Happiness is a warm chip | 8-bit Nintendo EP

video upload by Jay Hosking

Additional HapiNES posts

"Please support my work on Patreon: / jayhosking
Five chip tunes made with the limitations of the original NES.

00:00 - Stage 1
02:41 - Underworld
05:07 - Cutscene into battle
08:07 - Peace and war
09:55 - Overworld

I grew up on video game music, and it's probably a large part of why I love synthesizers today. What impresses me most about those old soundtracks is how much they can achieve with such a limited voice count and, to a lesser extent, sound palette. (I actually adore the sounds, so I don't see them as limiting.) The Nintendo Entertainment System had two mono synth square waves, one extremely chunky triangle wave mono for bass, and then a noise oscillator for percussion. There was also an extremely low-resolution sampler ("Blades of Steel!") but I chose not to reproduce that here.

For a while, I had been thinking about working within the limitations of the original NES. I could do that on any modern groovebox or synth, of course, but I wanted the limitations forced on me, and I wanted something that got me close to the original sound without a lot of work. Thanks to my Patreon community, I was able to pick up the Twisted Electrons hapiNES L, which emulates the old NES chip sounds, right down to the mono (not stereo!) out.

Once I had the sounds in place, I wanted a way to quickly write and structure songs. The Teenage Engineering OP-XY proved a good choice, because it's quick, has two octaves to play on, has a smart and creative transposition tool, and has an excellent song mode for structuring longer compositions. I also wanted to use some other sequencing tools, so I pulled out the Oxi One Mk2 for the final song. I didn't find it was quite as effective for the song-mode sequencing, but its new Chord Palettes mode led me in some extremely interesting musical directions.

I could have kept going, but five days seemed like a good haul of NES music for now, and proof to myself that I could do it again in the future. I know the music here might not be to everyone's tastes, but it satisfies the kid in me and makes me wish I had an 8-bit game to write a soundtrack for.

Thanks for listening.

https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com"

Twisted Electrons HapiNES L Chiptune Synth SN HNL0303 w/ Original Box

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this Reverb listing

You can find demos in previous posts here.

"Comes with power and original box. This is a multitrack chiptune synthesizer inspired by the RP2A07 sound chip found in the NES games console. The 4 voices allow you to create authentic sounding tunes in real time! The L(arge) version offers the same features as its slimsynth counterpart, with the addition of hardware MIDI (MIDI Type A) and analog sync in and out connectivity and packed in a rugged metal case."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Twisted Electrons HapiNES-L: "Action Level"

Published on May 8, 2020 Kris Lennox

"Rumour has it Alex has a new device coming out soon.... In the meantime, here's the hapiNES-L with a short 'action level' track I wrote. Good old 8-bit retro gaming style.

I'd have spent more time with the CC etc (...and the decay. The 3rd phrase ends with the same note twice, but the decay is so long that only the first note can be heard), but this is just a quick upload/piece to illustrate something for someone.

In terms of the MIDI thru box: I'm powering the hapiNES via USB mains; the MIDI i/o from the laptop is running into the thru box, then the MIDI cable from the thru is going into the hapiNES. Audio sent out from here to the Tascam."

Twisted-Electrons hapiNES L Sound Demo (no talking)

Published on Nov 27, 2019 Bonedo Synthesizers

hapiNES

Twisted Electrons hapiNES Sound Demo (No Talking)

Published on Feb 27, 2019 Bonedo Synthesizers

Twisted Electrons hapiNES meets Pocket Operator Arcade and Robot

Published on Jan 8, 2019 Dj Puzzle

"Just got a hapiNES from Twisted Electrons and I’m having a go at it for the first time. I’m still learning the device but I was able to quickly write some simple melody loops with a beat real quick. Synced it up to a couple of my Pocket Operators for more sounds. hapiNES is a Nintendo inspired synthesizer. PO-20 Arcade and PO-28 Robot in the mix."

Twisted-Electrons hapiNES Walkthrough

Published on Dec 4, 2018 Twisted Electrons

hapiNES

hapiNES Demo1

Published on Aug 2, 2018 Twisted Electrons

See the Twisted Electrons label below for more.

Twisted Electrons µAcid8 And hapiNES @ Superbooth 2018

Published on May 20, 2018 Bedroom Producers Blog

"Checking out the µAcid8 and hapiNES portable synthesizers by Twisted Electrons. hapiNES is a great little instrument for chiptune artists, whereas µAcid8 is an acid bassline monster in a tiny package."

New Twisted Electrons hapiNES & uAcid8 Mini Synths

"hapiNes is a multitrack chiptune synthesizer inspired by the RP2A07 sound chip found in the NES games console.

The 4 voices allow you to create authentic sounding tunes in real time!

More details and demos coming soon,
first batch expected to ship around August

Features
authentic triangle bass
2 squares with variable pulsewidth
36 synthesized drum sounds (no samples)
16 arpeggiator modes with variable speed
18 Buttons
32 Leds
6 high quality potentiometers
16 pattern memory
Arp Fx with variable depth and decay time
Filter Wobble with variable speed and depth
Crush Fx with variable depth
Audio and Sync input and output chaining (compatible with PO sync modes)
Runs on 2x AAA batteries (auto shutdown for power saving)"

"µAcid8

Acid8 on the go!

µAcid8 is a portable 8Bit bass-line synthesizer borrowing the characterful wavetable engine from acid8 and the essential elements of its highly praised step sequencer.

µAcid8 features some new tricks including transposition automation, filter wobbler, stutter and vinyl spin-down effects.

µAcid8 requires only two AAA batteries and can be synced to external instruments and pocket operators.

More details and demos coming soon,
first batch expected to ship around August

Features
18 Buttons
32 Leds
6 high quality potentiometers
Arp Fx with variable depth and decay time
Filter Wobble with variable speed and depth
Crush Fx with variable depth
Audio and Sync input and output chaining (compatible with PO sync modes)
Runs on 2x AAA batteries (auto shutdown for power saving)"

Pre-Orders on https://twisted-electrons.com.

This one in via Liquid Sky Berlin on Gearporn.Berlin.