What is your favorite or most used fx column command?

[Bleetz]

Totally bored and can't finish anything at the min... Thought I would ask. Obviously the offset command is awesome and I use when necessary but the one I LOVE using is the Volume slide (Dxx). You can be so creative using this simple effect! Love making st-ut-tery sounds by using it and just putting the instrument number for example...

C4 01..D0F
     01..D0A
         ..
     01..D0A
     01..D0F
etc etc

Also this effect stops the CLICKING a simple note off (==) would do whilst using a sinewave bassline. (Or any other noise)

My second favorite is the Tone Portamento (Gxx) Very bendy!!!!
Use a combo of the two with say... a sweeping sample (long 303 maybe?) and it's mucho funno!!!!

Anyhow the experts will know this already. BUT what is your favorite effect?

[Saga Musix]

Any effect that gets its job done will do. In fact I prefer not using effects when possible, e.g. using envelopes rather than slide effects.

[Alice (Midori)]

I don't think i have a single favourite one, and whichever effect is appropriate depends on the context. But if i were to point a few personal essential ones, these would be alternating Axx (for achieving swing tempo the good old way (that doesn't work in MPTM btw, but you can use Txx instead if you prefer to do swing without using specific MPTM feature)) Hxy (vibrato), Gxx (tone portamento) Exx/Fxx (down/up pitch slides) cxx and dxx in the volume column (does the same as your Dxx, except doesn't occupy the main FX column, Yxy (Panbrello) and last but not least, simple channel control commands (Mxx and Nxx for channel volume set and slide respectively)

(I'm assuming we're talking about IT/MPTM btw)

[Saga Musix]

alternating Axx (for achieving swing tempo the good old way (that doesn't work in MPTM btw, but you can use Txx instead if you prefer to do swing without using specific MPTM feature))

That's not quite the correct, it only doesn't work in modern tempo mode, which is the default tempo mode in MPTM for a good reason. But if you absolutely wanted to you could also use classic tempo mode in MPTM and keep using Axx. But given the finer granularity of the built-in tempo swing in MPTM, I don't see many reasons to do that.

[REDrangeDal]

The effect I use mostly is the Qxy command(Retrigger note) when making music in MPTM format and also this is my favourite effect when I want to make some interesting compos, for example this effect can be very useful for making songs even whithout needing more than just one pattern, with even the size of 64 rows, though this can be possible only by either setting the tempo value to 32 or a bit higher, or by setting the Tick/Row to 8 or higher(requires classic tempo mode), but after all this can be really fun and also it might be helpful for making one hour compos faster.

For making such compos even better I use the volume envelope for drums in order to make the drums to sound more varied and less monotonous. Althrough there are some limitations, using more channels can be very helpful to deal with the limitations.

[nikku4211]

I love Jxy/0xy for those arpeggios, Hxy/4xy for that vibrato, Gxx/3xx for that tone portamento, Axx and Txx/Fxx for their time warp powers, and I really, really love Mxx and Nxy for that trick where you can make a pattern play one way at first, and then sound different later on it is repeated despite being the same exact pattern. 8xx/Xxx are my best buds when it comes to stereo usage, as well as Pxy. Also, hail Vxx and Wxy/Gxx and Hxy for in-module fade-outs. Wow, I just realised I love a whole lot of effects.

[Bleetz]

These are all awesome! The answers here are great because the explanations kinda make them less of a mystery to newcomers. I'm sure if I was just starting on Open Mpt these examples would make me want to experiment with them more. Hell I've been using it for years and I want to experiment now!

[LPChip]

I use many effects in my chiptunes, but there is one effect I love above all others, even though I don't use it too often, and that is the Kxx effect. Kxx is vibrato + volume slide.

I use these on long notes that I want to accentuate. I often write my effect like this:

Code Select Expand


Note start
...
...
...
...
H11
H22
H33
H44
H00
H00
H00
H00
K02   <- volume slide down
K00
K00
K00


Put this on a lead and it sounds awesome. Also, I do lots of variations on the above. But the best power is that I don't use it on everything, but only to accentuate certain notes.

[Rakib]

My favourite is note tick
SC1 is anough to create some movement.

|   23...SC1
|   23......
|   23......
|   23......
|   23......
|   23...SC1
|   23......
|   23......
|   23...SC1
|   23......
|   23......
|   23...SC1
|   23......
|   23...SC1
|   23......
|   23......

[Bleetz]

Rakib, Do you mean note cut? I tend to use volume slide on notes I want to end quickly as it seems to give more variation (I could be wrong). I don't make chiptunes though. I use Psycle sometimes and use note cut as it doesn't have vol slide (if I remember?)

Yep you are right! Just tried this on a CLAP sample. It's totally different... I live and learn... 

C5 01 ...
..   ..   ...
C5 01 D0F
..   ..   ...
C5 01 SC1
..   ..   ...
C5 01 D0F
..   ..   ..


I never tended to use this effect much. I WILL NOW! 

Great for ghost snares etc



Great examples

[LPChip]

If you want to make your drums more alive, try adding an Offset to it with a lower volume.

Code Select Expand


C-5 01 ... ...
... .. ... ...
C-5 01 v50 O01
C-5 01 v30 O02
C-5 01 v50 O02
... .. ... ...


Setting the offset will remove the inital punch, making the sound more dull, pushing it to the background. It is awesome if you put some of these notes closeby and use in a fil. So you use it to add sound to a drumfill as fillers, but keep the normal hits on the important rows.