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======================================================= MOD-FAQ part 2 of 2 == FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) LIST FOR ALT.BINARIES.SOUNDS.MODS official release v2.8 dated 25.08.96 (DDMMYY) READ THIS BEFORE POSTING A QUESTION TO A.B.S.MODS, IT MIGHT BE ANSWERED HERE THIS IS THE SECOND OF TWO PARTS OF THIS FAQ, WHICH HAS BEEN SPLIT BECAUSE ITS LENGTH MIGHT OTHERWISE OFFEND SOME NEWSREADERS. Maintained by jester (Tobias Reckhard),jester@fmr.maschinenbau.th-darmstadt.de Copyright notice: This FAQ is copyright (c) 1994-1996 by jester (Tobias Reckhard), all rights reserved. Sections not written by myself are copyright (c) by the respective authors. This FAQ may be posted to any Usenet newsgroup, on-line service or BBS as long as it is posted in its entirety, includes this copyright statement and is the most recent version (reasonable effort to obtain this is required). This FAQ may not be distributed for financial gain. It may not be included in commercial collections or compilations without express permission from the maintainer. 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 ;) (Main sections are separated by a line of 78 equal signs (as below), subsections by 78 minusses, sub-subsections by 39 times "- " (corny ;) ) =========================================================================== === [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. The theory behind this is known as the Nyquist theorem. Another aspect of mods is the maximum size a sample is allowed to have. This varies in the file formats from 64 Kilobytes to virtually 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. Sample formats seem to be a very confusing subject in the mod community. Especially SAM and SMP don't seem to be at all well understood. Keep in mind that filename extensions can be arbitrarily chosen and changed in most operating systems, so they lose any identifier quality. Thus I consider sample formats those files which can be identified by some sort of header. SAM and SMP, when meaning MOD (i.e. M.K., xCHN, FLTx, NST, etc.) samples, do not have any header. They are simply data assembled in a file. A tracker using them decodes them to 8-bit raw signed sample data. But it assumes a playback rate to be used. Normally, finetune and loop values can not be stored in MOD samples (Fasttracker 1 circumvents this problem by abusing the file's date and time stamp). The only safe method to exchange MOD samples is to use these in MOD files and exchange these (if there are other safe ways on the Amiga or another platform, please correct me). See section 5.1.3 on how to convert to "SAM format". Additional information can be found (and is strongly recommended) in: The Audio File Formats FAQ by Guido van Rossum <guido@cwi.nl>, 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 This section supplied by Andy Church <achurch@goober.mbhs.edu>. Although the specific methods used for sampling vary from platform to platform and program to program, the general procedure is the same. The first thing you need to do is connect your sound source, such as an electronic keyboard, to the input of your sampler. Then you should start up your sampling program (if you haven't done so already). Many programs have a "monitoring mode" where you can listen to what you will be recording before you actually record. If possible, take advantage of this so that you can adjust the sampler's input level and your sound source's volume before sampling to avoid problems with volume (see below). When you have adjusted the volume, or if you do not have a monitoring mode, you can actually sample the sound. Usually this just involves clicking on a "Start" button, playing the sound on the sound source, and clicking on "Stop". Then you will probably be taken to an editor screen where you can see what you have recorded. You may discover one of two problems with your sample at this point (especially if you couldn't monitor the signal ahead of time): - If the overall volume is too low, you lose resolution and clarity in the sample. Generally, if the maximum amplitude of your sample (on a typical waveform display, represented by vertical distance from a central axis) is less than three-quarters of the total window height, your sample is too soft. For sounds that you want to be soft, you can adjust the volume later inside the module. - If the volume is too high, you get "clipping" when the input sound exceeds the limits of the sampler. If you see flat lines at the top and/or bottom of your sample display, or if you hear a lot of distortion, your sample is being clipped; you should reduce the volume or the sampler's input level and sample again. Once you have successfully sampled a sound, what you do next depends on what kind of sound you have sampled. If it is a "one-shot" sound - a sound that only plays once and does not repeat, such as a drum - you are done, and you can save the sample to disk, ready to be loaded into your module. However, if the sample is a continuous or repeating sound, like a flute, you will need to determine where to place the looping section of the sample. Determining the loop start and end points is usually a matter of careful listening and a lot of trial and error. Sometimes you will be able to look at the sample or a part of it and determine what part of the sample is repeating; often, however, you will just have to make a guess and play with the begin and end points until the sample sounds good. One thing to note when adjusting the loop points: since the sample right before the end point is immediately followed by the sample at the start point, those two samples should be very close if not equal in amplitude. Usually, this can be done by looking for "zero points" - places where the sample's waveform crosses the zero-axis - but any value will do. If the two samples are very different in amplitude, the result will be an audible "click" when the sample reaches the end of the loop. This is one easy way to tell whether your loop points are well-placed or not: if you hear a click while the sample is playing back which was not in the original sound, you need to move your loop points. