XM reduce channels

nasty · February 21, 2009, 12:21:55

Hi to all,
i have a problem after importing MIDI file using this great Editor.
So i have many MIDI files to import and convert in XM format.
My problem is that after the convertion i have many channels in the tracker.
I need to reduce these channels to 16.
This i think that can be done also why many channels have few notes used.
There is a method, a function that "mix" the tracks to reduce the number?
Please let me know how can be resolved this problem.

Thanks a lot and see you soon ...

Saga Musix · February 21, 2009, 13:25:02

There is no automation for this, you'll have to merge the tracks yourself. It's rather complicated to do this, because you never know how long a note will last so it's hard to predict when a channel is occupied or not. I think that can only be found out during playback.

LPChip · February 21, 2009, 13:29:54

In addition, there are two mix-paste methods.

The normal Mix-paste will overwrite existing notes/effects if there's something else on the row, while the IT-Mix paste will only paste data to completelly empty rows.

First copy a channel, then mix-paste it into another.

Its not possible to do it differently, but you shouldn't be bothered by so many channels anyway. MODPlug Tracker will play it back fine.

If you need to use this xm in another program that has this strange limit, then I would suggest to learn how to track. Converting and then fixing can be alot more timeconsuming than just make a song yourself based on an existing song.

nasty · February 21, 2009, 16:16:49

Really thanks for useful advices!!
My problem is that i have this limitation and many midi to converts ..
But Mix-paste is a reasonable solution (if no exist other).
Yes LPChip i need to use the "final" xm, after the "mixing" in other program .. so if you have other advices to tell please tell me!
However there are other trackers that do this "mix-paste" solution except the great "modplug"?
Thanks a lot again ...

LPChip · February 21, 2009, 16:38:08

I'm not sure if the other modern trackers support a mix-paste feature. The old Impulse Tracker does support it, and it was implemented because I missed this function in MODPlug Tracker. So to compensate for the lack, I wrote a php script that did this for me. Note, if you copy data from modplug, and you paste it in a text editor, you can see the notes and everything. You might find this info usefull to program a script that does the job manually for you.

If you're a little bit handy with scripting, you could program something that would copy a pattern from modplug into its memory, then alter it the way you want, and pasting it back into the pattern.

nasty · February 23, 2009, 17:15:17

Very thanks LPChip for your useful advices ..
You not have an example of this php-mix file? i have found a similar php based tool for Renoise proprietary format (but not not for xm format).
So i need to change and study a bit this script .. but if you just have done this script and if you can help i will appreciate.
Thanks a lot again ..

LPChip · February 23, 2009, 18:02:23

Just copy a pattern to memory, and then paste it into notepad. It should be self-explainatory from there.

Sam_Zen · February 23, 2009, 20:44:18

Works. The column layout gets a little shifted, but an edit and pasting back goes ok.

btw: I remember being able to save a single pattern in the *.pat format.. Or was this FTII ?

Saga Musix · February 23, 2009, 21:11:39

Sam: You have to use a monospace font like Courier or Lucida Console.

Also. .pat files are not patterns, but patches - In other words, samples. FT2 had its own pattern format, though (.xp files).

uncloned · February 23, 2009, 22:47:54

will this help?

I've used it all the time.

http://www.un4seen.com/mid2xm.html

I see registration is free now.

nasty · February 24, 2009, 18:13:26

Very thanks a lot to all for the very useful help!!!