FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) LIST FOR ALT.BINARIES.SOUNDS.MODS incomplete beta release v0.4 dated 19.11.94 (DDMMYY) Maintained by jester (Tobias Reckhard), jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de Disclaimer: The information contained in this document is believed to be correct, but the originators will not be held responsible for any negative effects of its contents. Anything positive is, of course, our doing ;) [0] Table of Contents [1] General [1.1] Motivation/Purpose of the FAQ [1.2] Modules [1.3] Terminology used in this FAQ [1.4] Commonly Used Abbreviations [2] Types of Modules [3] Playing Mods [3.1] Amiga [3.2] Atari ST [3.3] Mac [3.4] MS-DOS [3.5] OS/2 [3.6] UNIX (Sun/Linux/NeXt) [3.7] Windows [4] Creating Mods [4.1] Trackers [4.1.1] Amiga [4.1.2] Atari ST [4.1.3] Mac [4.1.4] MS-DOS [4.1.5] OS/2 [4.1.6] UNIX (Sun/Linux/NeXt) [4.1.7] Windows [4.2] Converters [4.2.1] from MIDI [4.2.2] Mod Format Converters [5] Samples [5.1] Acquisition [5.1.1] Sampling [5.1.2] 'Ripping' [5.1.3] Conversion From Other Formats [5.2] Sample Editors [5.3] FTP Sites with Samples [6] Obtaining MODs [6.1] FTP Servers [6.2] BBSs [6.3] Newgroup(s) [6.4] WWW [6.5] CD-ROMs [7] Distributing Mods [7.0.1] Compression [7.1] Usenet Posting [7.2] FTP Uploads [7.3] BBS Uploads Appendix A: Contributors/Credits/Greetings Appendix B: Common Properties of Module File Formats Appendix C: Mods and MIDI Appendix D: Musicians Appendix E: All-Time Faves Appendix F: the MOD Charts Appendix G: History of MOD Appendix H: Availability of Compressors/Archivers Appendix I: Table of Note Frequencies ============================================================================== [1] General This is the third beta version of the FAQ for the UseNet Newsgroup alt.binaries.sounds.mods. Availability: It will be posted to this newsgroup and news.answers every two weeks, as soon as it has passed beta stage (i.e. every section is at least partially filled). It will be available by ftp from rtfm.mit.edu and opus.mac.cc.cmu.edu (log in as Music, password Music, leave Dir entry blank; courtesy of Matthew Centurion). A WWW HTML page is being prepared by Zigg (Matt Behrens). This will hopefully be available soon after beta stage is over. You can already obtain the most recent version of the FAQ by fingering my address and dumping that to a file, as in: finger jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de > mod-faq.doc ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [1.1] Motivation/Purpose of the FAQ The newsgroup alt.binaries.sounds.mods (hereafter referred to as absm) is being flooded by a lot of questions lately, most of them cropping up over and over again. These, commonly referred to as Frequently Asked Questions (hence the term FAQ, but you knew that already), are pretty bugging after a while, so this is an attempt at answering them. What is the purpose of this FAQ? Well, it is centered around absm, of course, and deals with the problems that are usually encountered there. It is supposed to help new readers of the group find programs and modules, decode the posts, make contributions of their own and give pointers on where to find further information. This FAQ does NOT attempt to teach you how to make music. As of now, I am also not planning to devote sections of this FAQ to the explanation of certain editors/trackers/players. Should a question concerning a specific program come up very frequently, it would of course qualify as an FAQ, but I do not consider it my job to teach you how to use ScreamTracker, for example. That's the .DOC's job. Keep in mind, please, that I manage this FAQ in my private time, which isn't much anyway. I only know my own hardware platform (MS-DOS/Windows/GUS/SB), so I am dependent on your feedback and contributions. If you have something you feel belongs here or any other form of constructive criticism, don't hesitate to email me with it. I check my mail folder almost every day, except on weekends, when I don't have Internet access at all. You can reach me at: jester@rbg.informatik.th-darmstadt.de (Note: I am NOT Jester/Sanity). If you've contributed to the FAQ, your name and address (optional) will be listed in the contributors section. You will also be entitled to a list of your favourite mods and composers (might be dropped in the future if it becomes too large). Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [1.2] Modules (What are MODs?) Modules are digital music files, made up of a set of samples (the instruments) and sequencing information, telling a mod player when to play which sample on which track at what pitch, optionally performing an effect like vibrato, for example. Thus mods are different from pure sample files such as WAV or AU, which contain no sequencing information, and MIDI files, which do not include any custom samples/instruments. Mods are extremely popular in the demo world and offer a way of making music of an acceptable level of quality rather cheaply. With the advent of high-quality sound hardware, new generations of mods may even rise to a sound quality nearing that of professional equipment. Mods' sequencing information is based on patterns and tracks. A pattern is a group of tracks with a certain length, usually 64 rows (see 1.3). The tracks are independent of each other, meaning that a four track mod can play four voices or notes simultaneously. The patterns can be sequenced in a playlist, so that repeating the same sequence of patterns doesn't require rewriting of them. This makes mods a hybrid between pure sample data files such as WAV, VOC or IFF/8SVX and pure sequencing information files like MIDI. One of the most freuquently asked questions is "how do I convert a WAV to MOD?". This can be done, but is rather senseless. The other way around might be interesting for people with enormous hard drives, so they could listen to what used to be a mod at higher quality than before at the cost of several megabytes of drive space (10 MB/min. at 16 bits, 44.1kHz, stereo), or for those who want to show off a mod to others who don't have a mod player (or worse, can only play 8kHz AU files.. ;) ). Programs to do this don't exist yet, though. Numerous mods have been released in the past year that were basically huge samples off a CD (is there a connection to CD-ROM drives gaining increasing popularity?), the only parts actually sequenced were the chorus bits. Most of these mods were some form op top ten hit. These are, in effect, WAV to MOD conversions. I don't mind them floating around, but it is a widely acknowledged opinion that these kinds of mods defeat their own prupose. I therefore don't recommend their making (but this is my opinion). Note that this is NOT the same as using sampled drum loops or riffs in mods. While I don't like these myself either, these do require a lot more sequencing than huge 64KB chunks of a complete song. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [1.3] Terminology used in this FAQ - Throughout this FAQ, modules will be referred to as 'mods'. This term will be used for all types of modules, be they M.K., 8CHN, ULT, S3M, XM or anything else. Note that MOD (i.e. capitalized) refers to the group of mods that have this filename extension. - A 'track' is a module voice. The number of tracks denotes the number of notes/instruments/voices that can play simultaneously. - A 'pattern' is a group of as many tracks as the mod has with a fixed length, which can be referenced in a sequencing list. A M.K. pattern is 4 tracks by 64 rows, for example. - A 'row' is the smallest unit of time measurement in which notes can be placed on tracks. A M.K. pattern has 64 rows. OKT and FAR, for example, can have patterns of differing length in the same mod. - A 'slot' is an element of a row, dedicated to hold a specific piece of information. These are notes, volume and effects, for example. - A 'column' is an element of a track, such as the note column, the volume column and the effect column. A 'column' is a group of 'slots' of one type in a common track. - A 'sample' is a digitized sound included in the mod, which serves as an instrument. As mods don't use a fixed instrument set (as General MIDI does), anything can be used as an instrument, including noises or human voices. - A 'channel' is a source of emitted sound. Channel and track are often used interchangeably in the mod community. - A 'player' is a program that decodes mods and ouputs these on a sound device. - A 'tracker' is a program that enables creation of mods. Trackers usually feature a 'player'. - A section saying 'NHY' isn't there yet (NHY = Not Here Yet). I don't have any information on the topic. If you do, get back to me immediately! