Well, here it comes again, another spanking issue of AudioFile. I guess this seems kind of critical, but it's nice to write for a publication that deals with the serious side of this music scene we all love so much. It's a fresh relief from dealing with scene politics and the assorted garbage that accompanies it. That aside, on to fun stuff...

Let's face it. When a coder writes a tracking program, the concerns and wants of many musicians are not always up front, where they should be. The task of putting together an efficient and useful music writing program is a huge one, and the coder already has enough problems with all the different song formats, playing routines for sound cards, and non-standard video. It's a daunting task, for any coder. And since most trackers that aren't free will not be accepted on a large scale in the scene, monetary compen- sation for all the work put into creating a program probably is not some- thing to count on. So why would anyone want to do it?

Tracking on the PC has advanced quite a bit since the days of modedit and kingmod. Before, we struggled and gagged with 8bit samples in a grand space of four channels to create incredible music. Not to mention the infamous 640k limit on conventional memory. Yes, music writing was one interesting adventure, in which those who were able to write *efficiently* held the edge in tracked music. Now, what do we have? Ah yes...we have sixty-four channel digital tracking, with 16bit samples with a virtual limit of 4GB, volume, panning, and pitch envelopes, realtime tracking capabilities, new effects, tons of RAM, and other things which have made the approach toward "realism" in tracked music almost possible. However, all thes advances don't mean anything unless one central item is in place: the interface. Many times, we will overlook the importance of the tracker interface to rant and rave about all the effects. But tracking isn't just about entering effects. Tracking is also about being able to write music in an environment that aids, rather than hinders, the musician.

The ScreamTracker3 interface, found in (obviously) ST3 and now Impulse Tracker, is very functional. Utilizing an easy-to-read textmode interface, entering notes and effects is fairly simple. Also, the cut/copy/paste commands are well done. What is annoying is the default five channel display. ST3 absolutely needs a scrollable/selectable channel display. When I write a four channel mod, I want to see just four channels. If I want to write an 8+ channel mode, I want to see an eight channel display (which is about the best you can get at a readable size). The current options to display more than 5 channels is clumsy at best, requiring constant whacking of ctrl-key functions. It is here that FastTracker2 beats ST3 pants down. The interface included in FT2 is user definable up to 12 channels (although at 12, things are a *tad* hard to read =). Lining up beats and recalling lines already entered is much easier.

Okay, enough about the interface. It's the addons that make the tracker appealing right? FastTracker2 pretty much cleans out in this arena. The built in sampler is excellent, samples come in clean through then cd-dump, and the ability to save single patterns to disk (for cutting and pasting between songs) is extremely useful.

I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks. =) I'm still a sticker for Renaissance's MultiTracker. Yes, it has no new features, doesn't use EMS, and hasn't caught on with the mainstream. However, I love it for the excellent interface design. Nothing else comes quite close. The sample and pattern editors are on a single screen. Switching between the two requires no flipping between different screens, and selecting samples in the editor uses a good set of keys ([ and ]; what's with the shift-< and shift-> in st3???). The more we get into complicated key combinations, the closer we get to the "WordPerfect" syndrome. I'm sure many of you will share experiences of attempting to use WordPerfect's ludicrous function key commands, which have mystified amateur and experienced pc'ers alike.

So I am stuck with an old format. What do you do with this aging MTM? Well, Impulse Tracker has a great solution: import it and save as an IT. The song is already done. Now, use the features of the new tracker to really embellish the work, swap out cheap samples for good ones, etc... No doubt many of us appreciate the ability to make the transition from our old favorites to new technology much easier.

What I would like to see is a GUI based tracker that supports multiple open files, complete import/export of every major module format, dynamic format correction for those imports/exports, and a completely user define- able custom interface. Now, wouldn't that be a dream? =) Someday, when I can finally code, given the time, I would want to make this project a goal. Somehow, I already know it will be stalled by work, taxes, and other social problems. I guess we'll just have to see...

Something to remember: the usability of the tracker and the number of features it has is no replacement for your brain and inspiration. I remember awhile ago during the midst of that silly ST3 vs. FT2 debate someone went off about how music from one of the programs was "so much more advanced." Sure, the numbers look great, the filesize is huge, and it needs a pentium to play. Whatever. Your ears and your heart tell you what you like and what you want to listen to and what you want to write. Not the format. Not the high state of advanced technology. None of it. We have had a whole wave of music in which good tracking technique and decent sound was shoved aside in favor of using as many channels and effects as possible. So aside from the "realism" style that is so popular today, why aren't new compositions completely outdistancing the works of the composers who didn't have 16-bit 48khz 64 channel sound? Because we have neglected to concentrate on the total package that makes good music. We have become so obsessed with trying to be on top with the newest technology that we have lost sight of what music writing is really about.

Use your brain, put your talent to use, and stop worrying about the fancy ---- (or lack thereof) in your music. A good musical composition is timeless. It does not get worse because sound quality or writing programs become better. Take a look at the rest of the music world. The musicians of the previous centuries wrote using quills on manuscript. We have yet to see the mouse and tablet composers completely surpass the genius of those long dead innovators. The music of Antonin Dvorak, Jean Sibelius, and Aaron Copland was incredible yesterday, will be incredible today, and will still be incredible tomorrow and beyond when some future generation listens to and/or performs it.

      "...Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all."
                                                  -John F. Kennedy

Au revoir, mes amis. Gene Wie (Psibelius)
gwie@csusm.edu

Impulse Tracker v2.05 - Jeffrey Lim ftp.cdrom.com /pub/demos/incoming/music/programs/it206.zip

Fast Tracker 2(.06) - Triton ftp.cdrom.com /pub/demos/music/programs/trackers/xm/ft206.zip

MultiTracker 1.01b - Renaissance ftp.cdrom.com /pub/demos/music/programs/trackers/mtm/mmed101b.zip

Don't even ask about modedit or kingmod. For those of you aching for that nostalgic feeling, it's time to turn off the computer and get out of the house. =)

Any feedback on this opinion piece would be greatly appreciated. Please note that I have only covered trackers that are freely available and work without a major cash contribution to a source. While all three have some benefits for donations, none of the programs *require* any program changes and/or registration to be useful.