The Vintage Computing Festival 2010

The Vintage Computing Festival 2010 - Chiptunes and Synthpop

The mansion also played host to some entertainment from synthpop giants Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - an event which sold out very early in the day. For those who missed out on tickets, chiptune giant Pixelh8 was on hand to offer an alternative in the form of two performances - one live session of extracts from his albums including latest release The Boy with the Digital Heart and a question and answer session following a performance of Obsolete, an audiovisual extravaganza created entirely from sounds made by the exhibits at the Museum of Computing and the Codebreaking Museum.

During the live performance, Pixelh8 - real name Matthew Applegate - used a traditional synthesiser, a selection of samples from real vintage computing hardware, a Nintendo DS running homebrew software, and a hand-made Apple Mac tablet to create some amazing music sure to appeal to chiptune and other electronic music fans - and possibly convert some who weren't quite convinced.



Speaking to bit-tech after his performance, Pixelh8 explained that the custom Apple Mac tablet was converted from a Mac Mini following a suggestion by his girlfriend and the retrieval of the device from her brother's car, where it had been used to play films. Far from a simple build, the project required him to write a custom driver for the digitising screen in order to get the accuracy he needs for his performances. Having shown the device to Apple employees during the iTunes Festival, Pixelh8 describes their reaction as "very interested, but they were [scoffing that] it doesn't do multi-touch."

Pixelh8 is vocal about his desire for those looking to get into chiptune performances to write their own software and use original hardware rather than emulators and VSTs, stating that "there's so much to be gained from using the original hardware" rather than cheating with the use of emulated sounds. However, he isn't afraid to get his hands dirty with traditional instruments - and suggested his next major project might involve some circuit-bent old hardware and a full orchestra, although that is currently taking a back seat while he works on his next album.

With the planning already started for a repeat event next year, the future looks increasingly bright for fans of the past, and if plans to make the Festival an annual occurrence succeed, hopefully it can provide a regular stream of visitors - and income - for the often sadly overlooked National Museum of Computing.

Update: Simon Hewitt, lead organiser of VCF got in touch with us to say:

“After a highly successful VCF that exceeded our expectations, we are now taking a rest and will review possibilities for the future in due course. The 2010 VCF was envisaged as a one-off event. Demand and enthusiasm were so high, however, that we obviously must consider options. The resources required to run a VCF are of course a huge issue, so we aren’t making any promises!”