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [1.4] Commonly Used Abbreviations (see section 2 for mod type abbrevs) FT1 - Mr.H/Triton's FastTracker 1.xx, MS-DOS MOD tracker ST3 - PSI/Future Crew's Scream Tracker 3.01b FT2 - Triton's FastTracker II PT - ProTracker (Amiga tracker) GUS - Gravis Ultrasound (sound card) SB - SoundBlaster (sound card) PAS - Pro Audio Spectrum (sound card) DMA - Direct Memory Access (method of transferring data quickly across the computer's bus, DMA channel is a sound card parameter) IRQ - Interrupt (sound card parameter) FM - Frequency Modulation sound synthesis (used by Adlib and SB in FM mode) CxSpd - Sampling rate at which a sample is reproduced by a tracker/player when it encounters the note C in octave x. DAC - Digital to Analogue Converter. Digital sound output medium used with the parallel port of a computer. Hz - Hertz, metric unit. 1 Hz = 1/sec. Used to express frequencies. ============================================================================== [2] Types of Mods This is a brief summary of mod types. For further information, see the documentation of file formats and/or the associated trackers' documentation. This is probably the best place to mention that the most common filetype today on the Amiga is still MOD, while S3M and MTM have taken over on PC's. XM is expected to gain popularity pretty quick. Name Default No. of No. of Sample Associated Extension tracks samples properties tracker M.K. MOD 4 15 8 bits/fixed SoundTracker (1st ever) M.K. MOD 4 31 8 bits/fixed ProTracker xCHN MOD 6/8 31 8 bits/fixed FastTracker 1 FLTx MOD 4/8 31 8 bits/fixed StarTrekker NST NST 4 15 8 bits/fixed Noise Tracker 669 669 8 64 8 bits/?? ComposD?? UNIS 669?? 8 64?? 8 bits/?? UNIS669 MTM MTM 1-32 31 8 bits/?? MultiModuleEdit 1.01b (63)*** (16 bits)*** STM STM 4 31 8 bits/var ScreamTracker 2.xx S3M S3M 16+9** 99 8 bits/var ScreamTracker 3.01b (32)* (255)* (16 bits)* ULT ULT 1-32 64 8/16 bits/var UltraTracker 1.6 XM XM 2-32 128 8/16 bits/var FastTracker II FAR FAR 16 64 8/16 bits/fixed Farandole Composer 1.00 WOW WOW 8 31 8 bits/fixed Grave Composer OKT OKT 4-8 255 7/8 bits/fixed Oktalyzer DMF DMF 32 ?? ?? X-Tracker 0.3 * - The S3M format is capable of storing these, but there isn't a tracker there yet to implement them. ** - S3M can store 9 FM-based channels (Adlib). *** - MTM supports these, but the current version of MMEdit doesn't allow for them. ============================================================================== [3] Playing Mods This section only features a maximum of 6 players per system. An extended list is available separately (not in this release, but to come). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [3.1] Amiga This section supplied by Christian Stieber All of the following players can be found on aminet in mus/play/ (see 6.1). All of the following players are proper applications, i.e. they use windows and don't hack the hardware (except for the sound hardware). All of the following players use external players to allow for an unlimited number of formats (provided that somebody writes a player). All of the following players support Pro/Noise/SoundTracker, ScreamTracker, FastTracker. I believe that most of the players support MultiTracker and TakeTracker as well (DeliTracker does). - DeliTracker 2.07 OS friendly player, currently plays more than 80 different mod formats, including S3M, 6CHN, 8CHN, TakeTracker and MTM. Has an external player concept. Requires AmigaOS 2.0+. Shareware $20 or DM 20. FTP: mus/play/DeliTracker_207.lha - EaglePlayer 1.53 Similar features as DeliTracker. Plays 100 mod formats, but seemingly no IBM clone formats (S3M, xCHN, MTM, etc.). Crippled shareware $20 or DM 20. FTP: mus/play/EaglePlayer1.53.lha - D.A.S.ModulePlayer 3.4 Plays M.K., NST, 6CHN, 8CHN, MTM, S3M, Quadracomposer, MED, FutureComposer, SoundMon 2.0, FRED, MusicAssembler and David Whittaker mods. New formats may be added via external player libraries. Requires MUI for its GUI. Requires AmigaOS 2.0+. Crippled shareware 25 AUD, 70 FIM, $15. FTP: mus/play/DMODP34.lha - PS3M 2.5 (beta) Plays S3M, MTM, xCHN and TakeTracker. Most Amiga S3M-players probably originated from this player. FTP: mus/play/ps3m0025.lha. There are more players I don't know about, and there are players I didn't list since they support Pro/Noise/SoundTRacker only, possibly with some support for some Amiga-only formats. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [3.2] Atari ST NHY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [3.3] Mac For a description of Player Pro and Sound Tracker, the obviously most popular Mac programs, see section 4.1.3 Rich "Akira" Pizor notes: * The Macintosh-tracker. This freeware program plays MODs compatible with the Mar Epsie's Tracker, Player-Pro and the Sound-Tracker. It also features icons courtesy of Skaven and the Future Crew. * Alpha-Tracker. This system extension is a tiny, faceless application that automatically plays randomly selected MODs in the background while you work. Slightly old, supports most 4-track formats. * MusicBox XCMD. This XCMD for HyperCard adds a very functional MOD player to a HyperCard stack, allowing the more adventurous Mac owner to quickly and easily design their own MOD player. Supports most 4-track formats. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [3.4] MS-DOS - Inertia Player 1.2 IPlay plays MOD/STM/S3M/669/FAR/MTM/UNIS/ULT/WOW on GUS/PAS16/Windows Sound System/SB16(ASP)/SB Pro/SB/Covox(DAC8) on LPT1/Stereo-on-1 on LPT1/Adlib/ PC Speaker/General MIDI. Most (but by no means all) effects played more accurately than by DMP. Looks pretty spiffy and features 256x oversampling. Has a built-in file selector, but no playlists. Supports S3M panning only for command Xxx, S8x is ignored. Freeware. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/iplay120.zip - Dual Module Player 3.01 DMP plays MOD/STM/SM/669/FAR/MTM on a wide variety of hardware. It is good for an approximation of a lot of mods, but doesn't guarantee correct playback of anything. Does not support UNIS/ULT/OKT/WOW. Has software filters and quality mode, supports both flavours of MOD and S3M stereo panning. Also supports archives. Does not feature integrated file selector or playlists. Cardware. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/dmp301.zip Note: A protected mode version is also available, under the filename dmp32295.zip - CapaMOD 2.05 CMOD plays MOD and S3M files. Gravis Ultrasound ONLY! Claims to be the most ProTracker-compliant MS-DOS player. S3M support has only been added in version 2, so it might not be complete (panning isn't there yet). This player is rubberware (you're supposed to send the dude a condom). :) FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/cmod205.zip - MDP 1.1 Future Crew's Music Disk Player. Plays MOD, STM and S3M on SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster Pro and GUS. Configurable for Music Disks. Is available in Future Crew's Music Disks. Plays S3M pretty much like ST3 itself (I haven't noticed differences), MOD compatibility is somewhat questionable. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/disks/chmind.zip - Renaissance Music Player 1.2. Plays 4, 6, 8 and 16 track MODs, S3Ms and MTMs (both up to 16 tracks) on GUS, SB, SB Pro, SB 16, PAS, PAS16, AudioTrix Pro. Designed for ProTracker compatibility (except effects E0 and EF). S3Ms and MTMs may not be played 100% accurate. EMS/XMS support. 16 bit DMAs might not work with PAS16 and SB16. Doesn't feature playlists, file selector or archive support. Freeware. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/rmp120.zip ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [3.5] OS/2 From David E. Wach on 10 Nov 1994: Well, this is what I found: ftp hobbes.nmsu.edu/os2/2_1/mmedia/dmply101.zip This is the latest version (1.01) of "Digital Music Player" (or DMPlayer.exe) It currently supports only .mod's, but also plays .avi, .mid, and .wav. You must have MMPMOS/2 (included with os/2) installed. It doesn't play as well as dos-hosted players,... Should run pretty well on 486dx33 or better with improved sound quality. Supports mono and stereo (no surround), 8 and 16 bit modes, and includes bass, treble, balance and volume controlls. (Shareware can't save playlists) Supports all MMPMOS/2 supported cards (ie. anything that would be running under os/2 anyway (which is most everything)). There is also /os2/2_1/mmedia/tracker.zip which is another .mod-only player, but it is rather buggy. However it includes the source code, so it might be of interest to hackers. One last thing at hobbes.nmsu.edu in /os2/2_1/mmedia is pmixos2.zip which is a Pro-Audio Spectrum 16 mixer for os/2. Don't know how good it is, i have a SB16! Hope this helps, and glad to be of service. Keep up the posts to alt.binaries.music.mods!!!! ;-> [I just had to leave this in ;) - jester] By the way, i was a little mis-leading. I CAN run Mod4Win in a WinOS/2 session. DMPlayer is the only NATIVE OS/2 mod player i know of. The only thing i have to do to Mod4Win to make it run with os/2 is to reduce its number of buffers. And I usually run it in a full-screen WinOS/2 session (which makes some win apps. a little more stable). -dave John Roland writes on 12 Nov 94 that DMPlayer 1.01 (and an early-stage beta) is also available by ftp from ftp-os2.cdrom.com/pub/os2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [3.6] UNIX (and Sun, NeXt, Linux) A Linux S3M, MOD, 6CHN and 8CHN player is S3MOD. Anybody know anything about it? Or GMOD? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [3.7] Windows - MOD4WIN 2.11 Plays MOD/STM/S3M/669/FAR/MTM/UNIS/OKT/WOW on a Windows asynchronous wave driver (no PC speaker). Up to 16 bits, 48kHz. Features surround sound, IDO, panning, integrated file selection, playlists, file management and archiver support. Most effects are more reliable than DMP or IPlay. Shareware $30, runs for 30 days. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/m4w211sx.zip - WinMOD Pro (current version 0.04á?) Plays MODs in Windows. Not as good as M4W. I recently deleted this one, anyone still have it to fill out on this? ============================================================================== [4] Creating Mods I consider it pretty normal for most people to tire of simply listening to the tunes others have made after a while and to decide to use (perhaps waste) some time in composing some of their own. This is where you need a tracker. You might also want to convert this fabulous MIDI arrangement you downloaded from someplace to a mod so you could muck around with it a bit, or simply to be able to listen to it with digital instruments (if you're stuck with SB FM MIDI). You then need a converter and probably a tracker for post-processing. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [4.1] Trackers [4.1.1] Amiga NHY [4.1.2] Atari ST NHY [4.1.3] Mac Barry Nathan writes on Thu, 17 Nov 1994: Player Pro: $20 shareware. Can access the sound chip directly, so it takes less processor time than SoundTrecker. It'll still work when new Macs with new sound chips come out, because it can also use the regular Sound Manager 3.0 if necessary, like when the PowerMacs came out and Player Pro didn't support their sound chip. Only edits its own format, MADF, but it can import and export MOD, S3M, MIDI, and some other formats I can't remember right now. Used to have a few bugs, but the latest (4.2) only has bugs with the S3M import module, and then only on PowerMacs. Upgrades are free, except for the upgrade from the disk to the (not yet released) CD-ROM version (which will have extra instruments and songs), which will cost $20 for an upgrade and $40 for a full purchase. Unlike Sound-Trecker, it is fully PowerMac-native, which means it FLIES by on a PowerMac. Rich "Akira" Pizor adds: Player Pro disables all but the most basic features until the shareware fee is paid, much to the chagrin of many Mac MOD enthusiasts. Sound-Trecker: $40 shareware. Partially, but not fully, PMac native, but it can do simulated surround sound for headphones or (I think...) Dolby Surround decoders. However, with the Surround option, the fact that it's not fully native really shows, as you hear clicks when you try to do other stuff. However, the slowdown isn't that severe on normal Macs. The two other advantages are that it can play (Okta)MEDs, which Player Pro can't handle, and some MODs play better with it than Player Pro. Keep in mind that with the extra features and bug fixes with Player Pro 4.2, most MODs play -much- better with Player Pro, though, and PP is cheaper. Rich "Akira" Pizor adds: Sound-Tracker is a shell program which plays formats based on plug-ins, providing for maximum flexibility, since plug-ins can easily be written whenever a new format is introduced. Currently, most of the standard 4- and 8-track MOD formats are supported. Also available is a plug-in that makes it PowerPC native. It is also known for having one of the better interfaces of Mac MOD players. The resoucres for creating/editing MODs are present, yet the appropriate menu items are geryed out. I've not met anyone who could explain this anomaly to me. The two theories I've heard are that you get editing capabilities if you register the program (German ReadMe not too well understood) or that the resources are simply sitting there while the author learns how to integrate the corresponding features into a later release of the program. Both are available from sumex-aim.stanford.edu, in /info-mac/snd/util (I think). However, sumex itself is hardly accessible, and one of its mirrors (like will be better. [4.1.4] MS-DOS MS-DOS users have quite a few trackers available to them nowadays, with capabilities superior to first-generation mods. Beta releases and unpopular trackers are not mentioned, the ones listed should suffice to get you started (and the best they are). That'd include: - Scream Tracker 3.01b - programmed by PSI of Future Crew. Supports GUS, SB, SB Pro. Edits up to 32 digital tracks (but plays only up to 16), 99 instruments (S3M format supports 255), features a superset of the ProTracker command set (but some effects are handled a little different), 8 bit samples with adjustable C4Spd (S3M format allows for 16 bit ADPCM packed stereo samples), 9 Adlib FM channels. Features separate volume row (and track panning available in most players). Extensive block commands and editing capabilities make this one of the best trackers around nowadays. Is still in beta stage and may never pass it, so bugs may occur (but I have found the program to be rather stable). Writes in S3M and MOD formats (S3M to MOD conversion NOT recommended!). Reads S3M, STM (perfect) and MOD (M.K., 6CHN, 8CHN, almost perfect MOD loader). Freeware. