Mod Archive Forums
Music Production => Tracking => Topic started by: Greippi on July 13, 2008, 00:41:27
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What is your preferred tracker and format?
My favourite trackers are Schism and Impulse Tracker and favourite format is IT.
Why? They are easier to use and share a more cleaner and intuitive interface than FastTracker. IT is (or that's what I've heard) also the most advanced of the "standard" formats.
It is your turn!
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My favorites are NitroTracker and MilkyTracker. Nitro because it's the first I used, is simple, and can go anywhere, and MilkyTracker because of it's simplicity, and can finish my NitroTracker modules in it.
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Why? They are easier to use and share a more cleaner and intuitive interface than FastTracker.
Highly subjective ;)
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Why? They are easier to use and share a more cleaner and intuitive interface than FastTracker.
Highly subjective ;)
Oh, I wrote that on my mobile phone. It's slow to write stuff with it.
I think FastTracker has a really messy interface. Too much buttons and stuff everywhere, while Impulse Tracker has a clean one: different screens for different things. It just makes the interface more "friendly".
I hope this makes some sense...
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Sure, it makes a world of sense. But it still remains an issue of preference. (Ah, you did say "I think" this time. ;) ) Sure .IT is more advanced than .XM, it's the totally different interfaces that kept the two trackers competing.
Here's another subjective view: ST3 changed all the basic .MOD commands, WTF? Changing screens to do different stuff seems like a waste of time when you can have everything in one screen that adapts to what you're doing at any given moment. I never fully understood why ST3 and its disciples needed to have two pattern views, one for editing and one for playback. (Admittedly, you can edit the song while it's playing but you can do that in MilkyTracker nowadays, still well in the FT2 UI design principles.)
Note, I'm not saying the IT UI is bad and didn't have its own perks but these are among the reasons that kept many of us FT-heads out of there. Reading the thread again before posting I notice you really weren't saying IT is the only way, but it's yours. So I'm not looking to start a(nother) debate, to each his own and all. Tracker musicians are lucky to have so many alternatives in such a marginal niche (and dare I even call it a) market. Some even like Windows GUIs and pianorotfls (PlayerPro, Sound Club). :evil:
Hello, I'm raina, a tracker musician.
During the past year I've used FamiTracker, MilkyTracker, PandaTracker and Renoise. In the past I've experimented with things like Adlib Tracker, AXS, AY-Tracker and Scream Tracker and if I'll have lapse, I'm pretty sure I'm back all over those bad boys.
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Personally I ever used ModPlug Tracker (OpenMPT). I like this tracker because he is very user-friendly, and very stable too.
I now make near professional-sounding musics by using good samples and reverb VST plugins. My tracks are always in IT format (more flexible than XM I think) :)
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i use milkytracker on windows & my pdas.
protracker & octamed on my amiga.
i also tried to use ButtPlug.... ehm Modplug Tracker some years ago, but it was a fucking mess, MODs made with MODPlug (lol) makes my Amiga crash when i try to play them in Protracker.
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Renoise.
Because of the nice and clean interface, I can find everything I want in a suitable place. For me most important is to have a complete control over the program and not to struggle with the interface. I have switched from Milky to Renoise because of this.
Milky is fine with its old school style. Renoise is my best choice, however, also because of the VST support.
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currently I use milkytracker. Why?
1)Cause I was tracking with that GUI and edit mode since 1994 with FT2... and when you get used to them it is hard to move to other program
2) IMO no other "modern" tracker have better XM/MOD support
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New response, from years in the future!
Milky is my tracker of choice, making XM my format of choice. It's stable, it looks nice, it feels nice.
All the trackers with a FT2-like or ProTracker-like layout are fairly comfy to me, and I know most of the XM effects from heart.
I like the IT format more [more features], but I'm not a fan of IT/Schism's layout [seriously, pages? gah!], Cheesetracker *refuses to save* and crashes alot [but it's fairly usable, it's a shame the song I tracked in it couldn't be saved], and I really don't like OpenMPT.
Chibitracker is a bit nicer than the rest of the pack [still IT-like with the layout, but done a bit better], but it's also horrifically buggy [read: it segfaults too much to trust my work to].