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [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 by Brad Meier of Psychic Software, 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. ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/music/programs/frontend/dmpc260.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 H 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 section 5 on their obtainability). 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://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/music/programs/converters/convert13.zip Generally, most trackers read at least some form of raw sample data. If they output to some form of MOD format, they most probably read 8-bit signed data, while some PC trackers (most notably ST3) prefer unsigned samples. The more modern trackers which read 16-bit samples will most probably read some standard headered sample format, which makes conversion (with SOX, for example) pretty easy, so I won't elaborate on it. See your sample editor's or converter's documentation. To convert a sample from one filetype so that you can use it in a tracker for which only raw 8-bit data is suitable, you need: - an input file (yeah, why else would you be reading this, but you do need it) - a sample converter or editor that can write raw 8-bit data. - if this program can't read your input file you need another program to convert it to an interchangeable format type, such as WAV, IFF/S8VX or VOC, which are readable by most converters and editors. Go about it this way: If necessary, convert the input file to the interchange format, leaving its attributes untouched, if possible (which are the number of bits, channels and sampling rate). Now check to see if the sample will be suitable for the tracker. The main things to look for are sample size in converted state and the sampling rate. A lot of formats still impose limits on the sample size they are willing to deal with. Let's assume you have a limit of 64 KB, i.e. 65536 bytes. And that the tracker (or rather the format) uses 8-bit sample data. Assuming further that you have an input file that is a 16-bit stereo sample, you must divide that sample's size by four to estimate its size when converted so that it suits your tracker ('s format). Four because you divide by two when converting 16 to 8 bits, and by two again because your tracker can only use mono samples (sorry for having forgotten about this before). If the resulting approximate filesize (which is approximate because you haven't accounted for the file header in the calculation) is larger than your limit, write down your result and look at the sampling rate of the input file and the note that it plays at that sampling rate. It could well be that your tracker ('s format) uses a fixed sampling rate to reproduce a C in a certain octave and calculates the sampling rates to use for other notes with reference to this "master C playback sampling rate" (also known as CxSpd). So, if you have a sample with a different sampling rate than this CxSpd, the sample will sound off tune. Remember that the C is THE reference point in the tracker. This is getting too complicated, so I'll give an example. Say I want to convert this great Kurzweil 2000 patch for use in a M.K. tracker, in my case FastTracker 1 (as it imposes even harsher limits than PT). I know that FT1 only uses up to 64KB of a sample and that it uses raw 8-bit signed mono data. I also know that M.K.'s root C is the C-2 and that the playback sampling rate used for that note is 8287Hz for PAL Amiga systems (and I'm in Europe and NTSC Amigas are far too rare for me to care about). That's all I need to know about the target. I know that my source KRZ file is a multi-sample with five 16-bit signed mono samples in it. I use 2PAT (which has been renamed to AWAVE) or another program to tell me the KRZ file's information, which gives me the number of individual samples in the file, their note range, playback sampling rate and the note this rate represents. I then use 2PAT to extract the individual samples to WAV files (actually I already did that and looked up the information in the description file that was generated simultaneously). I like the third of the five samples and want to convert this one. The description reveals that it is 16-bit, mono and plays an A at a sampling rate of 32kHz. I want to tune my sample to C, so I look up appendix I in the MOD-FAQ and find that an A is associated to 440Hz and a C to 261.7Hz. From this I gather that I have to play the sample at ( 32000 * 261.7 / 440 = 19033 )Hz so it sounds like a C. So that's the first thing I do, I change the sample's playback rate to 19033Hz (NOTE: only changing the SPEED of the sample, no resampling involved). In my specific case, the sample I'm converting is not well suited to be played at more than one octave (this is the case with a lot of real-instrument samples). So I allow myself to use only the top M.K. octave (from C-3 to B-3) and resample from 19033Hz to 16574Hz (2 * 8287Hz), which represents a C-3 in M.K.. I do this while still in the 16 bit domain because of the larger precision (aliasing faults are less severe and interpolation is more exact). Then I convert