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Chipophone: The 8-bit Organ That Plays 'Super Mario Bros.' Live

by Ben Deitz on July 25, 2010 at 09:00 AM

chipophone organ
As exciting and nostalgic as chiptune music can be, it's also a difficult genre to translate into live performance. Usually created with trackers and software sequencers, chiptunes are not easily played on traditional instruments. A new organ dubbed 'The Chipophone', though, helps 8-bit artists compose and perform in a more visceral manner, and may provide a new palate of sounds for musicians of all genres.

The Chipophone was created by Linus Åkesson, a Swedish artist and software engineer. Åkesson built the Chipophone by modifying an old electric organ, taking out its original parts and replacing them with with two micro controllers. The first transforms the organ's key and knob inputs into MIDI signals, which are then sent to a second micro controller, acting as a synthesizer. The synthesizer creates remarkably familiar 8-bit tones, as demonstrated in Åkesson's faithful rendition of the 'Super Mario Bros.' theme song in the following video.

Imagining live performances of classic 8-bit music using the Chipophone -- as well as its potential use by non-chiptune musicians -- leaves us enthralled. Åkesson has not said whether or not he'll release his schematics or code yet, but hopefully he'll inspire a wave of 8-bit instrumental modifications. [From: Ubergizmo]

Tags: 8-bit, 8-bitMusic, 8bit, chipophone, chiptune, chiptunes, diy, LinusAkesson, music, top

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