For those who don't already know, Protracker was one of the more popular music tracker programs written for the Commodore Amiga. It allowed users to write simple music by playing back sampled sounds on 4 seperate monophonic channels (2 left and 2 right). Playback control included:

• note (pitch - 7 octave range)
• volume (64 levels)
• vibrato - very basic
• gate or retrigger of note
• arpeggio (very fast cycling through 3 notes)
• bend up and down
• plus commands to break or loop patterns.

Patterns were fixed at 64 steps (okay for 4/4 time signature), if you wanted a complex time signature then you would have to force a pattern to break at an earlier point. Sogs were constructed out of up to 64 different patterns. The creation of patterns was similar to step sequencing on a drum machine.

Samples could also be looped. More advanced trackers have appeared across various formats including Scream Tracker, Impulse Tracker, Mad Tracker and Fast Tracker for Windows based PCs. One of the most impressive trackers available is Buzz, which allows the user not only to build up tracks using basic pattern sequencing and play back samples but also to create a complete studio of software synthesizers and effects, with any kind of routing imaginable.

Download modules below:

You can download a suitable player from here:

www.modplug.com

I will occasionally make Synthedit Skins available - these may not be complete sets but may just be individual controls. They may also be of use to non SynthEdit users needing controls for their vst and vsti creations or other interface designs. Currently one skin has been added and can be downloaded below.

simple skin 1