the sample from 16-bit to 8-bit. If the input sample was pretty quiet, I'd probably maximize its volume first, thereby taking advantage of the 16 bits of resolution and reducing rounding errors. If my sample is now still larger than 64KB, I have four choices. I can resample the sample to 8287Hz (no aliasing errors induced, as this is downsampling by an integer) and halve the sample's size at the cost of losing high frequencies. I can also resample to a different note somewhere in between the C-2 and C-3, at the cost of having to transpose the instrument in the M.K. later (i.e. pitch shifting, as the note shown by the tracker isn't correct). My third choice is to crop the sample and find a good loop. My final choice is to apply a volume envelope to the sample and have it fade out fast enough to fit into the limit. Which method I choose depends on the sound I am converting. Quite often a combination of several processes will yield the best results. When I've finished the sample editing process, I either save it in an interchange format (if the editor doesn't support output in raw signed 8-bit mono data) which my converter understands, or I write the sample data to disk in raw signed 8-bit mono style. In the first case, I ask my converter to perform the just described conversion. Assuming I have written a WAV file and want to convert it to FT1-usable, I'd use SOX in the following manner: sox -V infile.WAV -ts8 outfile.SMP <- issued on the command line I could then load outfile.SMP into FastTracker 1. Hope this helps. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [5.2] Sample Editors and Converters - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [5.2.1] Amiga NHY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [5.2.2] Atari NHY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [5.2.3] Mac This section by Matthew E Centurion <mashoe+@CMU.EDU>. Sound Samplers/Editors for the Mac aren't too easy to find.. but the best Sound Editor for the Mac is "Macromind SoundEdit" (Versions include: SoundEdit, SoundEdit Pro, SoundEdit 16" etc..) This has to be one of the best sound recorders and editors for mac.. it has most if not all the options from all the other programs listed for other platforms and it can do more stuff.. It has tons of effects and other options: reverb, bending, speed, pitch, flanger, noise, equalizer, mixer, backwards, tone generator, FM Synthesis, precision mapping, spectrum/waveform/dots, up to 44kHz sampling rate 8/16 (and even 24 methinks) bit recording, notes/tags on specific sections of samples, variety of formats AIFF, System 7 Sound, Resources, WAVS, Instrument, au, etc.. etc..) I still think that SoundEdit WITH SoundApp is a good combination because SoundApp let's you save in more formats than SE can... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [5.2.4] MS-DOS - Advanced Digiplayer 3.0 by PSI/Future Crew * SB & MS-DOS only sample editor * reads mono raw 8-bit and ST3-compatible samples and writes ST3 samples * features filters (hi- and low-pass), resmpling, volume commands (maximize, set, slide and smooth ends), DC shift, reverse, reverb, echo, cross fade, robotize, flange, chord making * two waveform editing windows * unofficial freeware ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/music/programs/samplers/dos/dp30.zip ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [5.2.5] OS/2 NHY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [5.2.6] UNIX (Sun/Linux/NeXT) Thanks to Andreas (?) <andreas@karlsberg.usask.ca> for the info on: - MiXViews X11 sample editor and processor, very powerful and easy to use, supports many data formats. http://www.ccmrc.ucsb.edu/~doug/htmls/MiXViews.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [5.2.7] Windows - Cool Edit v1.5 by David Johnston <davej67@aol.com> / Syntrillium Software Corporation <syntrill@aol.com> (P.O. Box 60274; Phoenix, AZ 85082-0274; USA) Editing functions: * multiple instances (copies of Cool) can be loaded, copied to, and pasted from in any mixture of wave formats * waves of any size can be edited, limited only by hard drive space * supports PCM, MS ADPCM and IMA/DVI ADPCM .WAV, Creative Labs .VOC, raw PCM, SMP, ASCII Text, AU, Apple AIFF and more * batch processor * cue list and play list for playing portions of a wave in any order, with looping (in .WAV) * built-in CD player when MCI CD Audio driver loaded and audio CD in drive * support for unlimited wave formats by user-definable file filters * support for unlimited effects by user-definable effect modules * undo * customizable toolbar * support for (user definable) presets in most functions * high quality sample rate conversion * support for descriptive information and bitmaps in .WAV Effects: * flanger * echo, 3D echo chamber and reverb * stretch * delay * compressor (compress/expand/limit dynamic range) * DC bias filter * normalize, fade, (volume) envelope, pan * noise reduction * ring modulation * distortion * 8-band quick filter (equalizer) * FFT filtering and spectral view for audio analysis Sound generation: * synthesis of noise and tone signals * music generation * brainwave synchronization * DTMF tone generator Cool Edit is three-flavour shareware: $25 for Cool Edit Lite (no 'fancy' effects), $50 for Basic Registration, $100 for Preferred Registration (automatic shareware (?) updates). Unregistered versions may only use a limited number of tools in one session. ftp://ftp.ep.se.cool/cool150.zip Cool Edit home page: http://www.ep.se/cool/ Mirrors: ftp://oak.oakland.edu/SimTel/win3/sound/cool150.zip ftp://ftp.switch.ch/mirror/simtel/win3/sound/cool150.zip ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/mirrors/oak.oakland.edu/Simtel/win3/sound/cool150.zip