How do I make triple rhythms in OpenMPT?

[IdaeChop]

I want to add triplet rhythm to OpenMPT, the one like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Siowg_ONsZI
How should I do it?

[Saga Musix]

Mixing triplets with non-dotted note length is something where you always have to compromise in a tracker, but there are various ways to achieve them still:

1. If you don't want to mix them with non-dotted notes (like 8ths and 16ths), you can simply reduce the rows per beat from 4 to 3 (or from 8 to 6 if you are working at double pattern resolution).

2. Use note delay commands. For example, this is how you would place triplets at a speed of 6 ticks per row:

Code Select Expand

ModPlug Tracker  IT
|C-501......
|C-501...SD2
|C-501...SD4
|...........
|C-501......
|C-501...SD2
|C-501...SD4
|...........
For other speed settings you can calculate the distance in ticks between notes as (rows per beat * ticks per row) / 3. In this particular example that formula gives you 4*6/3=8, so after the first row of 6 ticks, it adds another 2 ticks to place the triplet.

3. If you work at a high enough pattern detail (e.g. 24 rows per beat) no workaround is necessary, but arguably that high pattern speed makes it much harder to follow the module, so this solution is probably less practical.

[Saga Musix]

Some more hints that only work with certain kinds of instruments such as pads or sustained lead sounds:

1. Use volume envelopes. In the attached example file, instrument 2 has a looped volume envelope that creates sections of 8 ticks in length (this is the same "8" as seen in the formula from the second suggestion in my previous post).

2. Similarly, you can use the Tremor effect to create repetitive volume on-off segments of length 8 (both tremor parameters need to add up to 8, or whatever is result of the formula from point 2 in my previous post). This is demonstrated in the second pattern of the attached example file.

Another trick is using the retrigger command (e.g. Q08), though that is very similar to using note delays like in the previous post. Unlike the previous two points this works with all types of instruments, but short samples may need to be padded with a silent loop at the end, because in the IT format a sample that has already stopped playing cannot be retriggered by command Qxy. Compared to using SDx commands, this does not trigger New Note Actions, so using SDx is still preferable in most situations.