New tune - and check out Noel’s new project!

March 27th, 2008

I just uploaded my 4th gameboy music track, “All of Us.” It took a LOT of revisions to get me happy with this one, but I was able to bend it to my will and I’m really digging the second half. I’m going more in that “soundtrack-style” direction for my next song. I’m determined to finish my album, but I can’t decide how many tracks that should be. 12 seems right, but I might stop before then if I feel finished.

In the meantime, Noel Hidalgo go in touch the other day to ask if my music was free to use under a Creative Commons license, which it most certainly is - the super-permissive “Attribution” license that simply asks for credit with no other restrictions.

Since that means anyone can use my tunes in anything they want, he grabbed a copy of “Underclocked” to use in his latest episode of Taxinyc.tv - his new videoblog about becoming a taxi driver (also known as a “hack”). Here’s the episode, where he finally cuts off the hair and beard he grew during his last project:

Posted by Eric Skiff Filed in 8bit, Uncategorized, music, noel, taxinyc.tv
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Handheld Music #3 - Chibi Ninja

March 15th, 2008

My third nanoloop tune is done!

I challenged myself to write an uptempo song in a major key, and I’m extremely happy with the result. When playing it back, I can’t help but smile and see a side-scrolling platformer, perhaps with a happy super-deformed ninja or something similar, hence the name.

Download: Chibi Ninja

Posted by Eric Skiff Filed in 8bit, chiptune, gameboy, nanoloop, videogame
2 Comments »

Handheld Music #2 - Underclocked

March 2nd, 2008

I’ve spent some more time with the Gameboy and Nanoloop that Bre lent me, and I think I’m starting to get the hang of this thing.

Here’s the track:

My second effort on the gameboy takes the tempo down a few clicks and I dig into creating some of the fantastic vibrato-infused melody lines that I loved in the scores for games like Zelda, Metroid, and Megaman. This one also comes in two non-purist flavors, one with a delay added after the fact to give it a rich techno goodness, and an “under-underclocked” remix transposed down a few keys to make it a bit more suitable as background music.

Feedback is definitely appreciated - do you like the purisit, straight from the gameboy versions better, or do you prefer the slightly richer, worked sound of the remixes?

Next up, I’m challenging myself to write something uptempo in a major key. I love Bubblyfish’s song “Ah!“, it makes me feel like I’m playing a colorful, slightly hyper videogame!

Posted by Eric Skiff Filed in 8bit, gameboy, music, retro, videogame
1 Comment »

Handheld Music #1 - A Night of Dizzy Spells

February 27th, 2008

I’ve just uploaded my first real song made on a vintage Gameboy from 1989 using Nanoloop. Take a listen and let me know what you think!

All songs are released under a Creative Commons Attribution License, please feel free to use them in your projects, podcasts, videos, or whatever you like, just be sure to let me know so I can link back to you!

Posted by Eric Skiff Filed in 8bit, cc, gameboy, music, nanoloop
1 Comment »