Blog — 8-Bit Symphony

We did a Q&A about the book with Dr. Kenny McAlpine, our main musicologist and first named author on the "Rob Hubbard - The Official Reference" book. Hope you enjoy it! 1. You’re the UK’s foremost academic expert on chipmusic: how did that come about? Is it still difficult getting other musical academics to recognise that’s even a thing?  Ha! That’s unduly flattering, I think, but thank you.  If it’s true, then it’s almost certainly by dint of the fact that there aren’t all that many other academics who are working in that space, so I've ended up being a leading...

Early Days The Story of 8-Bit Symphony starts with... nothing. Specifically, nothing on the TV in the 1970s. I lived through a period in the 1970s when sometimes the only thing on TV was a static graphic (called a "Testcard") and some light music. You can imagine a questing young mind listening to and processing that music. Filing it away. It was a great variety of music, from classical tracks done properly, to classical tracks done in a different style, to pop, and... to early synth music made purely on synthesizers of the time. It made quite an impression to hear...