Music for a video game that doesn't exist

Abstract

In this Mmus paper, artist and musician Sakaris Emil Joensen explores the concept and recognition of the 8-bit chiptune music aesthetic. The paper describes the process of writing an original and authentic 8-bit soundtrack and performing it to a wider audience. Sakaris describes in detail the technical and compositional challenges that occur when writing in such a limited and primitive format. Parallel to this process, the paper delves into 8-bit chiptune music as a niche artform, that nevertheless gets recognized by all kinds of people when confronted by it. It deals with the concept of an unformulated and unconscious shared nostalgia for this type of music, along with the time it represents.