The Ultimate Tracker.
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Version 1.06b.
Minimum requirements.
- 386 and above
- Vga
- 2 megabytes ram ( I think, else 4 megabytes minimum )
- FM sound card
Recommended
- 486 and above
- 4 to 8 megabytes ram
- Sound Blaster Awe32
TUT is a music composition program which allows music to
composed in a fashion similar to Mod Files.
This makes it easier to use in that their is no need to understand
music notation.
A Song is made up of a number of patterns, which in turn are made up
of 64 ticks (0-63). Depending on the Tempo and Ticks Per Beat, the
program will play a number of ticks a second.
Pressing ALT-H will bring up a list of the basic keys and functions.
ALT V Brings up a volume control panel. This controls only the Master
and Midi/FM volumes. You need a SB16 or higher to use the volume
controls.
CTRL P Specifies the output device. This can be FM, AWE32 or MIDI.
The note info at the bottom will reflect the instrument depending
on the current device.
Please note, in this Beta version, the Midi support is not used. It
will be added in future versions. Attempting to play on a Midi device
will cause unexpected results.
It is recommended you move the DOS4GW.EXE to somewhere in your path,
as the comversion programs also require it. If you get a Stub Exec
failure, then copy it to where the convert programs are, or move
to somewhere in your path.
ALT-A Sets the Song Author.
ALT-T Sets the Song title.
ALT-C Sets a commment. I will extend the comment size in a future
version. At the moment, you can only enter a one line comment.
[ Orders ]
The Orders determine which patterns will play when. You can specify
the patterns in any order you want. Patterns can start at 0 and
go up to 128. Orders can Start at 0 and go up to 128.
Although you can skip patterns used, eg. use only patterns 0, 3, 5 etc,
it is not advisable.
You can access the Orders window via F1. Del and Ins will delete and
insert orders.
[ Notes ]
Notes are entered using the keyboard keys.
Notes may be adjusted ie, you can change a notes Octave, Duration,
instrument, or the note itself. The note can be blanked/erased with
the spacebar.
You can also delete a note using the DEL key, or insert a Note/Tick
using the INS key.
The Note is usually played when entered, unless a song is already
playing.
Setting a duration of 0 (Default) will play a note until another note
plays on the same channel, or the channel is switched off. ie. Duration
0 is in fact " PLay Note Indefinately ".
[ Instruments ]
Instruments are managed using the F2 Key. You will be presented with
a list of instruments currently allocated. To insert/change an
instrument, just press TAB or ENTER on the instrument you want to
change, or on the blank line at the end. This will bring up a list of
instruments in the currrently loaded bank. You can change the bank
from the MAIN screen by pressing CTRL-I.
You can also delete instruments with the DEL key. if there is only
one instrument, then the program will not allow you to delete it,
as at least one instrument is needed for a song.
NOTE. If you delete and instrument that is used in the song, then
its up to you to change the song notes which apply to this instrument.
The highlighted instrument can be played using the keyboard keys
( If a song is playing, the instrument is not played). You can
change the voice the instrument is played on using the < - > or
horizontal arrow keys.
This is needed when playing percussion instruments (Bass Drum, Snare
Drum, Tom-Tom, Top Cymbal, or High-Hat). If these instruments are
played on any other channel, they will not sound correctly.
NOTE. You have to be in Percussive Mode to play these instruments
correctly on the correct channels.
When you have chosen your instrument, ENTER will make it the currently
active instrument and all notes entered thereafter will be using
that instrument. ESC will abort the instrument change, and the previous
active instrument will remain the active instrument.
Sample Instruments are managed via the F3 Key. This brings up a list
of samples used. Inserting is a matter of hitting Enter on the desired
number. Instruments can be deleted via DEL.
The program can automatically determine the following sample types :
WAV : Wave files
S3M : S3M Samples
YMF : YMF Samples
You do not have to have a specific file extension. Hitting enter on any
file will result in autodetection. If the program cannot determine that
the sample is of one of the above types, then it will prompt you to load
it as a raw sample file. Raw samples are defaulted to 8 bit.