ftp://archive.orst.edu/pub/mirrors/simtel/win3/sound/cool150.zip - GoldWave 2.1 by Chris Craig <chris3@garfield.cs.mun.ca> * up to 5 waveforms editable in one session * undo function for all operations (can be turned off to save time) * support for AU (8/16 bits, U-Law), Amiga 8SVX/IFF, Matlab .MAT, raw or NeXT .SND, Microsoft RIFF .WAV, Creative Labs .VOC (no support for ADPCM compression) * functions include echo, transpose (using notes), filter, volume (fade in/out, shape, pan), mechanize, resample, interpolate, DC shift, invert, reverse * powerful expression evaluator to create new waveforms using mathematical expressions (this makes GoldWave very diverse, as it is thus possible to create own functions, given enough knowledge) * fully operational shareware $25 ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/music/programs/samplers/gldwav21.zip - Awave 3.0 by FMJ-Software <f93-maj@nada.kth.se> Audio & wavetable instrument file format converter, editor and player for Windows 95 or Windows 3.1 with Win32s v1.3. Import formats: AIFC, AIFF, AIS, ALAW, AMS, ASE, AU, AVI, AVR, C01, CDR, DCM, DEWF, DIG, DMF, DSF, DSM, DTM, EDA, EDE, EDK, EDQ, EDS, EDT, EDV, EFA, EFE (Ensoniq), EFK, EFQ, EFS, EFT, EFV, EMD, ESPS, EUI, F2R, F3R, FAR, FNK, FSM, G721, GKH, HCOM, IFF, INI (MWave), INI (GUS), INRS, INS, IST, IST, IT, KRZ (Kurzweil), MAT, MAUD, MED, MDL, MOD, MPA (MPEG), MP2, MTM, MUS10, NIST,001 (Typhoon), OKT, PAC, PAT (GUS), PLM, PLS, PRG (WAVmaker), PSION, PSM, PTM, RAW, SAM, SB, SBK (AWE32), SD1, SDK (Roland), SDS, SDX, SDW, 669, SF, SF2 (AWE32/EMU), SFD, SFI, SFR, SMP, SND, SNDR, SNDT, SPPACK, SOU, SPL, STM, S3I, S3M, SVX, SW, SYW, TXT, TXW, UB, UDW, ULAW, ULT, UNI, UW, UWF, V8, VAP, VOX, Wxx (Yamaha), WAV, WFB, WFD, WFP (TB WaveFront), XI, XM. Export formats: AIFF, ALAW, AU, DES, EFE, G721, IFF, INI, MAT, MWS, UB, ULAW, UW, PAT, PRG, S3I, SB, SBK, SF2, SDS, SND, SW, TXT, VOC, W01, WAV, WFB, WFP, 'Clipboard', 'DigitalAudioCard', 'MidiSDSDump'. MIDI autitioning available on Advanced Gravis Ultrasound/MAX/ACE, Turtle Beach Maui/Tropez, Creative Labs Sound Blaster AWE32, any digital audio sound card. http://www.nada.kth.se/~f93-maj/fmjsoft.html ftp://ftp.orst.edu/pub/packages/gravis/submit/awave30.zip ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/incoming/music/programs/awave30.zip ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [5.3] FTP Sites with Samples Kurzweil 2000: - ftp://ftp.uwp.edu/pub/music/lists/kurzweil/sounds EMAX: - ftp://sweaty.palm.cri.nz/emax/emax1 SDS (Sample Dump Standard): ftp://alf.uib.no/pub/midi/sds/samples ftp://sweaty.palm.cri.nz/sds/samples EPS-16+: - ftp://ftp.reed.edu/eps/samples (these are also available on the WWW at URL: http://www.acs.oakland.edu/oak/eps/eps.html) TX16W: - ftp://ftp-ls7.informatik.uni-dortmund.de/tx16w/samples AIFF: - ftp://ftp.reed.edu/eps/samples/aiff Roland Disk Images: - ftp://lotus.waterloo.ca/pub/sgroups/samples Yamaha SY-85 and 99: - ftp://louie.udel.edu/pub/midi/patches/SY99 Microsoft WAV: - ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/sounds/wav/samples ftp://doc.ntu.ac.uk/pub/sounds/samples =========================================================================== === [6] Obtaining Mods ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [6.1] FTP Servers General: The FTP servers mentioned hereafter allow for anonymous FTP. Log into the server by specifying 'ftp <server address>', 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.cdrom.com (Hornet/Wasp, formerly based at ftp.eng.ufl), the main Internet site for PC demos and related material. Mods can be found in the /pub/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 <mail-server@nike.rz.uni-konstanz.de> 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 KFMF, formerly KLF, the world's leading PC mod group, has two ftp sites: ftp://freedom.wit.com/klf/songs/ ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/misc2/kosmic/songs On hobbes.nmsu.edu/os2/32bit/multimedia/mod is a sizable archive of modules (of various formats) available for ftp - Dave Wach condor.res.cmu.edu maintained by Matthew E Centurion contains some mods from a.b.s.mods and ftp sites. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [6.2] BBSs See Appendix F, the MOD Charts, for a list of BBSs with mods. You can also check the comments in archives you get, they usually contain some BBS adverts. The Venom BBS has almost 5000 SoundTracker/PT/NoiseTracker MODs in its archives: (603) 624-9451 16.8k DS (603) 644-8263 14.4k v32/v42 Contact: BBS - (603)-624-9451 FidoNet - 1:132/155.0 Clink - 911:6400/6.0 Internet - galf@mv.MV.COM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [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) <sorcerer@netcom.com> 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 Zigg (Matt Behrens) <behrensm@river.it.gvsu.edu> told me on 5 Dec 1994: Here's a little-known fact concerning the Web (one that I've picked up on and sprinkled liberally throughout the links to Aminet): Aminet is available in a few spots via HTTP. The home site, being ftp.wustl.edu, of course, is accessible at http://ftp.wustl.edu/~aminet/index.html. All aminet files are accessible through wuarchive's http system (eliminating the need to wait "for usage to go down") at http://ftp.wustl.edu/systems/amiga/aminet/*. Extending this information on 5 May 95, Zigg tells us that another way to Aminet via HTTP is by accessing freedom.wit.com at: http://freedom.wit.com/mirrors/amiga/... Zigg has also set up the Virtual Music Page, which you'll find at: http://www2.gvsu.edu/~behrensm/vmp/index.html. Dan (Maelcum/KFMF) <dan@bepcp.bowker.com> wrote to the KLF-List on 2 Feb 95: The KFMF WWW site will soon be: http://kosmic.wit.com/~kosmic/ It might (still) be: http://freedom.wit.com/~klf/klfhome.html and/or http://ftp.luth.se/pub/misc2/kosmic/www/ And Jason M. Spangler <jasons@cis.ysu.edu> 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 Tim Gerchmez <future@eskimo.com> posted to a.b.s.mods on 28 Apr 95: Check out my MOD page on the Worldwide Web. As far as I know, it's now the best and most comprehensive source of info on MODs (jester's note: Ahem! ;) ) and related topics on the Web. It can be accessed via a graphical browser (recommended) and is also Lynx-friendly. http://www.eskimo.com/~future/mods.htm David McConville <id@calypso-2.oit.unc.edu> let us know on 3 Mar 95: Just letting you know that we've got a full mirror of the funet.fi mod archive at: http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/multimedia/mods ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [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 Aminet CD 5 - CDTV/CD32/UNIX (unix music only) * contains all the Uploads to Aminet over the last few months, which includes several thousand utilities and Modules (including S3m's). (see also Aminet CD's 1-4 - since although contents differ, they are in the same style/format) * Availability: Weird Science EPIC Marketing PDSoft 1 Rowlandson Close First Floor Offices 1 Bryant Avenue Leicester 138-139 Victoria Road Southend-on-Sea Leics. LE4 2SE Swindon ESSEX England Wilts SS1 2YD SN1 3BU UK England Email: pdsoft@mymagic.demon.co.uk Tel: 0116 234 0682 Tel: 01793 490988 Tel: 01702 466933 Fax: 0116 236 4932 Fax: 01793 514187 Fax: 01702 617123 (All Sell the CD at #14.99 (UKP)) 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: $15 * 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 * Contains about 3000 MODs, S3Ms and 669s * price: $25 * 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 EuroScene 1 - CDTV/CD32/UNIX (unix music only) * contains 600 MB of amiga demos and music. This CD is literally loaded with music by author, demo crews etc...there is tonnes of it all packed with Lha. The demos are from all periods in time, though mainly the last few years - 1991 onwards.. there are even a few AGA demos on there. * availablity: Almathera Systems..17-Bit Software.. a few other places ;-) * Almathera Can be reached at: Southerton House Boundary Business Court 92-94 Church Road Mitcham CR4 3TD England SoundMOD * A 650 meg collection of over 3,700 sound files in 669, MOD, S3M, MTM, FAR and ULT formats. * This disc has files.bbs and 4DOS descript.ion files with the song name and track count of each module. * Play the files right from your CD-ROM or place them onyline for your BBS callers. * Released 1-6-95 * Price: $20 * Contact orders@fourstar.mi.org or (517)865-8075 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST =========================================================================== === [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 Thanks to Rich La Bonte <flatrich@aol.com> for suggestions concerning this section. 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. Note though that even though LHA/LHarc's archiving is generally compatible across platforms, users should be aware of the limitations of other systems. While flipped orders of filename and extension is rather easy to fix and is not a problem (by which I want to express that I discourage discussions about efficiencies and deficiencies of the various platforms), there are several incompatibilities which hinder distribution. LHA/LHarc for Amiga can store attributes that prevent MS-DOS LHA from dearchiving the files contained. A filename beginning with a period has the same effect, as MS-DOS uses the period to symbolize the current directory only. Mac files include a header containing a resource and a data fork. The resource fork is absolutely Mac-specific and is incompatible with any other system (AFAIK). Please prove netiquette - compress your mods with LHA, PKZIP or compatible compressors and use a method which will enable your recipients to dearchive them. See appendix H for a list of sites for these programs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [7.1] Usenet Posting (to a.b.s.mods) 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. Use of encoding methods other than uuencoding is strongly discouraged. Uuencoding is the de-facto Usenet standard and tools exist to deal with it on virtually all platforms, while other standards, while perhaps being better in some respects, are bound to cause problems for a lot of users. 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 and STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to supply a part zero of howevermany including a description of the posted file. I hereby declare the following as the FAQ-standard part zero for a.b.s.mods: - example cut here - - - - - - - - - - - FILE NAME: example.mod SONG NAME: The exemplary Song ARCHIVE: PkZip 2.04g MOD TYPE: 8CHN COMPOSER: Nobody METHOD: Original MUSICAL STYLE: ambient deep techno house POSTER: Nobody too <nobody@nothing.not> UPLOADED TO: ftp.cdrom.com/pub/demos/music/incoming/example.zip COMMENTS: This is just an example - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -cut here- Explanation of the above: - FILE NAME: This is pretty clear. I suggest the original mod's extension be stated, as the archiver is stated further down. - SONG NAME: The name given to the song in the mod's songname field. Or the full name of the song if that field didn't suffice (example: "I'm gonna be infectious" by Romeo Knight) - ARCHIVE: The name of the archiver used. Only LHA/Lharc and PkZip and compatible programs are encouraged. It is important to specify the version number here. - MOD TYPE: The exact mod