==AY-family scene==
Amstrad 8 bit computers are part of the [[AY]]-family, along the ZX spectrum, most MSX and the Atari ST (which use a YM variant), but also Oric-Atmos.
It is also to note that many arcade systems or home consoles also included an AY-family chip.
Compared to ZX spectrum the Amstrad clearly failed to impose itself on the AY-scene. Perhaps because it was less popular worldwide, perhaps because it lacks a built-in Midi Port.
Also it is to notice that Amstrad CPC's AY soundchip has a lower clock than most of its competitor, running @1mhz while Atari ST is @2mhz or ZX spectrum128 @1.77mhz
To have MIDI on an Amstrad an external peripheral is needed, being somewhat less reliable than a directly built-in connector.
(The 10KB differences in needed graphic RAM between Speccy and CPC makes a lot of difference.)
Of course you could manage a better Ram/CPU ressources by disabling the screen displayor reducing it's size, yet this can't allows the use of the computer as a direct Musical instrument/mixing station.
(But, there are PLAYlist utils see AYCplayer -[[AYC]]-)
As a result, no not a lot of Chip-Tune bands actually use an Amstrad computer for live performances (but the ZX spectrums from Amstrad...). Worth of notice is the french [[Ultrasyd]] who may uses an Amstrad CPC6128 alongside Atari ST and Nintendo Gameboy and actually produced some tunes for the CPC scene as well.
This is somewhat of a shame, as the 6128+ would be a good machine for such purpose thanks to it's DMA channels and the possibility to put software on Cartridge/Rom.
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Kellyon, a great song by [[Fenyx Kell]] said to be composed on a CPC using the Starkos tracker from Targhan/Arkos. Courtesy of [[Sacrenouille]].
==PLUS range==
The [[AY]] inside the [[ASIC]] features DMA channels, enabling additionnal additional tricks and may compare betterly better with SID from C64 or even 16 bit musics.
The better example may be the [[Prehistorik 2]] intro music with its 16 bit flavour. (It uses sampled music).
Also the inclusion of sampled screams in [[Rick dangerous 128+]] is another modern example of what can be achieved.
The modern Hacking or the ACID chip may enable better uses of the Extra PLUS capabilities in Sound field. Cartridge oriented Soundtrakkers with DMA managmentmay managment may be Produced.
==Godfathers of chiptunes on CPC==
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A video featuring remakes of good old Game's musics : Leisure Suit Larry (Amiga), [[Burnin' Rubber ]] (Amstrad), Earth Shaker (Spectrum), Shao-Lynn's Road (Amstrad), [[Tai-Pan ]] (Amstrad), Feud (Amstrad), Olli and Lisa III (Amstrad).
Lots of Amstrad's tunes here...
*Nintendo's Game Boy
Some cartridges and softwares allows software allow to use most of Nintendo's portable consoles as live instrument or Remix effects generators.
Because such consoles are cheap and easy to transport, having an in-built video display, and being iconic of the 8bit or digital era, this is quite popular.
==Links==
* [[PlayCity]] : a modern peripheral to enable an extra pair of AY chips for your Amstrad CPC/PLUS.
'''Amstrad CPC chiptune scener'''
* [[Fela Borbone]] and his [[Mierdofón]]
* [[Fenyx Kell]]
* [[Ultrasyd]]
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