I LOVE video games. I love producing music I mean, I was into video games before I started producing music. At the same time computer music production is like a video game in itself. The first video game I remember playing was Super Mario Bros for the NES. I might have been like 4 or 5 years old.
From the colors to the soundtrack. It was (and still is) an amazing, fun game. I’ve never made a Video game or Game soundtrack, but these two things inspired my first album “Bits N Chips”.
I’ve always enjoyed video game soundtracks, Final Fantasy XII is probably my favorite one. The use of a live orchestra for cutscenes, boss battles and different cities/levels all fit well. Even though FF XII isn’t 8 bit music, It’s just good music. I’ve always had a love for retro video games and their retro sound. I always admired it but didn’t know I could create it until I came across FEZ.
FEZ is a 2d platformer (like Super Mario Bros) for Xbox 360. It’s about FEZ (the main character) saving his family. The whole look of the game is 2d, but you can rotate the game stages in a 3d way. This effect ads more depth to the game and makes puzzles challenging to solve. The FEZ soundtrack is so amazing! The first song’s so relaxing and well written. All the music had the sounds and instruments of old NES, and Atari games.
I looked into the FEZ soundtrack and learned that it was composed by a musician called Disasterpeace. I just loved the fact that it was high quality music that sounded straight out of the 90s. I wanted to make music like this, I’ve always loved the 8 bit sound. I’ve used 8 bit elements in my music in the past. I’ve sampled 8 bit music before. I’ve just never thought to make a song with all 8 bit sounds. This album INSPIRED me to write my 1st album, my 1st concept album “Bits N Chips”
Originally 15 songs and trimmed down to 8, “Bits N Chips” was a play on words. Bitches and Money was how I interpreted it. The artwork was made by Ghost//Ghoul. What I wanted to keep as a rule was to only use 8bit sounds and follow the rules for 8 bit, chiptune music. As far as the rules, in 8 bit music you’re not really supposed to go beyond 4 or 5 tracks (i forget) was the one I followed.
The first single I wrote is “Chippy Van Nathaan”. I wanted ZERO lyrics on the album, I wanted the lead instrument to be the vocal, the melody to tell the story. This was the 1st chiptune beat I made. Chippy is a superhero of my hypothetical videogame “Chippy van Nathaan”. It’s also the 1st single off the album.
The second Single Is called “This Bit Crazy” , Basically a rap trap beat with 8bit sounds. I had the most fun, I had a reason to put a bitcrusher on my 808 bass! This song was fun to make because I was automating the arpeggiator on the hook/drop. I actually played this song at my first beat battle with istandard producers back in 2012. The crowd went crazy! It just validated me as a chiptune producer and inspired me to finish the album.
My favorite song on the album is title track “Bits N Chips” featuring Zenojim. Zenojim is the first artist I collaborated with over the internet. He’s such a talented guy since he took my sample and flipped it into a banger. This is the only song thats fakebit (not completely using 8bit lofi sounds). But he took the song to another place. Blockhead is a close second because It tells a story to me, the drop is insane!
Shortly After I released “Bits N Chips” I immediately started working on my second chiptune album “The Return of Chippy”
To listen to “Bits N Chips” You can listen on Natekodi.com or check out Itunes, Spotify, Tidal (or any music streaming service) and search “NateKodi Bits n Chips”
I’ll write about my 2nd and third albums in another post.
– NateKodi
