ScrapCycle

Saturday, May 22, 2010
7:30pm - 8:30pm
Analogous Projects at Devotion Gallery
54 Maujer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211

ABOUT BREAK BREADBOARDS
http://art-rash.com/pixelform

Proto-Chiptunes: the hypothetical ancestor of modern-day 8-bit video game music, known as "Chiptunes". Before there were arduinos, video game systems, or even microchips capable of producing sound, there was only binary logic. But in order to find the roots of this ancient music, we must go back further, back before the time of logic, far back into the pre-history of electronics. From the primordial ooze of analog circuits arose the first digital logic circuits. Made only from transistors, resistors and diodes, they clawed their way out of the random void to assert their unambiguous binary dominion over the whole world of electronics. When the digital circuits had established themselves as supreme rulers of the electronic world, and mastered the use of fire, they developed a style of music called "0 01 0110 10010011 0101 01 1" commonly known today as "Proto-Chiptunes". Now the digital logic clan, CMOS re-imagine this primitive electronic music under the careful and patient direction of Phillip Stearns (a.k.a. Pixel Form).

Proto-Chiptunes is made using CMOS digital logic microchips placed precariously on breadboards, temporary prototyping surfaces for building and designing circuits. The concept of the music is to derive all tones and rhythmic patterns off a single square wave oscillator running at a very high frequency. The sounds are referential of 1-bit and 8-bit chiptune music, where musicians and composers work with programmable computing systems (both vintage and custom) to produce vintage video-game style music. Another big part of the concept is to work with pure dedicated hardware, which means there's no programming involved –or, rather, the programming is done by the placement of jumper wires.