In terms of other trackers I use, I'll kick something out with Renoise. Shame there isn't a replayer for this other than Renoise itself. Other than that, I'll use FamiTracker if I need to join an NSF OHC. Rarely, I'll dabble in Klystrack, or if I'm feeling really old-school, I'll fire up AHX, but that almost never happens. And then, sometimes, I'll pull out RMT to do some Atari POKEY stuff.
old response below:
MilkyTracker, namely since it was the most intuitive tracker that I found. (and my only other choice was ModPlug, and I HATED how it felt...)
And I use XM format ( since it's what MilkyTracker saves... ^_^;;; )
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Milkytracker and Renoise.
I've never been able to compose in anything but a vertical sequencing environment. I can't stand to pull myself away from the tracker interface. I began using a pianoroll, but I've always despised them.
Why would I want to use a traditional sequencer when I can have the efficiency of a tracking environment and all of the features of a traditional digital audio workstation?
However, I wish that Milkytracker would adopt user-definable keyboard shortcuts. I've managed to develop a slightly more ergonomic tracking setup in Renoise using my laptop's strange keyboard layout.
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Mainly Chibitracker and sometimes Renoise.
Why chibi? IT interface and usable built-in reverb & chorus (good for very minor tweaking and helps to save a ton of channels - 64 channels hasn't been enough for me for years). The downside in chibi is a load of bugs but I can live with it. I'll have to live with it since I can't feel myself comfortable with renoise no matter how hard I tried.
So I use Renoise only for the vst/vsti support.
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I pretty much grew up using FastTracker. But then I switched to ModPlug for a few years. Then someone mentioned MilkyTracker to me, so I've been using that lately. At times it feels like FT2. But I don't want to change resolutions (because I have a flatscreen, it looks horrible) so in fullscreen mode, I have to deal with tiny buttons! They should at least offer a scaling option or something.
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I use and *love* OpenMPT. The most awesome tracker known to man.
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SaxxonPike: You could mention that in the MilkyTracker forums as a feature request. Their forums are hosted as a sub-forum here at TMA.
Personally, I started with ModPlug Tracker, moved on to over 100 of bad trackers, made my own (Pulse Tracker, vaporware), moved on to sequencers, then to pen and pencil and now I'm tracking with MIDITracker.
If I already had Pulse Tracker II completed somehow, I would be using it a lot instead. ;)
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FastTracker II was my first tracker, and it's where I made my first pieces many a moon ago. However, my preferred tracker is Modplug Tracker and now OpenMPT I guess. :) I prefer IT above all other formats but will always remember my many years of ScreamTracker 3.21 and the at-the-time amazing S3M format which I used in many a game production with BWSB. :D
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Strangely, I don't like to use computers. I use my DS and Nitrotracker (simplistic, yet sophisticated!)
Also, I didn't know you were here Eponasoft! Good to see you...again...
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Like most other ancient trackers over here, I started out using FT2 on an old computer with a black and white monitor. I even had to put the songs on floppy and play it at my dad's computer because I didn't have a sound card in my own one. Ahh... how time flies. Nowadays, I use MadTracker2, supported by ModPlugtracker. Even though this program is not ideal, I generally like the FT2-like interface and the wide selection of sample-manipulation tools, which is absolutely necessary for a tracker like me, who uses a lot of voice samples.
Even so, my fav output remains the good ol' xm file, since it's so easy to convert.
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I started tracking on the PC in August 2007. After being initially an Amiga Protracker used over a decade ago, leaving tracking to use sequencers and studio hardware for 10+ years, I went to a demoparty up in Norway and found myself the following week playing with Renoise. It's a tracker, but it's more of a studioware application than a true classic tracker, for a start it does not output classic module formats but it's own simply because it's evolved away from such in such a high degree. Still, for music composition I'm loving the new method of working - it's bringing out styles I've never been able to do before but have always wanted to do. (i.e demostyle, electronica etc) I come from a fantasy/orchestral/newage background :)
Here is a result of an early purely sample-based track I made and released at a demoparty (my first release, actually): Crisis (http://modarchivr.com/sonicsoundscapes/mp3/2008/Renoise/m0d_-_Crisis.mp3) - Surprisingly it came 3rd/15! \o/
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my fav format is MOD
because of the feeling of it, its a bit different.
also, being limited to 4 chan is cool.
ftii is my fav tracker, i like the feel of the key combos,
alt f4 alt f5, the space stops, crtl runs, etc.
i like the look of it is fun.
and the code is beautiful.
dont know, i like the taste of it. the overall simple and raw, but 90s pure
look to it. dont mind me anyway,
im just a hippie.
