EQ(?) Question (filters)

[Anonymous]

Hi, I have searched the forum and cannot find any related posts to what I need to know. Hope I haven't missed it!  :oops:

I am new to Modplug and would like to know if it is possible to alter the EQ (I think that's what it's called?) of a paticular channel or instrument.

For example, I want a paticular channel to fade in from a verry high end/tinny kind of sound towards the full 'normal' sound and then through to a deep/muddy sound. I know this kind of effect has been used on the C64, Gameboy & Megadrive and wondered if it is possible on Modplug too!

Sorry for the poor description, I'm new to Modplug and the correct terms.

[LPChip]

Hi, I have searched the forum and cannot find any related posts to what I need to know. Hope I haven't missed it!  :oops:

I am new to Modplug and would like to know if it is possible to alter the EQ (I think that's what it's called?) of a paticular channel or instrument.

For example, I want a paticular channel to fade in from a verry high end/tinny kind of sound towards the full 'normal' sound and then through to a deep/muddy sound. I know this kind of effect has been used on the C64, Gameboy & Megadrive and wondered if it is possible on Modplug too!

Sorry for the poor description, I'm new to Modplug and the correct terms.

You are looking for filters.

They exist inside the instrument tab. (cut-off and resonance)

In addition, you can make an envelope in the editor below.

It should say something like: [vol] [pan] [pitch] [flt].

There are 3 buttons and then these 4. click the 3rd button to see and edit the envelope, and make sure the flt (or filter) button is pressed.

This should get you what you're looking for.

[rewbs]

For the tinny sound you'll want a highpass filter with a high cutoff frequency, and for the muddy sound you'll want a lowpass filter with a low cutoff freq. Don't forget to push up the resonance.

LPChip's envelope solution is only sensible if you want the filter to vary in the same way for every note played on that instrument.

If you want to control the filter from the pattern exactly in the way you want, dont use instrument envelopes, use Zxx or \xx effects. You can use these to control cutoff, resonance and filter type assuming your macros are set up correctly. I wrote up how to do this so many times in the old forums... I can't be arsed to do it again right now.

Once you feel confident with macros, I'd recommend ditching MPT's built-in filter and getting a VST plugin filter instead (here are some free filters). You'll get better sound quality and greater flexibility (e.g. more filter types, wider frequency ranges etc..).

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, many thanks for your help!

[Sam_Zen]

I wrote up how to do this so many times in the old forums... I can't be arsed to do it again right now.

I understand. But the data of the old forums is gone. And I missed that, because, so far, I never used macros.
I always associated macros with midi, which I don't use, so.. Now it's getting very interesting to me.
Is there any simple ascii-file still existing about the concept and the main command explanations ?
It would be nice to have this available on the new forum as well as useful data.

[Matt Hartman]

I wrote up how to do this so many times in the old forums... I can't be arsed to do it again right now.

I understand. But the data of the old forums is gone. And I missed that, because, so far, I never used macros.
I always associated macros with midi, which I don't use, so.. Now it's getting very interesting to me.
Is there any simple ascii-file still existing about the concept and the main command explanations ?
It would be nice to have this available on the new forum as well as useful data.

Sam, macros are extremely uncomplicated once you dive into them...

Think of them as an extra set of filters. If you need help personally, let me know, I'll start you off basic style.

[rewbs]

The basic concept is something like this:

. A macro is a "pattern effect" that can be mapped on to one of several functions, including controlling the built-in filter parameters, controlling plugin parameters, controlling plugin dry/wet ratio, sending MIDI messages to plugins, etc...
. A track can have up to 16 macros. Macros are saved with the track. This means in each track you can control up to 16 different entities described above.
. By default, only macro 0 is setup, and maps to the built-in filter's cutoff frequency. Macros 1 to F are empty.
. The macro setup window is accessible via the "Zxx" button in the pattern editor. Open it and explore!

. Exactly 1 macro is active each channel at a given point in time. The same macro can be active on multiple channels simultaneously.
. By default, macro 0 is active on all channels.
. You change which macro is active on a channel with the SFx command, where x is the macro number (0-F) (that's for IT, can't remember the command for XM).
. Somewhere on the statusbar, you'll be able to see which macro is currently active on the channel in which the cursor is currently sitting.

. You can then set the value of the channel's macro with Zxx, or slide at tick resolution over the course of the row with \xx, where xx is in the range 00-7F, and NOT 00-FF

. Commands Z80-ZFF represent non-parametrised macros.. won't go into details about that now, they are not hugely useful unless you run out of parametrised macros. By default, they can be used to set the resonance and filter type of the built-in filter.

[Sam_Zen]

2Matt Hartman and 2rewbs
Great. Thanks for the clear info. So far, enough to start exploring the option.