How long did it take you to master tracker music?

[Vojvodinosaurus]

I've been using OpenMPT for a few years now, albeit with a hiatus every now and then, yet i still think i'm probably just an amateur and have a whole lot to learn and master, i mean, i'm still using algoravin autotracker to make breakcore while i can't seem to take advantage of most effects, no matter which file format i choose. Also is it true that it's harder to learn/master trackers when you're not a programmer?

[Exhale]

I have been tracking since i was 13, and i am now 41. And i am still learning / remembering stuff i forgot i had learned, although some effects i use almost all the time because of the kind of tunes i normally make, some i forget exist until i look for them. I have also never been able to grasp programming other than old school html. I admit tracking was first scary to me because it looked like programming, but i already knew music, daws werent an option at the time, and so i got stuck in, learning by observing tracks i and my friends downloaded 'how did they do this effect', going to the pattern... etc. Plus with ompt being changed by our programmers we sometimes add new effects or ways to use them, such as all the effects in the volume column other than volume, those were not an option when i first started.

So i think 'master' might be too strong a word, it is a journey, and those are done one step at a time, always willing to learn along the way however u can. Although i admit i have always had trouble learning new software, so it has been a very long journey for me. My absolute frustration with tracking at first was extreme, i put it aside almost immediately to look into midi and spent a bunch of time learning midi software of many kinds, but i eventually came back to tracking because of the reliable control it gives me over the sound, while midi it very machine dependent... eventually daws hit the scene but by then i was already deep into tracking and the work loop of creation was more intuitive to me.

[Vojvodinosaurus]

well, it seems i need more time to understand how effects are applied in modules, especially complex tracks, but i'm pretty sure i have plenty of time to learn, no matter how slow i am at it

[Exhale]

Great man! Yeah keep at it... rome wasnt built in a day etc... 

[Saga Musix]

There's always something new to learn. That said, I'd say that I reached my current skill level around 7-8 years into the journey, but by no means did I not learn anything new after that.

Also is it true that it's harder to learn/master trackers when you're not a programmer?

I doubt there are any hard numbers on this as it's not exactly a hot research topic... However just through its nature, I think it is fairly safe to say that a tracker is more accessible to technically-minded people. Understanding where trackers came from, what kind of problems they solved, can help understanding them better, but it's not a requirement for being any good at using them.

[n0cturn]

I've been using OpenMPT for about a year and a half, and I still learn something new everytime I use it, I think thats part of the fun of using it.

What I would like.... is a list of commands to print out (just the mptm format) as I find the online manual confusing with it having all the commands for each format (I'm easily confused)

[Exhale]

That's something anyone could make a pdf for if someone is up for it, would be useful for everyone. A page per extension, a little info on how each effect works, and then have it somewhere easily accessable (like a pinned forum page) and anyone wanting to mess with a new track type can just print out the page they want, stick it to a wall and refer to it when needed. I do find myself browsing the double click list a lot, always forgetting useful stuff like the sound control or instrument control ones.
I do suspect the mptm one would be more than one page though since a little info on how each effects different kinds of instruments, vst based ones, opl based ones and sample based ones would be ideal.  Not a quick pdf to make i suspect 🤔

[n0cturn]

I keep forgetting about that double click list! Might be just what i need as a quick reference.

I learnt something earlier by loading up your (Exhale) last module, while browsing the samples I noticed most had pluggins assigned to them. On the first instrument plugin, I noticed one of the sliders moving by itself! I thought... how the hell is that happening? A bit of messing and I found out the use for the LFO plugin, so thanks for that, it looks pretty useful.

[Exhale]

I'm glad i could be educational 
Yeah i used to assign macros and use sfx, zxx and \xx commands a lot, then i found the lfo effect and havent looked back. They can be very useful and precise. I also found them by looking at someone's track.
Just a warning though. If you run a track clean up (on the edit dropdown) and and have lfos in the track they will be considered unused plugins, so untick that one, and just clean up unused plugins yourself or make a backup before the clean up and re-add the lfos if u would rather have the automation take care of unused plugins. I almost always have a backup before i run the cleanup anyways, but i have been burned a couple of times like this.

[SewerSide]

I'll never master any tracker or piano roller but I know enough about music construction to create what I wanna listen to in most any music app I'm 'toying with'. Since I won't be mastering any I might as well try any tracker that seems interesting often discovering some cool feature set & always some things messed up but if it's stable enough (most important feature) then something can be done for sure...

Recent re-look at SVArTracker found FX Processor quite cool packing in as many different FX curves from as many different VSTi-VST into one 'cell' which has it's own unique command to use. also thought tracks were mono, no they are poly with cool way of entering chords as well. Problems? Sure, but is it useful? Sure...

BTW Aodix had been released open source a couple years ago & Vanjac has new fork fixing much of what was amiss with it also adding WAV render no need for processing RAW anymore-

https://github.com/vanjac/aodix-enhanced/releases

[dark virus]

Hi! As a resilient Psycle user, I have been trying OpenMPT from times to times, but I still could not made a full transition. OpenMPT is an amazing piece of software, but there are some features in Psycle I'm too used to, and I don't think I can live without yet. But since Psycle is basically abandonware by now, I can foresee the moment I'll have to leave it for good.

Right now, my main problem in OpenMPT is regarding the arrangement part. I'm strugging to understand the sequencer and the way the patterns are stored/organized. Also the sample x instrument thing, sometimes it doesn't make sense to me. So, at the moment I do most of my production in Psycle then export the stems and try to assemble it to a full track in OpenMPT. Each time I do it I learn something new and rewarding.

With trackers, I think most important is the journey learning them, so I'm sure it will be a nice journey learning OpenMPT just as it was learning Psycle.

BTW Aodix had been released open source a couple years ago & Vanjac has new fork fixing much of what was amiss with it also adding WAV render no need for processing RAW anymore-

https://github.com/vanjac/aodix-enhanced/releases

Interesting, I remember trying Aodix long ago, when Arguru left Psycle development. I'll check it out. Thanks for the heads up.

[Saga Musix]

What I would like.... is a list of commands to print out (just the mptm format) as I find the online manual confusing with it having all the commands for each format (I'm easily confused)

Note that since everything around OpenMPT including its manual is completely open-source, you can easily be the one to make that idea come true. Pasting entire sections from the wiki or the help file into an office tool should preserve the format, so the tables should still look as intended. If you want to use the wiki as a starting point, you can also use this link for a printable version that is already simplified (no menus and other clutter visible) and use that as a template. If editing HTML is your forte, you can also download that page and then remove the other format tables from the resulting HTML file.

[Saga Musix]

Right now, my main problem in OpenMPT is regarding the arrangement part. I'm strugging to understand the sequencer and the way the patterns are stored/organized. Also the sample x instrument thing, sometimes it doesn't make sense to me. So, at the moment I do most of my production in Psycle then export the stems and try to assemble it to a full track in OpenMPT.

Maybe if you can put your confusion into words, we can act on it and find ways to improve OpenMPT. Many interesting features come from looking at how other software does things, so maybe there is something obvious we are missing that could make things easier to understand.

[Saint BIT]

Advanced Stuff that OpenMPT 

[dark virus]

Maybe if you can put your confusion into words, we can act on it and find ways to improve OpenMPT. Many interesting features come from looking at how other software does things, so maybe there is something obvious we are missing that could make things easier to understand.

Thanks for your interest, I really appreciate it.