Copyright: Modplug Tracker Help -   Thursday, February 10, 2000 23:51:23


ModPlug Tracker Help Index

Introduction

Menu commands:

•	File Menu

•	Player Menu

•	Edit Menu

•	View Menu

•	Window Menu

•	Help Menu

Modplug Tracker Setup

Pattern Window

Sample Window

Instrument Window

Keyboard Shortcuts

Music Module File Formats

Song Effects

Zola's Quickstart Guide

Frequently Asked Questions


File menu commands

The File menu offers the following commands:

•	New

•	Open

•	Close

•	Save

•	Save As

•	Save as Wave

•	Save as MP3

•	Import Midi Library

•	Add Sound Bank

•	Exit

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New command

Use this command to create a new module in ModPlug Tracker, and select the type of song you want to create: MOD, S3M, XM or IT (Note that you can also change the module type later). If you want to use instruments, volume envelopes, and NNAs, you have to manually add an instrument. It is not recommended to convert a S3M/IT/XM module to a MOD module, since a lot of features are not supported in the MOD file format. For more details, see also the Music Module File Formats section.

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Open command

Opens an existing song. The song will be converted to a MOD, S3M, XM, or IT module. The following file formats are supported:

•	*.669: UNIS 669, 669 Composer modules.

•	*.AMF: Asylum / DSMI modules.

•	*.AMS: Velvet Studio v1.x modules.

•	*.DBM: DigiBooster Pro modules.

•	*.DSM: DSIK music modules.

•	*.FAR: Farandole Composer modules.

•	*.IT:  Impulse Tracker modules.

•	*.MDL: DigiTracker 1.x modules.

•	*.MED: OctaMed modules (Only MMD0/MMD1 modules will play correctly).

•	*.MID: Midi Files (The samples will be taken from the midi library).

•	*.MOD: ProTracker modules (4-32 channels, 15/31 samples).

•	*.MTM: MultiTracker modules.

•	*.NST: NoiseTracker modules.

•	*.OKT: Oktalyzer modules.

•	*.S3M: ScreamTracker III modules.

•	*.STM: ScreamTracker II modules.

•	*.ULT: UltraTracker modules (buggy).

•	*.WOW: Grave Composer modules.

•	*.WAV: Loads WAV files, separating the left and right channels as 2 samples.

•	*.XM:  FastTracker II modules.

•	All the above when zipped (*.MDZ, *.S3Z, *.XMZ, *.ITZ, *.ZIP).

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Save command

Saves an opened song using the same file name. You can save the song as a MOD, S3M, XM or IT module. See also the Music Module File Formats section for more details about the limitations of each file format.

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Save As command

Saves an opened song to a specified file name.

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Save as Wave command

Saves an opened song as a Wave file (Direct-to-disk recording). The wave file will be saved with the same attributes than the ones defined in the Player/Soundcard Setup dialog. (Using the same mixing rate, and player options). The "Advanced Soundcard Setup" options have no effect on the wave file quality. Note that the wave writer has a slightly better quality resampler, and if you select the 'Normalize' option, the saved wave file will probably have a better Signal/Noise ratio (SNR).
If you want to put your song on a CD, make sure you select 44100Hz, stereo, 16-bit in the soundcard setup.

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Save as MP3 command

Saves the current song as a MPEG Layer3 file (MP3 or WAV Layer3).
Note that this option will be available only if you have a MPEG Layer3 encoder installed. This function will NOT normalize the output of the file, and the AGC may be active, so make sure you select an appropriate volume level, or use the Save As Wave function to save the song as a normalized WAV file, and then use an external MPEG Layer3 encoder to convert the file.

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Close command

This will close the current opened window.

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Import Midi Library

This command will import the instrument definition file used when importing midi files (saved in mptrack.ini). This allows you to keep different midi configurations. If the file you choose is a DLS or SF2 sound bank, all midi instruments will be mapped to this bank.
When you import the midi from a sound bank, you will be asked if you want to replace only the missing instruments. Choosing YES will replace only the midi instruments that are not yet mapped to a sound bank. Choosing NO will map all midi instruments to the selected sound bank (if they are present).

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Add Sound Bank

This command allows you to add a new sound bank (displayed in the tree view after the midi library) to import instruments from. If you have DirectX 6.1, you should also have a file called GM.DLS in your windows\system folder (Windows95), or in windows\system32\drivers (Windows98). DLS stands for DownLoadable Sounds. Each sound bank contains a large set of melodic instruments and drum kits. Note that you can't install more than 10 different DLS/SF2 sound banks. You can find the Roland GM/GS DLS sound bank at http://www.microsoft.com/music

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Exit command

Exits ModPlug Tracker.

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Other File menu commands


Player menu commands

The Player menu offers the following commands:

•	Play

•	Play From Start

•	Stop

•	Pause

•	Midi Record

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Play command

This command starts playing the current song, from the position it was the last time it was paused.
Shortcut key: F5.

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Play From Start command

This command plays the song from the first pattern in the order list.
Shortcut key: F6.

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Stop command

This command stops the current song, and reset the song position, so that the next time you play, it will play from the beginning of the song.

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Pause command

This command stops the current playing song. The next time you play it, it will continue from where it was paused.
Shortcut key: F8, or ESC.

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Midi Record command

When this button is pushed, midi record will be enabled, using input from the selected midi input device. In the pattern, samples and instrument editor, all input from the midi device will be used for recording or playing notes.
Shortcut key: F9.

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Other Player menu commands


Edit menu commands

The Edit menu offers the following commands:

•	Undo

•	Redo

•	Cut

•	Copy

•	Paste

•	Select All

•	Rearrange Patterns

•	Cleanup Instruments

•	Cleanup Samples

•	Cleanup Patterns

•	Cleanup Song

•	Remove All Instruments

•	Find

•	Find Next

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Undo command

Use this command to reverse the last block editing action, if possible. NOTE: This command currently only works in the pattern editor.
Shortcut Key: Alt+Back

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Redo command

Use this command to cancel the last undo command.

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Cut command

Use this command to delete the currently selected data. In the pattern screen, this will clear the current selection. In the sample screen this will cut the selection in the sample. If there is no selection, or if everything is selected, the sample will be removed.

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Copy command

Use this command to copy selected data onto the clipboard. This command is unavailable if there is no data currently selected.
Copying data to the clipboard replaces the contents previously stored there.

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Paste command

Use this command to insert a copy of the clipboard contents at the insertion point. This command is unavailable if the clipboard is empty.

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Select All command

Use this command to select the entire pattern, or sample.
Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+keypad 5

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Rearrange Patterns

This command will reorder the sequence list, so that all patterns are ordered, ie 0,1,2,2,3 etc. It will also remove all empty patterns that are not used in the song.

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Cleanup Instruments

This command will remove all unused instruments.

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Cleanup Samples

This command will remove all unused samples, ie samples that are not referenced by any instruments, or samples part of a multisample instrument that are not used in the song.

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Cleanup Patterns

This command will remove all patterns that are not used in the song, even if they are not empty. It will also reorder the sequence list.

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Cleanup Song

This command is equivalent to Cleanup Patterns, Cleanup Instruments, and Cleanup Samples. For each of the cleanup commands, a window is displayed showing what was removed by the cleanup operation.

