Chiptune in the Twenty-First Century

This is an introduction to JSMG’s newest special series on chiptune as a subculture, musical experience, and creative practice in the twenty-first century. Previous publications on chiptune have focused primarily on its historical and cultural aspects, the creative choices of the makers and the social organization of the scene, debates on authenticity and originality, explorations of liveness, and technical analysis of hardware and software. While previous academic discussions provide a useful point of reference to further understand the continuities of chiptune as experienced in the twenty-first century, this ongoing series will aim to inform a new wave of chiptune research, branching out into questions that are not only more contemporary, but that also focus on the much-overlooked “drastic” (Abbate, 2004) of chip-musical performativity. The authorship of chiptune has prioritized those with the cultural and economic capital to be well established in the chipscene (past and present). This has not only caused issues around diversity, inclusivity, and representation, but has also obfuscated perspectives that might inform new and underexplored avenues of research inquiry. As such, the scope of our new special series particularly encourages interdisciplinary analytical frameworks rooted in (ludo)musicology, sociology, anthropology, and phenomenology. We believe that this will be a fruitful collaboration that will extend chiptune research, while aligning with the publication scope of JSMG in advancing knowledge on ludic interactions with music and sound.