to suck away all my free time.