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Remove All Instruments

This command, only useful for IT songs, will remove all instruments, and convert the current song to a sample-mode song (no instruments).

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Find

This command will search for a specific note, instrument, volume or effect in the patterns of the song. You can search in the whole song, or only in the current pattern.

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Find Next

This command continues the search previously started by the Find command.

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Other Edit menu commands


View menu commands

The View menu offers the following commands:

•	View Globals

•	View Patterns

•	View Samples

•	View Instruments

•	View Comments

•	Toolbars

•	Setup

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View Globals command

This command will activate the global settings window for the current song. In this window, you can edit the default pan/volume for each channel, change the module type, remove/add channels, change the song type, and change some basic playback options.

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View Patterns command

This command will activate the pattern editor.

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View Samples command

This command will activate the sample editor.

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View Instruments command

This command will activate the instrument editor.
This command is available only when editing a XM or IT song.

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View Comments command

This command will activate the song text editor.
This screen allows you to put more detailed information about you, your song, your life, and whatever you might want to share with the world.
Shortcut Key: Shift+F9

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Toolbars menu

This menu allows you to toggle the toolbars in Modplug Tracker.
You can toggle the main toolbar, and the tree view on the left of the screen.

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Other View menu commands


Window menu commands

The Window menu offers the following commands:

•	New Window

•	Cascade

•	Tile Horizontal

•	Tile Vertical

•	Arrange Icons

•	Split

•	Window 1,2,...

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New Window command

This will open a new window for editing the same song. It may be useful for simultaneously viewing the sample editor and the pattern editor.

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Cascade command

Use this command to arrange multiple opened windows in an overlapped fashion.

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Tile command

Use this command to arrange multiple opened windows in a non-overlapped fashion (horizontally or vertically).

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Arrange Icons command

Use this command to line up the icons of minimized windows.

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Split command

Use this command if you want to change the splitting of the current window using the keyboard arrows.

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Window 1, 2, ... command

ModPlug Tracker displays a list of currently open document windows at the bottom of the Window menu. A check mark appears in front of the document name of the active window. Choose a document from this list to make its window active.

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Other Window menu commands


Help menu commands

The Help menu offers the following commands:

•	Contents

•	Search

•	About

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Help Contents command (Help menu)

Use this command to display the opening screen of Help. From the opening screen, you can jump to step-by-step instructions for using ModPlug Tracker and various types of reference information.
Once you open Help, you can click the Contents button whenever you want to return to the opening screen.

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Help Search command (Help menu)

Use this command to look for help on a specific topic.

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About command

Use this command to display the copyright notice and version number of your copy of ModPlug Tracker.

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Other Help menu commands


Frequently Asked Questions

•	When I save my song as a MOD, the default tempo is lost
The MOD file format doesn't include tempo information. The default  tempo is always 125bpm, and the default speed is always 6. You need  to use a Set Tempo and Set Speed command at the start of your song.

•	How can I record samples in ModPlug Tracker?
There is no built-in sampler in ModPlug Tracker. The easiest way to record  samples is to use any Windows-based sound utility (like Sound Recorder, or more  advanced tools like CoolEdit), record  whatever you want, and then use the  Edit/Copy function. You can then create a new sample in ModPlug Tracker, and  select the Edit/Paste command.

•	Why is the note being played a long time after I pressed the key?
This is due to the latency of the wave device. You can reduce this delay by  reducing the length of the sound buffers in the SoundCard setup,  but there will always be a small delay with a Wave Device. You can reduce a lot  this delay by selecting a DirectSound device in the soundcard options.  If you have a hardware-accelerated soundcard, you can try using DirectSound,  selecting "Use Secondary Buffers", and reduce the buffer size to 25ms.  (Note that on a software-emulated DirectSound driver this could force the  output quality to 22KHz, no matter what you select in the soundcard setup).

•	Could you add more sample formats for import?
Well, I don't have the time to look all over the net for files and technical  specifications of a lot of file formats, but you can help me a lot if you want  to see support for a particular file format by sending me the technical specs  of this format (file structure), or if you can't find this information, you can  always send me a small file in this format, and the same file converted to a  WAV file (I'll try to figure it out by myself in this case).
Please don't ask me for MPEG Audio support or any other non-PCM lossy  streaming audio compression schemes (eg. MPEG Layer III or Real Audio).

•	How can I load the left or right channel of a stereo WAV file?
Although undocumented in alpha releases of the tracker, you can open a WAV file  through the main file open (not from the sample screen): it will convert the  WAV file, and create an IT song with 2 samples (left and right channels). You can  then open the sample screen, copy the sample corresponding to the channel you  want, and then paste it into the sample screen of your song.

•	How can I change the length of a pattern?
You can click on the small button in the top-left corner of the pattern editor, where the pattern number is displayed. This will show the advanced properties of the pattern, and allow you to resize it. Note that this is only available with XM and IT formats songs.

•	The audio sounds distorted when scrolling in the pattern editor
If you have a PCI graphics accelerator, and an ISA soundcard, then you might be experiencing a problem in your graphic adapter drivers. Some manufacturers are locking the PCI bus while transfering bitmaps, so they can gain 0.01% in their benchmarks. Unfortunately, this also locks the ISA bus, thus causing the soundcard to skip audio samples. Try looking in your drivers documentation or advanced properties for an option to disable the pci bus locking. You can also try updating your graphics adapter drivers (Matrox fixed the problem in their latest drivers for Millenium and Mystique adapters)

•	I can't load large files bigger than 10MB
Make sure you don't enable the 'Disable virtual memory' option, or else Modplug Tracker will fail loading files larger than the amount of memory you have in your computer.

•	How can I automatically interpolate effect values ?
Make a selection in a single column with the effect in the first selected  row being the same as the effect in the last selected row. Right click on the selection and select "interpolate volume" or "interpolate effect" (Or use the Ctrl+J and Ctrl+K shortcut keys)

•	How do I use the multichannel record ?
Click on the channels you want to select for multi-channel record holding the SHIFT key. Move the cursor on one of these channels, then enter notes. The cursor will automatically jump from one channel to the other when you enter a new note.

•	How do I use the chord editor ?
First, you need to enable multichannel record, by selecting the channels that will be used for entering the chords. If you're using an external midi keyboard, MPT will detect if multiple keys are pressed simultaneously, and use the channels selected for multichannel record to enter the notes. On the PC keyboard, pressing the shortcut key Shift+key will enter the notes associated with the corresponding chord. If you didn't select any channel for multichannel record, then only the base note of the chord will be entered in the channel where the cursor is.

•	Where can I find DLS sound banks ?
If you have DirectX 6.1 installed, you should already have a DLS sound bank on your system. Select Add Sound Bank in the file menu, and browse to your Windows directory, in System32, Drivers.


