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Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

stef.be

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Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#61

Post by pan69 »

EamonnMR wrote: post #38

I've been trying to get into trackers for sequencing for a while, but the learning curve is very steep. Has anyone got resources to learn how to sequence one of these beasts with a keyboard? They seem to be the key to making lots and lots of intricate breakbeats.

With "keyboard" you mean, a musicians keyboard, right? I assume you need a midi interface to the software but I don't know of any tracker that supports midi.

My personal favourite tracker is Fast Tracker II, but it also don't support midi. However, it has some really good documentation that might help you get into working with trackers:

https://milkytracker.titandemo.org/docs/FT2.pdf

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#62

Post by pan69 »

rothron wrote: post #15

This takes me back! But it feels kinda wrong to have that mouse cursor and have it not move perfectly smooth.

> But it feels kinda wrong to have that mouse cursor and have it not move perfectly smooth.

So you get the full immersive experience. :)

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#63

Post by munificent »

baldfat wrote: post #6
degenerate wrote: post #5

GitHub link: https://github.com/steffest/bassoontracker Everything about this makes me giddy with excitement, from the cursor to the faded out numbers in the digital display. I "miss" these times, yet I was born too late to enjoy it in real time. I hope the demoscene lives on forever and we keep seeing it pop up in future tech.

When I opened it I swear I got teary eyed. Things were so much harder that when you finally got something decent it just made you feel like you were king of the nerd hill.

> Things were so much harder that when you finally got something decent it just made you feel like you were king of the nerd hill.

I first started making music using a tracker (PlayerPRO on the Mac) before later moving to Pro Tools and Reason, and I actually found it much easier to finish songs using a tracker. The quality wasn't as good, but the limitations and structure helped me get a song done. With Reason, I find myself just twiddling knobs for hours and at the end of the day all I have is a few bars of something.

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#64

Post by zozbot123 »

pan69 wrote: post #62
rothron wrote: post #15

This takes me back! But it feels kinda wrong to have that mouse cursor and have it not move perfectly smooth.

> But it feels kinda wrong to have that mouse cursor and have it not move perfectly smooth. So you get the full immersive experience. :)

The "immersive experience" would have that cursor move at a solid 60FPS and negligible latency. Amiga had hardware sprites, and even software-managed sprites had comparable performance.

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#65

Post by pascalo »

puzzle wrote: post #32
exogeny wrote: post #29

Oh man, this is amazing. I'm teary-eyed with nostalgia, too. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the demoscene and tracker music, here are some recommended old-school tunes to spin up to get a feel for the art at the time. (Someone more in touch than me will have to lead you to the new school!) Just keep in mind the technological limitations on some of these songs: 4 channels, maybe 100k all-in for such wonderful music…

The in-game metal-ish music for Psygnosis' The Killing Game Show, by Ray Norrish: https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m... Tim Wright's percussion-rich Shadow of the Beast 2: https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m... Frederic Hahn's Dear Rob, quintessential chiptune dedicated to Rob Hubbard: https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m... Fleshbrain's Grave…

That shadow of the beast track ... oh man!

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#66

Post by amatecha »

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #34
exogeny wrote: post #29

Oh man, this is amazing. I'm teary-eyed with nostalgia, too. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the demoscene and tracker music, here are some recommended old-school tunes to spin up to get a feel for the art at the time. (Someone more in touch than me will have to lead you to the new school!) Just keep in mind the technological limitations on some of these songs: 4 channels, maybe 100k all-in for such wonderful music…

Karsten Koch - The Blue Valley (darn, S3M can't be played on Bassoon) https://modarchive.org/module.php?37685 Skaven - Catch that Goblin!! https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu... Skaven - 2nd Reality (from the absolute classic demo) https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu... Uplink, the hacking video game, actually used a bunch of classic tracks as its OST: https://youtu.b…

Yeah Skaven had some tracks in Bejeweled as well :)

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#67

Post by andoma »

exogeny wrote: post #29

Oh man, this is amazing. I'm teary-eyed with nostalgia, too. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the demoscene and tracker music, here are some recommended old-school tunes to spin up to get a feel for the art at the time. (Someone more in touch than me will have to lead you to the new school!) Just keep in mind the technological limitations on some of these songs: 4 channels, maybe 100k all-in for such wonderful music…

Two of my favorites:

Madness took me from Mental Hangover by Scoopex:

https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

Global Trash 3 v2 from Hardwired by The Silents:

https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.s...

Both demos where trendsetting and truly ahead of its time.

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#68

Post by coroxout »

exogeny wrote: post #29

Oh man, this is amazing. I'm teary-eyed with nostalgia, too. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the demoscene and tracker music, here are some recommended old-school tunes to spin up to get a feel for the art at the time. (Someone more in touch than me will have to lead you to the new school!) Just keep in mind the technological limitations on some of these songs: 4 channels, maybe 100k all-in for such wonderful music…

Nice to see Space Debris as a selected demosong. A few other favourites:

Oldschool classics:

heatbeat/rebels - street jungle https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

Banana/TeK - Echoing aka demosong.nst from the Sound Blaster 2 disk https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

4mat/anarchy - 4mat's madness (manic chiptune) https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

Game music:

Nation XII featuring John Foxx - theme from Gods (gods17/into the wonderful) https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.s...

Allister Brimble - px.bladswede remix! (theme from Project-X) https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

More techno-ish styles from the mid/late 90s:

vim!/mono - call me persephone (shimmeringly creaky mo'wax-style trip hop) https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

twilight/mono - inevitable (junglish rave breaks subside into orbital-esque arpeggios) https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

randall / suburban bass - in complete darkness (jungle/happy hardcore) https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

superna0+dreamfish+thefoxii/mono - tri buta gaz (intensely minimal acid techno) https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

dune/orange (later brothomstates on Warp Records) - mark a.j. pisses off (idm/techno, distorted kicks all over the place) https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

Yep, I miss the Mono netlabel: http://www.simoncarless.com/monotonik-a-net-label-1996-200/

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#69

Post by EamonnMR »

pan69 wrote: post #61
EamonnMR wrote: post #38

I've been trying to get into trackers for sequencing for a while, but the learning curve is very steep. Has anyone got resources to learn how to sequence one of these beasts with a keyboard? They seem to be the key to making lots and lots of intricate breakbeats.

With "keyboard" you mean, a musicians keyboard, right? I assume you need a midi interface to the software but I don't know of any tracker that supports midi. My personal favourite tracker is Fast Tracker II, but it also don't support midi. However, it has some really good documentation that might help you get into working with trackers: https://milkytracker.titandemo.org/docs/FT2.pdf

Actually my understanding is that you can use a computer keyboard to very rapidly enter lots of notes quickly and precisely without relying on your own human limitations as you would with a musical keyboard. I've seen it billed as sort of like Vi for music.

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#70

Post by cr0sh »

exogeny wrote: post #29

Oh man, this is amazing. I'm teary-eyed with nostalgia, too. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the demoscene and tracker music, here are some recommended old-school tunes to spin up to get a feel for the art at the time. (Someone more in touch than me will have to lead you to the new school!) Just keep in mind the technological limitations on some of these songs: 4 channels, maybe 100k all-in for such wonderful music…

I'm just going to throw in my recommendation of virtually -anything- by Moby:

https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

Damn - this player is awesome; I was never someone who could make tracker music, but I loved to listen to it back in the day on my Amigas (both of which I still own). Getting new MODs from Fred Fish and other ways was always a treat.

Ah...and Octamed...this has brought a touch of nostalgia, etc - for me. Those times are long past, but a bit of them can still be enjoyed with this software.

So - thank you, exogeny.

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