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I've started to use also MilkyTracker and NitroTracker nowadays.
MilkyTracker is pretty good for chiptunes.
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how much have you made on Nitrotracker? I'm always itching to hear more Nitro tunes. Wanna upload 'em in the Nitro Tracks & Songs forum for people to listen to? Please?!?!
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For me it has to be Open Modplug Tracker, I started out on the standard version, witch was very easy to learn and then upgraded to OpenMPT, mainly because I can use VST instruments on it.
So basically I like OpenMPT, because it's user friendly, I know just about all the tricks for making chip-tunes on it, it works with just about any computer (unlike those DOS trackers *cough fasttracker II*) and it can use VST's
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Speaking of which, OpenMPT 1.17.02.54 has been released today. :D
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I started tracking in 1998 with Modplug Tracker. Then I stopped in 2001 because school etc.
When I got out of school in 2007 I started tracking again. I started small, with Fami Tracker. Then moved to LMMS and resolved to return to tracker mode (LMMS was a sequencer like FL Studio but freeware).
2009: madTracker but the Vst were too much for my PC and my musical skills, so I came back to the source.
Today I'm tracking with FT2 (Dosbox) and i now understand why many musicians stick to this wonderful app :angel:
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I started tracking in 1998 with Modplug Tracker. Then I stopped in 2001 because school etc.
When I got out of school in 2007 I started tracking again. I started small, with Fami Tracker. Then moved to LMMS and resolved to return to tracker mode (LMMS was a sequencer like FL Studio but freeware).
2009: madTracker but the Vst were too much for my PC and my musical skills, so I came back to the source.
Today I'm tracking with FT2 (Dosbox) and i now understand why many musicians stick to this wonderful app :angel:
I use LMMS too, but it's not actually freeware but free software. There's quite a difference. (http://www.fsf.org/)
LMMS seems to be more popular than I thought!
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I started tracking way back when in around 1996. Digital Tracker on Atari Falcon - good ole days :D It read .mod/.xm/.it files, but it would only save in DTM format (can anyone here claim to know it? ;)). I discovered ModPlug Tracker sometime around 2000 along with switching to a PC, and have been happy with it since. I can't imagine using a different tool nowadays. I first started composing in .mod, but quickly switched to .xm, and a couple of years later to .it. It's what I'm currently using, and it feels most comfortable.
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Started out on a progam called Soundclub in 96, it was a simple side scrolling Mod tracker
quickly moved to FASTTRACKER after seeing/hearing the possibilty's with .xm
i have tried others since, IT, Milky, used Renoise on a few, Skale, Modpug \ loads of others
These days i just use FT2 2.08 running on a Win98 PII with 256mb of ram using a Soundblaster
.....when the macine dies, i just build another out of scrap :P at zero cost!
nothing else really does it for me, FT2 fits like a glove, has a bit of grit, its great!
wouldn't mind sourcing a awe64/gold for it ethier, i have fond memories of that card ;D
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I started out in Scream Tracker, then moved to Impulse Tracker and now I use Schism Tracker. I guess once you are used to an interface you just want to stick to it.
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Protracker 3.62 is the one I logged the most amount of hours in and there's really no other tracker that gets me in the zone workflow-wise quicker than it does. However I've started to grow real fond of XM and Milkytracker lately, even though I often curse over my hands doing PT-things all the time. Also Milkytracker looks really nice. It looks like candy with all the colorful digits and letters in the pattern. (:
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I'll always love FT2 and MilkyTracker. Anvil and Elwood used FT2, and they inspired me to begin tracking. And MilkyTracker was the first tracker I learned to use. But, if you want an unbiased opinion, look at how long took me to figure out how to use the trackers that I use now.
MilkyTracker - 1 Week
FastTracker II - 2 Months
Impulse Tracker & Schism Tracker - 3 Days
OpenMPT - Still clueless...
Scream Tracker 3 - Don't have any .s3i instruments. It screws up my .wav files.