Music Module File Formats
Module File Formats

The following formats can be edited by ModPlug Tracker:

•	MOD: ProTracker / NoiseTracker Music Modules

•	S3M: ScreamTracker III Music Modules

•	XM: FastTracker II Music Modules

•	IT: Impulse Tracker Music Modules

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MOD: ProTracker / NoiseTracker Music Module

The MOD format is the most widely supported music module file format. If you heard about "Only Amiga makes it possible", you probably know the story of MOD music. Anyway, this is probably the oldest music module file format, and has a lot of limitations: you may be able to edit some features in ModPlug Tracker, but you'll lose some information after saving the song to disk. Here is the limitation of the MOD format:

•	No instrument support

•	Maximum of 31 samples

•	Sample size is limited to 8-bit, 128K

•	Fixed number of 64 rows per pattern

•	Maximum of 64 different patterns

•	Maximum of 128 patterns in the pattern sequence

•	No volume column (You can edit it, but it won't be saved)

•	No note off/note cut support in the note column

•	Effects not supported: Global Volume, Global Volume Slide, Key Off,   Panning Slide, R-Retrig, Tremor, Fine Portamento (Only MOD/XM effects   0-F are supported).

•	Comments are not saved in the file

•	Initial Speed, Initial Tempo and Initial Volume are not saved

•	Fixed default panning for each channel

I personnally don't recommend using MOD files. If you're familiar with MOD effect syntax, you should edit XM modules, which have pretty much the same effects, and a lot more features. XM songs are also quite popular on PC.

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S3M: ScreamTracker III Music Modules

ScreamTracker III is probably the first big impact in mod music on the PC platform. It has all the features of the mod format, and introduced a lot more features. It's still limited compared to XM or IT modules, especially since it lacks volume envelopes, but is still a very powerful format. One of the big advantage of S3M modules is that it's almost as popular as MOD songs, and will be played by any decent mod player. The only thing S3M songs don't allow is instruments and everything that comes with it (envelopes, note mapping), and have the same mod limitation of 64 rows per pattern. Song comments will not be saved in S3M modules, and there is a maximum of 32 channels. Besides that, it's still an excellent format, although some older players may not recognize the new S3M effects introduced by Impulse Tracker, like Tempo Slide (T0x, T1x), Channel Volume (Mxx, Nxy), Panning Slide (Pxy) and PanBrello (Yxy), and won't play S3M with more than 16 channels.

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XM: FastTracker II Music Modules

XM modules are a superset of MOD modules. You can find everything you have in MODs, but there is more effects, no sample size limit (Well, ModPlug has a sample limit of 16MB/sample), support for 16-bit samples, a variable number of rows per pattern, up to 64 channels, and the introduction of a powerful new feature: the instruments. Before, instruments and samples were quite the same thing. In XM and IT modules, an instrument can have more than one sample. For each note, you can associate a different instrument, a volume/panning envelope, and a fadeout volume. The only problem with XM modules, is that samples can't be shared by different instruments. So when you associate a sample in two different instruments, ModPlug will save the sample twice, in order to preserve XM compatibility. The main advantage of XM over IT modules is that they are more supported on PC than IT modules - which not a lot of players support yet.
Note: FT2 will not load XM modules with an odd number of channels, or modules with more than 32 channels.

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IT: Impulse Tracker Music Modules

Like XM modules are an extension of MOD modules, IT is a superset of S3M. Impulse Tracker Modules represent a major improvement over the other ones. If you never used instruments with FastTracker, IT songs could be considered exactly as S3M songs. However, the major improvement, besides the fact that, like FastTracker II, it doesn't have the 64-rows limits in patterns, and can have comments in the song (No need to edit sample names anymore), is the support for volume/panning/pitch envelopes and especially NNAs. The New Note Action option means that when you play a new note, the old one doesn't have to be cut abruptly, but can fade in the background, for example. If you are just starting to write your own mod music, I recommend starting with S3M modules (Or IT modules with no instruments), and then get yourself used to the volume envelopes and NNA effects.


Keyboard shortcuts

•	Basic shortcuts

•	Keyboard shortcuts in the Global window

•	Keyboard shortcuts in the Pattern window

•	Keyboard shortcuts in the Sample window

•	Keyboard shortcuts in the Instrument window

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Basic keyboard shortcuts

Ctrl+N: New song
Ctrl+O: Open song
Ctrl+S: Save song
Ctrl+5: Select All
Ctrl+C: Copy
Ctrl+V: Paste
Ctrl+X: Cut
Ctrl+Y: Redo
Ctrl+Z: Undo
Ctrl+Ins: Copy
Shift+Ins: Paste
F5: Play song
F6: Play song from the start
F8, ESC: Pause song
Alt+G: View Globals
Alt+N: View Instruments
Alt+P: View Patterns
Alt+S: View Samples
KeyPad /: Previous Octave
KeyPad *: Next Octave
Ctrl+KeyPad / or Ctrl+Up Arrow: Previous Instrument
Ctrl+KeyPad * or Ctrl+Dn Arrow: Next Instrument

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Keyboard shortcuts in the Order List (sequence) window

Insert: Insert pattern in sequence
Delete: Remove pattern from sequence

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Keyboard shortcuts in the Pattern window

Shift+Arrow Keys: Select
Home: Move cursor to channel 1. Pressing Home twice will jump to row 0
End: Move cursor to last channel. Pressing End twice will jump to the last row
Tab: Move cursor to next channel
Shift+Tab: Move cursor to previous channel
Ins: Insert a row in the selected column(s)
Del: Cut the selection
BackSpace: Delete a row in the selected column(s)
Ctrl+Home: Move cursor to the first row (row 0)
Ctrl+End: Move cursor to the last row
Ctrl+F7: Play pattern from the current row
F7: Play pattern from the begining
KeyPad Plus: Move to next pattern
KeyPad Minus: Move to previous pattern
Ctrl+Tab: Switch between order list and pattern window
Ctrl+Return: Play current row
Return: Pick Up note/instrument, volume, or effect under the cursor
Space: Put back what was previously picked up with enter
Ctrl+Left: Jump to previous pattern in the order list
Ctrl+Right: Jump to next pattern in the order list
Ctrl+Q: Transpose selection one halftone up
Ctrl+A: Transpose selection one halftone down
Ctrl+Shift+Q: Transpose selection one octave up
Ctrl+Shift+A: Transpose selection one octave down
Ctrl+F: Find
Ctrl+J: Interpolate volume
Ctrl+K: Interpolate effect
Ctrl+L: Select current column
F3: Find Next
See also: Pattern Window .

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Keyboard shortcuts in the Sample window

Cut: Cut the selection

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Keyboard shortcuts in the Instrument window

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Other Keyboard shortcuts


Main Window controls

•	Base Octave

•	Tempo

•	Speed

•	Tree View

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Base Octave

This number represent the base octave used for editing notes. The dialog in the View-Setup menu allows you to customize your keyboard, so that the keys are mapped on up to 3 octaves: Base_Octave-1, Base_Octave, and Base_Octave+1. The initial Base Octave is 5, which means that if you type the D# key for Base_Octave+1, the note played will be a D#6. You can set the Base Octave from 1 to 8.

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Tempo

This number represents the current tempo (in BPMs) of the song currently playing. You can change the tempo, but it will be overridden by any tempo effects present in the song. The BPM displayed is accurate for a speed of 6.