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/scrmt301b.zip Note: a TSR patch to enable palette saving is available in the same dircetory as st3fix.zip. This is NOT an FC release. - MultiTracker Module Editor 1.01b - programmed by Daniel Goldstein aka Starscream of Renaissance. Supports GUS, SB and SB Pro. Edits up to 32 tracks, 31 instruments, features the PT command set (which is not completely compatible), 8 bit samples (MTM format can store 16 bits). Features track panning. Imports raw samples and GUS patches (only registered). Loads MOD, 669, MTM and FAR mods, more formats planned. Right now, loading anything but MTM is not recommended (FAR and 669 sound bad). Shareware $24.95 FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/mtm101b.zip - FastTracker II - programmed by Mr H and Vogue of Triton. Supports GUS, SB and SB Pro. Edits up to 32 tracks, 128 instruments, multi-sampled intruments (up to 16 samples per instrument), volume and panning envelopes for instruments, instrument panning, 4 GB maximum sample size, bidirectional looping, variable pattern length, built-in sample editor and sampler, 256 patterns, separate volume/panning/vibrato column, claims full MIDI support. Imports MOD, STM, S3M type mods (S3M import is buggy, and imported MODs and S3Ms lose panning info), imports GUS patches, raw samples (signed and unsigned) and IFF samples. Samples can be 8 or 16 bits. Sample tuning by finetune and relative note value. Shareware $20. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/ft2.zip - Farandole Composer 1.00 - programmed by Daniel Potter of Digital Infinity. Supports GUS only. Edits 16 tracks, 64 instruments, an own command set (does not claim to be PT-compliant), 8 and 16 bit sample support, sample size up to 1 Meg, imports MOD, 669, GUD PAT and ST3/Digiplayer samples. Features separate volume row and track panning. Loads MOD, 669, ULT (buggy) mods. Uses SVGA to display all tracks on screen simultaneously in 132x50 mode. Has a built-in sample editor. Shareware $15. The FAR format is not very well supported (outside this tracker). FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/far100.arj - FastTracker 1 - programmed by Mr H of Triton (this tracker's popularity is dropping considerably). Supports SB, SB Pro, Soundplayer, DAC, Internal Speaker. Edits 4, 6 or 8 tracks, 31 instruments, 8-bit samples of 64KB maximum size, ProTracker command set, track panning supported by external players, 100 patterns. Relatively simple, easy to use tracker, good for starters. Partly mouse driven. Freeware. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/ftracker.zip - UltraTracker v1.6 - programmed by MAS of Prophecy. Supports GUS. Edits up to 32 tracks, 8 and 16 bit instruments, variable C2Spd with finetune, bidirectional looping, instrument panning, 255 patterns, subset of the PT commands, two effect slots per note. Built-in sample editor. Imports S3M, MOD, 669, FAR and MTM mods. Imports IFF, PAT, WAV, FSM, SND and raw sample types. Mouse driven. Shareware $20. The ULT format is not very well supported (outside this tracker). FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/ultra160.zip [4.1.5] OS/2 NHY [4.1.6] UNIX (Sun/Linux/NeXt) NHY [4.1.7] Windows Most mod trackers in the IBM PC world are coded by demo coders. Most of these dudes detest Microsoft Windows. There isn't a tracker available for it yet, sorry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [4.2] Converters Conversion between mod formats and especially conversion from/to non-mod music file formats is pretty sure to lose some information of the original piece. In most of the cases, there is no way around this. You can't, for example, convert a 16-track S3M using Qxy and excessive volume commands to a 4-track M.K.. The M.K. just can't hold the information. It is possible, on the other hand, to convert a M.K. to S3M very accurately. There are a few minor incompatibilities, but these would hardly be noticeable by many. Conversions to and from MIDI are also very difficult to get done right with today's mod formats. MIDI files, while seemingly similar, have a very different command set from mods. Only one of the differences is that the MIDI output device 'knows' how to process its sounds when it receives commands from the MIDI file/player, for example how fast to decay a piano waveform. This information is not stored in the MIDI file itself, but a mod would have it included. A converter has no means of asking the MIDI device how it would handle a certain situation (this is not completely correct, at least when using a GUS, the patches could be parsed), so it has to assume certain things. I suppose, however, that better converters could do the trick if they were programmed for certain situations (I think a converter that creates mod instruments by itself from a GUS' patches, for example, could accurately convert from MIDI to an advanced mod format such as S3M, XM or ULT). But did you want to know any of this? [4.2.1] from MIDI - PTMID 0.3 - converts General MIDI files to MOD (i.e. M.K., 6CHN and 8CHN) and MTM files. To do this, it relies on a configuration file which specifies the samples to be used, the number of tracks to generate and the resolution to use. A careful setup is therefore absolutely necessary if anything good is going to emerge. The resulting mods will generally still require some re-editing in a mod editor. MS-DOS, command-line driven. Seems like it's freeware. By Andrew Scott (ascott@tartarus.uwa.edu.au) FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/convert/ptmid.zip x2ftp.oulu.fi:/pub/msdos/programming/convert/ptmid3.zip [4.2.2] Module Format Converters The following are MS-DOS based programs. - M2AMF - supplied with DMP (see MS-DOS players), this generates an AMF file from all file formats understood by DMP. AMF files are generally smaller than the corresponding MOD files. However, DMP is the only player for these files and conversion of AMF to other formats isn't possible yet, so it's a one-way street. And we all know that DMP, versatile as it may be, doesn't play anything (except AMF) right. By Otto Chrons. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/players/dmp301.zip - ScreamTracker 3.01b contains the option to save mods as M.K., 6CHN, 8CHN, S3M. MOD output is, however, inaccurate, since S3M commands are not fully ProTracker-compliant. Another deficiency arises from the variable C4Spd available in S3M. ST3 tries to finetune the samples, but doesn't perform any resampling or note adjustments. This means that an instrument with a C4Spd of above 8795Hz or below 7902Hz (or integer multiples of these) will sound off tune if the note isn't adjusted in the resulting MOD. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/trackers/scrmt301.zip - 669 to MOD v1.0 - converts 669 to 8CHN mods - (c)1993 by Kenneth Galbraith FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/converters/6692mod.zip - MOD to 669 - converts PT mods to 669 - (c)1993 by DTown Inc. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/converters/mod2669.zip - MTM to MOD v1.1 - converts MTM to MOD - (c) Daniel Goldstein (StarScream) FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/converters/mtmmod11.zip (also packaged with MultiModule Editor 1.01b) - STX2STM v1.0 - converts STX (STMIK 0.2) back to STM - (c)1994 by Lutz Roeder FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/converters/stx2stm.zip ============================================================================== [5] Samples Samples are of crucial importance in mods. Good samples make the difference between a quite-good and a great mod. And since custom samples are one of mods' greatest advantages, a lot of attention should be paid to a wise choice in samples. It is important to know the main two qualities a sample has, the resolution, i.e. number of bits, and its sampling rate. The number of bits in a sample denote its ability to distinguish between levels of amplitude, a higher number of bits can grasp a sound more accurately than a low one. The sampling rate is directly related to the highest frequency that can be reproduced by the sample. A sample with a sampling rate of 40kHz, for example (kHz means 1000Hz, 1Hz is one oscillation per second), can reproduce sounds of up to 20kHz. This means that low sampling rates can be used to reproduce low sounds, but reproduction of high frequencies (cymbals, but also pianos) require higher sampling rates. Another aspect of mods is the maximum size a sample is allowed to have. This varies in the file formats from 64 Kilobytes to unlimited size. Note that some trackers impose harsher limits on sample length than the formats they output. The solution offered to the sample size problem is sample looping. Well placed loop points make quite a difference in sustained instruments, so spend enough time here. Additional information can be found (and is strongly recommended) in: The Audio File Formats FAQ by Guido van Rossum , posted to alt.binaries.sounds.{misc,d} and comp.dsp once a fortnight, and available in distributed hypertext form as http://voorn.cwi.nl/audio-formats/a00.html. PATREF24.ZIP - Windows Help file describing how to convert a variety of samples to GUS-usable patches. Most of the information supplied is very handy in any type of instrument sample conversion. 2PAT is also supplied, a Windows sample conversion utility (great!). This file is available at the GUS sites, see section 6.1. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [5.1] Acquisition [5.1.1] Sampling To be done, any volunteers? I haven't done it and could probably provide some hints, but maybe someone who's actually sampled would like to fill this out. [5.1.2] 'Ripping' Using samples made by other people and acquired by saving out of their mods is generally known as ripping. I won't debate on the ethical aspects of this subject and I suggest nobody does. It has been discussed before. Just about any tracker enables you to save the samples in a mod. So all you've got to do is load the song you want a sample from into a compatible tracker and save it. There are other programs that enable you to rip samples from mods too, one of them being DMPC, Dual Module Player Companion, a mod player shell for MS-DOS. While most trackers save samples in their own proprietary format or as raw MOD-compatible samples, DMPC saves to WAV/VOC/RAW. It can be FTP'd from ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/frontend/dmpc250.zip If you don't have a tracker or a ripper, you can still obtain the samples in mods by loading the file into a sample editor capable of loading raw sample data. You will have to set the number of bits and style (signed or unsigned) according to the format you're loading (MOD is signed 8 bit, S3M is unsigned 8 bit, for example). You will be presented with some static, which is the header and pattern data, followed by the samples in the mod. Any decent sample editor should enable you to cut out the individual samples. The next step would be to get the sampling rate right, otherwise the samples will sound off key when used. MOD samples generally use a sampling rate of 8363Hz for a C in the second octave, so try this for starters (or an integer multiple). The more advanced formats with variable CxSpds pose more of a problem, you're basically left with your ears and perhaps a musical instrument to get them right. Note that a lot of MOD samples are not tuned to C. Quite often, an A is played instead when a C should be. See appendix I for a table of note frequencies to help you calculate the appropriate sampling rate for transposing wrongly tuned instruments. [5.1.3] Conversion From Other Formats Sample conversion is covered in detail in the Patch Reference and the Audio File Format FAQ (see above). The most general sample file converter is probably SOX, SOund eXchange utility. It is available on most FTP servers as C source code and will run on almost any platform. An MS-DOS compiled version exists under the name SOX7DOS.ZIP. Note that version 10 is also available, but seems to contain some bugs. See the audio file format FAQ for details. Another MS-DOS utility is CONVERT, it features a wide range of input and output formats. An interesting quality for this FAQ is its ability to extract samples from mods of various formats. Conversion of samples to mod formats is a bit lacking, though, but this is due to the rather large differences in the formats concerned (GUS patches don't convert at all well, for example). FTP:hornet.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/programs/converters/convert13.zip ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [5.2] Sample Editors GoldWave 2.1 for Windows, available at ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/ programs/samplers/gldwav21.zip, is an excellent sample editor, capable of reading and writing quite a few sample formats. Shareware. CoolEdit v1.31 is another sample editor for Windows with more instrument- specific editing capabilities than most others. FTP: ?? Advanced Digiplayer 3.0 by PSI/Future Crew is a SB & DOS only sample editor that reads raw and ST3-compatible samples and writes ST3 samples. This program seems to have leaked out someplace, at least it's not an official release. FTP: ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/programs/samplers/dp30.zip ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [5.3] FTP Sites with Samples Kurzweil 2000: ftp.uwp.edu/pub/music/lists/kurzweil/sounds EMAX: sweaty.palm.cri.nz/emax/emax1 SDS (Sample Dump Standard): alf.uib.no (129.177.30.3) /pub/midi/sds/samples sweaty.palm.cri.nz/sds/samples EPS-16+: ftp.reed.edu/eps/samples TX16W: ftp-ls7.informatik.uni-dortmund.de/tx16w/samples AIFF: ftp.reed.edu/eps/samples/aiff Roland Disk Images: lotus.waterloo.ca/pub/sgroups/samples Yamaha SY-85 and 99: louie.udel.edu/pub/midi/patches/SY99 ============================================================================== [6] Obtaining Mods ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [6.1] FTP Servers General: The FTP servers mentioned hereafter allow for anonymous FTP. Log into the server by specifying 'ftp ', tell it 'ftp' when it asks you for a login and supply it with your email address as a password. Alternatively, use 'anonymous' as login and your email address as password. Please remember that ftp is a privilege, not a right. Restrict your calls to (the site's) non-business hours whenever possible. The largest repository of mods is probably the Aminet. There are numerous FTP servers all over the world mirroring it. A list follows: >These are the members of Aminet and have the files from here. All mirrors >have the new files but most delete old files, however ftp.wustl.edu and >ftp.cdrom.se keep all files. Whenever possible, use the mirror that is the >closest to your place. Most mirrors get updated three times a day. > >USA (MO) ftp.