SkaleTracker - 3 Weeks
SunVox - About a day, but the interface is awkward, so I don't really use it.
I use .xm format, but today, I learned how to use Impulse Tracker and Schism Tracker, so I'm making my first .it module. It's just as easy, if not easier than, using FT2 and MilkyTracker.
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It's hard to find the perfect tracker. They all have some kind of niggle:
Milkytracker - no effects, no VSTis
MadTracker - no undo
openMPT - uninspiring GUI
SunVox - no pattern follow mode for a whole song
Renoise - much more complex: steeper learning curve
My favourite is MilkyTracker, despite its limitations. Small, clean interface, everything right in front of you. Pretty colours.
For effects and VSTis I recently downloaded Psycle and I've been reading the tutorial on that. Very similar to Buzz but with the added bonus that it works on my computer. No niggles found so far...
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MilkyTracker is my preferred one nowadays.
I've memorized nearly all the keybindings so I can do things pretty much reflexively in it now -- it no longer gets in the way of me making a song.
Ideally, it'd have more sample processing effects in the sample editor [like a resofilter, distortion, and reverb] so I don't have to drag things into Audacity/bake a DSP chain into a sample in Renoise, but that's just wishful thinking. Actually, ideally Milky would support all the extra features in IT, haha. That's not happening ever, but a man can dream.
I used to use Renoise as my tracker of choice, but I would spend hours fiddling with DSPs and mixing. And I'd often only have one pattern. So, it got in the way of tracking.
Schism and OpenMPT don't really feel right, and either way I can't be bothered to learn a new set of keybindings now, haha. Even if using a tracker that supports the IT format brings separation of instruments and samples [super-useful], more channels, NNAs [super-duper-useful], and a built-in resofilter effect [infinitely useful].
I'm too lazy to make the effort to switch now. :P
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and either way I can't be bothered to learn a new set of keybindings now, haha
You know, OpenMPT has fully configurable key bindings... You can always make a Milky keybinding for it and then send it so me that other people don't have to make their own in the future (yes, I've said this to several people countless times, and I never got a keybinding from them).
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*Modplug Tracker*. Because it's the *easiest* tracker to perform better *overview* and *arrangement* of a module.
I prefer *IT* format because it's easy to make good sounding of *chord* atmospheres (specially, dominant-minor-major 7ths).
That's all.. ^_^ Cheers to Modplug staff!
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I don't really like the tracker file and prefer MML. I also hate VST; if I want to generate these sound effects, I will use Csound.
I did make a MML compiler into .MOD and .XM format so that it can be use MML with such format, though.
I think .IT format has too many features; many things aren't needed and don't help at all.
However, nearly all of these tracker format have problem; you cannot arbitrarily stack effects together, and global effects still have to go in a local column, and so on. But, they are common format so, we can use them nevertheless.
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I migrated from Composer 669 & ST3 to IT to Buzz to Renoise to SunVox to Schism and finally back to IT. WTF? Story time:
I started in the early '90s with Adlib Visual Composer (http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=AdLib_Visual_Composer_(DOS)) and KingMod (http://modarchive.org/forums/index.php?topic=3544.0), but never made anything noteworthy (heh) with them. The piano roll & musical staff interfaces didn't stick and I soon migrated to Composer 669 and ST3 in one or the other order. Eventually Impulse Tracker came along and I used that alongside ST3 for a while. (I only have one of my 669 modules anymore! It ... isn't brilliant. Or even finished. But I probably made about 5-6 in that program!)
Then there was a hiatus of ten years (to the day!) from 2001 to 2011 during which I didn't *finish* any tracks, but started quite a few in IT, Buzz, and Psycle. By 2011~2012 I was writing on Buzz almost exclusively (its IT-like controls helped), especially after the New Buzz versions came along. Everything from my "hiatus over!" debut of Proterozoic (https://soundcloud.com/jmph-1/proterozoic-2-0) to Eddie at the Mental Institution (https://soundcloud.com/jmph-1/eddie-at-the-mental) was done in Buzz, controlling external synths via Polac's MIDI out.