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Speed

This number represents the current speed of the song, which is a tempo divider: higher number means slower tempo. It is the number of beats (ticks) for each row of the song. Like the tempo, you can change the speed of the current song being played, but it will be overridden by any speed effects present in the song.

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Tree View

The tree view on left of the screen displays the installed sound banks, the midi library (used when importing midi files), the instrument library (a simple instrument/sample browser), and all the songs currently opened.
You can right-click on any item, which will bring a menu with different operation you can perform on it. The hilighted operation is the default operation that will be performed if you double-click on the item.
You can drag and drop items from and to the tree:

•	You can drag a file from the instrument library to an instrument in the midi library, which will assign a specific midi instrument to this file.

•	You can drag and drop pattern numbers in the sequence list, to easily reorder the pattern sequence

•	You can drag patterns, samples and instruments from the tree to the pattern, sample, or instrument screen to edit them (also with double-click)

•	You can browse songs as if it was a folder with samples and instruments, simply drag and drop a sample to the sample editor to open it

You can also use the keyboard in the tree:

•	Pressing Enter is equivalent to a mouse double-click

•	Pressing Space will play the selected item (samples and instruments only)

•	Pressing Delete will remove the item (Files from the instrument library will be sent to the Recycle Bin).


Pattern Window

The following commands are available in the pattern window:

•	New Pattern

•	Play Pattern

•	Stop Pattern

•	Record Button

•	Follow Song

•	Sequence Controls

•	Spacing

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New Pattern

This command, available in the pattern toolbar, creates a new pattern in the song.
There is a limit of 240 patterns in a song.

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Stop Pattern

This command stops playing the current pattern.

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Play Pattern (F7)

This command will keep playing the current pattern (looping).

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Record Button

When this button is down (Record Mode), playing notes on the keyboard will record them in the current pattern. If the button is up (Play Mode), the notes will be played, but the pattern will remain unchanged.

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Follow Song

When this option is used, the cursor in the pattern window will follow the music. It will display the current playing pattern, and highlight the current row.

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Sequence Controls

These controls allow you to navigate through the song, and edit the pattern sequence (Pattern Order List).

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Spacing

The spacing is the number of rows skipped when entering a new note


Sample Window

The following commands are available in the sample window:

•	New Sample

•	Import Sample

•	Export Sample

•	Test Sample

•	Normalize

•	Amplify

•	Resample

•	Reverse

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New Sample

This command, available in the sample toolbar, inserts a new sample in the song (It doesn't overwrite the current sample).
There is a limit of 199 samples in a song.

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Import Sample

This command allows you to import a sample from a WAV,PAT,XI,SND,AIFF file. (You can also load any file as raw sample data).

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Export Sample

This command allows you to export the current sample as a WAVE file.

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Test Sample

This small button plays a middle C (C-5) using the current sample, or stops it if the sample is currently playing.

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Normalize

This function will normalize the current sample, so it will use the full-scale 8-bit or 16-bit, and having the best possible SNR

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Amplify

This function will amplify the current sample. It is better to used the Normalize function, since amplifying too much a sample can make it clip

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Resample

The resample function will change the length of the current sample

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Reverse

This command will reverse the currnt sample


Instrument Window

The following commands are available in the instrument window:

•	New Instrument

•	Import Instrument

•	Export Instrument

•	Test Instrument

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New Instrument

This command, available in the instrument toolbar, inserts a new instrument in the song (It doesn't overwrite the current instrument).
There is a limit of 199 instruments in a song.

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Import Instrument

This command allows you to import an instrument from a XI or PAT file.
It will also create new samples, since an instrument can have one or more samples associated with it.

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Export Instrument

This command allows you to export the current sample as a XI file.

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Test Instrument

This small button plays a middle C (C-5) using the current instrument, or stops it if the instrument is currently playing.


Introduction

•	Software Information

•	System Requirements

•	Contact / Technical Support

•	Command Line Switches

•	Technical Information

•	Tracker features

•	Credits

•	History

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Software Information

ModPlug Tracker is a freeware and may be freely distributed. As it is a freeware, I am not responsible for any problems that could be caused by the usage of this program.
THIS PROGRAM IS ONLY INTENDED FOR NON-COMMERCIAL USE.
(FAQ: Yes, you can release your songs created with MPT commercially)
My only goal for writing ModPlug Tracker is to try to spread out tracked music, taking it out of DOS-World, and try to keep it free.

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System Requirements

* Minimum Requirements:
- Pentium 133MHz
- 16MB of memory
- Windows 95/98, Windows NT 3.51 or higher.
- A 16-bit soundcard with 32-bit drivers.
- 800x600x8 screen resolution

* Recommended configuration:
- Pentium MMX 166MHz or above
- 32MB of memory
- DirectX 5.0
- 1024x768x8 screen resolution

* Optimal configuration:
- Pentium II 233MHz
- 64MB of memory
- AGP Graphics Accelerator
- DirectX 6

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Contact / Technical Support

For any technical questions, or bug report, you can contact me at "olivierl@jps.net". Also check often the ModPlug Central web site for the latest releases: "http://www.castlex.com/modplug". (I usually also have beta versions on my home page at "http://www.jps.net/olivierl", but it might be buggy, and the site is not as fast).

Please try to be precise when sending me bug reports (I don't really have the time for 'This song doesn't play right.'. If possible, try to localise the problem by creating a short song with a couple of patterns reproducing the bug.

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Command Line Switches

The following switches are available when launching Modplug Tracker:

•	-nologo: Do not display the splash screen when starting

•	-nomp3: Disable MPEG Layer3 encoding

•	-noacm: Do not use ACM codecs for encoding

•	-nodls: Do not load sound banks

•	-wavex: Enable multichannel audio support

You can use these switches if you experience problems when loading Modplug Tracker.
Example: mptrack -nologo -nomp3

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Technical Information

ModPlug Tracker is a 32-bit Win32 application, featuring a lot of options to create the best possible output (Up to 48KHz, 16-bit, stereo):
- 32-bit internal precision for mixing, dithered to 16-bit.
- Very high quality resampling filter.
- Support for MMX acceleration
- Volume Ramping option, to suppress pops and clicks due to sample offsets,   and big volume changes (Also creates more realistic volume slides).
- Digital Bass Expansion digital low-pass filter (filter range and depth   customizable in Advanced Player Options)
- Dolby Pro-Logic Surround support with custom delay and 100Hz-7KHz filter depth.
- Reverberator engine, with 6 different presets. - Noise Reduction: attenuation of the background noise by filtering very high   frequencies in the sound.
- Stereo Separation option (25%-400%), useful for headphones.
- 5-bands Graphic Equalizer (requires fast floating point support).
- DirectSound support for low-latency mixing on hardware-accelerated soundcards

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Tracker Features

- Up to 64 channels supported for editing (up to 96 virtual channels)
- The following formats are supported for import:
- *.669: UNIS 669, 669 Composer modules.
- *.AMS: Velvet Studio AMS 1.x modules.
- *.AMF: Asylum / DSMI modules.
- *.DSM: DSIK modules.
- *.FAR: Farandole Composer modules.
- *.IT:  Impulse Tracker modules.
- *.MDL: DigiTracker 1.x modules.
- *.MID: Midi Files.
- *.MOD: ProTracker modules (4-32 channels, 15/31 samples).
- *.MTM: MultiTracker modules.
- *.NST: NoiseTracker modules.
- *.OKT: Oktalyzer Modules.
- *.S3M: ScreamTracker III modules.
- *.STM: ScreamTracker II modules.
- *.ULT: UltraTracker modules (buggy).
- *.WOW: Grave Composer modules.
- *.XM:  FastTracker II modules.
- All the above when zipped (*.MDZ, *.S3Z, *.XMZ, *.ITZ, *.ZIP).

