MT32 Tracker

[WhiteFalcon]

Hi there!

Today I decided to release my old MT32 Tracker, an app I worked on for two years (I can't believe it now!). I stopped working on it in 2004 and it is far from finished, but I suppose someone else might find it useful too or at least have some fun with it and their good old MT32 module 
The MT32 is really a sweet thing and I was not able to find any tracker-style application for it, so I resolved to create my own. Even though it's not finished, it's still my greates feat ever  I still enjoy toying with the app, even after these years...
The app consists of the tracker itself (M32TRACK.EXE) and a standalone player of the .M32 files (M32PLAY.EXE). A few .M32 files I created are added just to give you a way to test the app on your MT32. None of them is a complete song, mind you ;-D Both are in the textmode only, no graphics, sorry. And there are features that used to be planned but did not make it into the application 
The first thing you are supposed to do to get it running is to run SETUP.BAT and choose the port of your MT32 (if you are unsure, it will probably be 0x330). There is no README file included, but I will post some info if there is any interest.
After setting the port, you can try running M32PLAY with any of the .M32 files as a parameter (for example: M32PLAY CLARINET.M32) and your MT32 should beep with pleasure  Then run the tracker itself, try to put in some notes (the controls are really similar to any standard digital tracker like Scream Tracker or the nowadays ruler Renoise) and press F5 to play it.

I am releasing this as a "useware", so there are only two thing I expect the user to do:
1) use it
2) send me some nice tunes the user created 

Other than that, use it for any purpose you like.

You can download it at the Vogons board here: http://vogons.zetafleet.com/download.php?id=4733

Cheers

WhiteFalcon

[WhiteFalcon]

As there is no readme file, there are the controls:

Letters - used to write notes (Z-M is the first octave, Q-P the second)
/ write a silencer (the track will stop playing when the silencer is reached)
+ change octave up, - change octave down
] change the channel of the MT-32 up, [ change it down
' increase playing speed, ; decrease it

F2 - save the .M32 song (write it without the extension)
F3 - load an .M32 song (write it without the extension)
F5 - play the song
F9 - setup the MT-32's channels/instruments and their volume
F10 - Quit

CTRL+INSERT - Add a new pattern after current
CTRL+DELETE - Delete current pattern
F12 - Move to next pattern
F11 - Move to previous pattern

Copying is pretty standard:

hold ALT to select a block to copy, then
ALT+F4 - copy the block to the memory
ALT+F5 - paste the block
ALT+F3 - delete selected notes

SHIFT+F4 - copy selected track
SHIFT+F5 - paste selected track
SHIFT+F3 - delete selected track

CTRL+F4 - copy current pattern
CTRL+F5 - paste current pattern
CTRL+F3 - clear current pattern (not removing it)

Hopefully this helps 

[Doctor Creep]

Hey WhiteFalcon!

Thanks for sharing! I'll check your proggie out later. A MT-32 tracker is what I was looking for especially in the early 90s. I'm not so into composing - but I'll tell my buddy. I'm pretty shure he will do a nice MT-32 tune with your tracker!

Cheers

Doctor Creep   

[parazythum]

Hello, I'll try it as soon as possible, not much time these days...

[Tom]

Forgive my ignorance, but...

What is a MT-32 Tracker, and why would I want to use one?

[MusicallyInspired]

It's a sequencer similar to a MOD tracker. MODs are notes inputed on a grid of channels and rows in groups of patterns. They use WAV files or other digital formats as instruments. There's a screenshot of one here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracker

This is pretty interesting seeing as this is made especially for the MT-32. Basically you'd want to use a tracker if you have no musical playing abilities at all. I imagine it'd give some extra abilities as well. It's similar to a piano roll on Midi sequencer.

[Rhizome]

I absolutely adore trackers, so this is a must for me!

[BlueMax]

I absolutely adore trackers, so this is a must for me!

Didn't Impulse Tracker include FM support and MIDI support?  If so, it would have supported any MIDI device including the MT-32...


...is this one specifically for MT-32, by using sysex enhancements, etc?

[Rhizome]

Didn't Impulse Tracker include FM support and MIDI support?  If so, it would have supported any MIDI device including the MT-32...

I think it did actually, although I'd have to find out how to use it.

[MusicallyInspired]

I used Impulse Tracker for a long time. Never noticed any MIDI capabilities. Although I didn't know much about MIDI at the time and never ever recorded with them.