I *love* Buzz and would still be using it to this day if it were multi-platform. But I became increasingly annoyed with having to keep a windows install around and went Linux-only on all my PCs by mid 2012. Wine can't run Buzz, but I'd started using Renoise and Schism by then. Renoise I got fairly good with but for some reason never completed a track. Schism was just like old times except for one fatal flaw: its MIDI *suuuuucks*. If it works at all it's so full of timing errors it's unusable. I've even tried it on a MacBook Pro with a USB-MIDI interface, aka *the* reference setup for amateur musicians these days, and it was still totally off.
(On that note, Linux's audio system also *suuuuucks* just as hard, at least on most mainstream distros. If you've ever tried to get the three-headed demon that is ALSA/JACK/PulseAudio to cooperate you know what I'm talking about.)
I discovered via DosBox that Impulse Tracker's MIDI is rock solid and amazing, but running it that way isn't satisfactory because DosBox doesn't emulate the AWE64/Interwave or MMX (needed for simultaneous samples+MIDI out and filters respectively) so you're stuck using it as a MIDI only tracker with the MPU-401 driver.
So... in 2013 I built a complete custom ISA rig just to run DOS & IT again. I tracked down an exceedingly rare (in New Zealand where I am now) GUS PnP Pro & AWE64 for it, ordered a SIMM adapter for the AWE off this Tripod website that hasn't been updated since before the Y2K bug was a thing (http://simmconn.tripod.com/), and put it all together. I'm happy to say it works *amazingly* well. I've got the tight, focused interface of IT in a single-tasking environment, with no creativity-sapping driver issues, and direct control over all my MIDI synths - it feels like I'm *playing* them instead of only willing them to do what I want! Finally!
So that's where I'm at now. I've also played with SunVox a bit (most notably making Sines of Madness (https://soundcloud.com/jmph-1/exhibiting-sines-of-madness) for a compo early this year), which is a really great prog but just not my go-to for creating things.
BTW I still have "my" copy of Adlib Composer from all those years ago; it seems to have worked its way through decades of various archives and backups intact (unlike my 669 files.) It's on my DOS rig now and works just fine. I keep toying with the idea of finally learning it properly and doing something... ;) Or I'll make a tune or two in something even more obscure (AllSound Tracker, DigiTracker, Imago Orpheus??) But IT is just so comfortable and flows so well with my creative process it's hard to step away!
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...and after that wall of text, my biggest gripe about just about every tracker that isn't IT/Schism (or ST3) - (this applies to Buzz too although it's certainly not the worst offender) - the SAMPLE BROWSER.
IT lets you look through an entire sample library by moving around a full screen interface with the keyboard and *jamming notes with the 'piano' (Q2W3ER5) keys as you go along* as if they were already loaded into the module! This is the single most important tool I have in the early stages of module construction: being able to effortlessly try any sound I want and see how it might fit into the song. You can even jam while a pattern is playing!
I don't know why other trackers can't get this right... Either they make you click to play the note (at one pitch only), use the mouse to move around the sample library, cram the entire navigation process into a tiny window (FT2) or make you load every sample through a freaking *dialog box*... It's such a fundamental concept to tracking but nobody gets it right!
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On the note of MMX, I think there is an unofficial DOSBox build (maybe the daum stuff?) with an MMX implementation, so you could give that a go.
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I prefer XM and IT format. I use OpenMPT as my tracker. I like XM because it's effects are nicely balanced, and I don't have to worry about having both sample and channel panning, only sample panning. I like IT because it has channel panning, and instruments are optional, you only need samples. Most of the time, I use IT format.
OpenMPT is my tracker of choice because it runs on Windows, doesn't have a garish high-contrast DOS like interface, and everything is easy to use.
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On the note of MMX, I think there is an unofficial DOSBox build (maybe the daum stuff?) with an MMX implementation, so you could give that a go.
That's right, I forgot about Daum's build; I had that going for a while. But it still doesn't emulate an AWE or Interwave (so no MIDI.) If I just want filters and don't need MIDI it's easier to just pop open Schism.
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To be all fair and honest, I like Milkytracker because it has such a nice appeal to me, and it also has the basic wave shape generators, which makes it easy to make my songs really quickly. However, if I was to choose a tracker on functional capabilities, I would have to go with Open MPT, as it supports the VSTI plugins I use and it allows me to oversample them to 192khz.
My favorite module to use is an .XM format. The reason? 32 channels!!! :D (Take that .mod!)