- ModPlug Tracker can save in the following formats:
- IT:  Impulse Tracker modules.
- MOD: ProTracker modules (4-32 channels, 15/31 samples).
- S3M: ScreamTracker III modules.
- XM:  FastTracker II modules.
- WAV: Wave Files (Direct-to-disk recording 8/16/24-bit, mono/stereo)

- There is two display modes, to respect FT2/IT notation: MOD/XM (commands   are displayed from 0 to X) and S3M/IT (commands are displayed from A to Z)
- You can edit multiple songs at the same time.
- The following sample formats are supported in the current version:
- *.WAV: Uncompressed Windows Wave File (PCM 8/16bit, mono/stereo).
- *.XI: Samples from XI instruments.
- *.PAT: UltraSound GF1 Patches (8/16-bit mono)
- *.S3I/*.SMP: ScreamTracker 3 / DigiTracker Samples
- *.ITS: Impulse Tracker Samples
- *.RAW: Support for importing any file as RAW sample data.
- *.AIF/*.AIFF/*.8SVX/*.8SV: Apple AIFF and 8SVX Audio Files
- Since beta3, Modplug Tracker now also supports the following sound banks:
- *.DLS: Downloadable Sounds Banks
- *.SF2: SoundFont 2.0 Sound Banks
- FastTracker II XI and Impulse Tracker ITI instruments are supported for   import/export.
- Copy/Paste between different songs. It also allows you to use a windows-based   sample editor, and paste the samples directly into your song.

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Credits

This list should be much longer, but thanks to everybody who contributed with feedback, bug reports, and suggestions to the development of Modplug Tracker.
Special thanks to
Mister X AKA Kim: Modplug Central (most poeple wouldn't even know about Modplug without him)
Maz: Always a great software source for mod-related tools.
Static Lab (about box logo), Zola, Wolfe Bowers, Martin DobSchmi, Cantaloup, SiDEWiNDER, Cris and the Clones, Rani Assaf (linux-gmodplay-port), Steve Gilmore, Carsten Mussig, John Steel, Olaf Grebe

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History

•	1.09 - (August 1999)

- Undo button in the pattern editor
- New reverberator engine (much better)
- Major improvements in the instrument library: you can now browse   samples inside a song, and drag and drop samples between different songs.

•	1.08 - (July 1999)

- Minor improvements, VU-Meters, pattern undo, etc

•	1.04 - Modplug Tracker Final Release (February 1999)

- Lots of improvements and new features. Midi-Out and help update will be for a future release (1.1?)
- Chord Editor
- Drag and Drop editing
- MPEG Layer3 encoding (if an external encoder is present)

•	1.00b3 - beta 3

- Lots of bug fixes, and improvements
- The sample library is working: you can drag files from the sample library   to the sample/instrument editor.
- Support for standard sound banks: You can now install  DLS and SF2 sound banks.

•	1.00b - beta

This is the first public release of ModPlug Tracker Beta (June 18, 1998). The help file is still quite small, but the interface has been completely redesigned, so it's MUCH easier to use. Drawing in the pattern editor needs to be optimized. This release also include basic Midi support (no sync on midi clock yet) and low-latency DirectSound buffers.

•	1.00a - alpha

This is the first alpha release of ModPlug Tracker (October 15, 1997). A lot of features are still missing, but the copy/cut/paste, and support for XI instruments makes ModPlug Tracker good enough for an alpha version. I have to work on the help too.

•	0.0xa - pre-alpha:

This is the first public release of ModPlug Tracker (09/19/97).


Modplug Tracker Setup

The setup screen allows you to customize most functions of Modplug Tracker. You can access the setup through the View menu, or from the setup button in the main toolbar.

•	General setup

•	Sound Card setup

•	Player setup

•	Equalizer setup

•	Keyboard setup

•	Colors setup

•	Midi setup

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General Setup

The general setup screen allows you to configure the default directories used when opening songs, samples and instruments. You can also select miscellaneous options of Modplug Tracker: each of them has a little description displayed next to the option list.

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Sound Card Setup

•	Sound Device: This allows you to select a sound device from all the devices available in your system. I recommend using the 'Primary Sound Driver', which is the default DirectSound driver, or any other DirectSound driver available. If you can't hear any sound or if the sound skips too much, try using the 'DirectSound Secondary Buffers' option, with a 50-100ms sound buffer length. If this still doesn't work, then you can disable directsound, by using a wave driver, but you will probably experience a long latency (delayed response) when playing notes.

•	Buffer length: This allows you to control the length of the sound buffer length. The smaller, the better, but you might experience noise if you set it to a too small value. Usually, 100 ms should work in most computers. Note that this doesn't affect DirectSound if you didn't check the 'use secondary buffers' option.

•	Enable MMX Acceleration: It kinda speaks for itself. If you have an MMX processor, you should use this option, since it will take less CPU to mix. (it will be grayed out if your processor doesn't support MMX extensions) Note that it will not make a big difference on a Pentium II, since the regular multiply instructions are very fast, but it makes a big difference on MMX Pentiums (P55C).

•	Mixing Quality: This selects the output mixing frequency: the bigger, the better, but it will also take more CPU. Make sure you read the documentation of your soundcard if you want to use 48KHz: the best quality is the same frequency than the codec of your soundcard (usually 44.1KHz or 48KHz

•	Stereo, 16-Bit: Always turn on these options, unless you have a old soundcard that doesn't support 16-bit mixing. 16-Bit mixing has a much better quality than 8-bit, and doesn't take more CPU. If you have a slow computer (486, or non-MMX Pentium slower than 133MHz), or if you have mono speakers, you can disable the stereo since mixing will be much faster. On MMX processors, stereo doesn't take more time than mono mixing.

•	Max. Polyphony: This sets a maximum of voices that will be mixed simultaneously. The default of 32 voices is a very good value. Use more if you have a very fast PC, or less (24 is pretty good). Usually, you won't notice a difference in the sound quality. (Note that channels playing at zero volume are not counted in the active channels. In case too many channels are being played, Modplug will cut the channels with the lowest volume)

•	Stereo Separation: I recommend using this option only when you're using headphones, since a high stereo separation can be annoying, otherwise, you should always leave the slider at the middle (normal stereo separation).

•	Headphones: When this option is enabled, the player uses a softer panning mode, better tuned for headphones listening

•	Pre-Amp: This slider selects the overall amplification of the mixing. When the AGC is not active, too high values might cause clipping in the sound (distortion). It's up to you (the composer) to adjust the overall volume of your song so that the level isn't too loud or too quiet. Use the global volume effects or the song volume slider (In the General view) to control the overall volume of the song.

