Chiptunes = WIN was an online community and music label that would put out large compilation albums of chiptunes. Since 2012, the label released a big annual album, as well as a few side-albums. My friend Ap0c was a judge for Volume 5, so I decided it would be funny to submit a joke rendition of 8-Bit Beast’s Haunted House, disguised as a popular chiptune artist, Bit Shifter. At first the album organizers were mad, but when they figured out it was my doing, they decided to use it as a hidden gag track. We tweaked the artist’s name a bit, and thus began my job as the bonus track guy.
Before this point, Haunted House was an inside joke amongst a handful of folks in the chip scene. After Volume 5, I went on to use the song in SiIvaGunner rips, where people started recognizing it, pushing it to meme status. ChipWIN even went on to release a Haunted House-themed album (after we teased that the joke was retired), and SiIvaGunner themselves even teamed up with me to create a grand bonus Fusion Collab. After which, following Ap0c’s suggestion, I started submitting covers of the Matlock theme instead.
ChipWIN has presumably been shut down since 2020, and unfortunately there isn’t an archive of the albums anywhere, to my knowledge. However, I was able to gather my joke tracks and release an album. So… Here’s that. Highlights include an Auxcide-themed Haunted House/Sandstorm mashup, a seven minute Christmas medley of a wave channel singing “dick butt,” and a spaghetti western rendition of the Matlock theme.
Tag Archives: MIDI
Character Select – EverQuest
This is the music that plays at the character select screen in classic EverQuest, but the melody and chords have been replaced with the main theme from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The joke is that both songs can be heard from character selection menus, but mostly I wanted an excuse to create more EverQuest rips, and Smash Ultimate was topical at the time. This was uploaded during the Grinch Takeover event, where one of the accepted themes was Super Smash Bros.
Underwater Theme – EverQuest
This music begins as the underwater theme, but transitions into a cover of Ocean Man, by Ween. I believe this theme plays in a few areas in the game (possibly Kedge Keep), but I mostly wanted an excuse to cover Ocean Man.
Cobalt Scar (Othmir Beach) – EverQuest
This is the song that plays near a passive group of otter folk in EverQuest, but I turned it into a medley of memes and other themes. It starts with a fakeout: the midi steel drums have been replaced with the ones from “Crank That” by Soulja Boy, followed by the snaps, and Soulja Boy’s voice, before returning to the midi steel drums playing the Nutshack theme. The other segments, in order are: Meet the Flintstones, Megalovania, Gangplank Galleon, Haunted House, Snow Halation, Bloody Tears, U Guessed It, Go My Way, Pokemon Go Song, SMB3 Overworld, Gourmet Race, Axel F, U.N. Owen Was Her?, Cruel Angel’s Thesis, the Simpsons, the EverQuest theme, Green Hill Zone, and SMW Overworld. The song ends with the notes from Crank That.
The Feerrott (Oggok Entrance) – EverQuest
This is an EverQuest-styled midi of All Star by Smash Mouth. There actually isn’t any song that plays in the Feerrott, just the sound of swamp life. The joke here is that Oggok is the city of the ogres, and All Star is commonly associated with the opening scene from Shrek. Other sound effects are present in this rip, such as the sound of an ogre fighting a froglok, and someone’s footsteps–which are pitch shifted to sound like the Nutshack theme.
Qeynos – EverQuest
This is the theme that plays by the gates of North Qeynos, but the melody has been replaced with Green Greens from the Kirby series, solely due to the first three notes of the melody being the same. They also both happen to be “level one” areas. This was my first rip to be accepted on the channel.