Tracker Music Is Amazing...But I Don't Know Where To Begin!

TrustUNiT · February 10, 2007, 16:40:03

I just installed MODPlug & MODPlug QuickStarter.

But I find it very confusing...like how do I get a nice rhythm and how do I get them nice vibey synth sounds you ear.

How do I load things up.

I am complete newb to tracker music.

Could someone get me off to a nice start please

Thank you

LPChip · February 10, 2007, 18:50:45

It is a good idea to check this topic:

http://forum.openmpt.org/index.php?topic=884.0

Somewhere below is a guide to learn tracking. Maybe not as precise in the sense of tutorial, but its a guide that tells how how to approach tracking.

You can also get some more information about MODPlug Tracker from our online manual. http://openmpt.xwiki.com/xwiki/bin/view/Manual/Index

Do note that this manual is about OpenMPT which is version 1.17.xxxx there's also an older MODPlug Tracker which is version 1.16. I recommend to get 1.17 RC2 if you don't already have, with a possible addition of beta revision .45

Before I can answer your question more detailed, I'd like to know what you do know.

TrustUNiT · February 11, 2007, 09:49:56

Well I have worked out that I have to drag samples onto the intruments then go back and press keys to get all them C#05 and stuff like that to come up and sometimes i get a sound and sometimes i dont but i cant make a tune or anything like that.

LPChip · February 11, 2007, 11:16:36

I see...

I've decided to write a tutorial that explains the basic steps you'll need to make in order to get you a song.

Although at this point of posting, I haven't made it yet, but the page already exists.

The URL: http://openmpt.xwiki.com/xwiki/bin/view/TutMakeSong/

Check there often. If you see a TODO: then its not yet finished.

TrustUNiT · February 11, 2007, 12:44:05

Thank you very much

Looking forward to the next chapters

LPChip · February 11, 2007, 14:12:37

I've made it all the way up to making yourself a drumpart.

Next part bassline isn't yet made, but this will atleast give you enough to start working. You might actually figure out the rest by yourself.

mrvegas · February 15, 2007, 16:23:34

Definitely use 1.17RC2. The sample volume issues seem to be fixed in this version, and VST instruments work (mostly -- you can't pan them unless the instrument itself has a pan function.) The only reason to use 1.16 is that there are some display issues in 1.17 in Win 98 systems. If you don't care about drawing envelopes, this probably won't be a huge problem, though, even in Win 98.

If you can find the Modplug Tracker QuickStart kit (which you said you did), I think it comes with some documentation or a tutorial and 1.16. Most of that documentation applies to 1.17 too.

The wiki is not really complete, and some functions are not fully explained. Modplug is a wonderful tracker, though, particularly if you like using samples over VST instruments. Sometimes I will make my own samples by loading up a VSTi, adding effects and then exporting, editing in Audacity, and importing it back into Modplug.

The only downside to Modplug, and a lot of the free stuff out there, is that it takes a fair amount of experimentation to learn. The folks on this forum are very helpful, though.

MisterX · February 16, 2007, 19:43:46

Quote from: "mrvegas"If you can find the Modplug Tracker QuickStart kit (which you said you did), I think it comes with some documentation or a tutorial and 1.16. Most of that documentation applies to 1.17 too.

The QuickStart Kit is available at:

http://www.modplug.com/trackerinfo.html

As it says, the QSKit contains 1.16, but 1.17 can be downloaded and installed in its place. I would have updated the QSKit to contain 1.17, but I don't have the original files that were compiled into the QSKit any more.

Sam_Zen · February 17, 2007, 01:35:28

I became curious about this Starter Kit, because of my propagation to others about working with tracker modules.
I noticed that it's an executable to install things. So what will happen if I already have 1.17 on my set ?

residentgrey · February 17, 2007, 23:06:20

You will probably have to move the exe to another directory temporarily and put it back after the install. Most installers do not ask if you want to copy over existing files. But if you kept the naming conventions of the OpenMPT releases, you should not have a problem. You will just have mpt and openmpt in the same dir.

Sam_Zen · February 18, 2007, 00:02:22

Thanks. I kept these naming conventions. I used mpt and openmpt together before, but I had them in seperate dirs.