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Player Setup

•	Bass Expansion
This option will amplify all low-frequencies in the sound. It can be pretty useful since each channel has a limited volume, and it is much better to use the bass expansion than playing 4 times the same sample on 4 different channels, or to [even worse] to over-amplify a sample causing it to clip, like in a lot of older amiga MODs. Like all other effects, don't push it too much. A little bit is good, with both the range and depth sliders set to 25%.

•	Reverb
The reverb can make the final mix more 'rich'. Like all other effects, don't over-use it. A strong reverb can sound great on some songs, but can also sound bad on others. I recommend using a medium depth (50%). This version of Modplug Tracker has a completely new reverberator engine, much better than in earlier 1.09 versions.

•	Pro-Logic Surround
I recommend using this option, especially if you have a Pro-Logic decoder, but like all other effects, don't make it too strong or else it will sound weird. Use a small delay (a bigger delay can be useful when mixed with the reverb), and a medium depth.

•	Disable Resampling
There is no reason to disable the resampling unless you have an extremely slow CPU (or if you have a bad hearing and can't hear high noisy frequencies :)

•	Use Multi-Point Resampling
Always use this option if you have a fast processor (P200+), or when using the Save As Wave option. You will get a much better quality in the mixing.

•	Noise Reduction
The noise reduction is a simple filter for very high frequencies. If you find that you have too much high-frequency noise, you can try using this option, but I personally don't recommend using it since it is a very simple -6dB/octave low-pass filter for very high frequencies (not very high quality).

•	Enable Graphic Equalizer
This enables the 6-bands graphic equalizer (See below for more details). This option will be available only on pentium processors, since the floating point unit of slower CPUs (486 and some Cyrix processors) would barely make it in real time.

•	Automatic Gain Control
If this option is checked, the player will decrease the overall amplification if the song is too loud (causing distortion). I don't recommend using this with Modplug Tracker, since you should adjust the overall volume of the song so that it doesn't cause distortion.

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Equalizer Setup

This section allows you to control the gain (or attenuation) for each of the 6 frequency bands: 125Hz, 300Hz, 600Hz, 1.2kHz, 4kHz and 8kHz. The gain for each frequency band goes from -12dB to +12dB. Like any other effect, try not to abuse of the EQ, especially if you're a composer, since listeners might not have the same EQ preferences. Since Modplug Tracker v1.09, you can also select the center frequency for each band, by right-clicking on the slider, and save up to 4 different presets

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Keyboard Setup

This section allows you to customize the keyboard so that you can assign a note to a key. You can have up to 3 octaves on the keyboard, but all notes assigned to the spacebar will be ignored (You can use only 2 octaves if you map all the notes in an octave to the spacebar). The 'Enable FT2 shortcut keys' option allows you to use the right-ctrl and right-alt (AltGr) as shortcuts for Play and Play Pattern.
See also: Keyboard Shortcuts

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Colors Setup

You can customize most of the colors used in Modplug Tracker by selecting an item and changing the corresponding colors.

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Midi Setup

This section allows you to select the midi input device used by ModPlug Tracker when recording from an external midi keyboard. Both checkboxes should be checked, unless you have a specific reason for not wanting it.

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Back to the top


Effects List
Effect List

•	IT (Impulse Tracker) Effects

•	XM (FastTracker II) Effects

•	S3M (ScreamTracker III) Effects

•	MOD (ProTracker) Effects

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IT (Impulse Tracker) Effects

•	Axy: Set Speed

•	Bxy: Position Jump

•	Cxy: Pattern Break

•	Dxy: Volume Slide

•	Exy: Portamento Down

•	Fxy: Portamento Up

•	Gxy: Tone-Portamento

•	Hxy: Vibrato

•	Ixy: Tremor

•	Jxy: Arpeggio

•	Kxy: Vibrato + Volume Slide

•	Lxy: Tone-Portamento + Volume Slide

•	Mxy: Set Channel Volume

•	Nxy: Channel Volume Slide

•	Oxy: Set Sample Offset

•	Pxy: Panning Slide

•	Qxy: Retrig

•	Rxy: Tremolo

•	Sxy: Extended S3M Commands

•	Txy: Set Tempo

•	Uxy: Fine Vibrato

•	Vxy: Set Global Volume

•	Wxy: Global Volume Slide

•	Xxy: Set Panning

•	Yxy: Panbrello

•	Zxy: Macros

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XM (FastTracker II) Effects

•	0xy: Arpeggio

•	1xy: Portamento Up

•	2xy: Portamento Down

•	3xy: Tone-Portamento

•	4xy: Vibrato

•	5xy: Tone-Portamento + Volume Slide

•	6xy: Vibrato + Volume Slide

•	7xy: Tremolo

•	8xy: Set Panning

•	9xy: Set Sample Offset

•	Axy: Volume Slide

•	Bxy: Position Jump

•	Cxy: Set Volume

•	Dxy: Pattern Break

•	Exy: Extended MOD Commands

•	Fxy: Set Speed/Tempo

•	Gxy: Set Global Volume

•	Hxy: Global Volume Slide

•	Kxy: Key Off

•	Lxy: Set Envelope Position

•	Pxy: Panning Slide

•	Rxy: Retrig

•	Txy: Tremor

•	Xxy: Extended XM effects

•	Zxy: Macros

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S3M (ScreamTracker III) Effects

•	Axy: Set Speed

•	Bxy: Position Jump

•	Cxy: Pattern Break

•	Dxy: Volume Slide

•	Exy: Portamento Down

•	Fxy: Portamento Up

•	Gxy: Tone-Portamento

•	Hxy: Vibrato

•	Ixy: Tremor

•	Jxy: Arpeggio

•	Kxy: Vibrato + Volume Slide

•	Lxy: Tone-Portamento + Volume Slide

•	Mxy: Set Channel Volume

•	Nxy: Channel Volume Slide

•	Oxy: Set Sample Offset

•	Pxy: Panning Slide

•	Qxy: Retrig

•	Rxy: Tremolo

•	Sxy: Extended S3M Commands

•	Txy: Set Tempo

•	Uxy: Fine Vibrato

•	Vxy: Set Global Volume

•	Wxy: Global Volume Slide

•	Xxy: Set Panning

•	Yxy: Panbrello

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MOD (ProTracker) Effects

•	0xy: Arpeggio

•	1xy: Portamento Up

•	2xy: Portamento Down

•	3xy: Tone-Portamento

•	4xy: Vibrato

•	5xy: Tone-Portamento + Volume Slide

•	6xy: Vibrato + Volume Slide

•	7xy: Tremolo

•	8xy: Set Panning

•	9xy: Set Sample Offset

•	Axy: Volume Slide

•	Bxy: Position Jump

•	Cxy: Set Volume

•	Dxy: Pattern Break

•	Exy: Extended MOD Commands

•	Fxy: Set Speed/Tempo

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Arpeggio (MOD/XM: 0xy, S3M/IT: Jxy)
Cycles between note, note+x halftones, note+y halftones. Ex: S3M/IT: C-4 01 .. J37 (MOD/XM: C-4 01 .. J37)     This will play C-4, D#4 and G-4 Note: if both x and y are zero, this command is ignored in MOD/XM. In S3M/IT modules, J00 uses the previous value.