type. MOD is not exact! See section 2 for a list of exact mod type definitions. - COMPOSER: The person who made the mod, if known. - METHOD: The method with which the mod was made. There are four categories here, Original, Conversion, Transcribed and Sampled. + An Original is any original composition, music that originated in a mod type. Pieces originated in one mod type and then transferred to another also qualify for this term. + A Conversion is a composition that has been converted from another type of music format (e.g. MIDI, ROL, CMF) to a mod type format. Slight re-edits of the mod file are still to be considered Conversions. + A Transcribed mod is a transcription of music that originated in a non-computer form, such as sheet music or as music on CDs and/or cassettes. + Sampled mods are pieces of music strung together in a mod format by sampling parts of a song (usually from CD or cassette) and playing them at a constant speed. - MUSICAL STYLE: A rough approximation of the style the song is in. No attempt should be made to try to fill this entry out exactly, as it just isn't absolutely possible. However, an estimation of the style should be supplied, as this is possible in most cases. - POSTER: This is you. Your name and/or handle and/or email address should go here. - UPLOADED TO: Where else the mod is available, per ftp for example. - COMMENTS: Write anything you feel should be said about your posting and/or its contents here. Use subject lines that include the filename of your posting and the part number, the latter either in brackets (recommended) or in the form "part x of y". If you feel like it, put a very short description in the subject line. However, if you follow this guideline, a subject line saying simply "EXAMPLE.abc (x/y)" should suffice. The above example would have the following subjects, assuming that the uuencoded data took four parts: Subject: EXAMPLE.MOD (0/4) Subject: EXAMPLE.MOD (1/4) Subject: EXAMPLE.MOD (2/4) Subject: EXAMPLE.MOD (3/4) Subject: EXAMPLE.MOD (4/4) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [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 a.b.s.mods 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). But if you managed to download something from a BBS, you probably know how to upload something too. =========================================================================== === 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 Aaron J. Luz Dave Wach Matthew E. Centurion (Mashoe) Dan John Roland Christian Stieber Steven Innell Tim Fries (Frenchy) Rich La Bonte Heikki Kantola Lyman Green Sir Fitz Ryan Kyle Henry Huang Jeffrey L. Hayes Eric Lowe Peter F. Handel Andreas Schiffler =========================================================================== === 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.cdrom.com/pub/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 Here is a good posting made by Jens Puchert on the subject, slightly edited by myself to retain the FAQ's terminology. Supplied to me by Harald Zappe. In article <CtsoDr.G86@dorsai.org> oneshot@dorsai.org (jason_wong) writes: >Pls, No flames. What format is better? Which sounds better and is more >popular? I'm not choosing one over another but I do like whole songs in >MIDI then the usual re-mixes as mods. But you don't have to shell out >$$$ for a wave-table sound card to play mods. This discussion seems to be older than "What was there first, the chicken or the egg?" Anyway, we can't answer either of those important philosophical questions to the full satisfaction of everybody. You should realize that mod and MIDI are inherently different things that cannot be compared easily with each other (a famous phrase about two fist-sized fruits comes to mind). The major difference is that digital music modules (also popularly known as mods) contain sampled instruments while MIDI files don't contain any instruments at all and rather rely on your sound hardware to synthesize them (by various means of course). So that yields another big difference. Modules are hardware independent, they (should) sound the same on just about every piece of hardware (excluding cases in which the player screws up and doesn't do what it's supposed to, cases where playback is attempted on totally inappropriate devices such as the PC squeaker, and cases where playback is attempted on devices that don't provide sufficient quality such as a mono Sound Blaster). On the other hand, MIDI devices are free to generate instruments to their liking, some of those will sound better (Roland Sound Canvas) and others will sound unbearable (AdLib comes to mind). Both devices however are perfectly fine MIDI compliant. Also, those MIDI instruments are standardized into a set called General MIDI. With most MIDI devices you'll be limited to use the 128 pre-defined instruments from this GM set. A plus for MIDI is the availability of very professional, sophisticated composition tools that are not available in this variety and quality to create modules. As far as remixes, cover versions, and original creations concerns, all of them can be done and found in either the MIDI or the module format, so there's no inherent connection between format and musical style and origin. So to sum this up, if sophisticated composing software and professional quality is important to you go for MIDI, if device independance and therefore easy exchangability, custom instruments and voices, and lower cost are important to you then you should go for modules. Hope this helps... Jensi =========================================================================== === 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. (Note: If you supply me with more than two lines, I'll strip any group names first, then start removing names, putting them into the notables section if that's what they are) jester's favourite composers: Purple Motion, Nuke, RuffKut, Skaven, Romeo Knight, Lizardking, Zane, Weasel, Maelcum. Steven Innell's fave musos: Jester/Sanity, Mantronix&Tip, U4IA, Sidewinder, Jogeir Liljedahl, Strobe, (me heh ;-)), Nuke&4-mat, Chris Huelsbeck other notables: Ng Pei Sin, Moby, Captain, pkk, Firelight, tR/\Sh. 