[Tom]

Do any games use this technology for their soundtracks?  How does the sound quality compare to, say, composing with a Roland SC-8850 ... or even, a real MT-32?

[MusicallyInspired]

The first wave of Unreal games used MODs (Unreal 1, Unreal Tournament 1, Deus Ex 1, etc) except it was a custom format called UMX. Still a MOD nonetheless, though. A lot of old DOS games did as well. Like Crusader: No Remorse, Terminal Velocity, and others I can't think of right now. I guess it was big because it started on Amiga computers.

The sound quality doesn't really compare to that of a professional external module because most formats only support low quality 8-bit sounds with little or no audio noise filters. Newer trackers now support higher quality sounds, though.

AGS supports MOD files, incidentally.

[Rhizome]

Do any games use this technology for their soundtracks?  How does the sound quality compare to, say, composing with a Roland SC-8850 ... or even, a real MT-32?

I think you've mis-understood what this software does 

You're still using your real MT-32, but instead of using a sequencer, you're using a tracker to compose music 

I know the following games were composed using a tracker-based program that was specifically designed for AdLib, Roland LAPC-I and SCC-1 devices:

T.F.X
Inferno
The Humans
Utopia
One Step Beyond
Lethal Weapon
...and several others.

To tell you the truth, I've found music that is tracked sounds more "powerful" than sequenced 

[Doctor Creep]

Do any games use this technology for their soundtracks?  How does the sound quality compare to, say, composing with a Roland SC-8850 ... or even, a real MT-32?

It depends on how good the samples are they're using. This (from the legendary "Second Reality" Demo by Future Crew) was (using the Gravis Ultrasound soundcard for playback of course ) in the early 90s a tracker benchmark. Ok the samples are for todays standards not so impressive - but IMO the composing still rocks!. And remember the filesize is only 586k.

http://alanator.com/music/oldskool/2nd_pm.s3m

The *.s3m should play with winamp

[MusicallyInspired]

Plus MODs can be pretty versatile in looping only certain parts of the song. The way it's set up you have so many channels with so many rows (rows that the position tracker goes down through at a certain speed to play all the notes on the "grid") and each collection of channels and rows makes a pattern. There is a master list of patterns of a potential infinite number, I believe, and you can have certain patters loop continuously until the game tells it to skip to another set of patterns and loop that continuously instead. Unreal supported this. There'd be one file for exploring a landscape and then when enemies came near the game would tell the MOD to play another set of patterns and danger music started playing. All in the same MOD file. And the file size is small, as long as the instrument WAVs used are small, that is.

And yes, MODs do so more powerful sometimes. Good MOD Trackers really know how to take advantage of the capabilities of MODs despite the low quality sometimes.

[WhiteFalcon]

Thanks for all the kind words! 

I suppose all the questions here have already been answered by others. This is really a simple tracker in the style
of Fast Tracker 2. I noticed the MIDI feature in a tracker or two, but I admit I have never tried it.
This was intended to use the special features of the MT-32, but ended up being just a tracker "created for"
the MT-32. Actually all the commands are sent according to the MT-32's manual so they are guaranteed
to work only with the MT-32. I am not sure if I will develop it much further, but I plan to add some minor features
when I make my way through the old sources and find the time to do so. I would like to add whole-track changes
like shifting all the notes by a half-tone up or down and maybe some other things.

Any comments and ideas are appreciated 

[BlueMax]

Don't forget the mother of all MOD-music games:

Star Control II

[WhiteFalcon]

To tell you the truth, I've found music that is tracked sounds more "powerful" than sequenced 

I completely agree with you on that 

Even though for some music styles sequencing is better, tracked music usually has something special about it.
If you are into tracking too, you surely know Renoise, the nowadays' best tracker, right?

[Rhizome]

If you are into tracking too, you surely know Renoise, the nowadays' best tracker, right?

I know of it, but don't use it since I don't "currently" compose anything although I do like to play around with ModPlug Tracker and MilkyTracker 

Here's Inferno - Planet 2 recorded from my CM-300 (basically the external SCC-1) - if you're into tracking, you'll be able to clearly hear this isn't sequenced 

[MusicallyInspired]

Wow. I almost ALMOST don't believe that's a MIDI. The tracking style is definitely there. That's really well-done. And catchy, too.