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IT has 64 channels!!! :P ;D
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IT has 64 channels!!! :P ;D
Hmm, true, but I don't know much about IT files. That's why I mainly use XMs.
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Hmm, true, but I don't know much about IT files. That's why I mainly use XMs.
The .IT format uses pointers into instruments/samples/patterns/sample-data (unlike .XM), which has both advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that you could have multiple samples with the same pointer into sample-data but different sample rates, allowing you to make tunings other than 12-TET without needing a copy of the sample data for each one. One disadvantage of this is that it is more difficult to use with pipes (a program reading from stdin and/or writing to stdout).
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Sounds interesting, but sadly, Milkytracker doesn't export IT files.
With those things being said, are IT files significantly larger than XM files? Or does those shortcuts make them smaller?
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Sounds interesting, but sadly, Milkytracker doesn't export IT files.
With those things being said, are IT files significantly larger than XM files? Or does those shortcuts make them smaller?
I don't know the compared sizes of the file types much, but I do know that, these pointers will normally increase the file size slightly (I don't know that any existing programs can take advantage of these shortcuts), although probably by less than one kilobyte.
(AmigaMML (the program I use) doesn't export IT files either, mainly because it is more difficult to use with pipes.)
IT format does certainly have some more features which are not supported in XM, such as pitch and filter envelopes and more channels. (However, note that many IT effects, such as pitch/pan, random volume variation, and more, can be simulated in XM format.)
I am one who does not use VST and does not like VST. (I can use Csound if I want to create all sort of special effects; that is much better than VST, and is free/open-source, too.)
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IsaacNorman: Size largely depends on which features you use. For very tiny tunes (< 4K), XM can often be better, depending on whether you need instrument features in IT or not. However, IT's pattern compression is much better than XM's, and IT can optionally compress samples, which obviously cuts off a large chunk of data.
zzo38: I know you are enthusiastic about your program, but I'd appreciate if you didn't try to squeeze it into every other thread here to make it seem more relevant. Whether a format uses pointers or not should be of no interested for any "which format do you [as a user] like better?" discussion.
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Whether a format uses pointers or not should be of no interested for any "which format do you [as a user] like better?" discussion.
Well, it seems important to me. For doing non-12-TET tuning, and for pipe access, these can be important.
If you want to reduce the file sizes, one other thing that could be done is probably a program could be written to reconstruct all of the patterns to organize all rows making the file smaller.
S3M does support one feature that other programs don't, which is FM instruments. However, only a few programs support such thing even.
And about OpenMPT, well I use that to play music files, although, it doesn't even have SQL. And the PDF lacks a table of contents page.
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Well, it seems important to me. For doing non-12-TET tuning, and for pipe access, these can be important.
None of that is practically supported by any tool out there, though. Besides, I'm not sure if this sample re-use thing can be guaranteed to work with each and every tracker/player - I do remember that DUMB has (had?) this concept of only ever reading files sequentially and never jumping backwards, which could pose a problem with such samples of course. I have no idea if this limitation still holds, though. But even then, it's still not a practical problem for tracker users because as said, no tracker software practically does this. It's strictly a developer problem, not a user problem, and this thread so far was only about people talking about their tracker of choice as a user.
And the PDF lacks a table of contents page.
It does have a TOC which can be viewed by any proper PDF viewer (usually in a treeview next to the page display). But that doesn't really matter since the latest versions use a CHM file for the manual instead of a PDF.
it doesn't even have SQL
"Even"?! Are you aware that no tracker out there has this feature, and that you are pretty much the only person that ever came up with it?
But please, go ahead, take any tracker, add an SQL interface to it and demonstrate how much easier it is to edit modules by writing SQL statements rather than by typing in notes and using a GUI.
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None of that is practically supported by any tool out there, though. Besides, I'm not sure if this sample re-use thing can be guaranteed to work with each and every tracker/player - I do remember that DUMB has (had?) this concept of only ever reading files sequentially and never jumping backwards, which could pose a problem with such samples of course. I have no idea if this limitation still holds, though.
There is an advantage to that, but files with pointers are difficult to read/write in such a way.
It does have a TOC which can be viewed by any proper PDF viewer (usually in a treeview next to the page display). But that doesn't really matter since the latest versions use a CHM file for the manual instead of a PDF.