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Portamento Up (MOD/XM: 1xy, S3M/IT: Fxy)
This will slide up the pitch of the current note being played by the given speed. In S3M/IT mode, FFx if a fine portamento up by x, and FEx is a extra-fine portamento up.

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Portamento Down (MOD/XM: 2xy, S3M/IT: Exy)
This will slide down the pitch of the current note being played by the given speed. In S3M/IT mode, EFx if a fine portamento down by x, and EEx is a extra-fine portamento up.

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Tone-Portamento (MOD/XM: 3xy, S3M/IT: Gxy)
This command is used together with a note, and will bend the current pitch at the given speed towards the specified note. Ex: C-4 01 ..
F-4 .. .. G05  (bend the note up towards F-4)
... .. .. G00  (continue to slide up, until F-4 is reached)
If the glissando command has been used before, the pitch will be rounded to the nearest halftone.

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Vibrato (MOD/XM: 4xy, S3M/IT: Hxy)
Vibrato with speed x and depth y. This command will oscillate the frequency of the current note with a sine wave. (You can change the vibrato waveform to a triangle wave, a square wave, or a random table by using the E4x (MOD/XM) or S3x (S3M/IT) command)

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Tone-Portamento + Volume Slide (MOD/XM: 5xy, S3M/IT: Lxy)

See also: Tone-Portamento ,  Volume Slide .This command is equivalent to Tone-Portamento and Volume Slide. (MOD/XM: 300 + Axy, S3M/IT: G00 + Dxy)

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Vibrato + Volume Slide (MOD/XM: 6xy, S3M/IT: Kxy)

See also: Vibrato ,  Volume Slide .This command is equivalent to Vibrato and Volume Slide. (MOD/XM: 400 + Axy, S3M/IT: H00 + Dxy or U00 + Dxy)

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Tremolo (MOD/XM: 7xy, S3M/IT: Rxy)
Similar to the vibrato, but changes the volume instead of the pitch.

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Set Panning (MOD/XM: 8xx, S3M/IT: Xxy)
This commands sets the pan position of the current channel. In XM/IT, the value ranges from 00 (left) to FF (right). In MOD/S3M, the value ranges from 00 (left) to 80 (right). If the value is A4 (In MOD/S3M), the command sets the channel panning as Surround.

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Set Sample Offset (MOD/XM: 9xx, S3M/IT: Oxx)
This command, when used together with a note, will start playing the sample at the position xx*256 (instead of position 0). If xx is 00 (900 or O00), the previous value will be used.

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Volume Slide (MOD/XM: Axy, S3M/IT: Dxy)
This command will slide up or down the current volume: A0x will decrease the current volume by x on every tick.
Ax0 will increase the current volume by x on every tick.
Total slide amount is x * (current_speed-1)
Special note for S3M/IT:
AFx will do a fine volume down by x.
AxF will do a fine volume up by x.
For fine volume slides, the total slide amount is x (The current speed doesn't matter).

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Position Jump (MOD/XM/S3M/IT: Bxy)
This command will cause the player to jump to the pattern position xy (hex). Ie: B00 will restart the song from the start. If used together with a pattern break, you can also specify the starting row (by default, it will play from the start of the pattern). Note that most players (Including Modplug Player) disable backward jumps in the song if looping mode isn't enabled, so that it is not possible to loop a song forever (pretty annoying in a playlist).

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Set Volume (MOD/XM: Cxx, S3M/IT: undefined)
This command will set the current volume to xx (hex). Note that the maximum value is 40 (hex). It is better to use the volume column for volume effects, except in MOD songs, since the volume column isn't saved in the file. (Modplug Tracker will replace volume column effects by Cxx commands when saving as a MOD file).

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Pattern Break (MOD/XM: Dxx, S3M/IT:Cxx)
This command will stop playing the current pattern and will jump to the next one in the order list (pattern sequence). You can also select the row where to start the next pattern. Note that the specified row xx is in Hex (Ie D20 will jump to the 32nd row of the next pattern).

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Extended MOD Commands (MOD/XM: Exy, S3M/IT:undefined)

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Set Speed/Tempo (MOD/XM: Fxx, S3M/IT:undefined)
This command can either set the speed (xx smallet than 20) or the tempo (xx greater than 20) of the song. Avoid using 20 as a parameter, since it can cause problem in some players. In MOD, F20 will set the SPEED of the song, but in XM, F20 will set the TEMPO (bpm) of the song. This value is in Hex.

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Set Speed (MOD/XM: undefined, S3M/IT:Axx)
This command will set the speed of the current song (Hex). Avoid using values bigger than 20, for better MOD/XM compatibility.

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Set Tempo (MOD/XM: undefined, S3M/IT:Txx)
This command will change the tempo of the song (Hex). The minimum value is T20, and the maximum possible value is TFF.
The default tempo is 125 (T7D), which is equivalent to one tick every 20ms (50Hz)
Note: T0x will decrease the current tempo by x
T1x will increase the current tempo by x

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Tremor (MOD: undefined, XM: Txy, S3M/IT:Ixy)
This effect will turn on and off the current channel every frame: T[ontime][offtime].
x=ontime, y=offtime: the volume will stay unchanged for x frames, and then muted for y frames.
Note: The exact duration of the ontime/offtime is different for MOD, XM and S3M/IT.

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Set Channel Volume (MOD/XM: undefined, S3M/IT:Mxy)
This effect sets the master volume of the current channel. It will affect the volume of all notes being played on this channel.
Final Volume = master_volume * channel_volume * instrument_global_volume * sample_global_volume * envelope_volume * current_volume

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Channel Volume Slide (MOD/XM: undefined, S3M/IT:Nxy)
This effects slides up or down the volume of the current channel. It works the same way than the volume slide  effect.

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Panning Slide (MOD: undefined, XM/S3M/IT:Pxy)
This effects works exactly like a volume slide, but will slide the panning of the current channel.

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Retrig (MOD:undefined, XM:Rxy, S3M/IT:Qxy)

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Extended S3M commands (MOD/XM:undefined, S3M/IT:Sxy)

•	S1x: Glissando Control
Active (S11) or desactive (S10) the glissando.
When glissando is active, tone-portamento effects will slide by semitones.

•	S2x: Set finetune
This effect is only provided for MOD compatibility.

•	S3x: Set vibrato waveform
S30,S34: Sine
S31,S35: Triangle
S32,S36: Square
S33,S37: Random
For S34,S35,S36,S37, the vibrato position will not be reset to zero when a new note is being played.

•	S4x: Set tremolo waveform
Same thing then S3x, but selects the tremolo waveform.

•	S5x: Set panbrello waveform
Same thing then S3x, but selects the panbrello waveform.

•	S6x: Pattern delay for x frames
This will delay the playback of the current row by x ticks (beats).

