The soundtrack for a documentary about the evolution of sound in video games, Beep is very much an exercise in electronica, with a healthy dose of chiptune. That seems like an almost obvious way to go, right? Except there’s a bit more to it than that.
Many of the tracks on the Beep soundtrack album are ethereal and just a little bit hypnotic – repeating musical figures that sort of draw you into their sonic spiral. That’s no accident: these sequences were built on a foundation of procedurally-generated tunes. The repeating sequences were created at random by a program (given certain parameters), and then everything on top of that was the work of the film’s human composer. It’s an interesting way to have man and machine working together, and for the subject matter of Beep, it works. Even as a listening experience with none of the context of the movie, it’s very relaxing.
There are a few places where it gets a bit more active, though. There are two versions of “Half Steppin’/Freaky DNA”, a tune that sets up a funky groove, and there’s an ode to game music’s 
less melodious early years in the form of “Dave’s Atari”, which gives you a really good idea of an Atari 2600’s actual range of notes and octaves. (And it’s still musical in its own way.) “Wood Bug” has a feel similar to “Dave’s Atari”, but with a more modern sound palette.
Beep may not be everyone’s cup of pleasantly arranged sine waves, but it’s mesmerizing and yet unmistakably pays tribute to the 8-bit sound of the early video gaming era. Those are two really strong selling points for a listener in the right frame of mind for something different.
- Beep Movie – Main Theme (1:17 )
- Banana Seat (5:28)
- Karin Originals (5:21)
- Orange Shag (3:31)
- Buckwheat Pancakes (4:03)
- Riverbank (4:10)
- Ankylosaurus Almonds (2:12)
- Rotary Dial (3:07)
- Dave’s Atari (1:58)
- Skipping Rocks (7:45)
- Half Steppin’ (Genesis Remix) – Freaky DNA (1:21)
- Help Steppin’ – Freaky DNA (3:07)
- Beep Logo (0:06)
- Magic Hour (4:20)
- Pluto (4:43)
- Galaxies (2:30)
- Googol (3:31)
- Crusin’ The Cosmos (4:50)
- Quadra Sunrise (3:54)
- Wood Bug (2:06)
- Backyard Flight (4:10)
- Beep Movie – Closing Theme (2:40)
Released by: Bandcamp
Release date: September 16, 2016
Total running time: 1:16:10
