Chiptune

Chiptune is characterized by low polyphony, basic waveforms and few effects (if any).

Due to chords being difficult to play with low polyphony, this is often compensated for by very fast arpeggiation of a chord on a single channel. This creates the illusion of chords playing, while only occupying one channel/voice. Alternatively, chords are "played" by playing only some notes that make up the chords, and not playing all of them.

Depending on the hardware era targeted, sounds may vary from basic square waves to rudimentary FM synthesis, sometimes even augmented by short lo-fi sampled instruments or one-shots.

In all cases, it is recommended to use multi-instrument mode for the number of tracks you intend to use. This helps you restrict your composition to a limited polyphony.