Miles Davis probably never played Nintendo. It's technically possible; the genre-bending, stereotype-defying jazz legend lived until 1991, six years after the first Nintendo Entertainment System was released in North America. Who knows how the trumpet player spent his free time? He may have seen a video game, or even picked up a controller. But it's a pretty safe bet that he never stormed Bowser's castle or paused to appreciate the “piku-piku" sound that Mario made when he went down a tunnel.
In fact, the jazz and video game music communities have remained largely separate until now. And yes, there is a video game music community an extensive, largely Internet-based collective of musicians focusing on a genre they call chiptune. Most enthusiasts are people in their 20s and 30s who find themselves drawn to the sounds of early video games, blending their electronic bleeps and bloops with rock, pop and hip-hop. Chiptune is still relatively obscure: in 2007, hip-hop artist Timbaland got in trouble for sampling a tune composed by a Finnish chiptune musician in one of his songs. That same year, a rapper named Megaran released a Mega Man-themed album that landed him a deal with videogame publisher Capcom. But so far, that's pretty much it. Chiptune music's lo-fi, bleepy aesthetic works well with songs by Kanye West and MGMT, but not so much with someone like Miles Davis.
In fact, the jazz and video game music communities have remained largely separate until now. And yes, there is a video game music community an extensive, largely Internet-based collective of musicians focusing on a genre they call chiptune. Most enthusiasts are people in their 20s and 30s who find themselves drawn to the sounds of early video games, blending their electronic bleeps and bloops with rock, pop and hip-hop. Chiptune is still relatively obscure: in 2007, hip-hop artist Timbaland got in trouble for sampling a tune composed by a Finnish chiptune musician in one of his songs. That same year, a rapper named Megaran released a Mega Man-themed album that landed him a deal with videogame publisher Capcom. But so far, that's pretty much it. Chiptune music's lo-fi, bleepy aesthetic works well with songs by Kanye West and MGMT, but not so much with someone like Miles Davis.
