Blip Festival 2012: The Chiptune Rave

It's almost here, folks! The glorious weekend when geeks, gamers, music enthusiasts, and rave kids come together and share an enclosed space fueled by alcohol and bleep-bloops; Blip Festival! As a veteran of the past 2 BlipFests, I cannot speak enough for the enjoyment of this event. If you find yourself in NYC or a few hours away, you should -- no, need -- to carve some time out of your busy weekend schedule to take part in these lo-fi music festivities, if only for a day.

During the afternoon hours, you may find yourself at a workshop detailing how to create incredibly deep and catchy tunes with little more than a Gameboy, the beautiful art at its purest. Some gifted musicians have mixed this foundation together with vocals, guitars, drums, keyboards and just about anything else you can think of, to create truly awe-inspiring sounds. Anamanaguchi is perhaps the best-known example of how deep the rabbit hole goes. Your mileage may vary, but rest assured, you will find a foundation here, at least. Practice your soundboard chops night and day and maybe you will find yourself performing at Blip Festival 2014.

Come night, the beer flows, the sweat falls, and the air is pierced by tweaked triangle, square, and sine waveforms. In the past few years, I've been entranced by talented musicians such as Minusbaby, Bit Shifter, and main conspirator-slash-all-around-rockstar Nullsleep. In fact, if you're green to the scene but curious, you should study the vast audio archive over at 8bitpeoples.com, a collective of Nullsleep and some other very talented chip-thinking, hive-minded individuals.

Je Deviens DJ en 3 Jours experiences some rather fun sound problems

These festivities are not for everyone, but gamers should appreciate this art form. With the talented and experimental brains involved in these festivities, you will hear some of everything: dance, rock, rap, ballads, all with an 8-bit flair. Party people will appreciate the rave-like atmosphere which includes everything from self-contained dance pits to a dude dressed like Santa Claus handing out balloons for the crowd to inflate and toss around. And if that ain't your thing, find a nice spot to cool out with a drink, and enjoy the sounds inspired by the forefathers of current and future gen gaming. You will not regret it.

For more information about Blip Festival, including an entire list of the weekend's performers, set times, and a link to purchase tickets, head straight to the source, BlipFestival.org.