I'm offering a software development service to help you to get your native chiptune or video game related music release, be it a single, LP, or an album, to run on an actual old game console or home computer(s) of your choice. You can then release it on a real physical cartridge, a floppy disk, a tape, or other platform-specific media, even as a file to run it with a regular emulator, or on a web page, or any other way. This may serve as the main feat of your release, or as a neat merchandise, or as a collectible extra to accompany the primary, more traditionally shaped release.
The tradition of music demos once started on the crack/hack scene back in the 1980s, in the form of collections that first contained music ripped from commercial games, and continued as music disks with completely original demoscene music a bit later. It then was revitalized during the 2000s by some chiptune artists you may have heard of.
Examples
Over the years I did dozens of projects of this kind for various platforms, including my own music releases, releases of other authors, and music competition compilations. Here is a small selection:
What I can do
Create a simple music album program for one of the popular platforms that I have a template for, with all resources prepared on your side up to the strict specs and requirements of a platform.
Help you to prepare the resources, like, convert artwork, do necessary processing for music files, and so on.
Help you with the music itself. Like, create a chiptune version of your music from an actual audio, or port the music from one particular platform to another, or help you to find someone to do it for you.
Customize a template, or create a completely custom program, with features and stuff unique to your release.
Enter the terra incognita and create a program for an obscure platform of your choice.
Create a whole new obscure platform for your needs. A music card with a sound chip emulation, why not?
Create the necessary means to make music for an obscure platform, which may be a converter, a tracker, VST plugin, and such.
If anything, I can help with music composing, or get you someone to do this for you.
I have prior development experience and tools ready for Atari 2600, NES, SNES, N64, Master System, Genesis, Game Gear, ZX Spectrum, Commodore PET, Commodore 64, Commodore VIC-20, MS-DOS (various kinds of sound), and more. It is not a problem to master some other platform either.
What I can't do
Unfortunately, I can't produce physical copies for you. As I'm located overseas to most of the world, handling production on my side of the pond for a handful of possible platforms would be just too expensive and thus not viable. So I'm offering software development services only. I may be able to give you some leads on who could help you with the physical production, though.
How much it is
A simple template based project would cost you as low as 250 USD. Any extra customizing work is negotiable. It may be ranging from simple help with converting resources to developing a full blown music creation pipeline for an obscure platform of your choice.
