8-bit audiovisual party Blip Fest started last night here in New York, so it’s only natural we celebrate game systems used for music through the weekend in its honor. (Reminder: come meet up with me and Boing Boing’s Joel Johnson tonight, 6-8p, if you’re going to Blip. Facebook event / CDM post)

Sega Master Bitcrunch

The promising new – and music-savvy, I might add – Boing Boing Offworld gaming blog points to a Sega Master System II that’s been turned into a bitcrush/digital overdrive effect.

It sounds absolutely terrible. You know – in a good way.

Bender / chip artist Sebastian Tomczak created this digital monstrosity. I’d actually like to hear some percussive material through it. It’s a beautiful thing, though – now, Sebastian, you just need to make the game controllers control parameters.

Sebastian has been seen round these parts before making drum machines with the Arduino, Processing apps for mobile phones, and controllers out of water bowls. (Sebastian, I would have missed this if not for Offworld – believe it or not, readers, I actually don’t know everything you do as you do it.)

8-bit Multi-Effects

Sebastian isn’t the only one using vintage hardware as effects. Animalstyle, aka Joey Mariano, who played CDM’s (not-all-chiptune) HOPE hacker con performance in July and is playing Blip now, has his own rig. 8-bit fuzz pedal + Game Boy foot controller + 8-bit sounds + guitar = chippy goodness.

Blip Films

Meanwhile, if you’re curious what’s going down at Blip, CDM’s friends at music documentarian 2 Player Productions are sharing clips of their “dailies” with us as they’re posted. Check in later in the weekend for more, but in the meantime, here’s a quick clip of Greenleaf from the “Night Before Blip” open mic night on Wednesday:

Greenleaf @ "Night Before Blip" open mic in NYC, 12.03.08 from 2 Player Productions on Vimeo.

It begs the question: what’s beneath that burlap bag? Some sort of hideous deformity, a la a Batman villain?

Enjoy the weekend, everyone.