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4 pub/aminet/mods >USA (CA) ftp.cdrom.com 192.153.46.2 pub/aminet/mods >USA (TX) ftp.etsu.edu 192.43.199.20 pub/aminet/mods >Scandinavia ftp.luth.se 130.240.18.2 pub/aminet/mods >Switzerland ftp.eunet.ch 146.228.10.16 pub/aminet/mods >Switzerland litamiga.epfl.ch 128.178.151.32 pub/aminet/ (*) >Germany ftp.uni-paderborn.de 131.234.2.32 pub/aminet/mods >Germany ftp.uni-erlangen.de 131.188.3.2 pub/aminet/mods >Germany ftp.uni-bielefeld.de 129.70.4.55 pub/aminet/mods >Germany ftp.uni-oldenburg.de 134.106.40.9 pub/aminet/mods >Germany ftp.uni-kl.de 131.246.9.95 pub/aminet/mods >Germany ftp.uni-stuttgart.de 129.96.8.13 pub/aminet/mods >Germany ftp.uni-siegen.de 141.99.128.1 pub/aminet/mods >Germany ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de 130.149.17.7 pub/aminet/mods >UK ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk 146.169.2.1 pub/aminet/mods > (*) closed 6:30am to 4pm weekdays Another good site for new mod releases is ftp.eng.ufl (Hornet/Wasp, IP 128.227.116.7), the main Internet site for demos and related material. Mods can be found in the /pub/msdos/demos/music/songs directory, sorted by format type. Note that due to diskspace limitations, mods usually don't stay on this site for longer than a month. Hornet is mirrored by ftp.uwp.edu (131.210.1.4) USA, ftp.luth.se (130.240.18.2) Sweden, ftp.sun.ac.za (146.232.212.21) S.Africa, ftp.uni-erlangen.de (131.188.2.43) Germany, ftp.uni-paderborn.de (131.234.10.42) Germany and ftp.cdrom.com (192.216.191.11) USA. Hornet also publishes DemoNews on a weekly basis, it includes demo-related news and a list of uploads and deletions. To subscribe, send email to listserver@oliver.sun.ac.za with "subscribe demuan-list YOUR_NAME" (w/o quotes) in the body of the message, substituting YOUR_NAME with, guess, yeah, your name. You will then receive DemoNews weekly, it is sent out each Sunday morning. The GUS FTP sites also have a number of mods in their directories. Mods can be found in the subdirectories 'sound/*'. The sites are: Main N.American Site: archive.orst.edu pub/packages/gravis wuarchive.wustl.edu systems/ibmpc/ultrasound Main Asian Site: nctuccca.edu.tw PC/ultrasound European Callers ONLY: theoris.rz.uni-konstanz.de pub/sound/gus Submissions: archive.epas.utoronto.ca pub/pc/ultrasound/submit Newly Validated Files: archive.epas.utoronto.ca pub/pc/ultrasound Mirrors: garbo.uwasa.fi mirror/ultrasound Mailserver for Archive Access: Email to Following is a list of ftp servers taken from the MOD Charts list (these have not been validated): archie.au /micros/amiga/incoming/mods ftp.germany.eu.net /pub/comp/amiga/mods ftp.informatik.uni-rostock.de /pub/amiga/mods ftp.uni-kl.de (131.246.9.95) /pub/amiga/wuarchive/mods /incoming/amiga/mods ftp.uni-muenster.de /pub/sounds/ ftp.uni-oldenburg.de /pub/amiga/incoming/mods ftp.brad.ac.uk /misc/mods/ and /incoming/mods/ ftp.funet.fi (128.214.6.100) /pub/amiga/audio/modules geocub.greco-prog.fr /pub/incoming/amiga/mods ftp.luth.se (130.240.16.3) /pub/OS/amiga/mods lysator.liu.se /pub/amiga/mods ftp.uwp.edu (cs.uwp.edu) /pub/music/sounds/mods /pub/music/lists/btl/mods /pub/incoming/sounds/mods /pub/incoming/msdos/modplayer/mods ftp.cso.uiuc.edu (128.174.5.59) /pub/amiga ftp.mcs.kent.edu /pub/SB-Adlib/ntmods wuarchive.wustl.edu /systems/amiga/incoming/mods (128.252.135.4) /systems/amiga/audio/music /mirrors4/amiga.physik.unizh.ch/amiga/mods The site freedom.wit.com has around 150 KLF releases in /klf/songs - Jensi On hobbes.nmsu.edu/os2/32bit/multimedia/mod is a sizable archive of modules (of various formats) available for ftp - Dave Wach Through this newsgroup and many FTP sites I have been able to amass a small amount of MODS (134) and have tried to categorize them by music type. If anyone would like to download any of them they are available at the FTP site: opus.mac.cc.cmu.edu maintained by Matthew E Centurion contains some mods from absm and ftp sites. Use Music as Login and PWord, leave the Dir field blank. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [6.2] BBSs Would someone like to fill out on this? For now, refer to Appendix F, the MOD Charts. Or check the comments in the archives you get, they usually contain some BBS adverts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [6.3] Newsgroups Naturally, alt.binaries.sounds.mods is THE Usenet newsgroup for mods. Binary posts to this group are usually split into several parts and uuencoded. If that doesn't make sense to you, that doesn't matter. Just read on. Here's how to extract the mods from the text garbage. How you do it exactly is up to you and the newsreader you're using. I will cover NN, RN and TIN here, as well as telling you how to cope with dumb uudecoders. Thanks to Stan Greene (Merlin) for supplying the information initially. NN: Let's assume you have a list of five articles on screen, identified by consecutive letters a through e, of which the last four are the file example.mod. First, tag (i.e. mark) the parts by pressing the appropriate letters (b through e). Then type the following: ':decode'. Choose any directory you wish when prompted for the Decode Directory, this is where the decoded file will go. At the next prompt (Decode test2/ Article (* +):, for example), enter '*' to specify the previously selected articles. NN will then decode the files for you. RN/TRN: Assuming that the file is in multiple parts, go to the first part and press 'e'. Continue going through all of the parts, pressing 'e' for each. As you do each part, you should see 'Continuing filename.ext: (Continued)'. When you get to the last part and press 'e', you're done. It knows that the file is complete. TIN: We will assume the same setting as in the NN example. The first thing you do is move the scrollbar to the first part of the file you want, this'd be the 2nd article in the list. Now press 't' to tag the file, the plus sign in front of the article should turn into a '1' and the scrollbar should move to the next line. Tag all the parts of the file in the same manner, watching out so you keep the order correct. When you're done, press 's', which gives you the following prompt: 'Save a)rticle, t)hread, h)ot, p)attern, T)agged articles, q)uit: T'. The default should be a captial T, which is what youy want anyway, so just hit return. TIN will prompt you for a filename, you can use anything, basically, keeping it simple should prove helpful (to you). Done that, TIN asks you for post-processing options. Most of the time, you will want to uudecode the binaries, so press 'u'. Done. BY HAND: OK, there are two possibilities here. Either you have a smart uudecoder (such as UU, UNPOST or UUMASTER for MS-DOS, or WinCode for Windows), or you're stuck with a basic dumb type. - SMART: This is pretty simple. Just save your articles to a common file and feed it to your smart decoder. Using UU, this'd look like this, after having saved some articled to a file called mods.uue: 'uu /i /s mods.uue'. UU will do the rest. Note that it is good to have several smart decoders at hand in case one of them refuses to decode a file. You can then always try the others. - DUMB: This is tedious. Save the articles, preferrably and for your own sanity's sake, to separate files, using some form of numbering scheme so you'll know which part is which later on. Then call your favourite text editor (as in ASCII) and trim out anything from the files that isn't a valid UU line. This includes everything up to, but not including, the line saying 'begin 640 blabla.mod', which should be in the first part, and everything after the line saying 'end', which should be in the last part. You also need to trim out any checksum info, mail/posting headers and signatures (these should be at the end of the files). When you've done all that, concatenate (i.e. join) the files, but keep them in the correct order! Feed the resulting file to your dumb decoder. