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Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

stef.be

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Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#71

Post by amatecha »

I am really impressed by the responsive layout -- the UI adapts to different window sizes! Nice touch :)

Some favorite modules to check out. First link is link to modarchive site, second link is direct link to Bassoon Tracker with the module pre-populated so you can listen instantly! So handy!

Matrix Cubed - Fluff https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu... | https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

DeusEX - Joy https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu... | https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

Sybaris - Welcome to the Gods https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu... | https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

Mindwalker - Evoke '98 https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu... | https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

xerxes - hesse's sovesang https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu... | https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

"me and kenet" (unsure of artist) - Beautiful or not? https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu... | https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

drax - repeating patterns https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu... | https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

Tim Wright - Agony (intro) original version https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu... | https://www.stef.be/bassoontracker/?file=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.m...

Unfortunate some mega favorites like Skaven's "The Alchemist"[0] and Vincenzo's remix of 2nd Reality[1] are Impulse Tracker modules and won't play in Bassoon Tracker. Maybe .it support will be added? :)

[0] https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu... [1] https://modarchive.org/index.php?request=view_by_moduleid&qu...

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#73

Post by pan69 »

zozbot123 wrote: post #64
pan69 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

This tracker seems to resemble a PC tracker such as Fast Tracker II. Did Amiga play 16bit 32 channel XM files? Hardware mouse cursors on PC were fast, software (custom graphics cursors) were much slower.

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#74

Post by amatecha »

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #40
onion2k wrote: post #10

Modarchive and modules.pl API support under Files -> Load is brilliant.

Weird, I can't find Skaven on their integration of either modarchive.org or modules.pl

I think because all his modules are .it and .s3m, so they are excluded. This tracker can only play .mod and .xm

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#75

Post by pan69 »

EamonnMR wrote: post #69
pan69 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yes, I'm pretty sure you can set FT2 in a record mode and then "play" notes on your computer keyboard, but I don't think that's what OP is asking.

How I understand OP's question is; you make a drum pattern in FT2 which you can trigger to play by pressing a key on a musical keyboard. I think the context of OP's question is for during a live/real-time performance.

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#76

Post by Jare »

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…

Catch that Goblin was amazing, when it started playing at the partyplace, everyone sort of stopped not paying attention to the compo, and turned their heads with a "wtf" face. IIRC some of the samples got Skaven in trouble with Disney.

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#78

Post by PavlovsCat »

munificent wrote: post #63
baldfat wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 fin…

Though I agree about the structure (and keyboard shortcuts) being helpful, derping around endless is still how I use trackers.. and after hating it for a long time, I actually now love it to not ever consider anything "finished", and trackers are perfect for that.

Instead of a mess of giant files of things bounced from various programs or even hardware, it's just a file... and though with Renoise the VST matter a lot, since I still have those I still can load up and work on things I made over a decade ago. I can try to touch it up some, or steal parts I like to make something new, with filesizes ranging from a few hundred kilobytes to a few dozen megabytes at most. That's my bliss. I know the listener doesn't and shouldn't care about that, but it's a trade-off I make gladly. I think my music became much simpler, too, maybe "worse", but more fun for me, because instead of layering instruments that play the same melody in another octave and a lot of effects, I now remove things with equal glee as I add them with. The less I use to achieve something I can shake my butt to, the more I like it... having a rich sound is nice, but seeing all columns on one screen is awesome, as is rendering a 5 minute song in 20 seconds instead of 3 minutes. I like the agility of this one-person studio that starts up in like 1 second too much, and even if I had the ability to master well, I wouldn't want to render tracks from Renoise to then master them in another program. Other than denoising samples, I do it all in Renoise. Considering what other people are doing with it and the legacy of tracking in general, I don't feel like a king of the nerd hill though, but I do feel like the captain of my bathtub.

I recommend it to everybody, and I recommend sticking through years of feeling completely useless at it. It's what I did, and I think if you like music enough to enjoy it, and if you are making it to entertain yourself, practice might not make you perfect, but it will gift you some things you wouldn't have thought you have in you. As far as hobbies go, this is like owning a dog, it does everybody good (should they have any affinity for it at all, that is). I say that because a friend of mine thinks making music is somehow translating the music we can compose in our heads into reality, and at least for me, that's not the case. I can sing in the shower, or "think music", but when I sit down with a tracker, I'm still surprised by the results, like, I didn't come up with this, I just found it. I think the key is to not be shy... if in doubt, just don't show it to anyone (yet), but do make music regardless. It's one of the most wonderful things you can do with a computer, IMO.

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#79

Post by ugotsta »

partomniscient wrote: post #19
general8bitso wrote: post #2

This is great. I remember listening to Axel F, and attempting to make my own mods, but basically just changed the instrument samples.

This video is for you then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlyK_elUmIw Not the author - just wanted to add to your nostalgia kick.

Good grief, he did that with just 4 tracks! Sounds exactly like I remember it too. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Amiga Music Tracker in JavaScript

#80

Post by munificent »

PavlovsCat wrote: post #78
munificent wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 fin…

Though I agree about the structure (and keyboard shortcuts) being helpful, derping around endless is still how I use trackers.. and after hating it for a long time, I actually now love it to not ever consider anything "finished", and trackers are perfect for that. Instead of a mess of giant files of things bounced from various programs or even hardware, it's just a file... and though with Renoise the VST matter a lot…

> derping around endless is still how I use trackers.. and after hating it for a long time, I actually now love it to not ever consider anything "finished", and trackers are perfect for that.

I've definitely had many satisfying evenings twiddling knobs in Reason, but after a while it loses its fun for me if I don't feel I'm eventually getting to something worth sharing with others.

> I say that because a friend of mine thinks making music is somehow translating the music we can compose in our heads into reality, and at least for me, that's not the case. I can sing in the shower, or "think music", but when I sit down with a tracker, I'm still surprised by the results, like, I didn't come up with this, I just found it.

Yes, I absolutely agree that the instrument affects the music in profound ways. Music is such a physical act that what you'd compose with a keyboard (piano or typewriter) is different than what you'd compose with a guitar in your hands instead.

I love everything about your comment.

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