•	S7x: Envelope and New Note Action (NNA) control
S70: Cut all background notes: this will cut all the notes that have been triggered by NNA effects
S71: Release all background notes: this is similar to S70, but with Key Off instead of Cut
S72: Fade all background notes: similar to S70, but will fade the notes, using the fadeout value of the instrument
S73: Set NNA to Note Cut
S74: Set NNA to Continue
S75: Set NNA to Note Off
S76: Set NNA to Note Fade
S77: Disable volume envelope
S78: Enable volume envelope
S79: Disable panning envelope
S7A: Enable panning envelope
S7B: Disable pitch/filter envelope
S7C: Enable pitch/Filter envelope

•	S8x: Set Panning
This will set the panning from S80 (left) to S8F (right)

•	S9x: Extended Channel Effects
S90: Disable surround for the current channel
S91: Enable surround for the current channel. Note that a panning effect will automatically desactive the surround, unless the 4-way (Quad) surround mode has been activated with the S9B effect.
S98: Disable reverb for this channel
S99: Force reverb for this channel
S9A: Select mono surround mode (center channel). This is the default
S9B: Select quad surround mode: this allows you to pan in the rear channels, especially useful for 4-speakers playback. Note that S9A and S9B do not activate the surround for the current channel, it is a global setting that will affect the behavior of the surround for all channels. You can enable or disable the surround for individual channels by using the S90 and S91 effects. In quad surround mode, the channel surround will stay active until explicitely disabled by a S90 effect
S9C: Select global filter mode (IT compatibility). This is the default, when resonant filters are enabled with a Zxx effect, they will stay active until explicitely disabled by setting the cutoff frequency to the maximum (Z7F), and the resonance to the minimum (Z80).
S9D: Select local filter mode (MPT beta compatibility): when this mode is selected, the resonant filter will only affetc the current note. It will be deactivated when a new note is being played.
S9E: Play forward. You may use this to temporarily force the direction of a bidirectional loop to go forward.
S9F: Play backward. The current instrument will be played backwards, or it will temporarily set the direction of a loop to go backward.

•	SAx: Set High Offset
This will set the high part of the offset (only works for sample bigger than 64K. The value x*64K will be added to the next offset effect.

•	SBx: Pattern Loop
SB0 will set the loop start row
SBx will repeat x times the loop, by jumping to the loopstart row

•	SCx: Note cut after x frames
The current note will be cut (volume set to zero) after x ticks

•	SDx: Note delay
The specified note will be delayed by x frames (ticks) before starting

•	SEx: Pattern Delay
This will delay the playback of the current pattern by x rows.

•	SFx: Select active macro
This will select the active macro SFx, so the next Zxx effect will use the new macro.

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Fine Vibrato (MOD/XM:undefined, S3M/IT:Uxy)
This effect is identicatal to the vibrato, but has a 4x smaller amplitude (more precise).

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Set Global Volume (MOD:undefined, XM:Gxx, S3M/IT:Vxx)

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Global Volume Slide (MOD:undefined, XM:Hxy, S3M/IT:Wxy)

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Panbrello (MOD:undefined, XM/S3M/IT:Yxy)
Similar to the vibrato, but affects the panning

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Macros (MOD:undefined, XM/S3M/IT:Zxy)

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Key Off (MOD/S3M/IT:undefined, XM:Kxx)

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Set Envelope Position (MOD/S3M/IT:undefined, XM:Lxx)
This will set the envelope position to tick xx.

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Extended XM Effects (MOD/S3M/IT:undefined, XM:Xxy)

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Getting Started
Using the tracker (by Zola)

The General screen

In this screen, the basic parameters of the song are set. Most are self-explanatory. It should be noted that if you begin a tune with a  set number of channels and decide to add more, this is the screen you want. Simply select the [change] option, and select the number of channels desired from the pull-down menu. This is also the place where you can convert to other  formats. Again, select [change] and choose the file format and number of channels desired. Don't forget to save!

The Pattern screen

Getting Around in the Pattern Screen

ModPlug is a true Windows tracker, thus navigation is done with the mouse. Simply point and click! (Yes, you can use the cursor if you are a diehard cursor fan!)

Entering information

In the default set-up, 6 channels are displayed at a time. You can view more channels using the scrollbar. Each channel has a set of columns within it:

.  .  .    .  .     .  .    .  .  .       Empty columns
C-5     .  .     .  .    .  .  .       Note column (C5 being the note C in the fifth octave)
.  .  .    01     .  .    .  .  .       Sample/Instrument Column
.  .  .    .  .   v56    .  .  .       Volume or Panning Column
.  .  .    .  .     .  .    E22       Effects Column

The note column is where the notes are entered. On a qwerty keyboard, the top row (qwerty etc) would represent C4-B4, the next C5-B5, and the bottom C6-B6. Simply press the key to enter the note.

If you want to enter the same note repeatedly, highlight the note and press the [enter] key.  Then use the spacebar to enter the notes. (This also works with the other columns) To control how many rows are skipped between notes, enter the number in the [spacing] box. [0] means that the note entered will remain highlighted. [1] will automatically move the highlight to the next row, and so on.

Blocks

To highlight a block, click on the beginning of the block. Holding down the left mouse key, drag the highlight to where you want it. Then right click to view options, such as changing the pitch of the note, copying, cutting, etc.

Effects
ModPlug Tracker supports effects for the IT/S3M format, and the XM/MOD format. Which set of effects used depends on the type of module loaded or created in the tracker. For a complete list of these effects, please check the documentation for that particular type of tracker.

The Sample screen

Entering samples

Select [new sample], the icon in the upper left-hand corner of the sample screen. Then select the small folder icon to import the sample. To change a sample, display the sample you want to replace and use the folder icon to get the new sample.

Listen to sample

Samples can be listened to by clicking the button with the small musical notes on it.

Manipulate samples

Samples can be amplified, normalized, reversed and resampled according to your needs.  Loops can be created by turning the loop option on and selecting the beginning and ending of the loop. The start point and end point will be represented by lines through the sample.  Loops play continuously. To stop playback at any time, select the [stop] button on the tool bar.

The Instrument screen

Entering Instruments

Instruments can be created in two ways. First, select [new instrument] in the upper left-hand corner of the instrument screen.  Then either use the folder icon to load a previously saved instrument, or move to the [note mapping] section.  Change the numbers in the column to correspond to the sample you want. If you are using one sample only, simply enter the number once, then right click and select [map all notes to sample x].

Special note

If you are making changes to an existing mod, there may be [instruments] that are simply a line of type inserted by the previous author. In order to use these instruments, you must first delete the instrument (use the Windows explorer menu in the left screen, right click on the instrument name and select [delete instrument]), then follow the steps outlined above for entering an instrument.

Volume Envelope

Check the [use volume envelope] box. Right click on the black box and select [insert point]. You will need at least two points to create a volume envelope. The top of the screen is the maximum volume, the bottom, the minimum. Add points as necessary to make the volume fade in, fade out, or do other tricks.

Panning Envelope

Check the use [panning envelope] box. Works like the volume envelope except the line in the center represents the center panning position.  The top represents the right speaker, the bottom, the left.

The Comment screen

Enter information about your tune or yourself here.

Additional Help

This help menu assumes you know a little about tracking. If you don't, there are a lot of good web pages to help!

For Fast Tracker Help (XM):  http://start.at/fff

For Impulse Tracker Help (IT):  http://www.zolaweb.com/Zola