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [6.4] WWW Todd Walsh writes on 19 Aug 1994: Some sample mods from MindVox archives: http//www.phantom.com/archives/music.html Dan Nicholson writes on 7 Nov 1994: ..however, check these sites (you'll also find more demo-related sites) by checking these: http://freedom.wit.com/~klf/klfhome.html http://www.io.org/~andrewm/me.html And Jason M. Spangler tells us on 31 Oct 1994: Just thought I'd tell everyone I updated, re-organized, and moved my module FTP site page... it's now at: http://www.ysu.edu/~jasons/mod/index.html Matt Behrens (Zigg) has set up the Virtual Music Page. If you have authored some mods, email him according to the guidelines in http://grfn.org/~zaphod/vm/submit.html or "Submission Guidelines" on the VMP. Kaushik Ramakrishnan says: Site for introductory info about mods: http://www.phantom.com/archives/mods.html Tracker binary (for Sun2s): http://www.phantom.com/archives/tracker.sparc ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [6.5] CD-ROMs Aminet CD 4 * Contains 330 MB of software that has appeared since Aminet CD 3 (15-Jun- 94), 230 MB of mods, 100 MB of top downloads consisting of 1700 mods, 1600 utilities, 250 games, 100 demos and 80 animations. * Availability: shipping (whatever that means - jester) * Avilable in two versions, Aminet Gold and Aminet Share. The higher priced version includes a donation o the otherwise unpaid makers of the CD, the lower one doesn't (donations are still accepted). * Compatible with all Amigas including CDTV/A570. Not compatible with CD32 plus Communicator. Compatible with CD32 plus SX1. Compatible with all Amiga OS versions for the access software. Compatible with all operating systems, except some MS-DOS CD-ROM file systems that can't handle mixed case filenames. * Ordering (credit cards ok): Germany: Stefan Ossowski USA: Fred Fish Tel: +49-201-788778 Tel: +1-602-917-0917 Fax: +49-201-798447 Fax: +1-602-917-0917 Email:stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de Email:fnf@amigalib.com Aminet Gold: DM 29.80 Aminet Gold: $19.95 Aminet Share: DM 19.80 Aminet Share: $11.95 (Prices exclude shipping) * More information is available in the text file docs/misc/CD-Orders.txt on Aminet. A complete index of Aminet CD 4 is found in disk/cdrom/Aminet-CD-4.lha 10,000 Sounds & Songs * Volume 0 of the Digital Data Archives * this CD contains 850 selected MODs * also countless other Multimedia files (.wav, .mid, .avi, .fli, .voc, .sam, and much more) * price: $40 * For more information or to order contact: Walt Perko P.O.Box 640608 San Francisco, CA. 94164-0608 phone: (415) 771-1788 email: wperko@netcom.com Mystical MOD Madness * Volume 1 of the Digital Data Archives * available soon * will contain about 3000 MODs, S3Ms and 669s * Contact information (Walt Perko) see "10,000 Sounds & Songs" Sound Site CD-ROM * large collection of music files taken from the Saffron archives * including over 1350 MOD files * nearly 500 MIDI files, and also 669, STM and other files * price $19.95 + $5 s/h * For more info or to order contact: Island CD Creations 1960 Kapiolani Blvd. Suite 113-592 Honolulu, HI 96826 email: duane@shell.portal.com (Duane Takamine) Town of Tunes CD * a compilation of the best 820 MOD music and melody files * it takes about 70 hours to hear them all * carefully picked from approx. 4000 files worldwide in a two-year period * includes 21 of the newest and hottest tunes from "THE PARTY" in Denmark Winter 1994 * also some of the newest S3M music/melody files, 100 MB of the latest spectacular VGA graphic demos, and more * price: $35 + $6 s/h * For more information or to order contact: Wichman Consult Hovmalvej 78-6 2300 Copenhagen S., Denmark phone: +45-3151-3187 Fax: +45-3122-2744 email: ecjowh@hp3.cbs.dk The Ultimate MOD Collection * contains more than 1700 MODs * a bunch of players & utilities (editors, etc.) for all sorts of computers * some 669, STM, MED, and other file formats * price $29 * for more information contact: The Marketplace phone: (800) 289-1766 or (314) 521-4862 ============================================================================== [7] Distributing Mods When you're sick of listening to other people's creations, have mastered a tracker and finally come up with something you consider brilliant or at least good enough for other people to enjoy, you want to spread it. [7.0.1] Compression It is always a good idea to compress a module before you distribute it. Especially when using telecommunications systems (i.e. telephone lines or networks), data compression can reduce a lot of transmission time and bandwidth. The two main archivers used in compressing mods are LHA/LHarc and PKZIP. LHA is used mainly on Amigas, but compatible archivers/dearchivers exist on just about any platform. The same goes for the MS-DOS originated PKZIP. Other archivers may perform better compression, but aren't a good choice if you want your file to be decodable by as many people as possible. Please be nice - compress your mods with LHA, PKZIP or compatible compressors. See appendix H for a list of sites for these programs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [7.1] Usenet Posting (to absm) This being the FAQ for the group, it is natural that postings to it should find a place here. Usenet poses some difficulties concerning the transmission of binary data, as mods are. Only 7-bit ASCII is transmitted, while binaries are 8-bit files. This means that mods need to be encoded before they can be posted to Usenet. There are several encoding methods, the most common being uuencoding. Others include MIME, XX and a few others, but these are not recommended (you want as many people as possible to hear your creations, don't you?). Don't even attempt to post a binary to usenet without having encoded it to ASCII. Another problem is that some news servers don't read more than a certain amount of lines in usenet postings. This is why most posts are split into 'small' chunks. A maximum of 1000 lines seems sensible (this is roughly 64 KBytes). It is considered good netiquette to supply a part zero of howevermany including a description of the posted file. I hereby propose the following as a standard part zero for absm: - cut here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FILE NAME: example.mod SONG NAME: The exemplary Song ARCHIVE: PkZip 2.04g MOD TYPE: 8CHN COMPOSER: Nobody MUSICAL STYLE: ambient deep techno house UPLOADER: Nobody too - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -cut here- You should also give the articles similar subject lines, as in: Subject: EXAMPLE.ZIP (1/4) If you feel like it, put a very short description in the subject line. If part 0 is elaborate enough, I feel this is not necessary. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [7.2] FTP Uploads Most of the ftp servers you can download mods from will accept uploads too. These usually go in an /incoming directory somewhere. Be sure to upload a text file with a short description (similar to part zero in section 7.1) along with the mod. Also remember to specify 'bin' for binary transfer, or your mod might be transmitted as a 7-bit file, thereby completely corrupting it. Making an announcement in absm about your upload will most probably be welcome. See section 6.1 for a list of ftp servers with mods. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [7.3] BBS Uploads I don't know anything about this (except some BBS names), anybody knowledgable out there? ============================================================================== Appendix A: Contributors and Credits This FAQ is maintained and mainly written by myself, jester (Tobias Reckhard). Thanks go to (in no particular order): Harald Zappe Todd Walsh Barry Nathan Matt Behrens (Zigg) Dan Nicholson Rich "Akira" Pizor Jens Puchert (Jensi) Jason M. Spangler Dave Wach Matthew E. Centurion (Mashoe) John Roland Christian Stieber I'd like to greet (seems strange not to do it in the mod scene): Those mentioned above, Snowman, RuffKut, Fencer, Purple, Alpha, T., Frank (hey, got your account again? miss you!), Pallbearer, Ben Jos Walbeehm, Steve (where are you?). And anyone I forgot. ============================================================================== Appendix B: Common Properties of Module File Formats They're all chunks of bytes. Heh heh. ;) OK, seriously now. All mod files contain a header identifying the file and its format. It also mentions song name and number of patterns in the song. The header is usually