Blip Festival 2009 > Blog

Workshops! Screenings!

1:00pm Film Screening – Reformat the Planet 1.5 and Curated Music Videos from 2 Player Productions * Location: Main Room, The Bell House * Price: Free

Shot by 2 Player Productions, the same crew behind the Blip Festival DVDs, the 40-minute Reformat the Planet 1.5 covers New York City’s Pulsewave concerts, “the growth of the chip music scene in Philadelphia, and the arrival of the next generation of chip musicians to the 8-bit scene.” The 2 Player Production crew will be on hand for the screening and will be showing many of the videos they have shot and edited over the years at chiptune shows.

2:00pm From Classic Sound Chips to Virtual Instruments with David Viens of Plogue  * Location: Front Lounge, The Bell House * Price: Free

We will be covering hardware analysis of sound generating IC’s of the late 70’s and early 80’s in terms of spectra, pitch/amplitude ranges and precision. Also looking at the development of a common synthesis model to accurately revive them for use in the context of today’s Digital Audio Workstations. see http://www.plogue.com for examples of our work.

3:00pm Open source solutions for live visuals – presented by Don Miller / NO CARRIER * Location: Front Lounge, The Bell House * Price: Free

In this hour long workshop Don Miller (NO CARRIER) will lead participants through different open source software solutions for creating live visuals using the Nintendo Entertainment System. Using glitchNES, galleryNES, and two new programs to be released exclusively during this workshop, Miller will show just how versatile the NES can be as a tool for live visual performance. In addition to software, hardware mixing and presentation will be discussed. Although not required, attendees are encouraged to bring a PC computer to participate.

Music!

6:00 Blip Festival Artist Happy Hour For artists & backers

8:00 The J. Arthur Keenes Band With visuals by Rosa Menkman & Enso

8:40 tRash cAn maN With visuals by Jean Y. Kim & Paris

9:20 Bubblyfish With visuals by NO CARRIER & outpt

10:00 The Hunters

10:40 glomag With visuals by The C-Men & VBLANK

11:20 Bit Shifter With visuals by outpt & Enso

12:00 David Sugar With visuals by NO CARRIER & VBLANK

12:40 Psilodump With visuals by Paris & The C-Men

STICK ROUND TILL THE END FOR SECRETS!

minusbabies.. in 3-d!

• 1pm-3pm Film Screening – Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet – $5

‘Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet’ is a feature length documentary which delves into the movement known as ChipTunes, a vibrant underground scene based around creating new, original music using old video game hardware. Familiar devices such as the Nintendo Game Boy and Nintendo Entertainment System are pushed in new directions with startling results. Using New York as a microcosm for a larger global movement, ‘Reformat the Planet’ maps out the genesis of the first annual Blip Festival, a four day celebration of over 30 international artists exploring the untapped potential of low-bit video game consoles. With floor-stomping rhythms and fist-waving melodies, trailblazers of the ChipTune idiom descend upon Manhattan to pen a new chapter in the history of electronic music.

• 2pm-5pm A_SID Synth Workshop: A usb/serial controllable chip based C64 SID chip emulator.

SOLD OUT! Feel free to come and watch, additional kits still on sale!

Workshop participants will build and learn to program their own version of Christoph Haberer’s open-source Atmel based C64 SID chip emulator. This is a very good emulation of the MOS 6581 with the difference of very simple serial control from your laptop, computer or microcontroller. The first hour will be spent learning about basic electronics communication and building the kit. The second hour will be spent learning basic programming methods and simple ways to start. The third hour will be an indepth look at the underbelly of the MOS 6581 chip, how it is controlled by the C64 and other computers, and how music can be made by directly addressing the chip. This is a “beginner’s” electronics and programming workshop. There will be no soldering, and no understanding of electronics or programming is necessary. A basic understanding of music is helpful. A laptop and 1/8″ headphones are required. Participants will leave the workshop with a working usb controllable breadboard A_SID Synth, and the knowledge to begin using it.