Chip Meditation 2025 by Peter Mergener

40 Years of Electronic Visions – A Tribute to the Origins and a Step into the Future

With CHIP MEDITATION 2025, Peter Mergener presents a very special album — a tribute to the roots of his musical journey and a milestone marking the 40th anniversary of his legendary 1985 debut Chip Meditation. This new work is being released as a limited-edition CD by the label Spheric Music, and internationally in digital form by Prudence / BSC Music.

Originally created as experimental recordings using two cassette decks in a ping-pong setup, Chip Meditation marked the beginning of an extraordinary career in electronic music — first as a solo artist, then as one half of the successful duo Software alongside Michael Weisser. Together, they helped shape the genre with a unique fusion of sound, computer graphics, and conceptual depth.

The visual elements of the early Software releases — including the iconic “Mandelbrot Set” (Apfelmännchen), developed by the MAPART research group at the University of Bremen — became a defining trademark. While Weisser was responsible for the artwork and conceptual "hi-tech lyrics," Mergener developed the group’s distinctive electronic sound, often drawing on compositions he had written as early as 1981.
After Weisser decided there would be no further releases under the name Software, Peter Mergener chose to honor this 40-year milestone with a fully independent production: CHIP MEDITATION 2025.

The album features eight brand-new tracks, thematically inspired by terminology from the field of chaos theory — forming an intellectual and sonic bridge between science and sound art. All tracks were composed, performed, and produced by Mergener at his PEM Studio.

The project also sets new visual standards: Anton Zinkl designed the artwork based on spectacular fractal images by James Webb, who was already a close companion of Mergeners during his software days. The project was supported by Attila Simon (computer technology) and Oliver Ax, who was responsible for the video implementation, among others.