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Introduction

I'm making this guide not only due to a lack of educational resources for chiptune, but also due to the fact that it is much easier to correct a written guide as opposed to a video guide. If anyone reading this would like to make a video detailing the information in this guide that would be awesome! You don't even need to credit me (although it would be nice). Most of the techniques in this guide will be from the perspective of Famitracker since that's what I have the most experience with, most techniques should carry over between trackers though. This guide is more of a "here is a cool thing you can do" kind of thing than a "how to do music" thing, I may include some tips for music compo but it's a bit of a seperate thing. If you have any suggestions for things that I could add to this guide, if you notice any incorrect information that you would like me to edit, or would otherwise like to contact me you can email me .

Here are some resources if you are new to music trackers:

Ben Burnes Video Tutorials (General Famitracker)
Teuthida's Teutorials (General Famitracker)
Teuthida's Effects Teutorials (Effects)
Button Masher's "How to learn chiptune trackers (General Trackers)" Matthew Ivac's Tracker Guide (Good if you're used to DAWs)

Here are some resources for more niche tracker stuff:

LSDJ Overclocking guide
The Guide to Making NES/Famicom Dubstep in FamiTracker - Dimeback
The Dastardly Document (goes over mixing and pulse vocals)

What kind of software should I use?

The short answer is trackers. Most music trackers are made to emulate sound chips, which is what chiptune is all about. Using a traditional DAW software is something you can do but it is usually referred to as "fakebit" since it isn't really emulating any specific soundchip. (Some trackers would even be considered fakebit)

Here is a list of trackers I'd recommend:

Famitracker (NES/Famicom)

Famitracker is probably my favorite tracker to work with, it has a lot you can do with it and theres a pretty big community behind it.

Vortex Tracker (ZX spectrum)

I didn't even know what a zx spectrum was when I found this tracker... I was just trying to learn the S5B chip and learned it's really similar to the ay chip (which the zx spectrum uses) people can make really crazy stuff with the ay, like check out pator's stuff

LSDJ (Gameboy)

A gameboy tracker that runs on your gameboy, what more could you want. (also you can do overclocked stuff with gbc and gba)

Bambootracker(PC-98)

The shovel knight rouguelike (shovel knight dig?) used it so like, its gotta be good.

hUGEtracker (Gameboy again)

This one is pretty good for making gameboy homebrew from what I've heard, I haven't messed with it much but it seems pretty good.

2a03

This is the main NES chip, these techniques aren't exclusive to the 2a03 but its a good place to start

Echoes/Manuel Reverb
Chorusing
Instrument Techniques
Melodic Percussion

Echoes/Manual Reverb

Echoes are one of the most useful techniques that I think is a bit lesser known for chiptuners starting out. There are 2 main types of echoes, multi-channel and single-channel. Typically you want your echo to be about half the volume of the sound its supposed to be echoing.

Multi-Channel

For pulse channels, echoes are pretty simple. You just need to copy whatever it is that you want to echo into another channel, move it later in time (usually about 1 quarter note), then lower the volume. This works most of the time, to avoid phasing detuning the echo channel helps a lot and in my opinion makes the echo sound cooler.

With something like the NES triangle channel, echoes are a little tougher. You can use a pulse channel at Duty/Cycle 2 (50% Square Wave) if you make the volume much lower (somewhere between 1 and 4 in Famitracker), detune the pulse channel, and lower the octave of the pulse channel.

Single-Channel

Single-channel echo is typically done by delaying whatever pattern of notes you have a certain amount, then setting the volume to half. This isn't really heard as an echo unless the previous note is cut off by a note cut or another note, I'd recommend using single-channel for arpeggios although it can still be used for leads.

If you decide to try doing single channel echo in the triangle channel (for some reason) you will usually have to settle with just the delay and no volume change (since NES triangle has no volume control) you can technically lower the triangle volume by messing with the NES's delta counter (Zxx in FT) but it affects the noise channel too so volume management on the noise channel becomes pretty annoying (although if the effect is worth it to you, go for it).

Chorusing

This technique is pretty simple, if you play the same thing in two different channels you get phasing (which can be pretty fun to mess with but is generally not desirable), if you detune one channel it makes the thing sound thicker. This is super good for heavier bass and guitarish riffs.

Instrument Techniques

You can shove effects into your instrument settings, for example: a looped pitch envelope can be used for vibrato (something like 1 0 -1 0). You can also set an arpeggio scheme (using x and y values) to customize the 0xy effect in Famitracker, you could add 7ths or octaves, really whatever you want. Example: (0 0 x x y y 10 10).

Melodic Percussion

You can use the melodic channels (usually triangle) to make your drums more punchy, generally you just need a quick pitch slide down and a cutoff. For kick drums you want a faster slide, for snares you want a slower one, this makes the snares sound higher pitched. Pulse channels tend to sound thicker, but triangle is more commonly used for percussion in tandem with bass.

To Do: (2a03) Overclocking, Pulse Vocals, DPCM stuff (like sunsoft bass), (VRC6) Supersaws, (VRC7) Patch switching, (N163)Wavetable Sampling, (S5B/AY)Envelope Stuff