O, OK I didn't know that. (I got an error when I tried to upgrade it.) However, the tree view isn't for printout.
"Even"?! Are you aware that no tracker out there has this feature, and that you are pretty much the only person that ever came up with it?
But please, go ahead, take any tracker, add an SQL interface to it and demonstrate how much easier it is to edit modules by writing SQL statements rather than by typing in notes and using a GUI.
I meant one that does both, and MML too, so three things.
And I do think what program and formats you use as a user can matter for development too if you are writing programs to deal with the music or to input/output it. Some of it has only to do with the format and not the program. Some things may be specific to the program, although editing the file directly can mean that some effects have to be coded manually, if you are using them at all. There are some shortcuts you can use for chords and so on, but that makes it difficult to manually do envelopes and tuning and so on if the format doesn't have such things, even though it is possible to make such a music in such a format anyways.
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There is an advantage to that, but files with pointers are difficult to read/write in such a way.
It only really makes sense for streamed formats (such as MP3), but for modules, which were never meant to be streamed, and which technically cannot be streamed because you always need to have the whole file, it really doesn't make much sense to have this as a "feature" of the format.
However, the tree view isn't for printout.
True, but then again, who prints out a 150-page thick manual these days? Think of the trees!
The manual is not even written in a way that is easily readable on paper (e.g. no cross references to other pages to allow easy navigation).
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I prefer Milky Tracker and XM format. That is all ;D
@Saga I like your site, and like those old games listed there, magic times!
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It only really makes sense for streamed formats (such as MP3), but for modules, which were never meant to be streamed, and which technically cannot be streamed because you always need to have the whole file, it really doesn't make much sense to have this as a "feature" of the format.
While it is true, it does mean that if used as a piped input into a program, that you would need to load the entire file into RAM first before parsing it (and growing the memory dynamically if you do not know the file size ahead of time), or else to extremely complicated things to work-around it. When doing piped output it is a bit less difficult but is still difficult to do. I like the UNIX way of programs operating as filters, using stdin/stdout to transfer data instead of filenames.
True, but then again, who prints out a 150-page thick manual these days? Think of the trees!
The manual is not even written in a way that is easily readable on paper (e.g. no cross references to other pages to allow easy navigation).
Although then why are you using PDF? However like you said this has been corrected by now, but still. (I myself prefer DVI for printout anyways, but still PDF is not that good for non-printout things too; these treeview features and stuff are best for files that can be both printed and viewed on screen.)
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The PDF solution was bad in many ways; e.g. it didn't even have the ability to colour links, and some internal links were turned into external links. However, at the time when the manual was ready for being included into OpenMPT, PDF was the only format to which I could export the wiki contents to was PDF, since e.g. the DocBook renderer for the export plugin was not available. However, with the help of coda, I created a page scraper to be able to create a collection of exact HTML copies of the articles. Now the manual looks the way it's supposed to look - on screen, anyway. However, it would also be possible now to create e.g. a single big HTML page to print out, if someone really needs that.
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Yep, still using SkaleTracker over 10 years after it was pretty much discontinued; only now I've got it rigged up to work with Linux via WineASIO. It really was that good! So basically this means I must use the SKM format or export to a really stripped down XM. :-\ I do quite like the concepts behind the JACK audio connection kit, essentially making every sound application a modular thing.
I've tried to see if Renoise could step up to take SkaleTracker's place, but I always find that some critical feature is either outright missing or too difficult to find in the maze that is the user interface...
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I like Milkytracker and Deflemask, and I prefer XM. I'm looking forward to Schism Tracker and IT
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My preferred format is .XM
I like OpenMPT, I originally used Modplug Tracker a decade ago,
I needed some .mod files for a game I was developing for Gameboy Advance.
I like the GUI and more recently VSTi support - though I prefer Renoise for that.
I was not particularly interested in music production at the time,
I was amazed what people could do with just 4 channels of sound and kilobytes of samples.
A few weeks back I found lots of files (.mod/.it/.s3m /etc) I had collected and backed up in '04.
So I gave them a listen and got a little nostalgia trip and decided to try and make something myself.
I'll have a proper look through this thread and experiment with some others for sure. : )