Can instruments change samples in this way? (A "wah" trumpet like effect)

Domarius · April 04, 2019, 11:44:09

This might be outside the tracker format but I just thought I'd ask. I'm saving my files as .IT files.

I have a sound sample that is one loop of a saw tooth cycle, so it's a chip tune instrument. It's very tinny and could be a brass instrument in one part of the song. To that end, I was wondering if I could customise it in the "Instruments" tab, and rather than it be a constant tone for the duration of the note, have it become (this is my best description) muffled and then transition to sharp again during the attack phase of the note. So it sounds more like "wah" like a trumpet.

Is this outside of what "Instruments" do? Would we normally just bake this effect into a sample?

Saga Musix · April 04, 2019, 12:15:02

A "wah" effect is pretty much just a lowpass filter, so indeed you can do an effect like that with the filter envelope in the instrument settings. Just raise it from minimum to maximum.

LPChip · April 04, 2019, 13:06:13

And to add to it, you can use a sustain envelope point to fade it out to nothing so that it works really well with a note-off and fades to make it more realistic.

Modmen · April 04, 2019, 19:10:40

Quote from: Domarius on April 04, 2019, 11:44:09
This might be outside the tracker format but I just thought I'd ask. I'm saving my files as .IT files.

I have a sound sample that is one loop of a saw tooth cycle, so it's a chip tune instrument. It's very tinny and could be a brass instrument in one part of the song. To that end, I was wondering if I could customise it in the "Instruments" tab, and rather than it be a constant tone for the duration of the note, have it become (this is my best description) muffled and then transition to sharp again during the attack phase of the note. So it sounds more like "wah" like a trumpet.

Is this outside of what "Instruments" do? Would we normally just bake this effect into a sample?

Yeah in impulse tracker you got a filter so you can do that.
Just use the filter envelope in the filter section and work with the envelope for your desired effect.
It's the acid effect you're after lol
Don't forget to work with the filters , put resonance to max and cutoff minimum then work your filter.
Here , i made one for ya :

Domarius · April 05, 2019, 01:26:51

Wow for all my fascination with tracker music over the years, I never realised they could do this! I would have thought applying a filter would be way too computationally expensive for games from that era! Maybe it's not as expensive as I thought, or there are some really cool programming tricks involved.

And thanks Tenjen for the example! Actually when playing with it, I got the effect I wanted before setting the resonance and cutoff to max & min respectively. But after trying that, the effect sounds really funny and I think it might be perfect for one of my other songs, so I'll try it out there!

I've attached a before and after, the relevant instrument is after the first "verse" of the song, in pattern 4.

It's a song for my new game I'm working on, for the score screen

actually the following trailer is out of date, because it's been renamed to HopSquash! and I'm in the process of replacing the music. The creator of Jump 'n Bump finally got back to me and said I couldn't use any original assets if I'm selling the game! So it's a spiritual successor now instead of an un-official sequel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX-lLqDsiu8
Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1012450/HopSquash/

Saga Musix · April 05, 2019, 08:23:41

Quote from: Domarius on April 05, 2019, 01:26:51
I would have thought applying a filter would be way too computationally expensive for games from that era! Maybe it's not as expensive as I thought, or there are some really cool programming tricks involved.

When filters were introduced in Impulse Tracker around 1997 (I think), they were only available in sound drivers optimized for the MMX instruction set because they would have been too slow on older CPUs, and you can bet that no game was using these filters at that time (e.g. Unreal didn't use any advanced IT features but that's also a limitation of the playback engine they used). But it's not like games were the main focus of Impulse Tracker or this particular feature.

Modmen · April 05, 2019, 12:50:41

Quote from: Saga Musix on April 05, 2019, 08:23:41
Quote from: Domarius on April 05, 2019, 01:26:51
I would have thought applying a filter would be way too computationally expensive for games from that era! Maybe it's not as expensive as I thought, or there are some really cool programming tricks involved.

When filters were introduced in Impulse Tracker around 1997 (I think), they were only available in sound drivers optimized for the MMX instruction set because they would have been too slow on older CPUs, and you can bet that no game was using these filters at that time

hi Saga thanks for the trivia , very interesting!
personally me , i also had no idea that IT had a filter but i have an old goa album made in IT and i can tell he's using the filters specially just on the drums to give the snare a real nice snap!
He didn't use the filter to do the acid effect , although it's possible but I think you get better results to get a nice sample and do the sample offset thing.

Funny enough fruity loops was coming up by that time too , but sure was no match for what could and can be done on a tracker.

QuoteHistory of FL Studio. The first version of FruityLoops (1.0.0) was developed by Didier Dambrin and was partially released in December 1997. Its official launch was in early 1998, when it was still a four-channel MIDI drum machine.

And from what I've seen I think he kinda stole ideas from other software makers that were doing this drum machine much earlier on.

Quote(e.g. Unreal didn't use any advanced IT features but that's also a limitation of the playback engine they used).

by unreal are you referring to Unreal Tournament?

QuoteBut it's not like games were the main focus of Impulse Tracker or this particular feature.

w0rd.

Modmen · April 05, 2019, 12:59:12

Quote from: Domarius on April 05, 2019, 01:26:51
Wow for all my fascination with tracker music over the years, I never realised they could do this! I would have thought applying a filter would be way too computationally expensive for games from that era! Maybe it's not as expensive as I thought, or there are some really cool programming tricks involved.

And thanks Tenjen for the example! Actually when playing with it, I got the effect I wanted before setting the resonance and cutoff to max & min respectively. But after trying that, the effect sounds really funny and I think it might be perfect for one of my other songs, so I'll try it out there!

I've attached a before and after, the relevant instrument is after the first "verse" of the song, in pattern 4.

It's a song for my new game I'm working on, for the score screen actually the following trailer is out of date, because it's been renamed to HopSquash! and I'm in the process of replacing the music. The creator of Jump 'n Bump finally got back to me and said I couldn't use any original assets if I'm selling the game! So it's a spiritual successor now instead of an un-official sequel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX-lLqDsiu8
Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1012450/HopSquash/

It was possible to use the filter at the time , but it's as Saga said , you needed a ''powerful'' processor in order to use it , think at the time was a pentium II 233mhz maybe?
If this was the case then you could use the filter in your tracks no problem , I had a 233mhz in 2002 running fruity loops 3 and made tracks on it , it was tight but it was possible!

As Saga said , no game used it for sure , I personally never played any game back in the days that had this filter thing going on.
You can use the filter in your stuff and you want to use it in the game why not? There's no need to be limited by back in the days standards anymore.
Glad I could be of help.
If you want to do that effect without the filter you would have to just get a synth and make a quick sample of it . Easy as.
Good luck with your game ! I'll have a look at your mod later when I manage to get some free time .

Domarius · April 05, 2019, 20:35:48

Ah so it was an advanced feature! That makes a lot more sense. Thanks Saga Musix! Yeah Unreal was the most advanced game at the time, so if they weren't using filters in their tracker music, it's clear that it was a luxury, for music playback only.

And yeah Tengen, I guess I can use it in my game with no need to worry about performance, heheh. Both "Unreal", and "Unreal Tournament" use tracker music. They have a .umx music format which is just a renamed .it file! I only found that out in recent years... I have the sound tracks of both games in .it format.