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, When The Heavens Fall/PM, Dreaming of the Girl/Fencer Jensi: Estranged/Khyron, Defloration/emax, Crystalline Tears/Nemesis, Here It Is For You/Maelcum, Poetry In Motion/Basehead, Tribal Quest/Inspekdah Deck, Amazonas/Skaven, Adrenalin/tR/\Sh, Backwards/Firelight, When The Heavens Fall/Purple Motion, Knulla Kuk !!!/moby, Face Another Day/Jogeir Liljedahl, Now What 3/Dr. Awesome =========================================================================== === Appendix F: the MOD Charts The MOD Charts are a Top 100 list of mods, maintained by Oliver (oliver@math.uni-muenster.de, a.k.a. HITMAN on IRC, #modcharts). Multitrack formats have recently been allowed into the charts. For further details, connect to your nearest supporting site (see list below) and download the informational files. I am aware of this list being from last year, I don't plan to update it every time it is released anew. If you notice incorrect information, tell me (jester) about it and I'll grab the newest info and update this section. MODCHARTS SITE LIST November 1994 AUSTRALIA: archie.au /micros/amiga/aminet/mods/chart GERMANY: ftp.uni-muenster.de /pub/sounds/modcharts, /MODPLAYER (pc) ftp.cs.tu-berlin.de /pub/aminet/mods/chart ftp.informatik.uni-rostock.de /pub/amiga/mods/charts ftp.th-darmstadt.de /pub/aminet/mods/chart ftp.uni-erlangen.de /pub/aminet/mods/chart ftp.uni-kl.de /pub/aminet/mods/chart ftp.uni-paderborn.de /pub/aminet/mods/chart SWEDEN: ftp.luth.se /pub/aminet/mods/chart SWITZERLAND: ftp.eunet.ch /pub/aminet/mods/chart litamiga.epfl.ch /pub/aminet/mods/chart GREAT BRITAIN: src.doc.ic.ac.uk /computing/systems/amiga/mods/chart U.S.A.: ftp.etsu.edu /pub/aminet/mods/chart ftp.wustl.edu /pub/aminet/mods/chart wasp.eng.ufl.edu /pub/msdos/demos/music/MOD_CHARTS wuarchive.wustl.edu /pub/aminet/mods/chart BBS'es: Art-Line (Wuppertal, D) /---Art-Line---/musik/charts (@wupper.de) Top10 + newcomer dl-free ++49-(0)202-595055 2400-19200/ZyXEL MNP5/V42.bis ++49-(0)202-596003 2400-19200/ZyXEL MNP5/V42.bis ++49-(0)202-2456013 64000 ISDN X.75 V.110 BeetleJuice (Duelmen, D) /modules/modcharts ++49-(0)2594-89861 2400-14400/V42.bis MicroBe (Weert, Netherlands) /soundblaster/modcharts ++31-4950-46180 1200-28800 Music Power (Bischheim, France) /modcharts, all chartfiles dl-free +33 - 88.83.63.59 2400-14400/ZyXEL MNP5/V42.bis Portal (Winnindoo, Australien) /modules all chartfiles download-free +61-(0)51-992869 1200-28800 MNP5/MNP10/V42.bis Proton Palace (Ottawa, Ontario) /? 613-829-0909 14400-19200 SAC (Bratislava, Slovakia) /Modchart 42-7-2048232 19200/ZyXEL MNP5/V42.bis Stardate (Telgte, D) /Box-Ebene/Binaer/Musik/Mod-Charts ++49-(0)2504-5107 1200-14400/V42.bis The Abyss (Stuttgart, D) /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, D) all newcomer-mods download-free ++49-(0)7161-57382 ++49-(0)7161-57869 ++49-(0)7161-57960 2400 bps Visitor (Muenster, D) /modcharts, all chartfiles dl-free (@westfalen.de) ++49-(0)251-295014 9600-16800/V32.bis/V42.bis 38400-64000/V.110/X.75 ++49-(0)251-922227 1200-2400/V24.bis ++49-(0)251-922229 9600-28800/U.S.R./V34.bis 9600-14400/V32.bis/V42.bis FIDOs: Linie13 2:241/595 flags: zyx,xa,cm (@demon.escape.de) online: 24h except zmh Portal 3:632/345 Request: ModList SAC 2:422/80 Star Fortress 2:2494/340 Flags: ZYX, XA, MO online: 00:00-09:00 CET Request: FILES, MODCHART =========================================================================== === Appendix G: Availability of Compressors/Archivers from the comp.compression FAQ lha for MS-DOS: ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/archiver/lha213.exe (exe) ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/archiver/lha211sr.zip (sources) ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/lha255b.exe lharc for Unix (can only extract from version 1.xx .lzh files): ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors/misc/unix/lharc102a.tar-z ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/lha101u.tar.Z lha for Unix (docs in Japanese): ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/mirrors/misc/unix/lha101u.tar-z ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/lha-1.00.tar.Z lha for Mac: ftp://mac.archive.umich.edu/mac/utilities/compressionapps/maclha2.0.cpt.hqx ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/cmp/mac-lha-213.hqx (note: the first section of the 2nd URL can be replaced with any of the multitude of info mac shadows) lha for Amiga: ftp://ftp.funet.fi/pub/amiga/utilities/archivers/LhA_e138.run pkzip 2.04g for MS-DOS: ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/zip/pkz204g.exe ftp://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://ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/zip201.zip (source) ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/unzip512.tar.Z (source) ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/MSDOS/zip20x.zip (MSDOS exe) ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/MSDOS/unz512x*.exe (MSDOS exe) ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/VMS/zip20x-vms.zip (Vax/VMS exe) ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/VMS/unz512x-vax.exe (Vax/VMS exe) ftp://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. ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/zip201.zip (source) ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/arcers/unzip512.tar.Z (source) ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/zip20x.zip (MSDOS exe) ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/arcers/unz512x3.exe (MSDOS exe) for Macintosh: ftp://mac.archive.umich.edu/mac/util/compression/unzip2.01.cpt.hqx ftp://mac.archive.umich.edu/mac/util/compression/zipit1.2.cpt.hqx ftp://ftp.uu.net/pub/archiving/zip/MAC/unz512.hqx =========================================================================== === Appendix H: 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. =========================================================================== === Appendix I: Overview of Effects Used in Digital Music Modules This section supplied by Jens Puchert. The following covers all ProTracker and ScreamTracker 3 effects. The effect commands are given for ProTracker first, and then for Scream Tracker. Fast-, Take-, and MultiTracker also use the ProTracker command set. The parameters are given as "x", "xx", or "xy". "x" means there's a single parater for this effect. "xx" means there's a single parameter composed of two digits. "xy" means there are two independent parameters for this effect. PT effect S3M effect 1. Effects that change the pitch of the currently playing note * Arpeggio 0xy Jxy * Portamento Up/Down 1xx/2xx Fxx/Exx * Fine Portamento Up/Down E1x/E2x FFx/EFx * Extra Fine Portamento Up/Down - FEx/EEx * Portamento To Note 3xx Gxx * Vibrato 4xy Hxy 2. Effects that change the volume or pan position of one or more channels * Set Volume Cxx <vol. column> * Volume Slide Axy Dxy * Fine Volume Up/Down EAx/EBx DxF/DFx * Set Global Volume - Vxy * Set Panning (finesteps) 8xx Xxx * Set Panning E8x S8x * Stereo Control - SAx * Tremolo 7xy Rxy * Tremor - Ixy 3. Effects to influence flow control and speed * Set Speed Fxx (x < 20h) Axx * Set Tempo Fxx (x > 1Fh) Txx * Pattern Break Dxx Cxx * Pattern Jump Bxx Bxx * Pattern Loop E6x SBx * Pattern Delay EEx SEx 4. Miscellaneous effects to influence playback of a single note * Set Finetune E5x S2x * Sample Offset 9xx Oxx * Regrigger Note E9x Q0x * Cut Note ECx SCx * Note Delay EDx SDx * Invert Loop EFx SFx 5. Miscellaneous effects to set global variables * Set Filter E0x S0x * Glissando Control E3x S1x * Vibrato Waveform E4x S3x * Tremolo Waveform E7x S4x 6. Combinations of other effects * Portamento + Volume Slide 5xy Lxy * Vibrato + Volume Slide 6xy Kxy * Retrigger + Volume Slide - Qxy =========================================================================== === Appendix J: Answers to as yet Unanswered FAQs This section is still under construction and will probably always stay that way. FAQs that don't quite fit into any other section will be assembled here. Because of this, this appendix will appear very unsorted and messy. Suggestions for additions, corrections or deletions are welcome. 1) How is MOD played back correctly One would think that MOD is a standard format. Unfortunately, it isn't anymore. While the only real reference for this format remains the Amiga's ProTracker, even in the early stages of MOD, incompatibilities came around through the different timing methods in PAL and NTSC Amigas. The advent of all sorts of trackers writing in MOD formats, by which I mean all formats complying to PT's way of storing header, pattern info (not restricted to 4-track though), sequencing list and sample data, have brought about more complications since a lot of their players prove to be PT-incompatible. The problem is that the composer of a MOD relies on his song's sound using his tracker (even though some tailor theirs for certain players), so, assuming tracker XX is not PT-compliant in its player, a song made in tracker XX will not sound the way its composer wanted it to when played in ProTracker, which is accepted as THE standard for MODs. As it is, ProTracker remains the only reference for MOD playing. A decent documentation on the exact specifics of MOD is not available yet, to my knowledge. All (I dare to say this) PC players, and probably those on all systems save the Amiga which benefits from MOD being designed around its hardware, play MODs wrong in some way or the other. The main two points to look for are accuracy and sound quality. Absolute accuracy isn't there yet, but there exist vast differences. BTW, even the format specs on MOD vary in a lot of cases. Don't believe any specification but the ProTracker one to be correct. 2) How do I calculate mod playback speeds This applies to MOD and S3M (and probably to most other module types). There are two playback speed settings in mods, one being the ticks-per-row (hereafter referred to as TPR) and the other the BPM (beats per minute) setting. The BPM statement denotes the amount of time that is to be spent on one tick. At default BPM speed of 125 decimal (7D hex), one tick equals to 0.02 seconds. Thus, tick-time = (0.02 * 125 / BPM) seconds = (2.5 / BPM) seconds. The TPR speed groups a specified number of ticks into a row. Specifying a TPR speed of four groups four ticks into a row, for example. So, if you set a BPM speed of 150 and a TPR speed of 4, one tick will last for 1/60th of a second and four such ticks will be one row. Thus a row will last for 4/60ths of a second and a 64-row pattern will take 64/15 (=4.2667) seconds to play. MOD speeds are set using the Fxx command, where xx is a hexadecimal. Where xx ranges from 01 to 1F (in hex), TPR speed is set. F20 to FFF denotes BPM speed. A speed setting of zero should be ignored. The corresponding S3M commands are Axx (TPR speed) and Txx (BPM speed). ============================================================= end of part 2 ==