The program supports 8 and 16 bit samples. the program cannot read
compressed WAV or S3M samples (via PCM, ADPCM etc) or Stereo samples.
Sample information can be changed via the following keys :
ALT W - Sample Name. Can be up to 15 characters long.
ALT R - Sample Rate. The Rate at which the sample is to be played at the
root Key. Eg, if rate is set at 22050 and the root
Key is C-4, then playing a note of C-4 will play the
sample at 22050hz.
ALT N - Root Key. Q-S determines the Note. [ and ] determines the octave.
ALT V - Sample Vol. This is the Initial Volume of the Sample. 0 being softest,
255 Loudest.
SPACE - Looping. This toggles sample looping.
ALT S - Loop Start. The Loop Start position. This is the offset from the
beginning of the sample. Usually 0. NOTE, this is in
SAMPLES not bytes. This value should not exceed the
loop end position.
ALT E - Loop End. The Loop End Position. Offset from beginning of sample.
Usually the length of the sample. Should not exceed the
length of the sample.
ALT P - Play Pos. You can specify a different Play position if you want
to play just part of a sample. This should not exceed
the Loop End position.
You can listen to a sample via the keyboard keys. F8 Stops playing a
sample.
Samples are uploaded when a new song is loaded, or a sample has changed
(deleted or added).
You can save sample with CTRL S. This saves in YMF sample format.
The program creates some temporary files when working. Please do
not delete these files if you shell to dos. Also, It does not check
if your awe card has sufficient memory for all the samples you specied.
If you load more/larger samples than your awe has memory, then the samples
will wrap, and overwrite samples in the beginning of memory.
You must have sufficient main memory to support loading one entire sample
before its uploaded to the Awe.
eg. If you are loading a 2Mb sample (One sample, not all samples totalled),
then you should have 4-8 Mb ram (Main Memory) to enable it to be
loaded and sent to the Awe ram.
If You don't, then the sample is skipped and the next one uploaded.
[ Editing ]
You can Block notes using ALT-B. This highlights the specified rows
and columns and allows you to Cut/Copy and Paste. Toggling ALT-B
again will disable blocking and the blocked Notes will remain blocked.
You can UnBlock all notes with ALT-U.
Using ALT-C will copy the highlighted notes to the clipboard.
ALT-X will cut the notes to the clipboard.
ALT-P can be used to paste the notes elsewhere. If the voices/columns
in the clipboard exceed the paste space, the the trailing columns will
be ignored.
[ Playing ]
The song can be played using the F5 Key. You can also play just one
Pattern using the F6 Key. F7 Plays just one channel. All patterns will
be played tho'.
F8 stops the song/channel/note.
CTRL-N Starts a New song.
[ Effects ]
Effects are added via the CTRL E key. A tempo change affects the entire
song. The other effects are channel specific.
Pattern Break - Will break from the current pattern to specified tick
in the next pattern. NOTE if this is on the first
channel, all other notes/effects on the same tick are
ignored.
Channel Off - This switches off a channel (until you play a new note).
Useful if you have been playing a looped sample
indefinately and want to stop it at a specified point.
Channel Reverb - Only for Awe32. Sets the channel reverb level from
0 (No reverb) to 255 (full reverb).
Channel Chorus - Only for Awe32. Sets the channel chorus level from
0 (No chorus) to 255 (full chorus).
Channel Pan - Only for Awe32. Sets the Pan position. 0 Plays on the
right speaker. 255 on the left. 128 sets the pan to the
middle. You can specify any values in between for different
pan positions.
More effects will be added in future versions. If you would like
certain effects to be added, please mail me.
This is a pre-release beta version. This doc is VERY uncomplete.
There are lots more key combinations and functions. I will release
a complete doc with the final (Non Beta) version.
The final (Non Beta) version will be a shareware version.
The registered version will have tons of features and capabilities.
Please Note : this version may have some bugs. You use this program
at your own risk. If damage results due to a program
bug or misuse, the author will in no way be liable or
held responsible.
If you have any questions, queries, suggestions, criticism etc please
mail me.
E-Mail : yugeshren.naicker@dvert.com
Enjoy.