followed by the pattern and sequencing information. Finally, the file also contains the sample data. This usually takes up most of the space in a mod. With today's file formats advancing more and more, those are just about all the common properties worth mentioning, IMHO. For further information on particular mod types, refer to the format description. This is usually found in the same archive as the tracker it is connected to. You can also check ftp.eng.ufl.edu/pub/msdos/demos/music/text for some docs. Following format specs are available there: MOD - modform.zip FTK - musfmt10.zip SSS - musfmt10.zip PSM - psm-form.zip MED - musfmt10.zip STAR- musfmt10.zip S3M - s3mformat.zip MOD - musfmt10.zip TT - musfmt10.zip ULT - ultform.zip MTM - musfmt10.zip ULT - musfmt10.zip 669 - musfmt10.zip OKT - musfmt10.zip WOW - musfmt10.zip DMF - musfmt10.zip P16 - musfmt10.zip FAR - musfmt10.zip S3M - musfmt10.zip ============================================================================== Appendix C: Mods and MIDI I dread this bit, I don't really know all too much about MIDI. What is it that'd make this appendix interesting? If no one responds, it will be omitted. ============================================================================== Appendix D: Musicians Note: This list reflects the opinions of the contributors and is guaranteed not to be objective. If you've contributed or want to contribute to the FAQ, feel free to send a note along with your all-time faves. They'll be included, as long as they take no more than two lines. This thing is way too big as it is. jester's favourite composers: Purple Motion, Nuke, RuffKut, Skaven, Romeo Knight, Lizardking, Zane, Weasel, Maelcum. other notables: Ng Pei Sin, Jester/Sanity, Moby, Captain, U4IA, pkk, Firelight, tR/\Sh/Enigma. The world leading PC mod group today is KLF, consisting of (musician-wise) Maelcum, iNSPEKDAH DECk, I.Q., the Hacker, Phoenix, Balrog, Basehead, Maral, Krystall, Lurch, Necros, Khyron, Nemesis, Mental Floss and Piromaniak. ============================================================================== Appendix E: All-Time Faves Note: This list reflects the opinions of the contributors and is guaranteed not to be objective. If you've contributed or want to contribute to the FAQ, feel free to send a note along with your all-time faves. They'll be included, as long as they take no more than five lines. This thing is way too big as it is. jester: Boesendorfer P.S.S./Romeo Knight, World of Plastic/PM, Shhh.../pkk, Serenity/jester, Mercury Rain/Skaven, Space Trax/Maelcum, Underwater Breathing/PM, Trans Atlantic/Lizardking, Waiting for Rain/RuffKut, Gold Return/Nuke, Space Debris/Captain, Joyride/tip, Daisy Chain 2/uncle tom ============================================================================== Appendix F: the MOD Charts The MOD Charts are a Top 50 list of mods (only 4 track types, as far as I know), maintained by Oliver (oliver@math.uni-muenster.de, a.k.a. HITMAN on IRC, #modcharts). For further details, connect to your nearest supporting site (see list below) and download all text files (modchart.month, modchart.faq and modchart.sites). MODCHART SITE LIST March 1994 Hello Friends! These sites are distributing the MODCHARTS: AMINET: Australia archie.au 192.107.107.6 /pub/aminet/mods/chart (closed 6:30 am to 4 pm on weekdays) Switzerland ftp.eunet.ch 130.60.80.80 /pub/aminet/mods/chart Switzerland litamiga.epfl.ch 128.178.151.32 /pub/aminet/mods/chart Scandinavia ftp.luth.se 130.240.16.3 /pub/aminet/mods/chart Germany ftp.uni-kl.de 131.246.9.95 /pub/aminet/mods/chart Germany ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de 130.149.17.7 /pub/aminet/mods/chart Germany ftp.th-darmstadt.de 130.83.55.75 /pub/aminet/mods/chart Germany ftp.uni-paderborn.de 131.234.2.32 /pub/aminet/mods/chart Germany ftp.uni-erlangen.de 131.188.1.43 /pub/aminet/mods/chart USA ftp.etsu.edu 192.43.199.20 /pub/aminet/mods/chart USA ftp.wustl.edu 128.252.135.4 /pub/aminet/mods/chart Germany: ftp.informatik.uni-rostock.de /pub/amiga/mods/charts ftp.uni-muenster.de /pub/sounds/modcharts BBS'es: Art-Line (Wuppertal, Germany) /Musik/charts, newcomer-mods dl-free ++49-(0)202-884290 -19200/ZyXEL ++49-(0)202-89252 -19200/ZyXEL The Abyss (Stuttgart, Germany) /Gallery/Modcharts ++49-(0)711-617291 9600-19200/ZyXEL MNP5/V42.bis ++49-(0)711-6159399 2400-14400/V32.bis MNP5/V42.bis Tup-Off-Box (Goeppingen, Germany) all newcomer-mods download-free ++49-(0)7161-57382 ++49-(0)7161-57869 ++49-(0)7161-57960 2400 bps Visitor (Muenster, Germany) /modcharts, all chartfiles download-free ++49-(0)251-295014 300-16800/V42.bis FIDOs: Star Fortress 2:2494/340 Flags: ZYX, XA, MO online: 00:00-09:00 CET Request: FILES, MODCHART ============================================================================== Appendix H: Availability of Compressors/Archivers from the comp.compression FAQ lha for MS-DOS is available by anonymous ftp from: oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/archiver/lha213.exe (exe) oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/archiver/lha211sr.zip (sources) garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/lha255b.exe lharc for Unix (can only extract from version 1.xx .lzh files): wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors/misc/unix/lharc102a.tar-z garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/lha101u.tar.Z lha for Unix (docs in Japanese): wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors/misc/unix/lha101u.tar-z garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/lha-1.00.tar.Z lha for Mac: mac.archive.umich.edu/mac/utilities/compressionapps/maclha2.0.cpt.hqx lha for Amiga: ftp.funet.fi/pub/amiga/utilities/archivers/LhA_e138.run pkzip 2.04g for MS-DOS: oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/zip/pkz204g.exe garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/pkz204g.exe zip 2.0.1 and unzip 5.12 for Unix, MS-DOS, VMS, OS/2, Amiga,...(compatible with pkzip 2.04g): ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/zip201.zip (source) ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/unzip512.tar.Z (source) ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/MSDOS/zip20x.zip (MSDOS exe) ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/MSDOS/unz512x*.exe (MSDOS exe) ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/VMS/zip20x-vms.zip (Vax/VMS exe) ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/VMS/unz512x-vax.exe (Vax/VMS exe) ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/OS2/* (OS/2 exe 16&32 bit) See also AMIGA, ATARI, MAC, NT, SCO_UNIX, LINUX, Ultrix-MIPS, WINDOWS and SOLARIS2 subdirectories. garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/zip201.zip (source) garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/unzip512.tar.Z (source) garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/zip20x.zip (MSDOS exe) garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/unz512x3.exe (MSDOS exe) for Macintosh: mac.archive.umich.edu/mac/util/compression/unzip2.01.cpt.hqx mac.archive.umich.edu/mac/util/compression/zipit1.2.cpt.hqx ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/MAC/unz512.hqx ============================================================================== Appendix I: Table of Note Frequencies Use this to calculate sampling rates for mistuned instruments. For example, if you have an instrument at 8363Hz that plays an A-2 but you want it to play a C-2, the appropriate sampling rate is 8363 * 261.7 / 440 Hz = 4974 Hz All values are given in Hz. (supplied by Chris Craig, author of GoldWave) C - 261.7 E - 329.6 G# - 415.3 C# - 277.2 F - 349.2 A - 440.0 D - 293.7 F# - 370.0 A# - 466.2 D# - 311.1 G - 392.0 B - 493.9 Bear in mind that doubling the sampling rate raises a sound by one octave, halving the rate lowers the note by one octave.