Bits and Pieces: A History of Chiptunes, by Kenneth B. McAlpine

In the summer of 2019, the musical instrument company Korg released an updated version of its Gadget application for the Nintendo Switch, which includes sound samples from the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive and Taito's arcade synthesizer. The brief announcement on the technology blog Engadget notes that the cost of the app would “be a small price to pay if you want to create chiptune-like compositions without resorting to exotic hardware.”¹ Around the same time, a portable playback device was released—the MegaGRRL—that allows users to play old Sega Genesis soundtracks. The primary difference is that the latter boasts the YM2612, the exact sound chip used in the original Genesis console. But whether used for musical creation or simple playback, who cares if the sounds come from emulation or the actual original hardware? To some, it matters a great deal. To understand why, we can turn to Kenneth McAlpine's Bits and...